Hi @ernst and all,
When it comes to zodiac and cards of truth, both articulate cycles of life inherent in the universal creation. The zodiac through the signs Aries to Pisces and houses 1 to 12. CoT through the suits and numbers Ace to King.
When it comes to articulating the dualities inherent in universal creation, the zodiac articulates it through the opposite zodiac signs and opposite houses, something we learn while studying Rahu and Ketu. I have just started learning CoT and not even scratched the surface, yet started wondering about this - is there a way CoT can articulate the dualities inherent in universal creation?
Since you addressed your question to "all", I dare to chip in.
I bet Ernst has a much more clever answer to this, but as a general observation, there always tend to be one or a few themes in a spread, and they always tend to come out in a balanced way.
For example, the very tough King of Spades, often is balanced in some way by the most innocent and playful card of them all (possibly), Jack of Hearts. KS as a BC has JH as their Uranus card, so while they are truly representing the Shiva energy - Ernst relates KS to Shiva - their innermost secret, their precious most precious core or inner child (as I read the Jack card) is innocence. And not only that - it´s their Uranus card in every year spread! KS is so prone to confront the dark side of life, I guess, that it could get loss, but it´s very much saved by it´s Uranus card. In christian terms it´s like the very tough archangel Michael always working in pair with his brother Gabriel. Good cop/bad cop, you could say. Or their Uranus card is like a buoy always keeping them above the ocean of darkness.
And that, it seems, is so in every spread. My own card 5C that I often relate to, have very tough cards that are guaranteed to cause crisis in life; the two red sevens on the Mars and Mercury positions and Kings on the Ecliptic and Uranus positions, for example. But it also has several lifesaving cards in positions that helps us bouncing back. 5S helps us to avoid many hardships in the first place, or not be so deeply affected by them, AS on the Moon card gives us a high capacity for healing and coming back, JH on the Venus place is pure joy and playfulness, again: innocence, and the Neptune card is 6H which is all about family, harmonious relationships and emotional fulfillment.
Etc...
You could call it duality, or you could see it as balance.
Staffan
Also there are three special cards, the fixed cards, JH, 8C and KS, each of them representing the three main stages in life and their deity: JH is seen as Brahma, the creator, 8C is life going on, represented by Vishnu and finally KS that represents the destructive forces and Shiva. These three cards behave in a special way in that they never change positions when you update the spread in a solar return.
Staffan
Yet another example, since I´m analyzing a Jack of Diamonds spread right now.
First: I´m a gemini ascendant with Mercury in better than worse dignity and a good Moon in Virgo, so I´m very much into dual thinking. It´s one of the reasons that I love the Cards of Truth.
Jack of Diamonds is all about self love and self estimation. It has 8H as it´s Mercury, indicating that self love is at the base of it´s life strategy. JD with an afflicted Mercury card may come attention seekers; I´ve seen it happen. It´s Sun card is 4H - emotional stability. Their Saturn card is the nurturing QH, the mother´s card, indicating that they are not allowed to depend on other people´s capacity or willingness to nurture them. 10C on the Rahu position indicates that even if they are good at dealing with practicalities, it doesn´t fulfill them. They need deeper connection, as indicated by the Ketu card, 8D, allowing them to achieve things just lining up to their dharma. If they allow life to flow through them, good things happen through what seems like sheer luck.
Jack of Diamonds is a playful card, as all Jack cards are. it´s the salesman´s card. They tend to negotiate with life, wanting to have an easy way. They see themselves as God´s favourite, and approach life with an attitude of charm and enchanting; "God, it´s me! You only want to give me good things, right?" "Other people might want to do their laundries, but I don´t think that applies on me, your special child, right?" And how does life answer them? Until their Saturn and Rahu cards have been worked out, through the tough, even cruel KS that is their ecliptica card. Things tend to be taken away from them. They seek or are doomed to go through periods of solitude. (KS being strong in 9S, the hermit card.) They are forced by life to kill their ego and accept suffering.
So one of the most innocent, or "wanting to be innocent" cards, has to go real hardships. It´s cruel, and obviously very liberating, once they accept the state of things. But to my experience, many JD are among the most difficult cards to give good advice, since they really want to do it their own more fun, more pleasant way. It´s hard for them to kneel in front of life and be humble.
There is a card for maturity willing to help them with this, and it´s 6S on their Venus card. They are looking for mature relations. They want to be mature in a relationship.
What´s your card @qwertym2? Want to see if we can find what duality there is in the spread?
Staffan
@qwertym2 Hm... I´d have to ponder on that one. No huge contrasts as in many other spreads, maybe. Ernst jokes about it saying that it´s a stressful spread, but I can´t see that. Seems like vacations compared to 5C if you ask me. 😀 Maybe you have to have good karma to be born as a 7C, maybe it´s a prize, and 5C is a punishment. 😆 Although I love my card and would never change it for another one; I wonder if that´s how most people feel about their own card? I remember Fat Bastard in one of the Austin Power-movies reasoning about how everyone tend to like their own brand the best (referring to farts, of course...)
Staffan