A New Way to Read/Layout Tarot

[FenestraThought]

I have an idea that I haven't seen or heard of before and I rather like the "Chaos" of it.
This idea originally came from how I read Runes, allowing the Runes to decide how many stone were drawn for each position. The problem with the cards is that they are all facing the same direction. You shuffle them, you cut them, you lay them. You know exactly how many cards you will draw every time. Now, you may decide to put more down but you always know if you will. The only exceptions are the "Jumpers", but that just doesn't happen enough for me.

So I decided to "Mix" it up a bit ! I took the deck, cut it, and flipped one half so they were face up and shuffled it with the face down ones. Ever time I shuffle I mix them up more and more that way, changing the way I do it depending on how I feel.

With the Deck properly mixed up. I decide how many times I shuffle, shuffle while looking away from the deck (or with my eyes closed), and draw the cards. If I draw a face up card, I put it down and keep drawing till I come to a face down card. The face down card is my answer, all the cards drawn before it were details the cards think I should know.

Example:
Face-UP: Empress, 5 of wands,
Face-Down: 3 of coins as an Answer

The Question being, "Comment on the situation". I would say that they sitter was in the process of getting his feet off the grown in regards to his work/hobbies/craft. Whatever he does that is an expression of his creativity and skill. This is something that is Very important to him and that he has invested a lot of time and energy in. He is dealing with a lot of opposition for outside forces, having to defend his position and work. He's working and he'll stick with it but its not smooth waters. . .

I say that is a bit more then I would have gotten had I just drawn any one of those alone.

This is still a Very New idea ! lol But I am getting interesting results. You can see some of my early tries on "Exchange" page ---------->New way of reading for FB

One reading yielded 17 cards for one position ! Need less to say, my lay out don't have a lot of positions.

 

[KMilliron]

This is an interesting one. I'll have to try it out sometime I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Barleywine]

I firmly believe that any form of experimentation has a chance to yield something new and interesting. I (and I know a few others here) mix the cards up thoroughly by fanning them out on a flat surface and swirling them around with my hands so they're pointing every which-way, then reassemble the deck and shuffle and cut as usual. I never read that in a book or lesson, it just seemed like a good way to randomize the reversals. If you choose to interpret reversals (many don't) some way to introduce them in an unpredictable manner is critical. You could probably just throw the deck over your shoulder and then go gather the scattered cards up (no, no, I'm just kidding )

 

[FenestraThought]

I firmly believe that any form of experimentation has a chance to yield something new and interesting. I (and I know a few others here) mix the cards up thoroughly by fanning them out on a flat surface and swirling them around with my hands so they're pointing every which-way, then reassemble the deck and shuffle and cut as usual. I never read that in a book or lesson, it just seemed like a good way to randomize the reversals. If you choose to interpret reversals (many don't) some way to introduce them in an unpredictable manner is critical. You could probably just throw the deck over your shoulder and then go gather the scattered cards up (no, no, I'm just kidding )

I agree. You have to get that "Random/Chaos" factor in there some how.

By "Face-up" and "Face-Down" I mean the card its self. A card has a face side and a back, the back is what we see when the cards are face away from us.

I'm talking about mixing them so that they both, "face up" and "back up". This is so hard to explain, it would be easier to "Show". So, when you cut the deck and look down, you may see the back of a card or the face of the card... just depends. The point is to mix them so they are interchanged and all mixed in.

Most people I've seen read hold the deck so they are "Face Down" and draw from the top of the deck or from where ever they cut it, or randomly from a pile. The point is, all the cards are "face down". If some are "face up" and some are "back up", you add a new dimension then they had before. I agree that this may not appeal to a lot of people. But I like the idea.

I agree though, mixing them around on a table is a great way to do it .

 

[FenestraThought]

This is an interesting one. I'll have to try it out sometime I'll let you know how it goes.

Please do . I like it. It allows the cards to get involved in the reading. If they feel you need 6cards for one position, then that's what you get.

It also keeps me in check. If the cards have the ability to choose how many cards I need to read, It keeps me from pulling and drawing endlessly.

Some times I have to look at the 2 or 3 cards I've drawn and say, "The answer is simple its here in these cards, and these cards are all I need for an answer". Taking that "did I draw enough cards?" question out of my hands . . .

 

[Barleywine]

I agree. You have to get that "Random/Chaos" factor in there some how.

By "Face-up" and "Face-Down" I mean the card its self. A card has a face side and a back, the back is what we see when the cards are face away from us.

I'm talking about mixing them so that they both, "face up" and "back up". This is so hard to explain, it would be easier to "Show". So, when you cut the deck and look down, you may see the back of a card or the face of the card... just depends. The point is to mix them so they are interchanged and all mixed in.

Most people I've seen read hold the deck so they are "Face Down" and draw from the top of the deck or from where ever they cut it, or randomly from a pile. The point is, all the cards are "face down". If some are "face up" and some are "back up", you add a new dimension then they had before. I agree that this may not appeal to a lot of people. But I like the idea.

I agree though, mixing them around on a table is a great way to do it .

Yes, I got the gist of what you were saying, I guess I just missed the significance of seeing the "face" as opposed to the "back" when laying out the cards. If it doesn't change the card's orientation in the spread, how do you see it influencing the meaning, if at all?

 

[FenestraThought]

Yes, I got the gist of what you were saying, I guess I just missed the significance of seeing the "face" as opposed to the "back" when laying out the cards. If it doesn't change the card's orientation in the spread, how do you see it influencing the meaning, if at all?

The Cards that are Drawn before I reach a "Back Up"/Answer Card, are used to clarify the "Answer Card"(AC).

It doesn't influence the meaning any more then a normal "clarifier" would. Which is to say, its a world of difference. But it allows the deck to choose those cards. Intuition is used to read the relationship of the Face Up/Shadow Cards (SC) to the AC.

 

[EarthAngel2911]

Have you tried using Lo Scarabeo's Tarot of the Secret Forest? This deck has images on both the fronts and backs of the cards, with the backs having a B&W variation of the fronts of the cards.

I have this deck but never really played around with them. Thank you for giving me this great idea!

 

[FenestraThought]

Yes, I got the gist of what you were saying, I guess I just missed the significance of seeing the "face" as opposed to the "back" when laying out the cards. If it doesn't change the card's orientation in the spread, how do you see it influencing the meaning, if at all?

Hmm. Ok I think I know what you are asking. Let me see if I can explain.

When you shuffle and cut the deck to get an answer (with the way I shuffle) you may end up with a "Face Up" card. If you did, you would continue to draw cards till you get to a face down card. The First FACE DOWN card is the answer.

Example: So you ask a question, and you look down and the first 3 cards are face up. You lay these down and draw the first "Face Down" card as the answer and then you move on to the next position. If the next card is a Face Down card, lay it down and move on to position 3. and so on.

I have been doing some Readings in "Reading Exchange" to see how well this actually works when applied to readings. And how I would interpret them. You can see an example >>Here<< I been getting some interesting results. I find that the answer to the actual position is found in the Answer card, but the other cards drawn may point out a more pertinent message. I am still trying to figure out if there is a system that can be sifted from this. Though, right now, the answer to how to read these extra cards is based purely in intuition.

Still VERY much a work in progress. The first post in this thread was Literally the day after I conceived it. And All my practice runs have been on here... besides a few in person that have come back very positive .

 

[Wendywu]

I like this idea - I'll have a go at it with Ironwing