NPMSteve
Just been browsing these threads and thought I'd share this original (as far as I know!) spread with you.
It is in some senses overtly and unecessarily complicated, and it occurs to me that only a computer geek could think up such a horrendous and oft time user unfriendly thing (although someone once said to me that they thought they had seen something simmilar previously)
Its named after the river on the banks of which I was staying when I thought it up (and yes, I probably had been drinking!)
It's a fairly mammoth spread, 22 cards in all, laid out something like this (hard to do it justice in ASCII!):
So basically, there is a 5 card cross (A la Suster) in the center, 4 lines of three cards each around this, and four cards which 'join' each of those to the leftward and rightward arms of the cross.
Interpretation is a bit variable (I only ever use this for mself, since it really can take all day!), but can be pretty much summed as being along the X/Y axes thusly
So for instance cards 6,7, and 8 represent the factors from 'below' that contributed to the 'past' side of the cross, via a process represented by the 'joining' card (18 in this case), and on the other side, the joining cards touching the 'future' side of the central cross represent the processes by which the 'future' sides of the 'above' and 'below' sections become manifest.
Card 22 is placed above and to the left, and is left face down until the rest of the interpretation is complete. It represents a 'random factor' and I usually interpret it as being the factor that could prevent any 'success' shown in the futire sections, or ward off any 'failure' in same.
The concepts it's grounded in are a kind of combinatory, multi model approach, in that its supposed to represent (simultaneously, mind you) a map of the physical universe, a map of the information processing qualities of the human brain, a map of the 'self' (or pshyce, or soul, as prefered), and a map of the life path that the reader is travelling.
I suppose it's basically the maxim "As above, so below" taken to extremes. (I had been reading through some tomes of chaos magic at the time)
Pretty obviously, I only draw this spread rarely, I used to try for once a month, but to often the cards got left on the table for days at a time, as maintaining a suitable mental state for long enough to get through all 22 cards is quite a challenge, and brooks no interruptions, so now its more like once a year, if I find myself in the position of having a couple of days to myself in the house with nothing much else to do.
Usually I use much simpler spreads (three card with clarifiers for myself), and I'm certainly not above making something up on the spur of the moment, but I have a special place in my heart for this one, even though I use it rarely.
Any thoughts welcomed (Other than the obvious "erm, you're insane") especially if it turns out NOT to be original !
All is love '-)
It is in some senses overtly and unecessarily complicated, and it occurs to me that only a computer geek could think up such a horrendous and oft time user unfriendly thing (although someone once said to me that they thought they had seen something simmilar previously)
Its named after the river on the banks of which I was staying when I thought it up (and yes, I probably had been drinking!)
It's a fairly mammoth spread, 22 cards in all, laid out something like this (hard to do it justice in ASCII!):
Code:
22
11 15
10 16
09 19 03 21 17
04 01 05
06 18 02 20 14
07 13
08 12So basically, there is a 5 card cross (A la Suster) in the center, 4 lines of three cards each around this, and four cards which 'join' each of those to the leftward and rightward arms of the cross.
Interpretation is a bit variable (I only ever use this for mself, since it really can take all day!), but can be pretty much summed as being along the X/Y axes thusly
Code:
ABOVE
PAST (now) FUTURE
BELOWSo for instance cards 6,7, and 8 represent the factors from 'below' that contributed to the 'past' side of the cross, via a process represented by the 'joining' card (18 in this case), and on the other side, the joining cards touching the 'future' side of the central cross represent the processes by which the 'future' sides of the 'above' and 'below' sections become manifest.
Card 22 is placed above and to the left, and is left face down until the rest of the interpretation is complete. It represents a 'random factor' and I usually interpret it as being the factor that could prevent any 'success' shown in the futire sections, or ward off any 'failure' in same.
The concepts it's grounded in are a kind of combinatory, multi model approach, in that its supposed to represent (simultaneously, mind you) a map of the physical universe, a map of the information processing qualities of the human brain, a map of the 'self' (or pshyce, or soul, as prefered), and a map of the life path that the reader is travelling.
I suppose it's basically the maxim "As above, so below" taken to extremes. (I had been reading through some tomes of chaos magic at the time)
Pretty obviously, I only draw this spread rarely, I used to try for once a month, but to often the cards got left on the table for days at a time, as maintaining a suitable mental state for long enough to get through all 22 cards is quite a challenge, and brooks no interruptions, so now its more like once a year, if I find myself in the position of having a couple of days to myself in the house with nothing much else to do.
Usually I use much simpler spreads (three card with clarifiers for myself), and I'm certainly not above making something up on the spur of the moment, but I have a special place in my heart for this one, even though I use it rarely.
Any thoughts welcomed (Other than the obvious "erm, you're insane") especially if it turns out NOT to be original !
All is love '-)
That's a real representation of Life!