Sample Relationship Reading: Paul

For: Paul

Spread: Based on the relationship spread found in Shadowscapes Tarot companion book, by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law & Barbara Moore

Deck: Osho Zen Tarot

Question: General Outlook

Card Position

Card Number

Card Name

1: Your Hope

9 of Clouds

Sorrow

2: Her Hope

XIII

Transformation

3: Relationship Strength

V

No-thingness

4: Your Fear

X

Change

5: Her Fear

7 of Fire

Stress

6: Relationship weakness

Page of Rainbows

Adventure

7: Final Insight

Page of Clouds

Mind

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Interpretation

The first card represents your hope for this relationship, and the 9 of Clouds tells me that you hope to be done shedding tears over your broken heart, you are tired of suffering in love. You feel your love and attention were “wasted” (though love is never really wasted!) in situations where it was not reciprocated.  But this feels different, and so, you dare to hope to be done suffering in love for good!

Her hope for this relationship is similar, she’s actually hoping that this will be a life-
transforming relationship, that all her bad luck will be behind her. She has also been badly hurt by rejection, but feels like this relationship is turning a new leaf in her life, or at least that’s what she’s hoping. A relationship like she’s never had before. The end of all the crap that came before, and the beginning of a completely new stage. (XIII: Transformation)

The greatest strength of this relationship is that it feels so full of possibilities and potential. You are both trying to jump in with both feet first, regardless of how burned you’ve been in the past. Seems you both have kind of an “it’s now or never” attitude about this, and are willing to put in the work towards making the relationship last. (V: No-Thingness).

Your greatest fear in this relationship is that you won’t know how to BE in a good relationship. You have spent so much of your life either alone or in bad relationship situations, that you are afraid that you won’t even recognize the real deal when you find it. You are very set in your ways, too, and you don’t want to have to change in order to make a relationship work, and you are afraid that she might want to change you. (X: Change)

Her greatest fear, on the other hand, is that you will try to control her too much, or that you will constantly want her to jump through hoops to “prove” her love to you. She’s afraid that she’ll end up spending all her energy trying to please you, but still you won’t think it’s good enough. It feels to me like she’s been in a situation where she was made to believe the guy was “doing her a favor” by being with her (real class act, that guy #sarcasm), and is afraid that it might happen again. (7 of Fire: Stress)

The greatest weakness in this relationship is that you are actually both very set in your ways, and may have a hard time shaking things up; you could fall into a comfortable routine that could get boring after a while. You’ll have to make it a point to inject fun things to do into your relationship, and even when making a point of it one or the other might be a bit hesitant, or even resistant to going along with it. (Page of Rainbows: Adventure)

The final card shows us the likely final outcome if things stay on the current track. I don’t believe in predestination, so if this final card isn’t too positive, I look at it as a warning, not an inevitability. In this case, it looks like both you and her are carrying so much emotional baggage, you may get caught up in your own heads in negative assumptions about one’s feelings towards the other. This can lead to a breakdown in communication, where she thinks you’re feeling one way, and you think she’s feeling another, and so you create a mountain out of a molehill, escalating tiny issues into big blowups.

The key to avoid this is to maintain open lines of communication. Speak compassionately to each other, remember that a kind word goes a long way. Always assume that the other person isn’t hurting you intentionally, rather they might be inadvertently pushing buttons that were put there by previous heartbreak. If she says or does something that hurt you, take a step back and a deep breath, and assume it was probably unintentional.  Kindly let her know how she made you feel. You may be surprised at her reaction.

There is definitely a lot of potential for healing for both of you in this relationship. I know it’s hard to let go of the past and “love like you’ve never been hurt before”, but that is precisely what is needed in order for true love to blossom. Allow yourself to be vulnerable with her, and she will do the same with you, and from this, intimacy and love will grow. Talk to each other, and err on the side of openness.

There are three major arcana (more powerful cards!) in this spread: Transformation, No-Thingness, and Change. It seems like there will be some conflict between you because of a fear of change in your part, note the play in between your biggest fear (Change), and her biggest hope (Transformation). Remember that we can only grow by allowing ourselves to change, and MAKING ourselves change for the better. It’s not easy, but it sure is rewarding!

The other major arcana shows up on the relationship’s strength position, while the relationship’s weakness position is taken by a minor arcana card. This tells me that, overall, this relationship is stronger than it is weak. Just like anything else worth doing, it will require work, so watch out for those potential pitfalls.

Good luck! My best wishes for you always 🙂

Note: I use the Osho Zen Tarot Deck for my readings, and make no claim of ownership of copyright. Osho Zen Tarot is copyrighted by Osho International Foundation