When performing a reading, the fortuneteller analyzes the problem situation as fully as possible. As a rule, the following are taken into account:

• reasons (past);
• current state of affairs (present);
• potential opportunities and consequences (future);
• positive and negative influences.

At least one card is drawn for each of these points. But the essence of the problem still eludes, since only the “environment” is assessed: who is to blame, what will happen next, etc. In this case, a significator is required: in the Tarot this is a card that personifies the questioner (querent) or the question with which he came. The new position in the layout allows you to make a prediction as adequately as possible, since more detailed information is revealed to the fortuneteller.

Why do you need a significator in the Tarot?

The significator is an additional key to a successful layout. He helps:

1. Get ready to work, resonate with the querent. Determining a suitable card, the fortuneteller automatically concentrates on the person sitting in front of him.
2. See the true state of affairs, find out the real motives of the client.
3. For example. A girl suffering from loneliness came for a consultation. In her layout, all the cards are positive, and in theory the questioner should be in a happy relationship. But 4 Cups appear as a significator of the situation: it becomes clear that the girl herself is to blame for the problem. She does not notice favorable opportunities, preferring a gloomy view of the world.
4. 3. Get a complete understanding of the situation. For example, the significator belongs to the suit of Pentacles, and in the layout all the cards also turned out to be “coins”. This means that the querent is in relative harmony with the world around him - his thoughts and actions on the “topic” coincide with the events taking place. And vice versa. The significator from the category of Cups, being among the Pentacles, speaks of excessive romance and having one's head in the clouds when practicality and balance are required.

How to choose the right significator in the Tarot

For a successful scenario, you need to choose the right significator. There are a lot of options on how to do this - and each of them has the right to exist. It is most convenient to determine the significator in the following ways.

Pull at random

The method is suitable for tarot readers who rely entirely on intuition and chance. You need to concentrate on the querent and pull out any card from the deck. This method is also useful if the questioner does not want to voice the problem himself. For example, the drawn Jester card says that, most likely, the client is interested in the situation with the child; The Hermit indicates troubling loneliness, and the 2 of Cups indicates love affairs.

Determine by gender, age and character

In the hierarchy of Tarot cards, Pages are considered the youngest - they should designate children of both sexes, girls and simply infantile people. Knights represent guys - students, young professionals who have just begun their journey. Kings indicate men over 35-40 years of age who are firmly on their feet. The Queen serves as a significator for mature women (although this card is often used for girls over 18 years of age).

The division by suit is something like this:

• Cups - romantics, sensitive natures; have an attractive appearance for the opposite sex;
• Pentacles - practical people who know how to manage money; value comfort and their time;
• Wands are workaholics; those who made themselves; working very hard - not only out of desire, but also out of necessity; often work with their hands;
• Swords - domineering, emotionally cold, decisive; can go over their heads; take advantage of all available advantages to defeat your opponent.

When working with a person whose character is unknown, the choice should be made purely intuitively.

According to A.E. Waite, co-author of the famous Rider-Waite Tarot deck, choosing a significator is very simple. The Magician corresponds to men, the High Priestess corresponds to women. Allow the querent to choose a significator on their own. It is necessary to shift responsibility to the questioner. Let him carefully examine the deck - which card does he like best? As a rule, querents are image-oriented. If there are a lot of coins on it, then the problem is financial in nature; fighting people hint at the presence of conflicts in the life of the questioner.

Be guided by the question posed

Most often, querents talk in detail about a troubling problem. The fortuneteller's task is to determine which card most accurately corresponds to the question voiced. For example:

• The Chariot is suitable for exploring the theme of travel;
• to receive answers regarding inheritance or wealth, you can use the 10 of Pentacles;
• the issue of stagnation in business is well described by the 4 of Pentacles card.

Of course, each practitioner has his own interpretation of meanings - you need to be guided by it. The significator in the Tarot is optional for use. Some use the card only in certain layouts, others even do without it. You must decide for yourself whether the information provided by the significator is needed or not. Both options are correct.

The most ancient traditions advise using the High Priestess as a significator for female querents, and the Magician for male querents. This method is almost not used now, since the High Priestess and Magician cards are too important to be removed from the layout for no reason.

Much more often, interpreters choose a significator from court cards. This makes more sense since court cards represent people. If you decide to use a significator, include it in the layout.

This can be useful as you will see the querent's reaction and determine how he feels about the rest of the cards in the reading. For example, the Page of Cups will be more pleased with the Two of Cups than the Knight of Swords. The Page of Cups is interested in love and longs for new relationships, while the Knight of Swords is more often focused on the goal and will regard the emergence of new relationships as a hindrance rather than a gift.

To select a significator from the court cards, first determine which card best matches your client: in appearance, astrological sign, character traits. Then, based on age, determine the appropriate rank. The disadvantage of the traditional method of choosing a card based on appearance is that the images will not be an exact match of skin, hair and eye color.

Matching appearance

• Wands: fair skin, blond hair, blue eyes;
• Cups: medium skin tone, light brown or light brown hair, blue or brown eyes;
• Swords: olive skin, dark hair, light eyes;
• Pentacles: dark skin, dark hair, dark eyes.

Zodiac sign

• Wands: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius;
• Cups: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces;
• Swords: Gemini, Libra, Aquarius;
• Pentacles: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn Character;
• Wands: hot-tempered, passionate, energetic;
• Cups: emotional, sensitive, creative;
• Swords: intellectuals and logicians;
• Pentacles: down to earth, practical.

Age

• Page: child or girl;
• Knight: young man;
• Queen: mature woman;
• King: mature man.

By choosing a significator in this way, you pay tribute to the traditions of the mystics. However, Tarot fans have always loved experiments. Some people prefer to let the deck choose the signifier by shuffling the cards and then choosing the top one. Others ask the querent to look through the cards in the deck (or just the court cards), choose the one he thinks best suits the situation, and clarify how and why the choice was made. This allows the querent to touch the cards, which will tune him into the layout, and the reader to learn the querent’s views on himself and the situation.

Since ancient times, people have turned to the help of tarot cards when unresolved issues arise. Cards help to get answers to various hidden questions, help in solving the most difficult cases, and direct thoughts in the right direction. The significator card helps to systematize the layout.

Tarot cards provide answers to questions and allow you to look into the future

What is a significator in tarot cards and how to choose it correctly. Selection of a significator in accordance with the situation, personality characteristics and astrology

Layouts performed by an experienced tarot reader can be confusing. To interpret the layouts most accurately, for a specific person, it is necessary to use a significator card in the tarot.

The tarot significator is selected based on several principles; most often, the figured tarot is used as a significator.

All tarot layouts are performed for any situation or are associated with any person. In order to most accurately understand the situation and its belonging to a specific person, the tarot reader chooses a tarot signifier. It symbolizes the person for whom the alignment is being performed. The significator card tells the questioner about the appearance of the person and character traits intended for fortune-telling, his attitude towards the person and the events taking place. It is necessary to choose a card of a person or situation consciously, but it can also be completely accidental, relying on fate in these matters. The significator helps to identify a person in a reading and makes it inseparable from the prediction. Most often, the significator helps the questioner get an accurate answer to his question, especially if fortune telling occurs at a distance. It is correct to choose a tarot significator from the figure cards, but you can also find a suitable one from the major arcana. It is very important that the significator characterizes the object of fortune-telling completely or accurately reflects life circumstances. But the significator is not a primary condition in fortune telling with tarot cards; it does not have to be chosen. And some tarot readers claim that the chosen significator can deprive the fortune telling of accuracy, since one element is taken from the deck.

For the significator, a figured card is usually chosen

How to choose the right card

In order for fortune telling to be honest, you need to choose a significator, and this can be done in several ways.

Pull at random

The method of drawing a card at random is suitable for those questioners who rely on fate. In order to pull out the correct card. you need to concentrate on the querent and draw any card from the tarot deck. This method will help those who come to a tarot reader for the first time and are not going to voice their problem. But an experienced tarot reader will always understand what situation or personality we are talking about based on the card that appears:

• An elongated joke indicates that the questioner is interested in the situation related to the child.
• The hermit refers to the issue of loneliness.
• The significator of the two cups speaks of a question in the love sphere.

Determine the card according to gender, age and character

When choosing a card to represent a person in tarot, the principle of age is often used. For children, it is best to use the tarot of the minor arcana - pages. Pages denote children of any gender and people of an infantile nature.

For young men and people who have just started their careers or are receiving education, knights are suitable.

King cards are traditionally used to represent middle-aged men over 40 who are already firmly on their feet. Queens are used to refer to women of mature age, sometimes to refer to girls who have reached the age of 20.

Suits indicate the character of a person:

• Bowls are suitable for romantics and sensual people. People of this tarot suit have an attractive appearance to the opposite sex.
• Pentacles. This suit denotes practical people who know how to manage money. These people value comfort and coziness, they know the value not only of money, but also of their time.
• Wands. This suit is usually used to designate workaholics, people who create themselves. They work a lot with their hands, sometimes in defiance of their own interests and desires.
• Swords. This suit is suitable for people in power, those who are alien to emotions. Sword people go over their heads, they use all possible methods and advantages to win.

Tarot significator page is suitable for children, king - for mature men, knight - for young people

If you follow the advice of A.E. White, the world famous creator of the Rider-White deck, the designating card is easy to select. The magician's arcan is suitable for men, and the arcan is suitable for women high priestess. If the querent does not agree with the significator, then it is permissible to choose a suit or lasso to his liking. A large number of coins in the tarot image indicates problems in financially, people fighting or arguing indicate presence conflict situation in the querent's life.

Significator and astrological alignment

Sometimes, when choosing a significator in the tarot, the fortuneteller is guided by astrological principles. The suits of the minor arcana of the tarot in astrology are considered the patrons of the four elements. And each element in astrology belongs to a specific zodiac sign. Guided by this principle, you can match the suits of the minor arcana and horoscope signs:

• Pentacles correspond with the element of Earth. Earth rules the zodiac signs Capricorn, Taurus and Virgo.
• The arcana of wands correspond with fire. Fire has power over the signs of Sagittarius, Leo and Aries.
• The minor arcana of cups have power over water. Zodiac signs associated with water are Pisces, Cancer and Scorpio.
• Swords are related to air. Air rules aquarius libra the scales and gemini.

If we approach this issue in more detail, then we can differentiate the choice of the main personality card by the individual’s date of birth. In astrology, a person does not belong only to one element; he can combine two forces (moon in Cancer or Jupiter in Capricorn).

This approach is the most difficult, since a person needs to understand not only the symbolism of tarot cards, but also understand the position of the planets in astrology.

Swords are associated with air, pentacles with earth.

Choosing a significator based on the situation

You can choose a significator card based on any situation. Cards of figurative meaning are used to indicate a person, and the senior tarot characterizes the situation:

• Mag. Used as an identifier for a person who is accustomed to relying only on himself. The situation relates to health issues (successful surgery or relief from an illness).
• High Priestess. The situation is a confusing issue that requires unraveling and the help of higher powers.
• Empress. The situation is a solution to creative issues. The questioner doubts the successful resolution of the case.
• Emperor. Card of a strong man. The situation is the solution of issues in which the power of higher authorities is involved. Business map.
• Hierophant. An insecure person trying to find the right path in life. The situation is the choice of life path, profession.
• Lovers. The situation is a solution to issues of personal relationships.
• Chariot. Travel or relocation.
• A hermit is a person trying to know himself.
• Wheel of Fortune. The situation is whether you are lucky or unlucky.
• Tower. The questioner wants to know the reason for the trouble.
• Justice. All situations related to resolving legal issues in court.

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The significator is a card that is talked about a lot, but in fact it is not always used by practicing tarot readers. Today I decided to summarize the scattered information on this topic and tell you about what this mysterious significator is, why we need it at all, how to define it, and what is its role this map plays in the layout. And, of course, I will give examples from personal practice - I will answer the question whether I myself use significators, and how exactly I prescribe them.

What is a significator in Tarot?

A significator in the Tarot is a specific card that either describes the querent (the person who asked for the reading) or characterizes the situation in question. Of course, the significator or form, as this card is more often called, is not at all mandatory. It’s just that many tarot readers use it as a hint about a person or the event itself. Some Masters find it much easier to focus on the querent's personality if his significator lies before his eyes. The same can be said about the situation under consideration. Sometimes it is convenient to use a blank card when the layout is carried out not in a personal meeting, but remotely - in this case, the significator symbolically replaces the presence of a real living person.

What role does the significator play in a Tarot reading?

The significator is usually not included in the positions of a specific layout, it simply sets the direction, the general vector, and is laid out nearby. If we are talking about a person’s form, then it will describe his personal qualities, based on which we can make assumptions about the querent’s behavior in situations described by other cards. Unless, of course, we were guided when choosing a significator solely by the appearance of a given person. If we choose a situation form, it will give a general description of it, show what we are talking about, and indicate the main essence of the issue. And sometimes this card, drawn blindly, acts as a useful hint to the tarot reader himself. Below I will tell you how this happens. But first you should decide on the rules for choosing this mysterious card.

Methods for selecting a significator

There are three ways to determine a blank card. The first is when the signifier of a person or situation is consciously chosen by the tarot reader himself, the second is when the Master gives the choice to the querent, the third is when the tarot reader draws a card randomly. Each of these methods has its pros and cons. There are no strict rules here, because the significator is not mandatory, and many Masters successfully practice without it.

Method 1 - informed choice

The first way to determine a significator is by consciously choosing a specific card in the deck. When using it, the tarot reader himself chooses exactly the Arcana of the Tarot, which, in his opinion, best characterizes either the querent himself or the situation under consideration.

Querent's form

If we are talking about a person, then most often one of the Court cards is chosen as a significator. In this case, the principle of choice is appearance or social role a person, or his zodiac sign, or the most striking character traits. Since all Tarot decks are very different, it is impossible to give clear examples of the interpretation of Court cards from the point of view of the querent’s appearance. It is clear that Pages usually characterize boys and girls, sometimes children, Kings - mature men, Queens - adult women. But at the same time, it is difficult to say what exactly the appearance will be. So, for example, in many decks the Queen of Swords is a brunette, the Queen of Cups is a blonde, but if you look at, you will see a blond Lady of an airy suit. Therefore, I advise you to focus not on someone else’s achievements, but solely on the features of the cards on which you conduct fortune telling.

The second principle of choice is the zodiac sign. But even here, the spread of astrological correspondences is so great that it is impossible to say with certainty what this or that card will mean in different decks. To avoid confusion, use the correspondences given for your cards. So, for example, according to the classics it is associated with the signs of Libra and Aquarius, but for me, who works mostly according to the Crowley system, the same card means Gemini and Cancer. If there are no astrological correspondences on the cards or you have simply never used these bindings, be guided by the person’s appearance or character.

The third way is to choose a signifier based on a person’s character or socionic type. This is perhaps the most difficult thing. If the querent is one of your relatives or acquaintances, then you probably know what socionic type he belongs to. And if in front of you there is absolutely stranger- choosing the right card becomes much more difficult. And the correspondence to socionic types for different decks will also be different: for example, in figure characters, their characteristics are very different from Waite’s. In general, these correspondences by psychotypes are the topic of a separate article, so I won’t go into them now. I’ll just say that if you know the socionic type, take the corresponding significator; if not, listen to the voice of intuition: just look at the person and imagine which court card would suit him best.

By the way, Waite himself, if I’m not mistaken, generally advised taking the Magician as the significator for any man, and for women - . Also, no one forbids you to choose the questioner’s card from the Major Arcana or numerical cards (especially if the numerical ones are depicted in a plot manner). Everything is in your hands, as they say!

Significator of the situation

If we are talking about a situation, then here we choose as a significator the Arcanum that best characterizes the main issue. Simple examples: we are talking about the birth of a child, pregnancy, relationships with the mother - about internal fears or some kind of deception - the Moon, about the beginning of a new period, business, project - the Fool, about relationships with the father or boss - the Emperor. If we talk about confrontation, struggle, competition - , about the trip - Chariot, about love affair- Two of Cups, work issues - Three or Eight of Pentacles (depending on the context) and so on.

Method 2 - independent choice of querent

Some tarot readers simply lay out the entire deck in front of the querent and invite him to independently choose a significator - the card that, in his opinion, best describes the essence of the situation, or simply the one that he likes best. By the way, from personal practice I can say that very often a person intuitively chooses exactly the Arcana that perfectly characterizes the essence of the matter, even if something completely different was voiced.

So, for example, I once made a layout for a friend in her presence: it was about relationships and the choice between two men - the girl was interested in who the relationship with would be more promising and harmonious. But when I asked her to pull out the card she liked the most, it turned out to be her - and I immediately realized that the lady was not looking for harmony, care and love, this was all secondary. It is much more important to her which of the men can provide for her financially, because, as I already knew myself, she especially did not like to work and always dreamed that only her husband would earn money in the family. Naturally, I interpreted the layout in the context of an aspect that particularly interested her. Of course, she didn’t keep silent about love either, but she put emphasis on material security, stability and a man’s willingness to be the sole breadwinner of the family in principle. So, as you can see, the conscious choice of the querent can give a useful hint.

Method 3 - random card

The third method is somewhat reminiscent of the last version of the second method, only in this case the form card is drawn not by the client, but by the tarot reader himself. In this case, the deck seems to tell the Master which aspect is worth paying special attention to. I have also used this method more than once. It is especially interesting when a random card turns out to be a Major Arcana or a Court Figure. Court cards often indicate behavior that will be characteristic of the querent in the situation in question.

Let me give you a personal example: I was doing a reading on a relationship problem for a couple at the request of a young girl, and the significator randomly came up (Tarot Thoth). The cards showed that the client had faced some important choice in the past, the consequence of which was precisely the very situation that we were considering. It is not difficult to guess that the Princess of Cups always chooses with her heart, emotions, and not her reason. And this really turned out to be the case: at one time the girl listened to the voice of her heart, and out of two suitors she chose the more interesting, romantic one, as it seemed to her - the one who courted more beautifully. The second gentleman did not have a bright appearance, but at the same time he was much more practical, reliable and, most importantly, loyal.

At the moment, the client’s problem was that her boyfriend was constantly flirting with other girls, conducting correspondence in in social networks, in a word, she shows active attention to all females, even in her presence. And as a result of the situation, our young lady made a mistake at that very moment of choice: she was drawn to romance and beautiful gestures, but behind the bright facade was hiding an ordinary womanizer. If she had chosen a modest but reliable guy, she would now be surrounded by care, love and attention. I gave her advice on how, if desired, she could maintain her existing relationship, and for the future I advised her to also connect to the Princess of Cups - to think not only with emotions, but also with her head.

Sometimes a randomly selected card can suggest more serious aspects. So, for example, once I was sorting out inheritance issues with a client, and I pulled out the significator of the question purely for myself - it turned out to be , although the man himself, who asked for the alignment, repeated several times that he didn’t really need anything, he just wanted to fairly divide the property between his brothers left over from my father. According to the Four of Pentacles, it immediately became clear to me that all these words were lies, and in fact, the true desire of the querent was to get as much as possible. As you can see, a significator drawn at random is a useful hint for the tarot reader himself. In my opinion, it doesn’t even have to be shown to the client.

To summarize all of the above, I will say that the method by which you choose a significator is your personal business, there are no special rules here - everything is decided by you and only you.

Is a significator needed in the Tarot at all?

At first I often included significators in my work, but now I do this quite rarely. Sometimes my intuition tells me that it is better to pull out a blank card to get important details, sometimes I get along just fine without it. It all depends on the question itself, on the person for whom I am doing the reading, on the mood and desire. I do not consider the use of a significator a mandatory necessity.

Significator in Lenormand cards

And finally, I would like to say a few words about working with the Lenormand deck. Here it is often impossible to do without significators, and the deck even has two cards specially made for this purpose - Man and Woman. Often, based on the position of these cards in the layout, they read important nuances, therefore, when working with the French fortune teller deck, you need to use forms. In Tarot decks, as you know, there are no specially designated significator cards, so their use is a personal matter for the tarot reader.

Significator in Tarot

Significator - a card indicating the Questioner, or a situation. Figure cards or figures of the Major Arcana, such as the Jester, the Magician, the Priestess, the Empress, the Hierophant, and the Hermit, are used as personality cards. Traditionally, figure cards have the following correspondences:

Pages are children, teenagers, very young people.

Knights are energetic young people over 25 years old.

Queens are mature women.

Kings are mature men.

According to elemental affiliation they distinguish:

Wands – Fire (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius)

Cups – Water (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces)

Swords – Air (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius)

Pentacles – Earth (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn)

A signifier from among the figured cards can also be selected based on external similarity, based on skin and hair color, but with women this is sometimes not easy, given their passion for coloring. The choice of a significator is a purely individual thing and the division of Queens and Kings by gender is not always correct. There are women in whose character yang qualities prevail, and there are men who have an excess of yin energy. You need to remember this when you find it difficult to choose a significator. This approach helps. If you use the Major Arcana figures, the choice can be made based on the following considerations:

The jester is a child, an adult child, with a desire to find himself and discover the world anew.

A magician is a strong-willed person who takes an active life position.

The priestess is a wise woman.

Empress - mother, wife; close, dear person.

Emperor – father, boss; a person with power.

Hierophant – parent, teacher; a person you can trust.

The hermit is a progenitor, a lonely elderly man.

If you choose a significator based on the situation, you can use general meaning kart:

Lovers, twos minor arcana– characterize the choice depending on the situation.

Chariot, Six of Wands – journey; movement towards victory.

Justice - we're talking about about passing a sentence, resolving a confusing situation.

Fortune, Death - serious changes, but it is necessary to distinguish the shades of these changes.

The Tower and the Devil speak of upheavals, although the roots of these upheavals may be of a different nature.

If we take the layout as getting a certain picture consisting of puzzles, which are cards and a picture of the significator, then the significator itself does not have to be a card from one deck. The same cards in different decks can have different shade the same problem. For example, the Five of Pentacles speaks of distress. In the Tarot of Eternity deck, the card focuses more on the aspect of illness rather than the financial problem. The questioner believed that the Five of Pentacles of the Tarot of Eternity reflected his health problems more reliably, but he insisted on working with the Waite Tarot. The layout was made using the Waite Tarot, and the Five of Pentacles of the Tarot of Eternity was left as a significator.

Another example with the exact opposite situation. The questioner was from a former Soviet republic and felt lost in Moscow, without support, and all this against the backdrop of financial and housing problems. She asked to make a layout on the Tarot of Eternity, since, according to her, there is a lot of Sun in the pictures, which she misses so much in Moscow. However, the figurative picture of the Five of Pentacles of the Waite Tarot better reflected her difficult situation. Needless to say, the Five of Pentacles of the Waite Tarot became a significator, and the alignment was successfully done on the Tarot of Eternity. The move is ambiguous, but when fortune telling on the Internet, many tarot readers use a digital photograph of the Questioner as a significator. So why can’t you take a card from another deck as a signifier? It is easily woven into the outline of the layout.

There are tarot readers who do not need to choose a significator, citing the fact that they do not want to deplete the deck by one card. At the same time, a person gets an excellent result! Don't you need a figurative picture, a picture that characterizes the layout? So, no need, the choice is always yours. If without a significator it seems to you that the picture of the layout is incomplete, choose a suitable card, or even several, and not necessarily from the deck on which you are telling fortunes. Experiment, do what suits you best. After all, this is one way to tune into a conversation with cards.

And further…

You can place a significator card at a specific position in the layout. For example, you are at a crossroads and don’t know where to move next. This situation is very accurately described by the Two of Wands of the Waite Tarot. We make a Selection layout consisting of three cards. You can immediately put the Two of Wands in the situation position, and choose the other two cards from the deck.

Another example: in the past, a situation of crisis took place in the life of the Questioner. He described it as very similar to the Knight of Swords card in the Waite Tarot. In a three-card layout, you can immediately put the Knight of Swords in the position of the past, and choose cards of the present and future from the deck. This is not a rule, it's just one approach to cards. Fortune telling is a creative process, which means that the approach should not be rigid.