When one spread just doesn't seem to do it...

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 22 Apr 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

yve	22 Apr 2004
It happen ocassionally, perhaps it's due to inexperience or lack of confidence at some times, but there are times when I choose a spread to answer a question someone has asked of me (usually by e-mail)...I draw the cards, look at them, then decide that particular spread isn't answering the question (or perhaps i just cannot see what they are telling me), so I pick another, same thing, then I try another...however, after several spreads, and several cards, I seem to get an underlying message that becomes more clear than the one spread alone, so I usually give a reading based on the story all the cards and spreads have told me...am I doing something wrong? Is it due to inexperience or lack of confidence, or what...it doesn't happen all the time, only ocassionally I get stuck....

MeeWah	22 Apr 2004
Yve: The impulse to do more than one spread is not necessarily "wrong" nor due to a lack of confidence/faith but more of a brainstorming technique. A good means of trying different spreads, even if only for experimental purposes to see which more readily applies. Also particularly where the spreads are different so the focus is different also & offers another perspective. I do some in-depth readings using 3 spreads with a decreasing number of cards. Usually begin with a 10-card to establish an over-view; followed by a 7-card to see the prevailing energies; end with a 3-card to see the here&now. The approach provides an initial panoramic view that gradually narrows to a close-up with the advantage of seeing how things could develop from the "first" phase throw to the "last" phase. The most common feature of the 3-card after the previous spreads is a sense of immediacy, of arrival in the present (which can also be suggestive of the immediate future). Usually anywhere from one or more cards will repeat in succeeding spreads &/or an aspect of the Majors in the first spread or in some other combination. I do not recommend this method unless there are a lot of factors to consider & time is no object. Such readings also tend to produce additional information over the next day or two in a trickle-down effect.

The When one spread just doesn't seem to do it... thread was originally posted on 22 Apr 2004 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.