Questionless Spreads?

Another question regarding spreads:

When I see spreads listed on the forums, all of them seem to focus on a question, do spreads exist that can simply give a snapshot of your psyche / spiritual make up at the moment?

I'm a total introvert and rarely, if ever, consult the Tarot for help regarding relationships and other more physical / earthly concerns. Rather I enjoy using it to further my understanding of myself, the universe and how the two interact.

I'm probably not explaining this effectively, but if anyone has an idea of what I'm getting at and has some spreads they'd be willing to share, that would be awesome!

Sure you are.... You can do a general what is going on right now spread or you can throw 3 - 5 - 7 cards and look at the story they make. Whatever floats your boat.... there are no rules.... you make it up as you go along...

Sometimes people ask what does the universe want me to know... if that is your intent then the universe knows without you having to verbalize it - don't you think?

my opinion of course!

Just like Franniee said, I sometimes pull a card or 2 or 3 for a general theme "what's up?"

There are wonderful 3 cards spreads with general theme in them: Past - Present - Future; Background - Situation - Advice; and so on.

Like you, Twilight_Falling, I do not consult Tarot for relationships, predictions, or advice for daily life. I use them as a thinking or intuition boosting tool.

I love to do a "question - answer" readings, where I pull a card and interpret it as a question, then pull another card and interpret it as an answer for that question. Repeat as many times as you want. Interesting things open up through this, it's like conversing with your subconscious.

Talking about conversing with subconscious, I can also suggest The Soul spread by Rachel Pollack. It looks into what your soul was up to, and gives very interesting answers. If you like this idea, I will post the spread for you.

I do indeed like that idea. I would enjoy seeing the spread. I also like your question answer idea.

And you're probably right franniee.

The Soul spread intrigues me. I, too, am using the Tarot "to further my understanding of myself, the universe and how the two interact." I am just starting out but have found how beneficial it is to help me focus inwardly at my potential and spiritual growth. Magnificent tool. Can't wait to see the spread.

RussianSoul said:

Talking about conversing with subconscious, I can also suggest The Soul spread by Rachel Pollack. It looks into what your soul was up to, and gives very interesting answers. If you like this idea, I will post the spread for you.

Click to expand...

Yes I would love to see the spread too RS!

I never used set spreads (except for the occasional celtic cross but I still never read each position literally as it is supposed to be) until I came here. I always threw 3 or 5 or 7 cards and read them as a story and paid special attention to the patterns I saw. After coming here and joining in on the circle of stones and ISG reading groups I have developed an appreciation for set spreads.

But when I read face-to-face I ALWAYS revert to my old ways... throw cards until I see the story is done....

When I remember I draw a card for the day and I am a big base card person... I believe the bottom card is the key to the reading - I believe it gives you an overview. So I draw a card and I look at the bottom of the deck and figure them together....

Again these are my ways.... everyone has their own. That is the beauty of Tarot reading.

Like RussianSoul, I like the idea of drawing a card to gain a question as well, then basing a spread around that. You could even use one deck to draw your question card, and another to do a perfectly *normal* spread around the question that comes up.

RS, I'd like to see that Soul Spread, too . . . unless I already have it in one of her books around here . . .*rummages around*

Oh, it's too late at night for this hunting thing!

\m/ Kat

Spirit Soul reading

Soul reading comes from the book Forest Of Souls: A Walk Through the Tarot by Rachel Pollack. She retells a portion of Talmud, Jewish traditional teaching, where it talks about human soul being comprised of multiple parts – physical soul, mental soul and spiritual soul. (There are actually more parts described in Talmud, but that is another story.) Talmud teaches that our physical and mental souls are with us all the time to help us navigate in our material life and make decisions. Our spirit soul actually wonders in the Spirit World for 6 days of the week and only come back to us on the day of Sabbath, stays for a day and goes off again. That’s why it is important to do no work on the day of Sabbath, let go of our worries, so that we can really connect with our Spirit Soul and get the benefits that it brings us from the Spirit World.

With this background in mind, curious Rachel Pollack wondered that Ok, this is all great, but wouldn’t it be interesting to know what our Spirit Soul actually did for 6 days while it was away? Where did it go? What did it see? And wouldn’t Tarot be the best tool to ask these questions? And so she constructed this Spirit Soul spread that she taught us at WATTS conference this past summer.

Spirit Soul Journey

1. Where is my spirit soul in the other world?
…

2. What is its task?
…

3. How can I help it?
…

4. What will hinder it?
…

5. What will it bring back to me?
…

Rachel told us that she herself decided to do this spread for a year, on 52 Saturdays, to track the journey of her Spirit Soul. She recommends choosing the day of the week that constitutes the day of rest for you, does not have to be Saturday, but has to be the day of rest, so that the Spirit Soul is back and you can interview it.

I use this spread often on weekends (not every weekend) and try to connect with my Spirit Soul. I even have one special deck that I use for Soul readings only. Let me tell you - she is busy, but interestingly - all on my behalf.

Thanks, RS! I will be using this spread, too, and might even do the same as you with the special deck. What a beautiful spread. Blessings.

\m/ Kat

Thanks for posting this!

I can't wait to see what my soul has been up to!