Types of three card spread

oddtarot

Since I am most comfortable with the three card spread, I was wondering how many variations of questions can be asked or answered using the three card spread, the most popular would be past, present and future, and I was wondering if there are any more meanings I could assign to the three cards.

Also, I wonder if I could assign the meanings of my own to the spread in the reading.

Thanks.
 

Amanda

There are tons around here, I think Glass Owl may have even compiled a bunch of 3 card spreads around here somewhere! :)

One that I used on a whim, which worked very well for me is something similar to the past, present, future spread but focused on a specific topic.

One night my best friend called me in a panic, because her uncle had been found in his cabin, "not breathing". Earlier in the day, he had made mention to my friend's mother that he felt like he was going to die that day... and so of course, my friend's head was spinning with what could have happened to him, and what was going to happen to him... I pulled this spread:

1. What happened: 10 of Wands
2. What's happening: King of Wands
3. What's going to happen: 4 of Cups

I told her that he had passed out from dehydration, that he was awake and alert now, and that she would find him and his fluids stabilized with IV's in the hospital. I used the Gilded tarot, and the person in the 4 of Cups looks like someone sitting propped up in their hospital bed, watching TV.

Turns out, that because her uncle had thought he was going to die that day, he had decided to throw himself a party, with lots of drinking- he dehydrated from all the booze, and when she went to the hospital, there he was- sitting propped up in his hospital bed hooked up to an IV, watching TV.

It's not much, but it worked extremely well for me, and since you mentioned the past, present, future spread, I thought you might like this one. It's very good if you have a particular focus/subject you'd like to read on.

Hope that helps you out a bit! :)
 

oddtarot

Wow thank you all so much. I think there are spreads for all kinds of questions in here.
 

KafkasGhost

oddtarot,

I just noticed your location. Dang, I miss those hawker centers! :D

Anyway, currently I'm using 3 cards + my personally derived key concepts for each card. On some days, they seem to make sense read individually, on others, they scream being read altogether and so I rearrange the cards so that they make sense as a phrase and this usually triggers an important revelation.

My personally-derived key concepts are relevant to me personally and as they relate archetypically to generally accepted, "traditionally-derived" meanings and I fill in the details with the particular card/deck I am working with. The words I associate with each card encompasses a vast spectrum of meaning, from mundane to profound, depending on how it seems to present itself during any given interpretation.

For example:

This morning I pulled (left to right)

IV Emperor - "father"
King of Swords - "judge"
Ace of Wands - "ephiphany"

They weren't jiving with my consciousness as separate cards so I read them together and rearranged them thusly (left to right)

"epiphany"
"father"
"judge"

I had a major realization that my father never grew up being who he wanted to become. He fulfilled others' dreams of his career aspirations and, thus, erected very strict rules and standards about himself (perhaps as a way to justify his decision to fulfill a sense of duty or someone else's dreams) and he imposed these upon his family.

I, too, have grown up not being who I really was and wanted to be and have not only taken on my father's strict rules and standards, I have also adopted my own. So I had continually judged myself based on my own rules, as well as someone else's. Mind being blown ensues, followed by intense journaling, concluded with treat self to ice cream, etc., etc. :D

That's the idea of how I use 3 cards these days...
 
Unmasking The Past Spread by Edain McCoy (7) 19 Card problem/cause/cure spread