In an exciting conversation with Ciro Marchetti, show host Frank Kwiatkowski digs into the inspiration for Marchetti’s many renditions of the tarot Fool. In a lively panel discussion, three well-known tarot enthusiasts discuss their favorite tarot books. The show closes with an opportunity to learn one of Christiana Gaudet’s favorite tarot spreads.
Episode 4 is jam-packed with star power and information.
Join Frank Kwiatkowski and Ciro Marchetti for a deep dive into Major Arcana 0, the Fool. Ciro has rendered the Fool numerous times in his career as a tarot artist. The insights that led to his design choices will expand your understanding of this important card.
Then join Beverly Frable, Amber Highland, and Michelle Welch for a panel discussion about the tarot books that informed their journeys.
Finally, learn an easy, practical tarot spread from Christiana Gaudet.
Episode Links:
Our hosts: Frank Kwiatkowski and Christiana Gaudet.
Our Guests: Ciro Marchetti, Beverly Frable, Amber Highland and Michelle Welch.
Reserve your room at the Hilton Palm Beach Airport.
Join the StaarCon mailing list.
Watch the episode on YouTube!
Books and Decks:
Tarot for Yourself (35th Edition) by Mary K Greer
The Tarot Handbook by Angeles Arrien
Tarot Spells by Janina Renee
Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack
Holistic Tarot by Benebell Wen
Tarot For Troubled Times by Theresa Reed and Shaheen Miro
Tarot No Questions Asked by Theresa Reed
Universal Celtic Tarot Mini by Floreana Nativo and Cristina Scagliotti
Christiana Gaudet is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We receive a small commission when you purchase a book or deck using the links provided. The commission is paid by Amazon and does not affect the price you pay.
Christiana: Episode four of the StaarCast Variety Show is brought to you by the Ace of Wands. Join me, Christiana Gaudet, my co-host Frank Kwiatkowski and the StaarCon community as we work to ignite creativity and inspiration.
Christiana: Hey, Frank, how you doing?
Frank: I am excellent. How are you, Christiana?
Christiana: I am very well and so excited for episode four of The StaarCast Variety Show. Can you believe it?
Frank: Episode four That is my life path number. So I am a big fan of the number four. It's very solid, isn't it?
Christiana: It is. And we have a solid show featuring a really great interview that you got to do. Tell us about it.
Frank: I was honored to have the opportunity to sit down with Ciro Marchetti, the tarot maker extraordinaire, fabulous artist. He's done a lot of really great decks, and this was the first of a series of interviews. I sat down with him for about 15, 20 minutes.
Christiana: Absolutely. And, of course, Ciro has been a really important part of StaarCon since the beginning. He designed our fairy, who we call Pixie Arcana. She's our logo and our symbol. And he has just been a big supporter of StaarCon and at StaarCon 2023 he is
Christiana: And people are going to be very, very excited for this. I'm very excited for this.
Frank: I had the pleasure of moderating Ciro’s first presentation. That was the 2020. Well, actually, technically 21, but it will be the pandemic one where it was all online. I had the chance to moderate his discussion. It was awesome. And then, of course, the
Christiana: Absolutely. So I'll ask you I'll put you on the spot here of all the Ciro Marchetti decks of which I have, I think I have most of them. I don't have all of them, but I have most of them. Do you have a favorite?
Frank: I have multiple as well and I still go back most often to the Legacy of the Divine. Personally, I love that deck. I loved it from the very first time I used it. It's always read extremely well for me. How about you? Do you have a favorite, Christiana?
Christiana: I have to agree with you. Legacy of the Divine is fabulous. I love them all. I even have the personalized Mystic Palette and I love that one. I love Gilded. I love Gilded Royal. I mean, there's there's I've never met a Ciro Marchetti deck that I don't lov
Christiana: It is it probably is my favorite as well.
Frank: It's the one I go back to the most often. The one I go back least often is actually his Lenormand, which is not anything against his Lenormand. I just, for whatever reason, can't seem to learn, get myself motivated to learn Lenormand. So maybe one year I'
Christiana: Well, actually, you'll have an opportunity to do that at StaarCon 2023 as well. Again, on the intensive day on Friday in the morning, Brenda Elizabeth, a.k.a. Lady Lenormand, will be teaching an intensive beginner soup to nuts how to learn and read with t
Christiana: So to know your opportunity is there...
Frank: Cool. Good to know. Thanks, Christiana.
Christiana: Sure, sure. So anything else we need to say before we before we get into episode four?
Frank: I don't think so. I thank all of our audience for joining us again for this episode, and thank you for co-hosting. I say we get to this show. What do you say?
Christiana: Let's do it.
Frank: Let's do it.
Christiana: First up, Frank speaks with Ciro Marchetti about the Fool.
Frank: I'm delighted to be joined today by an internationally known and highly prolific tarot artist. He has presented at both of the previous two StaarCons. He will also be presenting at the next one StaarCon number three here in January of 2023. He's the creat
Frank: You can learn more about him and purchase his decks, including his indie decks on his website. That's Ciro Marchetti dot com. And I give a warm welcome to Mr. Ciro Marchetti. Hello, Ciro. Good to have you on the StaarCast Variery Show today.
Ciro Marchetti: Good morning, Frank. And how are you?
Frank: I'm doing very well, thank you. A little bit about this segment. This is the first time we are doing this. This will be the first of multiple, maybe even many segments. And the idea that we have today for our viewers is, is that I'm delighted to have Ciro
Frank: And today, appropriate for the first time, we're doing this Ciro, we're going to be talking about the Fool. The Fool and and so tell me a little bit about looking over multiple versions of the Fool. You. Fascinating. You've done such a wonderful job with
Frank: What what does the Fool mean to you and what do you want the Fool to mean for for the people who use your decks? Ciro?
Ciro Marchetti: Well, I mean, it's an autobiography, a visual autobiography, in a sense. You know, I imagine a Fool is being an extension of myself. At the beginning, I, I think I probably misunderstood the initial intent of of the Fool in a sense, that it was like the b
Ciro Marchetti: You know, our journey to a new job, to a new relationship through dealing with a problem or just various aspects of our lives. And it's a continuous cycle. It isn't just this one major theatrical play, as it were. And so it's a repeat of the Fool’s jour
Ciro Marchetti: Do we learn from the ones we've done before and the mistakes or the successes of the previous ones? How will they vary? How will the next similar journey vary? The circumstances will vary, as will the adjacent cards in a spread. So that metaphor made more
Ciro Marchetti: Possibly. You know, as an analogy, yes. The innocent Fool leaping off the cliff with the faithful dog. Okay. But equally that that was a little bit too for me, a little bit too symbolic of the first major life's journey. It didn't truly communicate that t
Ciro Marchetti: It was a little bit too, dare I say, a little bit too twee and didn't possibly communicate the gravitas of the many journeys we take. Equally, the Marseilles is was a little bit too bite you in the ass, as it were, you know, literally.
Frank: Literally.
Ciro Marchetti: The fool, the traveling jester of those ages may well have encountered an unwelcoming scenario, or just the village dogs being protective or whatever. But it suggested that he may not have always been welcome, which kind of made sense. You know, in those
Ciro Marchetti: I think this colorfully dressed character would have been would have not have been feared. He would have been, if anything, welcomed, you know, like a diversion from an otherwise very boring life existence. And so I think that is also misleading because t
Frank: Perfectly appropriate considering the card we're talking about here.
Ciro Marchetti: There you go.
Ciro Marchetti: So the fool is is more of a in historical terms, there was two distinct forms. There was a natural fool that was someone who had a physical or a mental disability or limitation, which would have been a subject of humor. And, you know, and just people laug
Ciro Marchetti: He is the quintessential court jester and he was talented. He could sing, play an instrument, juggle, dance. And you know, as in Macbeth or whatever he was the one that history teaches us had the ear of the king. You know, he acted the fool. But he certai
Ciro Marchetti: That was a double edged sword as well, he could tell. And in fact, part of his role was to be the informant of the king of bad news that the other royal members would be too scared to give him. You know, he got away with it, provided he didn't make it too
Ciro Marchetti: And excuse me, Your Royal Highness, but your armies are having the ass kicked out of them. Oops, you know. But if he says so from him, it was a bit more palatable than from some than some military commander having to inform the king of that same thing. So
Ciro Marchetti: And that's what I've tried to communicate in my various images. And, and I think now is appropriate for me to share the images so I can embellish on those thoughts.
Frank: Yeah. One of the things I noticed Ciro and thank you for that, because I notice that you returned to the court jester outfit in multiple versions of your of your Fools. They're wearing that traditional motley outfit with the bells and and all of that. Tha
Ciro Marchetti: Mm hmm. Okay. Can you can you see this Frank? Can you see the graphics?
Frank: Actually, not at the moment. I. I can share it if you want.
Ciro Marchetti: Let me show I think about one more button to press
Frank: Ah!
Frank: There we go.
Ciro Marchetti: Okay, so here's a variety of Fools from from my various decks and I'll scroll, scroll through them. Now, at the beginning, I'll be honest with you, I kept it reasonably safe. But in all the first in the first two, the message I was trying to put across wa
Ciro Marchetti: Yeah. And so in both the the original Gilded and the follow up Tarot of Dreams, I tried to suggest that that despite the Fool’s position and sort of dancing or the standing straight here, his entire balance is at the whim of these little elements that c
Ciro Marchetti: sort of stance, you know, our journeys can only be planned up to a point. Yeah, but they are at the whim of whatever our clients know us.
Frank: A break from the dog on that one you went with the cat instead. Ciro.
Ciro Marchetti: Yeah, one. In this case, I wasn't trying to sort of, like, be too clever. It's just I felt a good, playful cat was more compelling, a symbol of of how something so cute and innocent could be the reason why this guy was toppled off of his little balancing
Ciro Marchetti: Then I started, you know, with the Legacy. I started to try and communicate that, yes, his journey or Journey's would certainly be influenced by and include the various characters and scenes that he would encounter along his journey, journeys of Major Arc
Ciro Marchetti: I was being a little bit more adventurous here and so had more of a play with the carnival, like just in a sense, you know. So all these future encounters that were being released were coming out of now a sort of a magical box, a carnival box, as opposed
Ciro Marchetti: Not actually, but I'll.
Frank: Go ahead and say it Ciro.
Ciro Marchetti: Okay. No, probably lose me half my sales, but I this was my first little venture into a political statement. And, in fact, the the the jester in this case was based on on the prime minister of Britain at the time, which was David Cameron, who was the the
Ciro Marchetti: He did so thinking there was going to be a slam dunk to be rejected. And of course, as we all know, the referendum proved otherwise. And and Brexit. Brexit took place, which, in my personal opinion, was a grave mistake. So it was a little tongue in cheek
Ciro Marchetti: I mean, the whole purpose of that project was to be faithful to the the Marseilles is so once again it albeit in my decorative style, the dog is tearing away at the guy's clothing. So it's not the friendly little faithful companion from Pamela's Colman's
Ciro Marchetti: To be honest, Frank, I'm assuming that the majority of people who buy my decks are not beginners. You know, I think most people would be relatively familiar with with the icon of icon, iconic depictions of Fool. And so it's nothing that has to be relearne
Ciro Marchetti: You know, I've been on these journeys throughout my life and I've learned from them and it's kind of a more of a retrospective look at the past as we possibly go further on for yet another little journey of some kind. And is this kind of like serious summ
Ciro Marchetti: Did it work for me? What did I learn from it? You know, it's a very introspective sort of analysis of ourselves and our various journeys, and everyone is going to have different answers, you know, but that was it, you know? So he's kind of and that's mean
Ciro Marchetti: And in this sense, the past is older, Marseilles cards. Yet in the last one, which is not produced yet, is for a future project but is on its way, let's say once again, back to the the analogy of the fool the licensed fool as opposed to the natural fool w
Ciro Marchetti: The license fool is putting on an act. He acts foolishly. The mask he's holding is a smiling one and the one that he uses a lot. But behind that mask, there's in that a common metaphor, isn't it? We are hiding the truth behind that mask. And the truth is
Frank: Wow. That's that's really fascinating. I, I hadn't quite thought of the Fool in that way before this idea that this licensed fool gives us permission when we draw this card to play the fool in a way that can benefit us. It doesn't mean innocence per se. I
Frank: In this one example, you have him with the mask. His foolishness is almost a facade. Then.
Ciro Marchetti: Yes, I think it is. I mean, I think there's there's we all do that to an extent. That's a theme I've commonly repeated in other decks. You know, that we do wear a mask and in a symbolic way, I mean, the way I am when it's just me on my own thinking by mys
Ciro Marchetti: I don't know. We all have different degrees of how to act based on the circumstances. That is, it doesn't necessarily mean that we are putting on a falsehood per se in a deliberate way to fool, excuse the pun, or to present ourselves as being something we
Ciro Marchetti: it is an act. Very much so. Take the example of of of of a professional comedian like Robin Williams, the funniest guy you can imagine. But clearly, deep down, he was a very, very sad and, you know, desperate character. I mean, that is a very profound ana
Ciro Marchetti: So, you know, for me, The Fool is a far, far more complex character than it is in initially depicted in previous decks and may be is not necessary to go into this kind of depth. Maybe people are going through a readers are going through that process autom
Frank: Well thank you for sharing all your insights on The Fool. I get a sense we could talk about this much, much longer. I would like to just ask one final question as we as we get ready to wrap up here Ciro and thanks for your time. But there seems to be some
Frank: But this seems to be the one card where you could depict past versions of the same card, like the Marseilles version of it, or in the Legacy of the Divine version, how you have these different cards on the Fool card. I don't get a sense you could do that
Frank: Does that make sense?
Ciro Marchetti: Yeah. I mean, from a from a marketing point of view, let's say, or an advertising point of view or a graphic design point of view, it it, one has to choose an image that is representative of something greater than the Fool serves that role as the symbol o
Ciro Marchetti: You know, he's the the preferred villain. But in beyond that, those two cliche cards, the the the rest of the deck. Nothing would symbolize a tarot deck. And the whole concept that more than the Fool I think you know you wouldn't if I merely showed a Heir
Ciro Marchetti: So I think that would answer your question to the degree. Yeah.
Frank: Absolutely. Yes. Well, again, thank you for your time Ciro. This is all the time we have for this segment. And thank you, everybody, for watching. Please join us again next time when we sit down and ask Ciro about another card. See you next time.
Ciro Marchetti: Adios.
Christiana: Now it's time for a panel discussion. What tarot book was most influential for you?
Frank: Hi Frank Kwiatkowski here once again bringing you a tarot topics discussion panel where we bring together a diverse group of tarot professionals and aficionados to get their perspectives on a given tarot related topic or question. So why don't we get star
Frank: We have Amber Highland. We have Michelle Welch. Welcome, everybody.
Beverly Frable: Hello.
Frank: All right. Let me give a formal introduction. In addition to her role as publisher of the Cartomancer magazine, our first panelist is a holistic empowerment coach, dreamworks specialist, educator and writer. Visit her website Amber Highland dot com and fo
Frank: Hi, Amber.
Frank: Hello.
Amber Highland: Welcome back.
Frank: All right. And our our second panelist is the owner of three SoulTopia metaphysical stores in Dallas, Texas. She's also the co-host of The Soul What Podcast and the Michelle SoulTopia YouTube Show. She's also the author of two books, including most recent
Frank: And she all she offers intuitive healing sessions, teaches classes on intuitive methods and also happens to be an attorney. Visit her websites Michelle Welch dot com and SoulTopia dot guru, please help me
Frank: welcome
Frank: our returning champion. Michelle Welch. Hi Michelle.
Michelle Welch: Hi. Thanks for having me.
Frank: All right. And finally, our third panelist offers classes and presentations that dive deep into divination related topics and that enhance a readers perspectives. She also dedicates time to individual consultations, demonstrating how to combine a variety
Frank: welcome, Beverly Frable. Welcome back, Beverly.
Beverly Frable: Thank you.
Frank: All right. So we know what we are doing here with our tarot topics panel discussion. We have a list of all kinds of questions that we put into this little hopper. I pull one out randomly and we talk about it. It's pretty much that simple. So let's see whi
Frank: All right. This should make for a good conversation.
Frank: Please tell us
Frank: about a tarot book that was instrumental to you when you were first starting to read tarot cards of an early book or maybe two. That was particularly important for you early on. And I don't know about you, but when I think back, some of those images, some
Frank: You know, they make such an early impression on you. So if you wouldn't mind, please tell us about an early book that had a big, big, early impression on you. Let's see, where should we go first? I think Beverly wanted to go first today.
Beverly Frable: Damn, that's a hard question, Frank. You know, I. I have to say, you know, I really tried to come up with something in my mind other than what most people would say. But I can't. I have to. I have to go with Mary K. Greer. Tarot for Yourself. You know, I'
Beverly Frable: It was that book because that took me through the use of numerology using numerology in connection with tarot to look inside and in an introspective way and really get in touch with myself in a way that I never even considered doing it that way. And that
Beverly Frable: That's what it is.
Frank: Well, you went first so you didn't follow the crowd.
Beverly Frable: Well, I
Beverly Frable: mean, everyone else in the world really.
Frank: Is such a such a hugely influential book. And I think it's interesting, too, that it's a workbook which sets it apart. I know some other people have come out with workbooks, but that seemed to be the original that was kind of structured that way. And obvi
Frank: How about. How about you, Amber? Do you mind sharing what's what's an early book that had a big influence on you.
Amber Highland: Angeles Arrien and the Tarot Workbook by Angeles Arrien. It's Thoth based and I love the Thoth system and that, you know, definitely was one. And beyond that that is another book actually was the original Tarot Spells Book, because at the time I was worki
Amber Highland: Michelle, you'll appreciate this. It was for connecting with spirits and calling specific the energies of specific saints that I wanted to work with and using tarot that way. So that was my first delving into the world of tarot and then the divination and
Frank: Ah, very good. I have to say, Amber, just to cut in real quick that that book by Angeles Arrien was one of my first ones too. It had a huge influence on me. And I remember trying to trying to use it for learning the Rider-Waite Smith system as well. And t
Frank: It worked better for that. But what a what a great book. Good call. I can't wait to hear what Michelle says. What what was what was an early one for you that that left such a big impression on you?
Michelle Welch: None,
Michelle Welch: actually, because I wasn't allowed to read them. And so I grew up in a home where I wasn't allowed to look at the decks. So I had a deck that my aunt gave me and I would secretly use that deck and I had no books at all. So but you know, of course I know o
Michelle Welch: And and really different books appeal to different people. You know, I will since we've already mentioned Mary K. Greer and I mentioned Rachel Pollock. I mean, her book, The 78 Degrees of Wisdom, I believe that one is I'm all right in saying that. So but
Michelle Welch: But I also had no books at all. I had the Bible. And so just to be honest with you guys, that's that's where I came from. And so it's it's a big shift for me, which is a whole another. I don't want to take too much time, but that is the honest answer. So
Michelle Welch: I have read it and the books are wonderful. Most of them and some some are not so great. But I can recommend so many of the new ones too. I really actually love Benebell Wen Holistic Tarot. That's a very good book. I hate to leave anyone out. They're all
Frank: Right. Yeah. It's. There are so many, so many great books. But the what, the classic a lot of the huge classics have already been brought up. The Mary K. Greer book, the Rachel Pollack book, Benebell Wen is a bit newer than those, but it is it goes into t
Frank: It's it'll be in print many, many, many years.
Michelle Welch: May I mention one more? That just sells like crazy in our store Theresa Reed’s book and I can't remember the name of tarot for whatever her book sells like nobody's business. We can sell that all day long, every day. So I would I would also recommend th
Frank: No, that's that's okay. Thank you for that. Michelle, I. I can't help but think, though, like this discussion could go off in a different direction. As I think about the fact that you said that you, you learned tarot without any books whatsoever, strictly
Michelle Welch: An aunt.
Frank: An aunt. So, you know, how long, how long, how long were you reading tarot before you read any tarot books whatsoever?
Michelle Welch: 20 years.
Frank: Wow. That's that's quite exciting.
Michelle Welch: I was little when she gave me my tarot cards. So little. Maybe it was 15 years.
Frank: Okay. Wow. I'm trying to
Frank: imagine how that would go. That that is a uniquely different way to learn the cards. I won't say better. I won't say worse. It's just it's very much different than the way a lot of people learn. I mean, you get a book, right? You get a deck, of course, bu
Michelle Welch: I wouldn't recommend it , no. I would not find my way. I would recommend Beverly and Amber and you and you have to say about it. But it was an honest answer.
Frank: Fascinating. All right. So maybe we can shift this conversation just a little bit, because I know we don't have a ton of time, but maybe we can talk a little bit about a book that has been influential for you, maybe a little bit more recently. Michelle, y
Frank: I know you both read a lot of tarot books and it's hard to pick just one, so we're not insulting anybody by leaving them out. But just pick one just off the top of your head that is, that you've you've liked more recently from when you started.
Beverly Frable: I go first or you want to go, Amber?
Amber Highland: Yeah, you go ahead. You go ahead. So I've got a couple in my mind, so I kind of want to see...
Beverly Frable: I saw you calculating. They're all just. Yeah, yeah. Mine isn't a tarot book, quite honestly, it's a book about runes and I'm really kind of more into divination on a broader scale than just tarot, you know?
Beverly Frable: And I'm really into like the older methods of reading and runes is definitely in that category, and that's kind of one of the newer areas I've been studying. But since I've been studying it, I came across. There's a lot of people that wrote, you know, sev
Beverly Frable: Her website is there, her her. She's on the Internet. I mean, she has a web page, but she's written two books. And the two books really are not so much about runes, although they are. They're more about like divination and in general. And it's really how
Beverly Frable: And I have to say, it really opened my eyes and it wasn't just about runes. So that book really was more recently, the one that hit me like big time aha moments came to me from those books.
Beverly Frable: So that's what I would have to say.
Frank: Fabulous. Thank you, Beverly. And of course. Yeah, this discussion doesn't have to be limited just to tarot. Of course, it's tarot topics, but StaarCon is about all methods of divination and they all sort of bleed into each other and they all feed each ot
Frank: I hadn't hadn't heard about that. I haven't delved into the runes. It's been kind of it's been in the background, just kind of inviting me at some point I'm going to
Frank: get into it.
Beverly Frable: It can be intimidating because you have these symbols that, you know, there's a little bit of memorization by a little bit of I mean, but honestly, it's well worth the investment of time, in my opinion. And it really does tie a lot of things together for
Frank: All right.
Frank: I know. I get a sense you could say much, much more about that.
Beverly Frable: I could, but, you know, I'm an only child, so I know to shut up sometimes.
Frank: virtual.
Frank: Well, I wanted to. Amber, you got a couple of minutes to kind of think of something. I hope I'm not putting you on the spot, but.
Frank: What do you think?
Amber Highland: Oh, no, not at all. And I'm actually going to go with Tarot Inspired Life by Jaymi Elford. And because it gives really practical ways to bring the use of tarot into your everyday and in ways that you might not think of right off the bat, how easily it is
Amber Highland: For those of us that work with not magic, she talks about crocheting your own tarot bag. Well, what a way to bring in different modalities of what you like and your belief systems and your energies by putting this energy into making a tarot bag for your d
Amber Highland: So I'm going I'm going with Tarot Inspired Life.
Frank: I love it. I love it. All right. Well, I think that's about all the time we have for today. We got plenty of book recommendations, including from Michelle, the idea that you can learn tarot without any kind of books. Although she would not recommend it. I
Michelle Welch: It's about right.
Frank: All right. Well, I want to thank our panel very much for being with us again, this time, including Beverly Frable, Michelle Welch, Amber Highland, thank you all very much. And we will see you next time for our Tarot Topics discussion panel. Bye bye, every
Amber Highland: Thank you. Bye bye.
Beverly Frable: Bye.
Christiana: Let's learn a tarot spread. Hi, it's me, Christiana Gaudet and I want to share with you one of my favorite tarot spreads. This is a spread I use very often for myself, sometimes with clients, and I love to teach it to my students. It's a seven card spread
Christiana: It can just address many departments of life and let you know what's going on. If you have a question, you can certainly interpret this spread in the context of that question. Now, to demonstrate it, I am using my Universal Celtic Tarot. It's tiny, this i
Christiana: I just want you to see the shape of the spread and how the cards interact with each other. If you're listening rather than watching, don't worry. I will be very clear in how I describe it. But first, I got to tell you the story of how this spread came to
Christiana: I had been reading, casually studying, reading for friends and the friends of friends and friends and, you know, strangers here and there, but not professionally for about eight years. And so on this one Saturday morning, I arrived to work at my first psy
Christiana: And one sort of called me over to his table and said, okay, so you're new. What questions do you have? And my biggest concern was readings were 15 minutes. A bell would go off at the end of 15 minutes and I'd be done. I had never had to work with a timer.
Christiana: And so 15 minutes was scary. And so this reader taught me this spread now, true confessions. I didn't actually use this spread. I managed to stay within the 15 minute confines in a different way, but I never forgot this spread because it is such a good sp
Christiana: It's seven cards, so we have three cards on each side going up and then the middle card at the very top of the spread. Now, traditionally, this spread is read from right to left, which I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with. Modern readers tend to
Christiana: Do what feels right to you. So I'm going to go through the positions. So the first card down at the bottom on the right past, next card, present, next card, future. So past, present, future. That three card spread that we are all so familiar with, that is
Christiana: So if you're reading for yourself it's who you are at this current time. If you're reading for someone else for a querent, it's who they are at this current time. The next card, which now begins the descent to the other side of this arc or this horseshoe
Christiana: So if you're reading for yourself, it's a person or energy close to you. If you're reading for someone else, it's a person or energy close to them. The next card, which is the second to last card, is a problem or obstacle, and the final card all the way d
Christiana: Now, when you read this spread, you want to pay attention to a few things, because even though there's only seven cards in this spread, there are some positions that are very similar in their meaning. So if you look at the cards that are in positions of s
Christiana: Because of their similar, they'll strengthen each other if they are radically different or opposites. That will give you some sense of either. Well, there's this, but there's that. There's a conflict here. You have to pay attention to both of these things
Christiana: significator, who you are at this current time. So you're going to want to look at those two cards together. The future card, the third card in is very similar, of course, in meaning to the final outcome, the last card. So you want to look at those two ca
Christiana: You can use this spread in a lot of different settings for a lot of different kinds of questions or indeed just as a general reading, going in without a question. So again, in the shape of a horseshoe, starting from the left, going to the right past, pres
Christiana: Use it for yourself. Use it for others. Have fun. Thanks so much. If you want to drop a comment and let me know how this spread worked out for you, I'd love to know.
Christiana: So we did it. That's a wrap on episode four.
Frank: Episode four, Christiana a lot of good stuff here. I want to thank again Ciro Marchetti for sitting down and having that interview on The Fool. Always love getting his insights. And of course, our panel as well. Beverly, Amber and Michelle were all awesom
Christiana: And Beverly, Amber, Michelle and Ciro will all be presenting at StaarCon 2023. So you got to get your tickets now. You can join us in person or online. You can join us for one day, two days or the whole weekend. Just go to StaarCon dot com that's S T A A
Christiana: We will sell out of hotel rooms.
Frank: I have mine. I got it last month and I will certainly be there all weekend I can't wait to see you there and I can't wait to see all of the StaarCon attendees there as well. So everybody make sure to get your tickets because I look forward to seeing you.
Christiana: Absolutely. And I want everyone to know that your interview with Ciro Marchetti, which we was the highlight of this episode, actually continues and will continue into a few more episodes. So if you can't get enough Ciro, you're going to get some more in e
Frank: Thanks again. Chiro and thank you again, Christiana. I will see you next episode.
Christiana: Looking forward to it. Thank you.
Frank: Bye bye.
Christiana: This has been the StaarCast Variety Show with Frank Kwiatkowski and me, Christiana Gaudet. Special thanks to Ciro Marchetti, Michelle Welch, Amber Highland and Beverly Frable. StaarCon 2023 is coming soon. Learn more and get your tickets at StaarCon dot c