Book on Creating Spreads?

crystalrose

Does anyone have good book recs on creating spreads? I'd like to start learning how to make my own, but don't know where to start. And if anybody has thoughts on the Deck of 1000 Spreads, I'd be interested in that too.
 

IreneCroft

Hi, crystalrose!

It's a bit strange that no one have answered yet, so I decided to be the first.:cool3:

I can highly recommend two books:
1. Designing Your Own Tarot Spreads by Teresa Michelsen
2. Tarot Spreads: Layouts & Techniques to Empower Your Readings by Barbara Moore

Michelsen's book has practical exercises, and Moore's one tells much about geometry of layouts (the form does matter). Both books cover different sources of inspiration when creating a spread and give lots of examples.
 

crystalrose

Thank you! I purchased the Barbara Moore book & I'll have a look at that thread when I have the time. :)
 

Nemia

I'm a fan of the Deck of 1000 Spreads and its accompanying book. I found the book very concise in explaining the basic structure of many existing spreads, and how to design your own spreads. Obviously, her spread positions can't cover all eventualities, but there are blank cards - and you can always make up your own cards. I made maps for my most-useful spreads.

And a certain consistency pays off after a while - you can follow up on the cards that showed up in a certain position over time.
 

Barleywine

Personally, I don't use spread books, since there are really only a handful of basic themes, and everything else is mostly creative riffing on those themes. "Past/present/future" is the most obvious one, and all manner of imaginative hair-splitting goes on around that. Another one is the "focus-card-and-supporting-influences" theme, a third is the "dual-train" (and sometimes "multi-train") theme of comparative factors intended to support a decision of some sort, a fourth is the "yes/no" approach (which might be seen as a specialized case of the "dual-train" theme), and a fifth "catch-all" category would be the "developmental" theme (the Celtic Cross is one) that encompasses both timing elements and the evolutionary growth of a matter toward a particular outcome. Then there are the "pattern-based" layouts (stars, circles, squares, arcs, etc.) that don't have any intrinsic interpretive significance beyond being pleasingly balanced. There are also "psychological insight" spreads of different types ("thinks/feels" questions inspire a good many of them) but I don't use tarot for that purpose, finding astrology a much more effective tool for it. I'm not sure a thorough analysis has ever been done, but I would be surprised if there are more than a dozen or so "core" themes driving the thousands of different spreads out there.
 

andromedastarseed

There's always your friend Google.
 

Luna's Crone

I was interested in the book of 365 daily spreads or whateve. my problem is coming up with the question or statement for each card. I know what i want but to put it in words just is going right with me. plus, I have only been partially concentrating on spreads for about 1.5 to 2 months. Heck, I started working on tarot before xmas last year 2015 and i still have trouble remembering some of the basic RWS stuff cuz i usually use my own interpretations. The first spread that i did, had the 5 of clubs. I saw it as the teamwork of my husbands medical team at that time. Cuz the card appeared to be a young group practicing how to use their clubs in warfare. Which in my husbands case was CA but its all gone. phew.
 

Citrin

I was interested in the book of 365 daily spreads or whateve. my problem is coming up with the question or statement for each card.

Well the good thing with that book is that most of the spreads don't really require a question. :) They already have a theme and set positions that are quite specific, so you just go along for the ride lol. I think it's a really nice book, especially if you find yourself wanting to work with tarot on a daily basis and want to keep it creative and varied, not just past-present-future or body-mind-spirit etc.