The Lead Characters and Supporting Cast in a Kipper Spread
Before you can follow a story, you need to meet your main character. In Kipper, that’s your Signifier—the central figure your entire spread orbits around. Let’s talk about how to choose your Signifier, who surrounds them, and what it means when characters turn, face, or flee.
Signifier Cards
Main Character 1 (Main Male): Represents a male or male-presenting Querent
Main Character 2 (Main Female): Represents a female or female-presenting Querent
The unchosen Main Character becomes the most significant “other” in the narrative
The unchosen Main Character becomes the most significant “other” in the narrative—this could be a romantic partner, friend, boss, family member, or even a rival, depending on the focus of your reading.
💭 But I’ll be real with you here—this is one part of the tradition that feels like it could evolve. The visual depictions of these characters are often very gendered—femme and masc in very binary ways. For gender-expansive, nonbinary, or gender-nonconforming folks, this can feel restrictive or even disempowering.
That’s why some modern readers choose the Signifier based on energetic alignment rather than appearance. Others might assign Main Character 1 and 2 based on narrative roles (e.g., protagonist and counterpart), regardless of gender.
I know that it's not meant to be hurtful or offensive at all. The deck is of its time but we are also living in different times and I feel we can do better with expressive language to be more inclusive as best as we can. I feel like we can just do better.
🌿 As a folk witch walking a contemporary path with old tools, I hold space for both: I honor the system’s historical structure, and I advocate for more inclusive reinterpretations that reflect the world we live in now.
That said—understanding the roles of these two characters is essential. They don’t initiate the action, but they center it. The rest of the spread will unfold around them.
Start Cards
The Main Character card is the starting point of the reading
Everything else builds in relation to it
Ask: Who’s facing them? Behind them? Entering their field?
Direction Cards
These cards are often the supporting characters or figures in the Querent’s life. They move the story forward through direction—literally.
Their position and the direction they face tells us:
Who or what they are interacting with
Whether they are entering or exiting the situation
Whether there is connection, conflict, pursuit, or separation
The traditional Directional Characters and their standard directions:
Good Gentleman → Faces Right which tells us that everything he is facing he sees, everything that is behind him he does not see. So, for example when the Good Lady is on his right they are looking at each other. When the Good Lady is on his left they are looking away from each other.
Good Lady → Faces Left
Rich Man → Faces Right
Rich Girl → Faces Left
Child → Faces Right
Direction = dynamic. It tells us what the figure sees, ignores, or approaches. Directional cards create tension, pursuit, support, or avoidance.
🔮 Observations in Practice:
How facing direction changes the story. Two cards facing each other? Connection. One turned away? Break, disinterest, or missed moment.
🌿 Witch’s Insight:
Directional cards feel like spirits entering ritual—they arrive with purpose, direction, and presence.
In the next post, we’ll explore where stories end in Kipper—and what Stop Cards are teaching me about closure, blocks, and magical timing.
Kipper Foundations
Part 1 - Stepping Into the Scene: A Folk Witch Meets the Kipper Cards
Part 2 - Who’s at the Center? Signifiers, Starters & Story Movement
Part 3 - Where the Thread Ends: Understanding Stop Cards in Kipper
Part 4 - Bridges & Crossroads: Connector and Movement Cards in Action
Part 5 - Cause, Effect & Consequence: Reading the Kipper Spread as Storyline