The second permutation I’m going to work with is called Past, Present, Future and again, I’ll be working with the Bloomington reading. In this permutation, I take the ten cards from the original reading and arrange them into three groups to indicate (you guessed it) the past, present and future. There’s a template in the book for interpreting this permutation that I’ll use here.

Group I — The Past: Cards 3, 4 and 9. These cards all relate to the past. Hopes and fears are included in this category because your expectations of future success or failure are based on past experiences. These cards help you to see what lessons you have not yet learned.

The cards which represent my past are 8 of Swords, 9 of Cups and 3 of Wands.

What issues in the past are still unresolved? What abilities and knowledge that you’ve previously developed are you drawing on now?

The crux of this arrangement seems to be finding ways to cut away things that bind (8 of Swords) through vision and planning (3 of Wands) to achieve fulfillment (9 of Cups). What issues are still unresolved? Well, Jeff’s employment status is a long standing bone of contention between us. Prior to Jasmine’s death, her care really complicated the issue. Jeff was her primary caregiver because I worked. There was a very brief time when our positions were reversed, but even then, he had a hard time not being primary whenever she was sick. Now that role has been removed and we have a lot to work through. If we do that in Bloomington, it might be easier as there is less past work history to haunt us here. The abilities and knowledge I’ve gained in the last three years of working on my priestessing are what I’m using to guide myself — and, to a great extent, my family — through this time.

Group II — The Present: Cards 1, 2, 7 and 8. These cards represent yourself (7) in your environment (8), dealing with the basic situation (1 & 2). They tell you where you are right now.

The cards that represent my present are 2 of Wands, Ace of Pentacles, Death and 5 of Wands.

I am Death — She Who Strips Things to The Bone — operating in an atmosphere of conflict or crisis of identity, dealing with a desire to chart the way for personal development and relationships and the need to have income and resources in the “real” world.

Group III — The Future (in the process of manifesting): Cards 5, 6 and 10. These are forward-looking, visionary, active, conscious. They show you where and how you are manifesting the energy that may shape the future. Eventually, what you think and what you create become your future reality.

The cards that represent the future are Justice, The Magician and 7 of Cups.

My future expression of balance and rightness will be the outcome of using tools and intuitions wisely and upon identifying the useful and harmful dreams and fantasies that we have about the next step in our lives.

The most useful insight I gained from this permutation was in regard to the present grouping. I see that it is my job to strip this issue to the bone, despite the conflict that it may bring in my home. Well, that’s no surprise. I’ve drawn Death as the “Me” card more than once in my lifetime. It just sucks to have to be that person sometimes.

I liked this permutation, however, I’m still seeing that staying in Bloomington will be a challenge.