Face up or face down...how do you read your spreads?

Over the years I've found that starting with them face-down and then turning them as I’m reading has benefits, in most (but not all) cases.

For starters – the sitter is not there all panicky staring at the Death card, palms sweating while I’m talking about how wonderful the 6 of Cups is. “But what about this?”

“I’m not there yet”

“But I wanna know.”

“I’ll get there…”

“Am I gonna die?”

“No you’re not gonna die, I want to focus on these cards…”

“Everybody dies. Why are you avoiding talking to me about Death…”

Get the picture?

It helps keep me from being overwhelmed by the all the ‘stuff’, helps provide focus for both ME and the SITTER.

But with established sitters, where you’ve done a handful of reading for them, sometimes face up is cool.

If I’m doing an Umbrae’s Relationship Spread, that’s all face-up from the get-go.

So to answer your question – it all depends on the reading. But usually, I start with face-down.

Oooo ooo ooo I almost forgot. So you start with them all face-up. The sitter sits there quietly not saying a word – you’re trying to talk about that there 6 of Cups and Death keeps pulling YOU away from where you’re supposed to be.

Focus – it’s all about focus. Starting out face-up looks impressive (all them pretty pictures from that oooo so cool deck), but trust me – in a professional reading situation – you need all the focus you can get.

So learn – face down.

shemsu sutekh said:

and I was like "duh! Why didn't I think of that?!?"

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That is why this place is so very cool!

Umbrae said:

For starters – the sitter is not there all panicky staring at the Death card, palms sweating while I’m talking about how wonderful the 6 of Cups is. “But what about this?”

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That brings up and interesting question. I turn them all over but I only read for others online. I wonder if one method is more appicable to reading in person, and if another might be more suited to reading remotely? What do you guys think?

Bar

Umbrae has made a VERY good point that I hadn't thought of. Whenever I do face to face readings I have always done it my way, one card flipped over at a time. The people I read for are regulars, so I feel it's safe to try placing them out face up in this sort of situation. But having read Umbrae's post, I will most likely hold off on doing that face to face unless I find that it's the best way I can read.

Thanks to everyone again, this has been very thought provoking so far.

And that is exactly why I LOVE this forum franniee!

Oh, and as for reading online sunchariot, I think that perhaps flipping them all over at once would be good, since the person is not there to see them and you have to send them a report. They're not there to see any of it, so it's very comfy and probably less nerve wracking

Excellent point Umbrae! I have read people and they have done exactly what you described .... toooooo funny!!! I will try it again and try and get comfortable with it. But you are right about that way captivating your listeners attention.

thank you!

SunChariot said:

That brings up and interesting question. I turn them all over but I only read for others online. I wonder if one method is more appicable to reading in person, and if another might be more suited to reading remotely? What do you guys think?

Bar

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When I do online readings, I go out to my barn, where I read. then I turn them up one at a time, take notes (kinda pretend I'm reading face-to-face) jot down stuff.

Then I come in and type it up.

Once again - it's about focus.

If I'm phone reading or chat room reading - no different...

one

card

at

a

time

after all...I gotta stay focused.

I also turn my cards over and read them one at time regardless of whether it's in person or not. After I interpret the cards individually, I then go back and interpret them for themes or other overal messages. I add this interpretation as an additional layer of meaning to the reading and rarely make any significant changes to the initial interpretations of the individual cards.

I was thinking about making a thread with this same question, thanks for saving me the trouble.

Usually I start with all the cards face up, but very recently I've started turning them over one at a time. After I've turned everything over, I like to look back at the spread as a whole to get a bigger picture.

I turn them all over. Before I begin on one card, I like to get a sense of the reading as a whole. But I don't read with card placement so that might be why I do that. I also don't read reversals so I need an overall view to understand what each card is trying to tell me. I am not sure that made any sense at all.

Do whatever works for you