Creating Your Own Spreads?

[ChrisTheObscure]

Hello again,

Was wondering what any of you thought of creating your own spreads? The person that introduced me to tarot was all for it, but I've since encountered a couple of readers that are dead set against it - that only traditional spreads should be used (ie, 3 card, celtic cross, etc). If that's the case, who determines what's traditional and what's not? The nay-sayers didn't have a clear answer on that one.

Again, I'm just very new to all of this and want to make the most of my cards. Thanks.

 

[wavebreaker]

I don't see anything wrong with creating your own spreads, as long as you clearly determine before using it what each card position in the spread stands for.
Some people prefer "traditional" spreads, others prefer their own spreads. Whatever works for you! (And this is an answer you'll get a lot on this forum! ;-) )

And yes: who determines what spread is traditional or not? The Celtic Cross may be considered a traditional one, because a lot of people use it, but there are a lot of different versions of it, with different meanings for the card positions. So, what then is the traditional Celtic Cross? I'd say: just choose the version that works best for you, or create your own version.

Sometimes I don't even use a spread, I just ask a question and draw a card, and if that's not clear enough, I ask a second question for clarification and draw a second card, making the "spread" up as I go along.

 

[Strega]

IMO: There's nothing wrong with designing your own spreads nor with using the classic ones as long as they suit your needs.

 

[Rhiannon]

I create my own spreads all the time. In fact, there have been several threads about this... can't remember all of them, but I'm sure you'll find them if you try a search. Some people here have some really amazing spreads they've come up with!

R Oh, and welcome!

 

[Jenny-Li]

Me too, I do my own spreads... And sometimes I don't even use a spread, I just deal the cards and read them without any "positions" at all. I let the cards tell me what they have to say. Is that a traditional or a non-traditional "spread"? I don't think there IS a "wrong" way to read the Tarot. So try out your own ways, those are the ways that work the best!

Jenny

 

[Umbrae]

In Rachel Pollack’s Seventy-Eight degrees of Wisdom, page276, she states. “The true psychic readers, who are rarer than many people think, can simply take a few cards from anywhere in the deck, lay them out in no particular pattern, and use them as trigger for going into a trance or simply for releasing the information from unconscious sources.”

Perhaps the true goal, is to move beyond the spread.

 

[napaea]

When I first started doing tarot a couple years ago, i did whatever i wanted. the celtic cross just didn't seem to work for me, so i made my own up all the time.

this summer i started reading more books on tarot, and one guy was like what you described. he only uses the 7 card spread, and says everything else is "superfluous". so for a while that's what i was doing, 7 cards.

but now i find that i am once again creating my own spreads.
i have had an enormous amount of success with spreads i have created.
one reason they work for ME is that i am very visual. i try to make a spread LOOK like something, an egyptian symbol, a mathmatical symbol, an animal. the fact that it reminds me of something - i think - makes my subconscious work even harder at connecting the cards and the meanings of the positions.

 

[Mojo]

My biggest pet peeve (among many) concerning Tarot is when a so-called "expert" (i.e. anyone who has written a book no matter how good or bad it might be) makes ridiculous claims as to their way is the only way.

Bunk.

If you want to create your own spreads, create away. However, if you want your spread to have a decent shelf-life (i.e. it will be just as meaningful a year from now as it was on the day you created it), I urge you to follow some simple rules:

1. Less is More - You know that 32 card spread you're thinking about? As they say in those mafia movies... fuhgedaboudit! The more cards you add to a spread, the less significance individual cards will have. Overcomplicating a spread makes it confusing and impossible to read consistently

2. Be Consistent - Regardless of what your spread ends up looking like, it needs to be logical enough to be dealt and read consistently time after time. Create your own standards and apply them to every spread you use. For example, whenever I have a card in a spread which represents the querent, cards that appear to the right of that card indicate right-brain activity or influences (emotional, artistic, creative, following your heart) and cards that appear to the left indicate left-brain activity or influences (logical, rational, practical, following your head). When you follow this kind of consistent layout, you don't have to think about your spread in order to interpret it. From a basic glance you will intuitively understand it.

3. Be Logical - The layout should serve to remind you of the meaning of the positions. Again, look above at my right-brain/left-brain example. Another example, when I do a tree of life spread, the cards end up looking like a rough diagram of the human body. This way the interpretations can be associated with body parts that help me remember their meaning (example: right hip for drive - a right brain activity and left hip for direction - a left brain activity). I also highly recommend balancing your spreads... make sure there is a yin for every yang.

4. Be Specific - Don't try to make one spread which can answer any kind of question. You will never succeed. Think about the things you need to know to answer a certain type of question and name your positions for those specific items. Example: for a spread about making a choice between two or more things, you might want to know (a) what are the advantages of each option, (b) what are the disadvantages, (c) what do I see about each, (d) what don't I see, and (e) what can I expect. Depending on how many choices you are comparing, you have just defined how many cards the spread needs to contain.

By following these 4 simple rules, you will find that your spreads are meaningful and powerful. When you share them with others, they will convey a strong meaning as well.

 

[ChrisTheObscure]

thanks for all the input, especially thanks to Mojo - that's very good advice to follow.

I ended up posting the one I find my friends want me to use most often, the Crossed Paths spread. Feel free to look at it, tell me you like it, tell me you hate it, tell me how it could be improved, whatever

C.

 

[Sally Gardens]

Actually, sometimes I don't even use a spread. If I'm in an introspective mood, I will just take the deck that is "calling" to me and look through the cards, pulling the ones that evoke a response in me and then arrange them in whatever pattern feels right and then just meditate on them, "enter" into them. This works well with mystical/mythical decks; I recently got the Celtic Wisdom deck and found it very powerful for this sort of contemplation. Not a "divinatory" approach, so much as a simply "spiritual" one, but it's very nourishing.