The use of the Kipper core is the start of working with Kipperkarten. It forms the reading in most layouts but not all. It shows the reader the Mc1 or MC2, i.e. the Querent. Since in this system the MC2 female faces right and MC 1 faces left; their cores cannot be exactly the same. Hence one places the core cards in a different way when beginning a read.
German:
Unter der Person = Under
Hinter der Person =Behind
Über der Person = Above
Vor der Person= Before
The MC 1 and MC 2 both share the same vertical positions of 1 and 3. The Horizontal positions of 2 and 4 are reversed. See the diagram below.
Following the Numbers
What is under the MC labelled here as point 1 is their support or foundation; what they are standing on in the vertical present. It is what they have a handle on or an innate understanding of as they are so to speak “in” the moment.
Moving from position 1 to 2 shows us where the MC “just came” from i.e. the immediate past. Some readers use what is behind the back as indicating an inauspicious relationship. Though this method may work well with Das Grosse Blatt when using the core I have found it serves me best to see the card behind the MC: as the place, condition, or state the MC was in prior to the reading. It is the door the Querent has just exited from. This frees the card behind their back to show itself as being positive, negative or neutral .
Moving from position 2 to 3 shows us what is on the MC’s mind- their thought process at the present moment. I often see this space like a text balloon in a graphic novel.
Moving from 3 to 4 shows us phenomena soon to be encountered by the MC on their “timeline” or horizon.
The clockwise and counterclockwise movement or flow when placing the cards around the MC1 and MC2 is the result of my own experiences with the universal sun symbol which has four distinct stages as well.
When I began Kipperkarten it was to look for smaller non-linear layouts. I was to find many alternatives in this system to Das Grosse Blatt or the full 36 card spread. The Stop Card Method has become a favorite of mine. To begin requires placement of the Kipper core. At first it was a struggle to get the rules of the supposedly older Stop Card Method stated clearly; but actual practice combined with patience eventually led to an understanding which overcame my spotty introduction. Kipperkarten does not require one be a “psychic” to get good results, only that its nomenclature and rules are known and applied – just as in Life!
Resources:
Kipper-Karten Band II, Legetechniken, Hildegard Leiding-Heinz, Heppenheim, 1995
Note: Leiding- Heinz gives information on all 36 cards using the core setting in German but only from the perspective of the MC1.