New Love Compatibility Spread

I've been noticing how frequently "new love" questions appear in the forum, and how new readers are almost as frequently baffled by what the cards are saying given the tools available to them. So I put together a compatibility spread that is simple to use but fully-featured enough to transcend the "what does he/she think/feel about me" mind-reading approach. It requires two decks, shuffled and dealt separately for each person so both have equal access to the full range of meaning. It looks at potential alignment between the parties in five areas of compatibilty as follows, and a "roll-up" comparison of the numerologically derived quintessence card for each line (alternatively, drawn quint cards could be used if preferred).

From my written method sheet:

The cards in the “Romance Potential” column will show whether romantic love between the partners will flourish or whether there could be difficulties in becoming emotionally close.

The cards in the “Happiness Potential” column will show how much non-sexual fun the partner's are likely to experience in each others company.

The cards in the “Passion Potential” column will show how rewarding sexual union between them is likely to be.

The cards in the “Longevity Potential” column will show how likely the partner's are to become fast friends and stick together through “thick and thin.”

The cards in the “Empathy Potential” column will show how like-minded the partners are in terms of their expectations and desires for the relationship.

Looks good. Will be interesting to see how the spread works in practice!

Another Possible Use

I thought of another way this spread might be used in situations where no new love is on the horizon, turning it into an "attraction potential" rather than a "joint compatibility" spread.

Go through your favorite deck and select the cards that best represent you (as you currently know yourself, not your "ideal" self or what you're trying to attract) in the areas of "Romance," "Fun," "Sex," "Reliability" and "Sensitivity." The more honest you are, the more precise the next step is likely to be. Lay them out in a line in that order. This is your "Attraction Profile." If doing this for another person unfamiliar with the tarot, you would have to talk them through it, which - unless the approach is really general - would probably be unworkable in terms of time.

Take another deck and, through random shuffling, cutting and dealing, produce another five-card line directly below the first one. This is the "Attractee Profile."

The idea is that pairing the two in each column could show what kind of "partnering" energy will be drawn to you through your present sense of self (self-image, self-awareness, self-worth, etc.)

In this case, rather than "satisfaction potential" for each area, "hook-up" potential might be a better way to think of it. Low potential could show that there's not much out there right now that's suitable, or that you might want to reconsider your "profile" selections to make sure they were realistic.

I'll have to think on whether the quint card would be useful in this context. It might reveal "Who am I as a whole package?" and, on the other hand, "What kind of encounter can I expect?" I would use the derived quint, though, not a drawn clarifier, since it should be a composite of the cards already laid. If you're going to rely solely on two random cards, you might as well just draw them and skip the details here.