Spread-Less?

Le Fanu

I think having spreads with different angles is useful to take different in-roads into a card. I mean, as long as each card pulled out isn´t just the Outcome or Result ( which would be a bit simplistic).

Spreads are useful in getting you to think maybe negatively about a seemingly positive card. For example; Victorian Romantic, Looking Back, Looking Forward spread; a position like "what I should leave behind from my past". Having to think about cards in a context like this is useful and often challenging. Especially if they are generally positive cards.

But, yes, I often don´t use spreads if it´s just for me... Just shuffle-ask-cut. Next question; shuffle-ask-cut. And so on. For some reason this method works wonderfully with my St Petersburg tarot....
 

Vadella

When I started learning tarot I would use spreads. I eventually drifted away from them and just started reading whatever I drew. I find it hard now to use spreads because I then have to put each card into their designated position... reading free flow makes it better for my intuition to go to work.

xx
Vad
 

brujaja

At my last gig, I played around for the first time with what i want to call slotless spreads. well, i pulled various amounts of slotless cards, and then pulled 1 for light and 1 for shadow...training wheels for the truly spreadless spread, i guess. ;) it went real well - i felt i was actually better addressing people's questions, it was more of a dialogue. some totally dug it, some had very...strict ideas about Tarot and were like, what the what are you doing?

<<I thought it might be better to let the question take its own form.>>

cheers Futuremoth - let us know how the experiments go -
 

FutureMoth

Thanks again, everyone. I decided to try it out. My question was about getting out of the rut that I'm in. I ended up putting down cards like this:

1
..2..3..4
.......5..6
.........7..8..9
..................10

1) The root of the problem.
2-4) Options
5-6) Best two actions.
7-9) More detailed instructions relating to 5 and 6.
10) Final Step/ Outcome.

Worked rather well.
 

SunChariot

I'm not surprised it worked well. But I am glad to hear it all the same. :grin:

When you get a feeling in Tarot on how you should do something and you follow it, it tends to work out well after. Instinct plays an important role in Tarot reading. Your instincts were telling you to lay the cards out that way...

Babs
 

FutureMoth

Right, because I knew what I wanted to know. So I let my instincts tell me how to place the cards to find that out.
 

thinbuddha

Not trying to split hairs here, but it seems that you made your own spread rather than going "spread-less".

for me, "spread-less" means something like this:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1 through 7 representing whatever they seem to represent.

-tb
 

punchinella

Wow! I've been (off & on) hanging around here for how many years, and somehow until this moment thought I was the only person not generally using spreads. How self-absorbed is that!?! It's actually astonishing to read so many descriptions of my very own personal & private reading method (which is, dialoguing card-by-card with the deck or, at the most, for rare "official" occasions, pulling a p-p-f)

Isn't it something that so many of us have developed pretty much the same method of working with the cards, even when no instruction manual (to my knowledge) tells us to do it this way.

I did feel inspired to design a spread for the first time in my life the other night . . . but then . . . the thrill wore off, and I haven't summoned the energy to actually use the thing :joke:

I wonder how many people actually keep using spreads when reading for others, but read without them on their own? This could make a cool poll:

1) I always use a spread.
2) I always use a spread when reading for others, but sometimes leave the spread out when I read for myself.
3) I don't generally use a spread, but when I do, I'm reading for someone else.
4) Sometimes I use a spread and sometimes I don't. Whether or not I do is a matter of intuition; and does not depend on who I'm reading for.
5) I use spreads when reading for myself. When reading for others, I often leave the spread out.
6) I never use spreads.

Well . . . it could use some tweaking, but it might be interesting. Hmmn. I don't think I've ever started a poll before :party:
 

FutureMoth

thinbuddha said:
Not trying to split hairs here, but it seems that you made your own spread rather than going "spread-less".

for me, "spread-less" means something like this:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1 through 7 representing whatever they seem to represent.

-tb
Click to expand...

Yes, I thought this too. Except that it wasn't really thought out. I just let my hands go where they wanted. It wasn't so much planned out. I also just generally don't really like it when all that is formed is a line.
 

Erzebet

punchinella said:
Wow! I've been (off & on) hanging around here for how many years, and somehow until this moment thought I was the only person not generally using spreads. How self-absorbed is that!?! It's actually astonishing to read so many descriptions of my very own personal & private reading method (which is, dialoguing card-by-card with the deck or, at the most, for rare "official" occasions, pulling a p-p-f)

Isn't it something that so many of us have developed pretty much the same method of working with the cards, even when no instruction manual (to my knowledge) tells us to do it this way.

I did feel inspired to design a spread for the first time in my life the other night . . . but then . . . the thrill wore off, and I haven't summoned the energy to actually use the thing :joke:

I wonder how many people actually keep using spreads when reading for others, but read without them on their own? This could make a cool poll:

1) I always use a spread.
2) I always use a spread when reading for others, but sometimes leave the spread out when I read for myself.
3) I don't generally use a spread, but when I do, I'm reading for someone else.
4) Sometimes I use a spread and sometimes I don't. Whether or not I do is a matter of intuition; and does not depend on who I'm reading for.
5) I use spreads when reading for myself. When reading for others, I often leave the spread out.
6) I never use spreads.

Well . . . it could use some tweaking, but it might be interesting. Hmmn. I don't think I've ever started a poll before :party:
Click to expand...

I think this is a great idea for a poll! I'd love to see the results and hear others views on it. You should do the poll :).

There are quite a few books on using no spreads to read but my favorite one is "Intuitive Tarot: Discovering and Reinforcing the Power of Your Intuition : Using the Tarot As a Tool by Richard Prosapio and Elizabeth Prosapio". This book really helped my connection and faith in MYSELF, the biggest thing when reading with no spread or books.
 
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