Reading without a spread

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 19 Nov 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

lilsher	19 Nov 2003
Hi, all! I'm not really new here; I've been reading posts for a long time. I finally decided to jump in and ask a question. How many of you do readings without a spread? I find myself doing this a lot, especially when I am giving readings over the internet and don't have the space on my desk to layout a spread. It's kind of back breaking to lean over and work with the cards on the floor from my chair. :) I usually ask for a question, shuffle, and flip one card at a time, most often I do only two or three, but sometimes more if I think more are needed. I tend to read them as a building story. Anyone else like this method?

RedWood	19 Nov 2003
Most of the time I do that also. For me it keeps everything much simpler. Once and awhile I will do a structured spread. Mainly for myself because I can not read myself as it is and if I let it free flow I can't read for myself at all.

Mimers	19 Nov 2003
I do this too. Especially when someone can't decide on one thing to ask about. I do one card for each question until they are done. Usually about five cards. I do prefer this method and think the querants do as well. Mimi

dolphinprincess	19 Nov 2003
I like to do this as well... I usually put three cards down and read them as I see it... kind of make a story. Michele Morgarn wrote a book called a Magical Course in Tarot.. I read it and this is the approach she uses.. and there is a lot of info about reading from intuition... http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1573247065/ref=nosim/aeclectic/

ros	19 Nov 2003
me toooooo! I started to do this for fun to see if it would work & it does. Also someone told me once all you need is one card to give an answer. After you tell everything you know about the card e.g. meaning, colors, number, people etc. you should be able to give an efficient answer.When you think about it 1-3 cards should do it but the larger spread has it's good points also.

Majecot	19 Nov 2003
I do this also.. I find that less structure is a better reading.. ( or maybe I am just lazy :joke: ) BTW Welcome to AT

lark	19 Nov 2003
One of the readers at the fair where I work just shuffles her cards and throws one down at a time. No spread. Then she just starts talking. If the person has a 45 min reading she might go through the whole deck. She believes that once you shuffle the deck all the cards in the deck have a story to tell that person. So why limit it to 5 or 8 or 10 cards. She says that if one card doesn't speak to her another will. I haven't tried it yet but, I also learned the same concept from Michele Morgan's book, Magical Course in Tarot. (Love that book.) Maybe I'll give it a go this weekend. Namaste

Astraea	19 Nov 2003
I do this, too. And I think that Morgan's book is excellent...liberating.

lilsher	19 Nov 2003
I did have a friend that gave me a reading with the whole deck once. It was an amazing reading. I haven't had anyone that would sit for that length of a reading yet, but I would certainly try it.

ros	19 Nov 2003
lark, sounds o.k. if it works it would save all the cutting & picking etc.

Star Spirit	19 Nov 2003
I also like this method from time to time. It can be enlightening.

Kiama	20 Nov 2003
It depends on the question being asked, for me. Sometimes if the question is just along the lines of 'tell me about.... (my relationship/uni/my job) I'll just do the no-spread method and throw down around 5 cards. If, however, the question is more specific such as 'I have a choice between two different jobs, and need advice on which to choose...' I'd make up a spread there on the spot for the question. I don't use any pre-set spreads, since I prefer to tailor the spread to the person and their question. Kiama

firestorm	20 Nov 2003
I'm getting there, I think. I've noticed that I usually don't physically lay out the spread, but I have the spread I want in my head and I'll just lay down each card and consider the postion in my head. I'll put each card on top of the previous card so they're still in "order" so if it turns out to be a really incredible reading, I can still physically put the cards in a spread to further study it.

Umbrae	20 Nov 2003
If you ever read on an airplane you will discover the folly of a spread. Sitters don't know your doing the Martini Glass of Spain...they just see cards. You can always name the card position before you turn the card over - "This card represents outside influences in your life, things that are outside of your immediate control...Oh my, the Happy Squirrel..." This thread speaks much wisdom…

lark	25 Nov 2003
Quote: Originally posted by lark One of the readers at the fair where I work just shuffles her cards and throws one down at a time. No spread. Then she just starts talking. If the person has a 45 min reading she might go through the whole deck. She believes that once you shuffle the deck all the cards in the deck have a story to tell that person. So why limit it to 5 or 8 or 10 cards. She says that if one card doesn't speak to her another will. I haven't tried it yet but, I also learned the same concept from Michele Morgan's book, Magical Course in Tarot. (Love that book.) Maybe I'll give it a go this weekend. Namaste I did give this a go this weekend. I did not use any spread with my clients just shuffled started throwing out cards and talking about what I saw. I have been thinking all day of how I can put into words what happened. I have never had a more liberated or free feeling doing readings. It was like everything clicked. All the wires connected and I just floated and flowed through every reading. At one point five hours went by with a steady stream of customers before I had a break and I hardly noticed. It was like being in an altered state. And my readings were extremely accurate. Many happy customers. Alot of hand shaking and hugs (always a good sign.) Astraea, Umbrae any one else that may use this method of reading I'd like to hear a little more about your experiences with it. How you came to choose this method. I think I'm sold. Nameste

Justin	25 Nov 2003
I just recently discovered the liberation of doing a reading without a preset spread. I've only done it a couple of times, but both times it seemed to work really well. I asked the question, shuffled, and layed down three cards and went from there. The only thing that i was concerned about was the fact that i felt i had to read the cards left to right. But being someone who lives in the western world, i really shouldn't be surprised because that's the way we've all been trained to read. It's ingrained in our subconscious. Anyway, i still really enjoyed the process and will definitely do it again. I should also add that the questions were ones that i wasn't very personally conected to and didn't have an actual querent for. On the other side, i've been using the Celtic Cross for quite awhile, but have finally found the exact one that seems to "fit" for me. There's so many variations out there, i just had to try some until i found the one that worked. So to sum up, i guess i would have to say that i'm in favor of both. Sometimes an exact spread lends itself to a better reading, depending on the questions asked. And sometimes the free flow, intuitive throw provides a flow and freedom that's really incredible!

RedWood	25 Nov 2003
Lark! I totally understand the feeling you had. My husband and I did that this weekend with the Ator deck. It took us about 30-45 mins to go through the whole deck. Even if I did not understand a card. It was ok. Because I was using the whole deck I knew that it would be explained further on. If I ever start reading in public. That is the way I am going to go.

Nevada	25 Nov 2003
I've done this on a very small scale for some time. Often when I do a three card reading I don't assign meanings to the positions, just let the cards tell me what they mean. I agree, though, with Justin that there are times when a particular spread is needed. I've also compared many different Celtic Crosses in a search for the one that works for me. I think I analyzed about 11 versions before I got frustrated and set that project aside for a while. I plan to go back to it, but have a feeling that what I wind up with won't look much like a Celtic Cross anymore. :) Lark and Redwood, thanks for your descriptions of your experiments with this. You've piqued my interest. I'm going to try the whole deck reading. Nevada

mzmystic	25 Nov 2003
Like others have mentioned here, due to lack of space at the computer, I started laying out a seven card spread, read from left to right, with the first two cards being the recent past influences, the next three being what's being dealt with in the present, and the last two being the near future, with extra cards drawn for more insight. Not only was the person I was reading for in awe with the results, but so was I! Probably more so than they were because these were some of the first readings I've ever done for others plus just reading intuitively. What made it harder was that my querent was trying to decide for himself whether he believed in tarot enough to study it himself, so he'd give me only a name-----nothing else. I had no idea who the people were that he named. We did this for about 5 hours. I felt like I'd been digging a ditch when I was done, but the readings were SO accurate that it thrilled me at the end, and had him totally in awe of the tarot. Some of his friends had participated in giving me questions or names, and they ended up being believers, too. LOL I'm going to continue reading this way, because trying to remember the meanings of the Celtic Cross or trying to find room to lay it out is just not as simple as the seven cards in a row, read left to right. Sometimes I do three cards or just one card, but the seven is what I use most.

Bean Feasa	26 Nov 2003
Thanks to all of you for the discussion of this method (or lack of it?? :)) it sounds exhilarating. Michele Morgan's book sounds wonderful - rave reviews on Amazon - I'm afraid I just had to order it. Oh poor Bean Feasa, and her poor exhausted credit card! Blessings, Kate

The Reading without a spread thread was originally posted on 19 Nov 2003 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.