contents

  1. the card crossroads and the rock in its centre
  2. why the rock is there
  3. technique: how to make use of the rock in a reading
  4. example reading


1. the crossroads and the rock in its centre

The Crossroads can have different meanings. The most relevant ones for our purpose right now are: different directions or options, deliberations, and decisions. Here is the card Crossroads of the Anna.K Lenormand deck:

22-crossroad-extra
Crossroads

As you see, the card’s main feature is a big junction right in the foreground. Apart from that there are several more diverging paths in the distance – and there is a large rock sitting in the centre of the junction.

2. why the rock is there

crossroads-detail5I placed the rock in the center of the crossroads as a symbol that being faced with alternatives is always something that makes us pause. Sometimes it makes us pause for a long and painful period of indecision, sometimes for a relaxing rest and a good think, and sometimes just for a short celebration of the fact that we’re free to choose. In a reading about a decision, the rock can stand for something that prevents us from making a timely decision, or for something we need in order to make a good decision, or something that we should consider before we make a decision.

3. technique: how to make use of the rock in a reading

If the Crossroads turns up in your reading representing a decision especially, you might want to make use of the rock for your interpretation. You could do that in at least two different ways. One involves discussing things, the other, picking another card.

    1. DISCUSS the rock. Ask the querent what that rock in the centre of the crossroads looks like to them, and try to figure out what their answer tells you about their decision-making process. The rock looks like an obstacle? In that case you could inquire more of them what obstacle is keeping them from making their decision. The rock invites the querent to sit down and rest? You might ask them what they feel they would need but are still lacking to make their decision comfortably. They hadn’t even noticed the rock? Here, you might let go of the issue altogether. Or, you could suggest that the querent makes sure to have considered all the options and their implications; that they are not making their decision rashly.
    2. DEFINE the rock by picking another card. Instead of asking the querent whether the rock is an obstacle, or something they need to make their decision, or something they forgot to consider about their decision, you could also draw another card and let that card define what the rock is! You can pick this additional card from among the Lenormand cards you have been using, from another Lenormand deck – or, if you own a Tarot deck, you could take this extra card from there.


4. two example readings


example 1: DISCUSS the rock

To give you an idea of a complete reading, here are three cards for a full 3-card String. The Crossroads I put in the middle by default, the other two cards I picked randomly. So here is the initial position for our example reading:

 

And here is a potential context: The querent, M., is facing a decision (Crossroads) regarding his job. He could leave within the next month, or stay on for at least another year.
Crossroads+Anchor describe how much M. is focused on this situation – everything, all his thinking and feeling, revolves around the decision.
Crossroads+Rider could tell us that there is quite a bit of pressure on M.to make this decision – maybe because he is pressuring himself, but the simple fact that if he wants to leave he has to leave within a month, is likely to be stressful.
Anchor+Rider suggests that the whole situation of having to make a decision under pressure has disrupted M.’s sense of stability, is uncomfortably invading every part of his daily life.
At this point, we ask M. to have a look at the rock in the centre of the crossroads, and to let us know what the rock looks like to him, if it reminds him of something, makes them think of something.
M. says the rock looks big and fat and comfortably unmoving to him. “Comfortably?”, we ask? Yes, M. says. The rock doesn’t care that there’s pressure, it will just continue sitting there, big and fat and comfortably unmoved right in the middle of the road. This inspires us to ask M. whether maybe now is simply the wrong time to move in a different direction. Would it feel good to postpone the decision whether he should leave his job, for another year, just stay where he already is, and pick up the issue again next year? Is he happy enough in his situation right now, fulfilled enough, to stay there without harming himself? Yes, M. replies, he is comfortable where he is and quite happy. The only reason why he had been thinking about leaving at this point at all was that he doubts that he’ll still be happy there in ten years time. But it isn’t in ten years time now. Right now, he is still happy right where he is.


example 2: DEFINE the rock

For the second example reading, let’s stick with the same three cards, with the Crossroads in the middle, and Anchor and Rider to the sides, as the initial position, but let’s change the context.
Let’s say the querent in this case, S., is dissatisfied and bored with her life but doesn’t quite know how to deal with it, what to do about it. She wants the cards’ help to find out what she could do.

The Crossroads could suggest that S. has to choose between two different options: she can stick exactly with what she is doing now, stay where she is now (Anchor) – which has the advantages of stability, of the safety of routines, but the disadvantage of boredom and uninspiring routines – and allowing new things, unexpected things to happen (Rider) – which carries the potential risk of getting hurt, or of letting in something that turns out to be too much. But, she can’t have both, safety and allowing interesting new input, because they contradict each other. If she wants to escape one, she’ll have to choose the other. If she wants to escape dissatisfaction and boredom, she’ll have to let go of safety and let new things happen. If she wants to stay safe, she’ll have to stick with where she is now.
So, what is the “rock” which is in S.’s way? What keeps S. from either settling for safety wholeheartedly, or for accepting the risk of letting new things happen? What could allow her making such a decision? We let S. pick a Tarot card to help answer this question. She picks the 4 of Pentacles. Which gives us this spread:

 

pentacles04
4 of Pentacles

Interestingly, the 4 of Pentacles echo a lot of the Anchor’s meanings – they can represent a hoarding attitude, a need for security, the holding on to things. But they can also stand for the security we obtain by providing for a risk – by making sure we now have everything we’d need if we fell on hard times. And that is often a very reasonable thing to do.
This could lead us to the interpretation that S. might be able to finally allow inspiring new (and thus also a bit risky) things in her life to happen if she managed to assuage her need for security by taking reasonable precautions, providing for risks in an appropriate manner. She could for example take out insurances, or set a certain amount of money aside, or make sure that there is a social safety net ready to catch her if she falls etc.

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