Two different decks -same question and spread?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 27 Aug 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Kitty	27 Aug 2002
Hello all tarotaddicts, Okay, imagine this, you do a spread about a what is coming up in regards to a particular aspect of your life, using the celtic cross. The spread seems to not say alot to you, so you try using another of your decks and you get a completely different outcome, but this spread makes more sense to you. What do others think of this? Have you ever tried this? Should you only look at the first spread? Or would you considering only looking at the spread which speaks to you the most? It happened to me last night, now I wish I hadn't done the second spread, I'm confused :confused: !!

Marion	27 Aug 2002
Care to post both spreads in Your Readings? You might get some good ideas from the readers here.

Kitty	27 Aug 2002
I'm at work and I haven't got my notebook here unfortunately - maybe tomorrow cheers

lunalafey	28 Aug 2002
;)

jema	28 Aug 2002
i don't think i would have done two spreads for the same questions but since this is already the case - what's done is done i would advice you to go with your gut-feeling. but perhaps figure out what it was about the first spread that didn't make sense to you - there could be a lesson in that too.

Sullanciri2002	28 Aug 2002
or do most concepts for the tarot advise never to do a second reading because you don't like (or understand) the first. Seems it would be an unending "game" if we all started to check the veracity of our readings by doing a second (control or check) reading to see if the cards say the same thing ?

Major Tom	28 Aug 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Sullanciri2002 Seems it would be an unending "game" if we all started to check the veracity of our readings by doing a second (control or check) reading to see if the cards say the same thing ? The real problem with repeating readings on the same question when we don't understand or don't like the outcome is that tarot will eventually tell you exactly what you want to hear. When you don't like the outcome it's time for a bit of tarot magick. }) I've always felt the true purpose of tarot has little to do with telling us what's going to happen and lots to do with providing the information we need to produce the outcome we want.

Diana	28 Aug 2002
edited

Keslynn	28 Aug 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Major Tom I've always felt the true purpose of tarot has little to do with telling us what's going to happen and lots to do with providing the information we need to produce the outcome we want. That's a really interesting thought, Major Tom. I quite like it! :) Kes

lunalafey	28 Aug 2002
another idea about a second reading and out come. Our thoughts a focus changes, yes. Perhaps the first reading was not fully focused on the actual question, thus answering something else. What else may have been on your mind at that time? Maybe the question was to complex, therefor giving a complex answer.

Umbrae	28 Aug 2002
The readings that do not make sense are the ones we need to spend some time on. It is build upon connections we have not made, aspects not thought upon. The second reading I would toss upon the bonfire of LWB’s. Find out WHY the first reading did not make sense (or was it simply an answer we did not want to see).

Jewel	28 Aug 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Kitty Okay, imagine this, you do a spread about a what is coming up in regards to a particular aspect of your life, using the celtic cross. The spread seems to not say alot to you, so you try using another of your decks and you get a completely different outcome, but this spread makes more sense to you. Cool scenario! I doubt I would have redone the spread. I would have logged the original in my journal and studied it over time. I do have a thought of what you might do with your second spread ... superinpose it on your first one to see the correlation between the cards and see if it serves as a clarification! ... Just an idea. When I start working with a new deck sometimes I do not understand everything a spread with the new deck is telling me. Then of course I run and get a deck I am prefectly comfortable with and duplicate the layout with them ... then I study them side by side. I have found this helpful to me. On a personal note, I am not a big fan of the Celtic Cross. I often find that the CC alone can create confusion, it is not a spread for every question. I have started collecting spreads so that when I have something specific to ask I can pick a layout for the question (also helps me focus more on the question). I use the 3 card spread quite a bit ... it is flexible and you can always expand the reading if you want more info :) Good luck!

Kitty	28 Aug 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Umbrae The readings that do not make sense are the ones we need to spend some time on. It is build upon connections we have not made, aspects not thought upon. The second reading I would toss upon the bonfire of LWB’s. Find out WHY the first reading did not make sense (or was it simply an answer we did not want to see). :D - love your comment of tossing it on the bonfire of LWB's! Yes, I was giving it some more thought yesterday and realised that I need to concentrate on the first reading, I was a bit tired when I did the readings which was a mistake to begin with :) No, it wasn't answer I didn't want to see. I am going to dedicate some time over the weekend on the first spread - if I still have questions or would like to see comments I will post in the reading section.

Kitty	28 Aug 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Jewel Cool scenario! I doubt I would have redone the spread. I would have logged the original in my journal and studied it over time. I do have a thought of what you might do with your second spread ... superinpose it on your first one to see the correlation between the cards and see if it serves as a clarification! ... Just an idea. When I start working with a new deck sometimes I do not understand everything a spread with the new deck is telling me. Then of course I run a deck I am prefectly comfortable with and duplicate the layout with them ... then I study them side by side. I have found this helpful to me. On a personal note, I am not a big fan of the Celtic Cross. I often find that the CC alone can create confusion, it is not a spread for every question. I have started collecting spreads so that when I have something specific to ask I can pick a layout for the question (also helps me focus more on the question). I use the 3 card spread quite a bit ... it is flexible and you can always expand the reading if you want more info :) Good luck! Yes, I agree, I am beginning to not use the Celtic cross much at all anymore, I have found other spreads to be more helpful and really tell a story to me. With the three card spread do you make up the positions meanings first or are you following one from a book etc? How do you expand on it? I was reading over the two spreads on the tram to work this morning and I can see some correlations between the two - for instance the environment in the first was the empress and the 9 of pentacles in the second- these two cards to me are similar. Another thought that I just had - the first spread had 5 major cards, the other had two. Yep, going to concentrate on the first. many thanks

osami2717	30 Aug 2002
Hi there. I'm new to this forum and so far, I think it's absolutely wonderful!! I've been studying Tarot for a little over a year now, but have had to do it all on my own. [a little lonely and frustrating :s] It is nice to finally have a place I can go to find like minded individuals. :D I love Jewel's suggestion to superimpose another deck over the first. I have two decks now [am hoping to get some more...] the Robin Wood and the Mythic Tarot, and I find that sometimes the later makes more sense to me. Maybe it's because the author groups the entire suit into a comprehensive story line. [i love the story of psyche and eros. *^_^* ] I will definately keep that in mind the next time a reading 'stumps' me. As for doing a reading over again... I find it to be counter productive to ask the same questions over again in the same day. [recently i've had relationship problems and was almost obsessive about that for awhile.] Instead of clarifying the issue, I would find myself becoming confused...especially if the answers seems to differ. I've read that you should wait a day before asking again. I've also heard...somewhere in this forum I believe, but I can't remember where exactly...that you should wait until the situation changes before doing another reading. I can understand that. If nothing's changed you may just be hoping to get the answer you want y'know? Anyway...there goes my 2 cents!

Marion	30 Aug 2002
Your first post osami! and welcome. Feel free to post in New members and introduce yourself. I agree that asking the same question over and over leads to confusion. I think we ask a thing over and over because we want to force the 'right' answer to come out. And eventually our own confused thoughts result in confused readings.

ming	30 Aug 2002
I was always taught that you never do a second reading ---you go with the first, and wait a day or two then do it again. You cant do two at once for the same thing...but circumstances change from day to day, so wait a day and then try again, and it will be made clearer.

Laurel	30 Aug 2002
I don't particularly like the Celtic Cross spread either and have seen it add unnecessary confusion into readings too. But some people love it and to each their own. I don't read either tarot well when I'm really tired, either. I see the images and might know what the individual cards mean, but I can't connect the patterns together... as soon as I change my focus from one card to the next, I've completely forgotten everything I was previously thinking and end up just frowning and looking a little lost half way through. :)

Jewel	30 Aug 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Kitty With the three card spread do you make up the positions meanings first or are you following one from a book etc? How do you expand on it? Sometimes I do make up the positions but other times I follow the ideas I learned in Tarot for Yourself by Mary Greer (my personal favorite workbook). Some ideas are: Past/Present/Future; Mind/Body/Spirit, etc. I use the tarot a lot for my development of my own awareness so I use those two a lot. I would be happy to copy a sample list of 3 card reading formats for you if you would like. Now as for expanding the 3 card reading, I do it as I learned in Mary Greer's workbook. I place a line of cards beneath my original 3 and look at them in relation to the 1st set of three. If I still need more clarification I will lay out 3 more in the same manner. Usually I do not need that many and a lot of times I just pull one card for clarification of a specific position (i.e. one clarification card for the "past" position and none for the other two positions.) Hope this helps! I feel exactly the same way Laurel does about the CC. Again, it was the workbook Tarot for Yourself that finally helped me click with that spread to some degree. I still don't like it but I can read and understand it well. In the workbook she used a series of permutations moving cards around, etc that finally helped me get it all connected and feel confident using it. If you would like I can share these with you 1 by 1 (there are 4 some sort of long) ... actually you many want to do a serach of the forums using "Tarot for Yourself" and may find some study group work we did last year where several of us posted the permutations and how we did them ... in any case just let me know!

amyel	01 Sep 2002
Yes, I do this, Kitty. Only recently, and not because I don't neccessarily "like" what the cards say in with one deck, but because sometimes, I think I get a clearer insghts by relaying out the spread with another deck.

The Two different decks -same question and spread? thread was originally posted on 27 Aug 2002 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.