Reading Right to Left

“The right hemisphere prefers vertical lines, but the left hemisphere prefers horizontal lines. If lines are vertical, the left hemisphere prefers to read them from the bottom up, whereas the right hemisphere prefers to read from the top down. … Reading left to right involves moving the eyes towards the right, driven by the left hemisphere, and preferentially communicating what is seen to the left hemisphere.” (my emphasis)

I’ve been thoroughly enjoying “The Master and His Emissary” by Iain McGilchrist, from which the above quote was excerpted. Time and again, I come across passages that provide insights and/or questions that relate to spirituality or divination in general and, especially, how we read Tarot and oracle cards. (See more of my posts on McGilchrist’s work HERE.)

The section containing the above immediately reminded me of how quickly I fell in love with a layout and style of reading presented by Ana Cortez in her “Doors of Somlipith” playing card oracle (the accompanying guidebook is amazing). Her basic suggestion is to lay four cards vertically (NOT horizontally), top-to-bottom (T2B); then, the geomantic figures (as revealed by the four playing cards in Ana’s system) are depicted right-to-left (R2L). (Example to the left.) This immediately captivated me and when I initially added my own 9-card (3×3 box spread) inside the reversed “L”, I also laid and read those R2L. Those early readings I did with Ana’s cards and in her style were fantastically easy to read, so easy, in fact, that I was shocked. Is it possibly related to how McGilchrist states that the R2L and T2B will engage the right hemisphere of the brain first?

I’ll be honest, I’ve not been interested in the popular, short L2R readings such as Past-Present-Future, etc. They immediately felt quite structured and limiting to me; could that be partially due to their innate link to the rationality and concretized thinking of the left hemisphere rather than to the holistic and broad-spectrum uncertainty (paradox and infinite possibilities and ever-shifting patterns) provided through the right hemisphere? I’m already strongly left-hemispheric (I was a legal secretary for more than 20 years; I’m a bibliophile; I adore books, learning, gathering knowledge), as most of us are who’ve been raised in Western cultures, so whenever I turn to my spiritual practices, and for me everything to do with reading cards is spiritual, I seek in them the intuitive processes that are less prevalent in my other avenues of interest. Even my favorite spreads are large ones that already lean into more R2L, T2B, as well as spiral-movement designs.

Reading the above, I’m inspired to re-work my readings and spreads to incorporate, as much as possible, the R2L and T2B ways of receiving/interpreting messages. Let the experiments begin!

For anyone unaware, McGilchrist’s books are written to reveal how left-hemisphere dominant our world has become — to our detriment — and encourages us to become aware of the problems inherent within that dominance. I highly recommend his books, especially to anyone interested in spirituality, the occult, and divination; to realize how our minds are being filtered through our brains can, it seems likely, shift our awareness and perhaps bring greater insight and wisdom.

Also, because of these references to writing/reading, I was reminded of another book I thoroughly enjoyed quite a few years ago: “The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image” by Leonard Shlain. However, that book, published in 1998, referred to earlier memes regarding more simplistic L/R brain divisions (those clear-cut divisions which are preferred, as it happens, by the left hemisphere itself!) so once I complete McGilchrist’s work, I may have to re-read Shlain’s.

A Layout for Listening to The Unseen

One of my joys in reading the cards is its versatility and pliancy. The dance between how I listen to the many voices of The Unseen through the cards is one of presence, intention, compassion, and much more, not the least of which is selecting the decks I feel they wish to speak through (more on that in a later post) in order to transmit a clear message. Following is a layout (I won’t go into the specific metaphysics of how I approach readings or the situation itself herein) that seems to hold the transmission of energies well, especially for readings on paranormal type situations.

First, four playing cards — here it’s the Doors of Somlipith — are drawn top to bottom and placed on the right. Second, from those cards, Geomantic symbols are developed (in the manner described by the creator of the deck) and placed right to left along the bottom. This reversed “L” forms the overall energy of the reading. Next, I use a “symbol” deck (Lenormand or other — here is it the Mildred Payne’s Secret Pocket Oracle) and create a 3×3 box spread in the center — this is the core message of the answer I’m seeking.

After that, I may, depending upon the answer and additional inquiries that emerge, continue to layer with other decks in a variety of ways, allowing intuition to lead me forward to clarity. In this particular reading, I used the Rusted Lenormand layered upon the original layout to gain further insight.

However, this was quite an in-depth reading so more questions arose around the situation and led to even more layering, using both Nellie’s Deck and the Madhouse Tarot.

One of my intentions for readings on The Missing and/or The Paranormal (in all its guises), beyond seeking Truth, Understanding, and opening to Listen, is to remember The Missing or The Unseen, to honor them and their final chapters or current journeys in all realms (if one believes in non-linear time, then all of these events are actually occurring now), to send peace to those who were left behind to wonder and/or who were affected in some way. We are all interconnected — exploring those connections of material as well as incorporeal helps all of us.

Blessed Be