The Significator card deciphered:

THE SIGNIFICATOR, SHUFFLE AND SELECTION OF THE TAROT CARDS

The Querent is the person consulting the cards. The Reader or Diviner is the person reading the cards. The Significator is a card chosen to represent the Querent in the Spread or Layout. The Spread is the pattern of cards dealt out by the Reader. Cartomancy is divination by method of using cards such as the Tarot cards.

Removing one card from the deck before it is shuffled allows the Tarot reading to be based upon the selected card, called the Significator. The selection of Significator card for a reading is important when specific questions need to be answered. The Significator card is usually selected from the Tarot deck at the beginning of the tarot reading by the Reader.

The selection of the Significator card depends upon several factors. In a life reading, or when answering a personal question the Significator should be one of the sixteen Court cards: a King, a Queen, a Knight or a Page. The Significator card should be of the same sex of the Querent or person for whom the reading is being given. After selecting the Significator card, remove it and place it in the first position in the Spread. Card one will be placed over this card. Shuffle and select the cards to be read without the Significator card in the deck. It is believed that the missing Significator card somehow determines what cards will be selected. It is possible to do a reading without first selecting a Significator, and in that case the first two cards usually pertain to the Querent or the reading.

Older mature men with responsibility would use a King as a Significator. Older mature women with responsibility would use a Queen as a Significator. Younger men (teenagers) or male children would use a Prince (Knight) as a Significator. Younger women (teenagers) or female children would use a Princess (Page) as a Significator. The Querent may already have a Significator card, so ask him or her if a particular Significator is preferred or has been used before.

In The Pictorial Key to the Tarot by Arthur Edward Waite, the Significators are chosen somewhat differently. In that method the Knights are men of forty years or more, and the Kings are males under age forty. Conversely the Queens are used for a women over forty and the Pages are females under forty years of age. Mr. Waite provides personal characteristics that can used in the selection of a Significator, such as professions, personality traits and the appearance of the Querent.

Mr. Waite says that the temperament of the person may determine the Significator. Cups are said to be more indolent and lethargic. Swords are energetic people. Temperament may override the traditional descriptions of the cards.

The determination of the specific suit of the court card for each person is done according to various methods. Sometimes the outward appearance of a person is the determining factor as to which suit is selected. Sometimes the astrological signs are used to select a Significator. The Querent's profession may even be used as a deciding factor in the selection of the Significator card. The Querent may even randomly select the Significator card from the four court cards that apply to their age and sex.

Wands: Very fair people with yellow or auburn hair and or blue eyes.

Cups: Light brown or dull fair hair and gray or blue eyes.

Swords: Hazel or gray eyes, dark brown hair and a dull complexion.

Pentacles: Dark brown or black hair, dark eyes and swarthy or sallow complexion.

Leo Louis Martello in READING THE TAROT has different descriptions:

Pentacles: Very fair, blond to light brown hair; blue gray or green eyes.

Swords: Very dark person; brown to black hair; brown or black eyes.

Cups: Blue, gray or green eyes, sandy to medium brown hair. Medium color.

Wands: Medium dark coloring; brown eyes; light to dark brown hair.

Selection of any of the fifty-six Minor Arcana as a Significator may be useful in answering a specific question that is characterized by one of the Minor Arcana cards. The use of Minor Arcana cards in Tarot readings is somewhat non-personal and deals with the mechanics of the question only, not necessarily from the Querent's point of view. By focusing the reading on one of the Minor Arcana cards by using it as a Significator makes sense when the Tarot is used to expound upon a business matter or answer everyday questions. A Major Arcana card may be selected as a Significator for a spiritual question, or a question of great importance. For a legal question, such as "Should I file a lawsuit?", the Justice card would be selected as the Significator. If the question is "Will I be successful in my lawsuit?", a Court card would be selected. A Minor Arcana card may be selected for a situation that is portrayed by that Minor Arcana Card.

The cards should be arranged so that there are no reversed cards before the Significator is selected. The card Reader should thoroughly shuffle the cards taking care that none of the cards get reversed in the shuffling process. After shuffling the complete deck, the cards are placed upon the table for the Querent to cut. The Querent may cut the deck one or three times depending on the type of reading or the judgement of the card Reader. The top card on the piles may be reversed and then the piles of cards are combined back into one pile.

The Reader may then shuffle the cards again or allow the Querent to shuffle them, but attention must be paid so that the cards do not get their direction reversed by improper shuffling. If that happens a great number of reversed cards will come up in the reading, making it null and void.

After the cards are shuffled they may be fanned across the table for the Querent to randomly select or they may be mixed into a random pool and mixed for the Querent to select. If they are selected from a random pool, reversed card meanings are not relevant. Reading reversed cards is optional as the full deck contains most of the meanings of the reversed cards.

The Querent may also cut the deck any number of times and select the top card from each cut of the cards until the required number of cards is selected.

In another method of selection, the deck is shuffled with the Significator left in, and then without selecting cards, the reader looks through the deck and finds the Significator and lays the cards out in the order they are found after the Significator. The deck may also be simply shuffled, cut and the cards laid out without choosing a Significator.

The cards should be dealt into the spread in the same order that they were selected. The reading is void if a card is placed in the wrong order in the pile of spread cards, because when dealing the cards they may be placed in the wrong location of the spread and thereby be interpreted wrong.

The number of cards selected depends upon the type of reading being done. The standard Celtic Spread uses ten cards, and the Major Arcana Spread uses twenty-two cards.

The selected Tarot cards should be dealt into the spread pattern so that the adjacent cards almost touch each other along the borders of the cards. The spread pattern should appear neat.