Uncertainty Spread

Silly me, I didn't write this week's question down, so I've forgotten how I worded it. It was to do with my friend showing an interest in my interest in the tarot, and in the things that I have been reading on this site. He had been "casually" asking if there were any decks I had my eye on (birthday coming up, how can this be a bad thing?); but I've been ambivalent in answering him. This stems from my caution in going overboard, investing money in a hobby that I may drop again when I get busy doing other things. (And I don't want to build a warehouse just to house a tarot collection!) My ambivalence also stems from the fact that this particular friend is a geologist; very fact-oriented, not artsy; nor, to my knowledge, into "psychic" things. So I've never bothered him with my little eccentricities in those areas. But he has been browsing through my decks, and picking up on the imagery and interpretations very quickly. As I'm uncertain what I'm uncertain about, I thought I'd try the Uncertainty Principle spread, offered in the booklet accompanying the Quantum deck.

The card meanings are: 1. Wave: how the question affects you emotionally. 2. Particle: how the question affects you practically. 3. Uncertainty: what you are not seeing clearly. 4. Planck's Constant: what cannot be changed. 5. Probability: potential outcome.
The card positions are thus:
--5--
1-3-2
--4--

I was rather puzzled by the cards that came up, so I mulled them over for a few days before posting. In order, they are 6 of Swords, Queen of Wands, 4 of Pentacles, 5 of Pentacles, 3 of Cups.

This particular LWB relates the 6 of Swords to bosons, two of which particles can occupy the same space at the same time, making that space crowded. The interpretation is that if we feel overcrowded in some aspect of our lives, we sometimes move away from it--mentally, if not physically. In my life, if I feel hemmed in, I will make time and space for myself and do a reading on what's bothering me. Tarot is something that I've done by myself, for myself. I go into my own sphere. My friend's curiosity is not unwelcome, but most unexpected. I am not used to sharing my tarot space. Maybe the 6 of Swords relates to one or other of those kinds of crowding.

The Queen of Wands appears in answer to how the issue affects me practically. Never mind traditional imagery. Never mind that this particular deck talks about the planet Venus. This is a tarot question, and on this card is the likeness of one of this deck's two creators. The message in the LWB is to "think big"! Over the past couple of days since I did this spread, my friend has been pondering how various artists have gone about creating their decks, and was wondering how the majors could be portrayed if they were to feature his favourite breed of dog. Good grief. Don't tell me he's planning on making a tarot deck?!

The third card is the Uncertainty; what I am not seeing clearly. It is the 4 of Pentacles, showing an elliptical galaxy. These are made up of old and dying stars, with no new ones being created. The interpretation is stagnation and unwillingness to change. It could be that I'm being unwilling to let go of my accustomed ways and assumptions. I'm a little unclear of what new idea it is that I'm supposed to be embracing, beyond sharing my pleasure in tarot.

The fourth card, Planck's Constant, is what cannot be changed. In this position is the 5 of Pentacles. The booklet discusses quarks and limitations as to where they can exist: tied to each other within the nucleus of an atom. It relates the phenomenon to the limitations of physical reality, and remarks that by recognizing the limits of a situation, we should also be able to recognize its possibilities, which can be a creative stimulus. The image is of two figures melded together back to back, in a semi-opaque cloud (limitation), with a clear patch above and between them roughly the shape of a third person's head and shoulders (possibility). The simplistic reading for this card in this position is "limits are limiting"! Maybe I should stop worrying about having "an embarrassment of riches". Maybe the limits of a tarot deck's form is to inspire creativity.

Potential outcome, the final card, is the 3 of Cups. What strikes me is the image of three people's faces pressed together at the top of the card, as though they were a bunch of friends at a mall photo booth. The book speaks of open star clusters, such as Pleiades, and the interesting phenomena which may be seen there, "because the proximity of the stars...means that any event happening to one star can have a dramatic effect on its neighbours". The book draws a parallel to the synergy happening among three or more like-minded people. I'm not sure if the three-or-more is literal, but it seems possible that if I re-think tarot as not being a solo pursuit but a shared one, it will be a shared pleasure, and possibly a creative one.

If anyone feels that they can offer a sharper interpretation, I would be glad to read it in the Comments section!