Thirteen
Okay. Final spread assignment--by the way, I know we never got to discussing the Celtic Cross, but we'll do that in Tarot Reading later, Okay? It is, after all, a big subject.
So. Here's your last assignment.
Go through the Major Arcana and pick out one of your favorite cards.
Using no more than 7 cards, create a SPREAD of your VERY OWN that is emblematic of that particular card. Remember that each one of those 7 (or less!) cards has to stand for something. And you have to decide how you will lay them out--in which order.
Decide particularly which one will be your "guiding" card--like #13 in the calendar spread, which one will give you an idea of what the entire spread is about (Love? Family? Work? Career?).
To do this, examine that Major Arcana card. What are the major "points" in it, symbols, shapes (Temperance, for example, will, at the very least, require two cards for the Angel's two cups). How can you emphasize those not only in where cards in a spread go, but what they mean?
Most especially, what does this major arcana card mean? If you use Temperance, then the spread is about changing the elements to find a new balance (or something like that). If it's the World, then it might be a spread you'd lay down for someone planning a trip or reaching a pinnacle in their career. Likewise, if you use the Strength Card to create this spread, then it's likely going to be a spread about finding inner strength. So you might want one card to symbolize the Lion, which is the problem, another is the lady, the solution....etc.
You get the idea.
Here's one that I use that I made up.
The Fool's Spread (I use it as a general, "what's new"? spread in readings):
...1...........3...
6........7.........5
...4............2...
Okay, look at the RW Fool card.
#1: He's looking up at the sun or star or sky--he's daydreaming about for his future, his grand schemes, plans, his ultimate goals.
#2: However, there's a little dog tugging or barking at him to warn him to look down instead of up because.....
#3: There's a cliff he might just walk over if he doesn't!
#4: There's what he's bringing with him though he might not know what's in that sack.
#5: There's the old self he's leaving behind--the one that's ended and done with.
#6: There's his next stop along his journey--the place he'll get to in the next card if he doesn't fall off the cliff.
#7: There is where he is right now, in the present.
So, reading this (and I do quite well with this spread) I tell the reader their ultimate hope and daydream for their future--be it in career, love, intellect or job. Thus, in this spread, the "Star"--#1--guides the rest of the reading--if it's cups, then they're dreaming about Love. This gives me an idea of what the other cards might be about--what cliff they might fall over, what the warning might be from the little dog, etc.
I point out that they should listen to that little dog (if it's a court card, it's a person, if it's not it might be past experience, their conscience, or knowledge), because if they don't they'll end up stuck at the bottom of the cliff doing or being something else, not moving forward toward their ultimate goal. Then I discuss what they're taking with them that will help them when they get to their next stop. I usually assume that whatever is in the "sack" is useful, not negative, but sometimes we do bring baggage....
And, finally, I read the three middle cards rather like a past, present and future. Though #7 goes down last, I usually don't save it for last--I read the three pretty much as 5, 7, 6. What they've left behind, where they are, and where the next stop in their journey will be.
Any questions?
So. Here's your last assignment.
Go through the Major Arcana and pick out one of your favorite cards.
Using no more than 7 cards, create a SPREAD of your VERY OWN that is emblematic of that particular card. Remember that each one of those 7 (or less!) cards has to stand for something. And you have to decide how you will lay them out--in which order.
Decide particularly which one will be your "guiding" card--like #13 in the calendar spread, which one will give you an idea of what the entire spread is about (Love? Family? Work? Career?).
To do this, examine that Major Arcana card. What are the major "points" in it, symbols, shapes (Temperance, for example, will, at the very least, require two cards for the Angel's two cups). How can you emphasize those not only in where cards in a spread go, but what they mean?
Most especially, what does this major arcana card mean? If you use Temperance, then the spread is about changing the elements to find a new balance (or something like that). If it's the World, then it might be a spread you'd lay down for someone planning a trip or reaching a pinnacle in their career. Likewise, if you use the Strength Card to create this spread, then it's likely going to be a spread about finding inner strength. So you might want one card to symbolize the Lion, which is the problem, another is the lady, the solution....etc.
You get the idea.
Here's one that I use that I made up.
The Fool's Spread (I use it as a general, "what's new"? spread in readings):
...1...........3...
6........7.........5
...4............2...
Okay, look at the RW Fool card.
#1: He's looking up at the sun or star or sky--he's daydreaming about for his future, his grand schemes, plans, his ultimate goals.
#2: However, there's a little dog tugging or barking at him to warn him to look down instead of up because.....
#3: There's a cliff he might just walk over if he doesn't!
#4: There's what he's bringing with him though he might not know what's in that sack.
#5: There's the old self he's leaving behind--the one that's ended and done with.
#6: There's his next stop along his journey--the place he'll get to in the next card if he doesn't fall off the cliff.
#7: There is where he is right now, in the present.
So, reading this (and I do quite well with this spread) I tell the reader their ultimate hope and daydream for their future--be it in career, love, intellect or job. Thus, in this spread, the "Star"--#1--guides the rest of the reading--if it's cups, then they're dreaming about Love. This gives me an idea of what the other cards might be about--what cliff they might fall over, what the warning might be from the little dog, etc.
I point out that they should listen to that little dog (if it's a court card, it's a person, if it's not it might be past experience, their conscience, or knowledge), because if they don't they'll end up stuck at the bottom of the cliff doing or being something else, not moving forward toward their ultimate goal. Then I discuss what they're taking with them that will help them when they get to their next stop. I usually assume that whatever is in the "sack" is useful, not negative, but sometimes we do bring baggage....
And, finally, I read the three middle cards rather like a past, present and future. Though #7 goes down last, I usually don't save it for last--I read the three pretty much as 5, 7, 6. What they've left behind, where they are, and where the next stop in their journey will be.
Any questions?
