The Companions Spread (Kushiel's Legacy)

I'm currently reading "Tarot 101: Mastering the Art of Reading the Cards" by Kim Huggens (great book, btw) and Chapter 12 is about creating your own spreads.

I decided to try making a spread based on one of my favourite book series, Kushiel's Legacy, in particular, this spread uses the names of the D'Angeline gods (Blessed Elua and the Companions--hence the spread's title). It also includes elements from the "Goddess Archetype" spread on page 51 of the book.

Here's some more information on Elua and the Companions for people who have no idea what I'm talking about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elua_and_His_Companions

So, without further ado, here is my completely unoriginal and obviously amateurish first spread. It has nine cards (one for each of the D'Angeline god-angels) and they're meant to be laid in a circular pattern with the ninth card (Elua) in the middle.

Card 1: Naamah -- What attracts others to you? How do you celebrate your sexuality?

Card 2: Eisheth -- What part of you requires healing right now?

Card 3: Azza – What are you proud of?

Card 4: Shemhazai – How do you view knowledge? How can you share knowledge with others?

Card 5: Anael -- What do you nurture?

Card 6: Camael – What do you fight for? How can you develop your courage and determination?

Card 7: Kushiel – What do you find terrifying in yourself? How can you redeem this quality?

Card 8: Cassiel – What holds your loyalty? What would you protect at any cost?

Card 9: Elua – Advice towards wholeness and integration. Sort of a general "Where do I go from here?" card.

I tried this spread for a character I created, and I think it worked fairly well. (I like to practice on fictional characters.). Actually, it gave me some good advice for how this character should proceed on the forum where I play him.

I'd appreciate some feedback/constructive criticism/gushing about how awesome the spread is even though you hate it. It's my first spread and it uses a lot of cards. I found it helpful to deal with each card one at a time and then look at the whole picture.

Go, HighPriestess! You are more in touch with your inventive side than I am; I still haven't been able to create a spread I like.

I love the Kushiel series, so I had to rush out and try this spread, which I used on myself.

The results were really interesting, and I wouldn't worry about being derivative. I think any spread can hold a lot of truth.

Each card made sense and was easy to interpret in light of its position except for the Kushiel card. Partly it's because I don't understand what the Page of Cups is trying to tell me there, but I also don't understand your follow-up question, "How do I redeem this quality?"

That is, the question makes sense, but I don't know how to get the answer from the same card that is the problem. If you don't mind sharing, how did you do it in your practice reading?

Overall this is a comprehensive and insightful spread. Not just, "Who am I?" but also, "What is important to me?"

This information would help a lot when getting to know a fictional character as well.

Glad you like it!

I'll use an example from my character's spread. The third card I pulled (Azza) was the Eight of Swords, which is traditionally a very negative card, and I was like: "Um, what?" I was using the Animals Divine deck, so I decided to look up the meaning of the card in the book. One of the keywords is "inflexibility", and I started thinking about how that could be a positive quality. My character is a man who "sticks to his guns" so to speak. He can be inflexible in the sense that he's true to himself and doesn't care what other people think about him. He's also a Mandrake adept, so "bondage" could be taken in quite a literal sense because Mandrake adepts practice BDSM with their clients!

When creating my spread, I wanted to include a card that addresses the dark side or the "shadow" of a person. In the books, Kushiel's temple is the one that someone goes to when they have sins to confess. He's the perfect candidate for a card that deals with the "shadow" because he's the god who sees your deepest and darkest faults. I suppose what I was trying to say with the second question was: "How can you come to terms with what scares you? How can you turn a negative into a positive?"

One thing that Huggens's book has taught me is that each card can be looked at from many different perspectives. If it helps, you might want to read a card in that position as a reversed card. (I only read cards upright, but you should be able to adapt the spread to suit your reading style). Huggens mentions that the Page of Cups is a dreamer, so perhaps the Page in that position would indicate something like having your head in the clouds, acting without thinking, maybe even losing control. I don't know if any of those would be applicable to your situation.

I hope this is making sense.

Thanks for your thoughtful reply!

Once I thought harder about the positive side of the Page as well as the negative, it made more sense. Like if a negative quality is selfishness, a positive spin would be being true to myself and making sure I don't commit to so many things that I get worn out.

I'm also still reading out of the book for the court cards, since I don't get all of them yet.

Anyway, it's a great spread that gets more rewarding the more time I spend thinking about it.

that is such a great spread Highpriestess.

I don't know anything about the Kushiel series but those questions are very insightful.
I was looking at Kim Huggens book in a shop not long ago and debating about whether I should by it or not. I might have to go back and have another look at it.
thanks again for that spread.
lyn