1. You need to do a three-card long term (as in past, present and future) spread for me. Shuffle, lay out three, state the cards, create the story.
Past- Eight of Wands- Plans were set into motion, and the outcome of those actions may be at hand. You may have recently received news about these events.

Present-Seven of Swords-You may be yearning for extra independence, but for what cause? This card could indicate a desire to tackle a problem alone, or indicate that you are running from something. If it is the later, examine your life for why you wish to run; this card suggests that you may have made the wrong decision.

Future- Eight of Cups- The past is gone, it is time to move on. Events of the past and present combine and guide you in a new direction of your life. Great or little, changes are an inevitable part of life and it is time to embrace them.

2. You now need to do a celtic-cross spread for yourself. Shuffle, think of yourself, lay out all the cards, flip the cards one by one. As you flip the card over tell about the card, what it is, what it means in itself. That's ten cards, ten points each to tell me about the cards and what they mean. So 100 points for that piece. You then need to create the STORY within the READING. This means the interpretation of the cards as they mean to YOU(this is different than what you just did, this is about the reading now and how it correlates to you. Then interpret the cards wholly as one story. The story creation is 75 points.

My layout:

1- 6 of Pentacles
2- 5 of Cups
3- The Hermit
4- 10 of Cups
5- Ace of Pentacles
6- The Heirophant
7- King of Wands
8- Judgement
9- Ace of Cups
10- Knight of Wands

Meanings of the Cards:

Six of Pentacles- This card lies somewhere between the have and the have not. This card asks the reader to look at the deeper meaning of the situation and determine the truth of the situation, to look beyond the simple, surface level of the issue at hand.

Five of Cups- This is a card of loss, great or small, tangible or not. If the card doesn't reflect an event you can finger, use it to help avoid a loss or minimize its impact. Loss is not all bad, and can indicate change.


The Hermit-This card asks us to take a step back and avoid making hasty decisions. In regards to the body, it suggests a time of rest. Negatively, this card could suggest arrogance or rash, ill-conceived decisions. Reversed, the card suggests stubbornness, loneliness, or a lack of communication


Ten of Cups-This card represents joy and harmony, contentment at the deepest level of being. It signals a time of abundant blessings and that fulfillment can be achieved.


Ace of Pentacles- This card symbolizes potential material wealth. It is a time to focus your energy to make dreams into reality. By grounding oneself, material wealth could be yours.


The Hierophant-This card represents a spiritual guide, as well as structure. He is a herald of change and suggests that it is time to move on. Events may have moral lessons to teach. Negatively, the card can mean confusion, crisis of faith or that a person is not playing by societal norms (though this can be good in terms of creative freedom). Reversed, the card suggests weakness and lack of understanding.


King of Wands- The King is a ruler and asks you to take the opportunity that presents itself. He takes risks, is confident in himself and in his convictions and is not shy about perusing his goals.


Judgment- This card represents new hope, and opportunity that can change life for the better that will happen in the near future. A brand new phase in life is set to begin. Negatively, this card implies that a person is dragging their feet, hesitating to accept that change, as well as fear and self-doubt. Reversed, the card suggests inaction and fighting change.


Ace of Cups-Internally, the card suggests that awareness has been planted, and that attraction may be on its way. Externally, a gift or offer may come the person's way. Love is the deepest meaning of this card and the card asks you to trust your heart.


Knight of Wands- He is a person of passion and energy, whose energy is either needed or needs to be tempered. His energy can border dangerously near cockiness and irresponsibility. Balance is the key, but his energy should not be denied.



My story:

The tone- Though I am hunting for a job, I am at least still working. A new job may be coming my way.

The basic problem- I could be dwelling too much on the frustrations of the hunt, but I need to tune it out and focus on the task at hand.

Foundation- I need to be sure that I am not hasty in my decision and taking a job simply because it is offered, but because it meets my needs and my desires and future goals.

Immediate past-This job was taken to allow me to attend school full time. This desire has been met, and now it is time to move on.

Best Outcome/Dreams-The card represents material wealth and plenty. By focusing my efforts, a new job will be mine.

Immediate future- The Hierophant suggests change is in my near future. This suggests that the outlook for new employment is good.

Approach- The King is a bold figure who takes the steps needed to reach the desired outcome. Don't be afraid to take the risks that will ultimately get me ahead.

Surroundings-Hope is in the air, a change for the better is about to happen if I let it.

Hopes and Fears- New beginnings will bring contentment and joy into my life; this could be a job or it could be love as the Ace of Wands is the purest expression of the heart.

Outcome- His passion and drive will take me where I want to go, so long as I don't become too risky

3. Finally, you need to write a full essay on how the suits/Hogwarts houses/elements correlate to each other. This can be argumentative or just informative. Either way it need to at least have 6 paragraphs, one opening, four paragraphs for each house/suits/element, one closing. 50 points.

Just as the Houses of Hogwarts each represent key personal traits, so do the four suits of the tarot. Because of these similarities, it is easy to try and correlate the two, to create a connection and somehow say, "This house is ______." However, to so link the two groups is a dangerous game and sometimes connections are made that shouldn't necessarily be. The links between the Houses/Suits/Elements are the perfect example. By taking a look at all four, we will see that some matches are good, others are a stretch at best.

Gryffindor is linked to the element of fire and the suit of Wands. Of all the matches, I think that Gryffindor is the best match of all. The element of fire represents action and creativity; few would argue that Gryffindors are known for acting without thinking things through, and their solutions to problems can indeed be creative! They are also a good fit for the suit of wands because as a whole, they are adventuresome, brave, bold, but also rash, fiery and reckless.

Ravenclaw is linked to the element of air and the suit of Swords. This is another pretty good match. Air is the element of the mind and knowledge, and the Swords deal with logic and reasoning. It is a house known for its intellectual skills, it's rationality and quick wits, but also for being opinionated, and occasionally arrogant and bluntness when others don't meet the standards of the House.

Hufflepuff is where things start to break down. It is linked to the element of earth and the suit of Pentacles. The element of earth indicates a certain level of practicality, and indeed most would consider the 'puffs to be a practical minded set, as well as hard working. It also represents wealth and prosperity and the merchant class. This kind of generalization just doesn't work well with a group of people as a whole—it might work well for those born under the earth signs, but as we don't know what house (if he even went to Hogwarts) Ollivadner is from and the only commerce we do know of are the Weasley twins business, I think this isn't a valid comparison to make.

Slytherin is the most problematic of all the combinations. They are linked to the element of water and the suit of Cups. This combination represents emotions, and the inner self. Few would call Slytherins a group of amiable, quiet, benevolent, sweet house. If anything, these traits sound much more akin to Hufflepuff. Though Slytherin is not about putting its heart on its sleeve, it's not really a house known for its spirituality or warm feelings either. This combination almost seems the left-over—the others having been assigned, Slytherin gets water and cups by default. Much like Hufflepuff, it isn't say that there aren't members of the House that do typify the qualities of their suit/element combination, but on the other hand, you really can't extend the statement to the House as a whole.

Making generalizations is hard enough to do as it stands; it just happens that Ravenclaw and Gryffindor have traits that are easily match an existing category. Hufflepuff and Slytheirn do not. While at a cursory glance the pairings may work, it only takes a bit of digging to discover that generalizations just don't work for an entire House. For something like Divination, it can be practical to link up the three, but just because we can, doesn't mean that we should.