Doing Really Long Spreads

Most comments on really long spreads tend to be a tad negative... are there any of those who actually like doing large spreads? I know I do! I regularly do spreads that are 15-20 (sometimes more) cards, and really... I love it.

It's kind of been something I've been doing since I started out... I probably should have started with smaller spreads but I started with 7-10 cards and just kept getting bigger and bigger.

Bigger spreads tend to take more energy and a significant amount more consideration to connect the dots as it were. Many people feel that there becomes an overload of information presented by larger spreads, or so I've gotten the impression.

I'm trying to get myself to start moving into larger spreads such as the Gypsy, but it's been a transition from 3 card to 5 card compass, to CC. We're gettin there.

When I do bigger spreads, like when I first started out and kept trying to do the Celtic Cross, I find myself quickly assigning a meaning to each card and moving on. While sometimes this does give good results, it mostly muddles the meaning and I find the reading to be more shallow.

Right now I'm comfortable doing about up to six cards. I can take a good chunk of time and really try to make connections between them and see how they are pushing and pulling on eachother.

I usually do a five-card spread for my daily readings, and weekly I do a Celtic cross. I'm quite comfortable with the fifteen card Romany spread, though, and use it when I have a tough decision to make (I was doing it weekly for a while, but decided it didn't really make sense.

I've also done a twenty-five card spread a couple of times, but that does get tedious. I've also tried Richard Roberts' Jungian Spread, which has twenty-two cards, a time or two.

I've only used fewer than five cards a time or two when I was in a bit of a rush to get the reading done, and have often wondered how a person can get a proper reading with less than five cards. To me, having three cards just lying there looks incomplete (I have a thing for cross-shaped spreads).

I actually learned to read on the Celtic Cross, which many beginners find too complex. I like to see the interplay between cards, and that's easier to do with larger spreads, where cards can sit next to each other and interact.

I LOVE LONG SPREADS!
just not everyday. and i DO tend to get either a little overwhelmed or tend to miss obvious things. But still the Tree of Life (10 cards minimum) is one of my best friends

I don't feel like there is a long spread that is ever too much. Maybe the incorrect spread is used, or people are not sure how to apply them to the situation. Then it may be harder to follow along. But most of the time, you don't need a deck long spread. You just need to find the right spread that works for you, your intuition and which will actually help you fully evaluate the query.

But I think some readings would really benefit from a larger setup if it is being approached from a grander scale, or what I call "life work" in readings. For example, If I am reading someone's soul, a larger spread would be required if I were to use Tarot to pinpoint each aspect, to identify human body and not, connections, etc. But it depends on the scenario is and what information I am trying to gather. I typically use bigger spreads in general.

Overall I look at tarot card spreads and their slots as 'points of interest' or 'energies' being activated or present in the situation surrounding the query. If you know what influences the query or what needs to be identified to address the nature of it, the spread(s) that need to be used then become more obvious to fix on these energies and pinpoint the dynamics. More like an investigation of sorts with the assistance of your intuition.

Smaller spreads are easier to doubt I think because it forces you to rely more on your intuition and your gut, and not actually confirming 'what is'. For people who question intuition more or are still developing, it could mean not giving themselves enough room to develop the situation into the cards and then having to take leaps of faith in their logic. Mixing it up would be a good idea at this point to find what is comfortable for that person, or just write it down the cards of a longer reading and save them for later in a notebook or through computer. But when I just need to step back and find the message being delivered, a 3 card is more direct, is more succinct and to the point. I don't want a whole lot of 'blah blah blah', I just need to put a focus or take a small sample of the energy to 'get it'.

Depending on the application, any spread can be very powerful. If you are developed enough with your intuition, then you can make use of most spreads with ease. These are just my experiences...

It's not so much that I hate doing them (I don't, though, as a rule) - but to comment on someone else's takes a heck of a long time; if you tried to comment on more than one posted here in a day you'd be exhausted. I think long spreads posted for comment on here aren't going to get the commentary that smaller ones do for that sort of reason.

Which would be why

MissJo said:

Most comments on really long spreads tend to be a tad negative...

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, I suspect.

When I contribute to YR, I like to get the cards out. Sorting out all those cards (never mind finding a clear space to lay them out....) - that would be something I might just do for myself, but time is a limited factor in all our lives.

...to my mind

the more cards in the spread the less likely that cards that we are uncomfortable/unfamiliar with will get the attention from the reader that they deserve.

i.e. all cards in the throw have something to say or they wouldn't have come up, and when there are alot of cards out there our favorites tend to get the most attention and the ones we are most unsure of tend to be ignored

not to say that large spreads have no value, but this seems to be the biggest possible problem with them...

...but the time thing could also be a problem too...especially if time is short

I don't mind long spreads. I'm starting to think they are less "work". I posted a 39-card reading over in the Personal Readings forum not long ago, and it seemed (to me at least) that by having so many more cards, it took less out of me as far as intuition goes. Basically, just like connecting words to make a longer sentence to complete a thought. I feel like there is more intuiting going on with less cards.

RexMalaki said:

...to my mind

the more cards in the spread the less likely that cards that we are uncomfortable/unfamiliar with will get the attention from the reader that they deserve.

i.e. all cards in the throw have something to say or they wouldn't have come up, and when there are alot of cards out there our favorites tend to get the most attention and the ones we are most unsure of tend to be ignored

not to say that large spreads have no value, but this seems to be the biggest possible problem with them...

...but the time thing could also be a problem too...especially if time is short

Click to expand...

I know whenever I do a long spread I interpret the cards one by one, giving each as much attention as needed to figure out what it's telling me.