Creating own spreads

[Joywalker]

How do one come up with their own spreads?

Is there anything that we need to take note of before creating new spreads?

When do you know that you are ready to create one?

I'm really curious on this topic and hope to create a few of my own someday.

 

[Kiama]

I create a new spread for eahc reading. I do that cuz it hen is tailored to hte querent's needs.... I can include cards for everything the querent wants to know.

It's simple... All I do is work out WHAT the querent wants to know, and tell myself and the cards,and of course hte querent, what I'm gonna have cards to respresent... For a relationship question, I might have one card representing the querent, one representing th eperson in teh relatioship wit hthe querent, one for where they are now, one for good infulences on hte relationship and one for bad, one for advice for the bets courseof action to take, and one repreenting the future...

Sometimes I'll need to write it down quickly so I can remember which cards are for what, but that's all I do... I don't put the cards into a certain shape or anything, I am boring and just do a straight line of cards....

Hope this helps some.

Kiama

 

[Talisman]

Creating your own "perfect" spread

Oh, Joywalker,

I'm so glad you started this thread, 'cause I find this subject endlessly fascinating.

Just some random observations, then I'll away and think about it -- some more.

There are so many published spreads out there, you could probably use a new spread every day for years.

Or, you could be like Kiama and simply create a new spread everytime you lay the cards out. (Of course, this child is as intuitive as all get out, so she's playing -- groan -- with a stacked deck.)

I discover I've collected many fascinating "home made" spreads in my Tarot journal. I never end up using them. I've got my own "perfect -- for me" spread, and because I'm snail slow, it took me a long time to arrive at it.

(A snail visiting the city was mugged in a park by a turtle. Later, police asked him, "Can you describe your attacker?"

"No," said the snail. "It all happened so fast.")

If you're a multi-spread or no spread person, using just one spread may seem like nonsense, but I find it very valuable to have one automatic spread elastic enough to cover any concern I might have.

If you tackle the project, here are a few things you might want to think about:

* number of cards. (Obviously, the "perfect" spread would be just one card. What could be more compact or simpler? But it probably won't give you the depth you are seeking. On the other hand, I've read here about people who lay out a Celtic Cross (10 cards) then lay out two clarification cards for each position (30 cards) and instead of clarity it gives me a headache just to contemplate. I think the rule would be, the fewer the better, as long as they give you everything you want.)

* positional meanings. (If you are striving for compactness and flexibility, very, very tricky.)

* layout pattern. (If, like Kiama, you are content to just lay out your cards in a straight line, or rows if your desk/table/spread cloth dictates, this won't matter. But, it's fun to find a pattern that to you is both pleasing and encompasses the theme of your spread.)

Then, although this is not important, you get to name the spread. I think the "Joywalker Spread" sounds terrific. I hope you'll share your progress or results, and I'm excited to see what others who want to play this game have to say.

Talisman

 

[Joywalker]

Thank you, Kiama & Talisman !!

Both inputs are valuable to me.

As I go along with my learning,I'll keep those points in mind. If I do come up with a spread,you will be the first to know!


Hmm..really like the idea of "Joywalker Spread".

 

[Sorceress_Jade]

I thinks there's value in learning already published spreads so that you can get a better understanding of what forthought went into the card representations and placements. With that knowledge you will be able to fashion spreads that make sense to you and have the relational qualities that a good spread needs.

Basically I'm suggesting a combination. The easiest way to get started with creating your own spreads is to take one that you know, say the celtic cross, and change it to meet your needs and your own ability to use it. Change the placements of the cards so that you have the ability to see how they interact better than the original lay out. Change the meanings of some of the placements so that they cover your subjdect matter (question) better than the original spread. Once you get used to factoring the sorts of placements you will need for given questions, you'll get better and quicker at coming up with spreads for yourself.

 

[DeLani]

a moontime spread

Thanks, Joywalker, for starting this discussion, and thanks everyone for their input.
I'm having the same problem. My last moontime, I felt very "in the mood" to create a spread. It just seemed like it needed to be done. But I got hung up on the number of cards. I wanted the spread to have an internal focus, so my main positions were:
what you are/should be releasing
what you are/should be keeping
what you will/should manifest
But three cards just didn't seem like "enough." So I began brainstorming other positions which would be pertinent to inner growth:
what you will begin
how the outside world will affect you
what lession you need to learn.
Now that's too many!
The number seems to be very important to me. Three seems too few, four, five and six just don't seem right, but seven seems too many. But the number needs to be tied in with the moon cycle somehow (28 days).
Am I just being neurotic?

 

[Talisman]

Creating your own

"I thinks there's value in learning already published spreads so that you can get a better understanding of what forthought went into the card representations and placements. With that knowledge you will be able to fashion spreads that make sense to you and have the relational qualities that a good spread needs." -- Sorceress Jade

'Lo all,

Well, I believe the sorceress is absolutely right.

And, DeLaini, I think you are on to something. You know, a passing thought, a fleeting glance, something seen out of the corner of your eye or glimpsed in a rearview mirror.

I hope you can chase it down through the spiral of moon dreams, or somehow capture a tiny piece of something you see out of the corner of your eye, and express it in just the right number of cards.

Then, if you share, we'll have DeLani's Moonspread, or whatever you choose to call it.

I call mine Talisman's Teacup.

Talisman

 

[Major Tom]

I have to admit it: I don't get it.

With so many published spreads out there - surely with a bit of effort you could find one to suit you and your purpose. I just don't understand the attraction that drives so many people to desire to create their own spread.

I examine the language used: You don't 'make up' a spread - you 'create' it. Because you've created it - you get to give it a name. Then you get to share it around and hope others will find value in it. Hopefully it works for you at least.

OK - I get it now. This thread finally broke through my resistance. Thanks.

 

[Joywalker]

Hi Delani,

I think it's fun and significant to be able to create your own spread.Like a personal tarot learning growth. =)

That is why it is important to know more and hope I could hear from others how they do it.

Do let me know when you have created yours.Looking forward to use and put it in my journal!!

 

[Talisman]

Why?

"With so many published spreads out there - surely with a bit of effort you could find one to suit you and your purpose. I just don't understand the attraction that drives so many people to desire to create their own spread." -- Major Tom

'Lo all,

I am NOT arguing with Major Tom, at least here. In the same post I took the above quote from, he answered his own question. (I do love arguing with Major Tom, 'cause while I flail away with herky hyperbole, he responds with cool logic. He's a major, I'm an enlisted man.)

But, an observation.

I believe, sincerely, that EVERY person has intuitive ability ('cept maybe me most'a the time), just like EVERY person has an innate creative drive. Some people write books, or symphonies, or paint pictures or discover beautiful mathematical formulas.

A lot of people will say, "I have no creative ability at all!" But if you look at them, that innate drive comes out somewhere. Maybe the person has created a beautiful garden. Or, maybe the person is a long-haul truck driver, who has decorated the cab of his truck with totems of the road. Or, maybe they say, "I could write a great book if I had time," and you know they couldn't even really write a sentence . . . But, in their dreams and imagination, they, somehow, do write that book.

Let me use an analogy. If you've ever wandered into a kitchen, (if you live alone like I do, and if you like to eat . . . well) you've probably created an original recipe. Why? If you think there are a lot of Tarot decks, the number is insignificant compared to cookbooks -- a hundred to one, a thousand to one maybe, and the presses are rolling. Why bother to create an original recipe? Well, people do, all the time, and they share. (Let me tell you all, sometime, how to make bean-hole beans.)

Ask, why create an original Tarot deck? Well, Major Tom did. And, if he hadn't, the entire history of Tarot and the entire history of intellectual development in the Western world would be poorer for the loss.

(If you think that is just more Talisman hyperbole, consider this: If you get out of your chair and walk to the other side of the room, the center of balance, the center of gravity, for the ENTIRE universe shifts.)

You create 'cause if you are a human being you can't help creating in some way.

And, if you STILL think I'm trying to pick another argument with Major Tom, scroll up and read HIS post, for pete's sake.

So, here I am, cheering on Joywalker and DeLani, and, in another thread, DarkElectric, for the pure joy of watching the creative impulse in vibrant action.

If your creative instincts push you in another direction, and you have no interest in creating a spread, just use the Talisman. Hell, it's damn near perfect. But, I hope you spread people create your own. And share the process and the result.

Thanks for listening, if you stayed around this long. I feel like the lunatic on the street corner, arguing violently and waving his arms around . . . and there is no one there to hear to him.

Drago Dormiens Nunquam Titllandus

Talisman