Preferring to use fewer cards in a reading

I Started out doing Celtic Cross spreads... But quit recently I sort of realized that I'm not very good at finding answers to specific questions in them. I find myself seeing a story, but somehow it is not providing me with concrete answers. Probably because it is an intense spread to take in.

So these days I find that I prefer, particular 3 cards spreads, with positions and clarifyers( if needed). Strange thing is that the positions past-present-future spreads, never seem to work for me....guess I'm always confused about the timeline or something.

I'm also trying to see if a 3 card spread without positions will work for me.
Overall for me, I think that it depends on the question, which spread/positions would be best to use....and I seem to be struggling with that sometimes.

That's what I love about this forum...being inspired by others and learning so much more than you ever would in books

So, mostly I do 3-7 cards. But, if I'm doing a spread over the course of days (like the Yule one I did last year) I go bigger. I can generally tailor a spread to what I am looking to answer with 7 or less cards. I use the base card sometimes. I calculate the quintessential sometimes. I go with what I feel on that.

I find myself doing more majors-only readings, or majors and separate minors. For a majors-only reading, ten cards is way too many, esp. given that there are only 22. Three of each is about my max.

I started out as a someone who pulls five cards but transitioned to three cards after joining this site. Normally, I would use three cards to get the gist of the information (answer the actual question) and the other two to reveal what happens with the situation beyond the present.

As a phone reader when additional questions are asked I would normally reshuffle and lay out a new spread rather than continue to use the energy of the same question. I do that because sometimes when I lay out a large spread it is easy to forget which cards are associated with a specific part of the question as I don't use any spreads other than the occassional past, present, and future.

JackofWands said:

I've always been a fan of using massive spreads when given the opportunity, but lately I've found myself drawing fewer and fewer cards for most questions. With a lot of querents, I get questions that I feel could be adequately answered with a single card (even though I end up drawing more). I'm just curious: anyone else feel this way? Are there times that you find yourself drifting more towards the "less is more" school of thought?

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Personally, I don't use spreads at all anymore in Tarot, for years now. I use 1 to 3 cards per question, depending on the complexity of the question and how much depth I want. But I never use more than 3.

I am a fan of following what feels right to you as a reader at any given time. If massive spreads used to call to you, that was fine for you then. If now they don't, then don't use them for now. Follow your inner feelings as a reader, they should always lead you to the best place for you to be for where you are now.

Babs

One thing I must add: recently I was hit with a whole slew of "general reading" requests and I found that a 12 card Horoscope spread was the way to go. This is for an on-line service where I am doing a reading in 4 minutes, so I don't read the whole spread, but the most important topic does jump out and get addressed. So sometimes you just NEED more cards. Like everything else tarot, we must work it as we need to.

barb

Ace said:

... I found that a 12 card Horoscope spread was the way to go.... I don't read the whole spread, but the most important topic does jump out and get addressed. So sometimes you just NEED more cards. ...

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ohkaaay Barb you can't just leave that there and walk off.

(well you can, but would you mind sharing a little more? Sounds interesting.)

What is this horoscope thread of which you speak, and how does one read it? ? I'm thinking maybe you're seeing groups of cards that connect together to tell a story or make a theme dominate over others...? Do you need to know the horoscope well to read it?

this is another idea that could use a thread of its own....

With tarot, the Celtic Cross is my "middle-of-the-road" spread; it can be read quickly and loosely or more slowly and in greater depth. I've been fine-tuning it for over four decades, and the practice I'm now getting in shoehorning it into 30-minute professional readings is improving my efficiency. I've also created a stripped-down 7-card version that looks more closely at "environmental development" in a situation, and that can be read in 15-20 minutes.

I try to fit the spread to the context of the question, and have created numerous spreads ranging from four cards up to 25. Spreads involving relationships tend to be larger because they often have dual lines of inquiry for comparison purposes. The main problem I have with spreads that are too small for the occasion is that they become more a matter of intuitive guesswork than actually reading the sequence of cards as a "story." This strikes me as more psychic or clairvoyant than cartomantic.

With Lenormand, the Grand Tableau works best for me because it can be read in segments, looking only at the life-focus areas that are of interest to the client but also having everything in front of me if needed.

euripides said:

ohkaaay Barb you can't just leave that there and walk off.

(well you can, but would you mind sharing a little more? Sounds interesting.)

What is this horoscope thread of which you speak, and how does one read it? ? I'm thinking maybe you're seeing groups of cards that connect together to tell a story or make a theme dominate over others...? Do you need to know the horoscope well to read it?

this is another idea that could use a thread of its own....

Click to expand...

The Horoscope SPREAD is just a circle of 12 cards representing the houses of the horoscope. Look it up in the index to AT and if you want more info, PM me and maybe we can start a spread about it. I am a little preoccupied right now, but by the weekend maybe we can discuss it further. I like it because it covers ALL aspects of a person's life at once.

Barb

euripides said:

ohkaaay Barb you can't just leave that there and walk off.

(well you can, but would you mind sharing a little more? Sounds interesting.)

What is this horoscope thread of which you speak, and how does one read it? ? I'm thinking maybe you're seeing groups of cards that connect together to tell a story or make a theme dominate over others...? Do you need to know the horoscope well to read it?

this is another idea that could use a thread of its own....

Click to expand...

Euripides, now that life is settling down for me, I will start a new thread on the Horoscope thread. Watch for it.
barb