The answer to that question is – it is up to you! But before delving more into that, let’s talk about what a significator really is. A significator or also referred to as a signifier adds more detail to the reading you are doing for someone as it is a card that is based on the seeker you are reading for.
And if you do decide to use a significator for your reading, you will not want to use the card from the deck you are using to read. You will want to either use it from another tarot deck or from a deck of playing cards.
How Do You Choose A Significator?
There are several ways to do that. You can either use it based on the seeker’s age as well as the element of their sun sign. You can also take it a step further if you wish and use a card that represents their Enneagram type. However, if you want to go that route, you only do it if you know their type. It will also be best to use the playing card that best represents them instead of a card from another deck.
However, if you stick to their age and sun sign only, then you will want to use a card from another deck to do that. And you will want to use a court card as well. Let’s break this down further on how to choose the right card that best represents the seeker you are reading for:
- Page – A seeker that is a young woman that is under 29 years of age.
- Knight – A seeker that is a young man that is under 29 years of age.
- Queen – A seeker that is a woman that is 30 or over.
- King – A seeker that is a man that is 30 or over.
And the sun sign would determine the suit to choose from based on the element:
- Wands – Fire element, Aries, Leo, Sagittarius.
- Pentacles – Earth element, Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn.
- Swords – Air element, Gemini, Libra, Aquarius.
- Cups – Water element, Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces.
For instance, if an 18-year old woman who is a Taurus wants a reading, then you will use the Page of Pentacles to represent her which will be used as the significator. Or, if a 40-year-old man who is a Sagittarius wants to have a reading, then the significator to represent him would be the King of Wands.
If you want to use a card that represents the seeker by Enneagram type, then you will want to go to the deck of playing cards. You will also need to know the elements of the suits as well because you will go by number as well as suit when it comes to choosing the significator based on Enneagram type.
There is a lot of conflicting information about which elements match the playing card suits, but my intuition tells me the correct ones are:
- Spades being equivalent to the Swords/air element.
- Hearts being equivalent to the Cups/water element.
- Diamonds being equivalent to the Pentacles/Earth element
- Clubs being equivalent to the Wands/fire element.
This means you will choose a number from the suit that matches their Enneagram type and element of their sun sign. This means if you are reading for a type 4 individual that is a Leo, this means the significator in this person’s case would be a 4 of Clubs as Leo is a fire sign. However, here is the thing. Sometimes what you think maybe the perfect significator for a querent is not. That means, for instance, a Leo woman may not want to have the Queen of Wands as her significator What if she associates herself with her Moon sign which may, for example, be in Pisces? Then she will resonate more with the Queen of Cups. If she voices that to you, then you will want to use the Queen of Cups, or the Hearts as her significator.
This is just an idea of how to use a significator in your readings. However, this is how I do it. You may find your own way that may not match mine and you have to go with that! Either way, a significator isn’t necessary but it is recommended because it helps make the reading more clear I find.
