Wands and Swords, the active suits and elements are Yes or No.
Then that would make the Cups and Pentacles, the passive suits and elements the other (Yes or No).
For the readings below I will use;
Cups and Pentacles = Yes
Wands and Swords = No
I will also read Yes and No according to the odd and even numbers of the
cards.
Odd = Yes
Even = No
Example #1
"Should I move to Arizona?"
Cards Drawn
5 of Pents .. 2 of Pents .. Ace of Pents
A resounding Yes. All Pentacles and two out of the three cards are Odd numbered (5 and Ace=1). Reading the cards we can see that I have had financial problems as well as health problems (5 of Pents), I need to get things balanced in mine - and my wife's life (2 of Pents) - and the Ace of Pents says this will be beneficial for both our finances and health.
Example #2
"Should we invite our youngest son and his
family to join us?"
Cards Drawn
9 of Swords .. Queen of Wands .. 7 of Wands
This time we get a NO suit/element wise as all three cards are active, but number wise we have a different answer as we have two 'Odds=Yes' and a no show with the Queen (the card is not numbered). So ...
Should we ... NO. Will we ... MAYBE! Read this as there are factors yet to be considered and factors still at work with this situation - ask again later. You can also finish up by reading the cards themselves.
Example #3
"Should we take all of our furniture?"
Cards Drawn
2 of Swords .. 10 of Wands .. 7 of Cups
Here we have a NO and NO as we have 2 active/1 passive suit/element wise. And 2-Even/1-Odd number wise. Again read the cards if you think it's necessary.
Example #4
"Will my wife and I be happy in Arizona?"
Cards Drawn
2 of Cups .. 10 of Cups .. 10 of Pentacles
Suit/Element wise we have a very definite YES as all the cards fall under Cups and Pents. Just as definite we have a big 'NO' number wise with 2/10/10, all Even numbers.
But read the cards and you will see these are 3 excellent cards for this question and an affirmative reply. But there is that slight chance (the 3 Even numbers) that things won't work out if we move. Thus the tarot mirrors real life and our insecurities about things, and the cycles and fate which life brings - as the number 10 is associated with The Wheel of Fortune and two (2) tens (10 of Cups/10 of Pentacles) came up in the reading - so only time will tell - if indeed we do make the move.
The Wheel of Fortune - Change/Cycles
Note #1: I could just as easily went with Wands/Swords as YES and Cups/Pentacles as NO. And Even numbers as YES and Odd numbers as NO. Just let your conscious and subconscious know how you are going to do things and you will be fine. It might even help both your conscious and subconscious if you wrote down your intentions.
Note #2: You don't have to use both suit/element and numbers to get a YES/NO answer - one or the other is fine. But I have found that by using both you get a better and clearer YES/NO evaluation of the answer.
Note #3: Lately the best combination for me has been Cups/Pentacles = YES, and Odd numbers = NO, Even number = YES. The following example uses a Major and this method.
Example #5
"Can I find the motivation for this move?"
Cards Drawn
Ace of Swords .. 5 of Swords .. The Devil
(15/Earth/Passive)
2-Active/1 Passive suit/element wise = NO.
3 Odd numbers = NO.
So it's going to be hard for me to find the motivation to move since I'm so bound and grounded where I'm already at (The Devil/Capricorn/Earth). And my age also plays a factor in this. With the 5 of Swords I'm probably just putting on a 'face' that will appease my wife and seeming to agree with her. Even though the 2 sword cards are active I call the suit of swords the inactive/active suit. All the action is taking place in the mind but there is no outward action as would be indicated by the suit of Wands/Fire.
As a side note: My rising sign (Ascendant) is Capricorn - a Cardinal Earth sign (The Devil), [grin].
Do things your way but my advise is to chose a way and stick to it. And make sure both your conscious and subconscious know what you are going to do and what system(s) are going to use before hand.
Don S.