Hi,
Not only pairs, you can read combos of 2, 3, 4 cards or even more, but pairs is the base.
Yes the traditional Big Spread, Panoramic Spread, Grand Tableau or any of the names with which this spread is known is the one with the whole deck (36 cards).
There are many methods to read this spread but basically you can read it by patterns or by the right/left method.
When you lay out the 36 cards for this spread it is like if you had the book of the life of the seeker in front of you because there you'll see all the areas any seeker wants to know about.
How do you know what to emphatize? Well we use significators for this, you can either ask a simple questions or many questions, it doesn't matter because all the answers to most questions are in that spread.
So we use the fish for financial stuff, the anchor for work and career, the heart for love, the ring for love but also for all kind of contracts, the coffin for health issues, etc.
You have to find the significator/s that you are interested to read or the seeker wants to know about then you apply the method.
For instance: Lay the cards in 4 rows of 9 cards per row. Look up the horizontal line where the ring is ...
The Tree, The Heart, The Birches, The Ring, The mountain, The moon, The lady, the coffin, the scythe
This is not a happy line to read but ...
Let's imagine that the seeker wants to know about her relationship, the significator would be the ring. Then ... the Past to the left:
The tree, the heart, the birches= A long lasting relationship where there was true love started to have problems and arguments.
The future to the right:
The Mountain, The moon, the lady, The coffin, The scythe
The problems are not ending in the future, there is a blockage because of the feelings of the seeker (The Mountain + The Moon + The Lady) then the coffin tell us of the relationship approaching its end (not getting better) and then the scythe confirming a "cut" in the relationship.
The last card is the outcome and as the last card is the scythe the combo Ring + Scythe means divorce, separation, etc.
The cards in between give you detais or additional information, the reason why, the how or anything else.
THE RING, the mountain, the moon, the lady, the coffin, THE SCYTHE.
The cause of the divorce would be because of a blockage of the feelings of the seeker (mountain + moon + lady) meaning love is kinda dead (coffin).
To learn it quicker translate each card by the best keyword for each card. For instance:
mountain = blockage
moon = feelings
lady = seeker
coffin = end
and fill in the blanks
(Blockage, feelings, seeker) and then (feelings, seeker, end)
The seeker's feelings are blocked and she's not gonna feel the same anymore.
This is a very rudimentary introduction, just for you to see the dynamics of one of the many methods available.
If you prefer working with patterns try to use for instance the mirror technique,
1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1
Read the cards that have the same number as a combo. The 4th position for the ring reflects in the mirror number 4 to the right which corresponds to The Moon.
The relationship is very emotional at the moment.
What kind of feelings or emotions?
Read it the other way arround. The Moon + The riing = Feelings of compromise, kinda responsability.
Then The Heart + The coffin = The end of love.
and so on ...
I don't know if this is gonna shed some light or it's gonna make it worse, but here you have it with the best of my wishes.
