Mother Sky - Father EarthSignature Spread

Chapter 8

EastAir

South Fire

West Water

North Earth

Akasha Spirit

FATHER SKY

MOTHER EARTH

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EastAir

South Fire

West Water

North Earth

Akasha Spirit

M a s c u l i n e D i v i n e | Ya n g E n e r g i e s

F e m i n i n e D i v i n e | Y i n E n e r g i e s

Tarot Spreads & Working With the Ark You can use many layouts with “The Ark Tarot & Oracle Deck” when seeking answers to questions regarding relationships, career, finance, and spiritual growth. The deck is diverse enough for simple single card draws, three-card lay-outs, or even the traditional Celtic Cross if you desire. Consider using any of hundreds of tarot-related books or find the instructions for using different spreads online. You may also find tremendous benefit in creating your spreads where you have the opportunity to define the meaning of each card position and how the cards interrelate. Here, there’s informa-tion on how to use The Ark Tarot’s Signature “Father Sky, Mother Earth Spread.” 

Father Sky, Mother Earth Spread A simple question you can pose when using the “Father Sky, Mother Earth” layout is, “What does the future hold regarding my _____________?” You can fill in the blank with “relationship,” “career,” “finances,” or “spiritual growth.” Start by concentrating on the question you want answers to while shuffling the deck. Shuffle in any way that makes you comfortable – cut the deck three times or even continue to shuffle until a card(s) “leaps” from the deck (the Leaper), “announcing” its readiness to reveal insights. The Leaper(s) is something you can choose to discard or read for more clarification after completing the Ark’s Signature Spread interpretation.

As Above, So Below Dayna Winters, a Master Tarot Reader, honors The Ark and all who use it by having created a special spread just for the deck’s users resulting in “The Ark Tarot’s Signature Father Sky, Mother Earth Spread.” The system is based on the Hermetic axiom, “As above, so below,” associated with tarot, alchemy, magic, and sacred geometry, The expression comes from the Emerald Tablet (also known as the “Tabula Smaragdina” or the “Smaragdine Tablet”). The tablet and its writings are of an unknown origin. The work is often attributed to Hermes Trismeg-istus (Hermes the Thrice Great): A deity that is the combination of the Egyptian deity Thoth and the Greek God, Hermes. 

The work references transmutation and the prima materia (Microcos-mos). Mention of the Emerald Tablet appears in Arabic writings between the sixth and eighth centuries. In the twelfth century, scholars later trans-lated the work into Latin. The passage “As above, so below,” is widely refer-enced, with its meaning holding significance throughout the centuries for students of the arcane arts, Hermeticists, alchemists, and philosophers. 

The axiom means that the macrocosm reflects the microcosm, or more simply, whatever happens in the Universe, cosmos, or celestial heavens also happens in the physical plane. On a smaller scale, “As above, so be-low” can represent intention and thoughts versus will and action or the

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conscious mind versus the subconscious. As such, the “Father Sky, Moth-er Earth Spread” gives you two rows of cards covering opposing realms that, when brought together for analysis, give you a complete picture of all energetic influences surrounding existing conditions.

The “Father Sky, Mother Earth Spread” consists of ten cards, with five cards in a row followed by another five cards in a row just beneath them. Each row has a single card corresponding with East/Air, South/Fire, West/Water, North/Earth, and Akasha/Spirit. Interpret the cards while moving from left to right or East/Air to Akasha/Spirit.

When viewing each card, consider the energetic influence of the Car-dinal Directions and Elements in mind. The Akasha/Spirit Card in both rows gives you a two-card outcome, bringing all the energetic influences together into a final summation. With the first card you draw, consider the Animal’s message, the tarot symbolism (if appropriate), and contem-plate how the card’s meaning changes under the influence of the East/Air. Do the same with the next card, but consider the card’s meaning under the influence of South/Fire, and so forth.

The influence of the Cardinal Direction/Elements, in brief, are as fol-lows:*

• East/Air: The realm of thoughts, communication, ideas, the mind, and new beginnings.

• South/Fire: The realm of will, action, creativity, the spark of life, and manifestation. The influence corresponds with vigor, strength, youth, growth, and the summer season.

• West/Water: The realm of the imagination, dreams, visions, and spirits. The influence corresponds with maturation or things reaching their zenith and autumn.

• North/Earth: Personal power and the realm of the physical world. The card’s meaning corresponds with endings and the season of winter.

*Note: You can find more information on the Cardinal Directions’ en-ergetic influences and the Elemental influences in Chapters 4 and 5 of this guidebook.

After laying out ten cards, look at each row of five cards individual-ly. The first row represents “Father Sky,” signifying all things visible and tangible. It also signifies the expression of feelings, the manifestation of one’s will, and the conscious mind. The five cards under “Father Sky” are something to view through the lens of the Masculine Divine and Yang En-ergies. The row reveals actions to take or the actions/reactions someone in question will take concerning a reader’s question.

The second row represents “Mother Earth,” signifying all things in the realm of thought, ideas, intentions, things yet to come into being, and the

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subconscious mind. The five cards under “Mother Earth” are something to consider through the lens of the Feminine Divine or Yin influences. The row reveals passive energies, underlying forces affecting conditions or emotions, or a person’s openness and receptivity regarding the question a reader presents.

Divine Influences & Yin & Yang The Masculine & Feminine Divine and Yin & Yang Energies course through all things. Hence, it’s appropri-ate to consider the vibrational influences of each concerning a question relating to a situation, relationship, or existing conditions. The common symbol for Yin and Yang is a circle divided in half with two swirls of color, black and white. Each swirl has a dot in it with its opposing color, so the black swirl has a white dot, and the white swirl has a black dot. The sym-bol stems from Daoism.

The depiction of Yin and Yang literally means merging opposite forces, with each of those forces containing a small part of its opposing force. As such, the symbol stands for dark and light, day and night, positivity and negativity, the masculine & the feminine, or action and receptivity. Yin and Yang represents all of the energetic forces existing in the Universe and how those forces shape and change existing conditions. At the same time, Yin and Yang’s energies are also affected by the conditions they influence. 

Look at Yang as a three-pronged plug and Yang as a three-pronged out-let that’s open and ready to connect with the Yang force when it’s plugged into the electrical outlet. Once plugged in, Yin and Yang symbolize whole-ness, both its perfection and the paradox it creates. When you consider Yin and Yang’s influence, always remember one force is no less important than the other. Nor are Yin influences less potent than Yang energies: Pas-sivity and receptivity do not equal weakness. When contemplating a read-ing’s two-card summation, the Father Sky, Mother Earth Spread reveals insights on action one can consider taking and how to react to existing conditions.

In summary, Yin and Yang forces represent:

• Yang Influences: (Masculine/White) Solar energies, fire, light, move-ment, action, execution, speed, growth, beginnings, the physical and visible world. 

• Yin Influences:  (Feminine/Black) Earth energies, water, shadows, stillness, passivity, submission, slowness, openness, reaction, pauses, cessation, endings, the intangible, invisible worlds, and the greater mysteries.

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Once you’re done looking at each card in each row individually, you can then view each card in the “Father Sky” section to consider how the card di-rectly beneath it in the “Mother Earth” row influences or changes the card’s potential meaning above it. Doing so gives you are far more meaningful ten card reading than if you linearly view each row individually.

Free classes on intuitive and evidential tarot reading are available to all readers of The Ark Tarot & Oracle Book. An additional free video on how to use the Ark’s Signature Card Layout comes included with the free classes that accompany the guidebook and deck. You can find out more about all of the free lessons at the end of this guide.

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