From Tyagi@HouseOfKaos.Abyss.com Fri Feb 11 22:55:00 1994
Subject: Tarot Spreads
I've been compiling posted spreads from alt.pagan, alt.magick, and
alt.divination for a while now. Here they are...
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Subject: Bran's Tarot Spreads
From: ba@mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu (B.A. Davis-Howe)
Date: 18 Feb 92 21:56:55 GMT
Tarot spreads I have devised or used:
(I will mention if it is not mine.)
AMANDA'S FAN
(Named after the person I was talking to when I developed it.)
(arch of cards)
8 1 9
(2 is laid across 1; 3-7 are an arch above the line of cards shown; it should
look like a fan:-)
1. Questioner
2. Crossing
3. Foundation
4. Past
5. Present
6. Future
7. Outcome
8. Inner Influences
9. Outer Influences
(This is obviously based on the Celtic Cross and Sword; it was developed
because we were both dissatisfied with the Celtic Cross--it just didn't *flow*
logically. So I reworked it.)
MAGIC MIRROR
09 04 14
23 19 27 Earth 20 16 24
Transformation Inspiration
08 03 13 10 05 15 06 01 11
Water Essence Air
22 18 26 21 17 25
Sacrifice Integration
07 02 12
Fire
28 and 29 are Magic Cards
This takes forever to read: after you get it laid down, you read Air, the
middle card is the key, the others give additional insight; then you read Fire;
this continues until you have read all five elements, at which point you review
;
then you start on the gates, which are linked to the four Wiccan Sabbats; after
you have gotten through the gates, you review again. This reading's only
purpose is to examine oneself. I only do this at Samhain because of the
intensity. One could do this reading with another person, but the process woul
d
have to be one of giving the person ideas as to what the cards might mean and
letting hir figure out how this fits into hir life. This would probably take
even longer than usual. :-)
MAGIC SEVEN
(not devised by me, I don't know where it's from)
1
5 6
7
3 2
4
1. Past
2. Present
3. Future
4. Issue to be dealt with
5 and 6. opportunity and limitation (these positions flip, use your intuition
as to which is which in a given reading)
7. Outcome
Scott tends to use a Hanson-Roberts deck for this one. A nice style for folks
looking for something light. It doesn't freak the mundanes too much.
PLANETARY SPREAD
(my main spread)
14
12 13
10 09 11
08 07
05 04 06
02 03
01
(Just to make that more confusing: the positions shown are the bottom halves
of the cards. The card stick up into the next row, creating a staggered look.)
1. Earth...present situation
2. Moon...inner needs
3. Sun...outer expression
4. Mercury...communication
5. Venus...relation
6. Mars...drive
7. Jupiter...opportunities for growth
8. Saturn...lessons limitations
9. Uranus...individuality, differences
10. Neptune...ecstasy/illusion
11. Pluto...power for Transformation
12 and 13. Environment
14. Divine Light...advice from Higher Power
(This reading works better if you know some astrology; I just gave quick
definitions here--use everything you know about the planets to deepen this
reading style. Try this one at home before showing it to others, it takes
some getting used to, since the categories are very different.)
LY WARREN-CLARKE'S TREE OF LIFE READING
1
3 2
5 4
6
8 7
9
X
X. Malkuth...the situation now
9. Yesod...inner guidance, intuition
8. Hod...Maculine: intellectual inspiration
7. Netzach...Feminine: beauty of self, inspiration, passion
6. Tiphareth...soul as it should be--mutation and learning experience
5. Geburah...tesing ground: things to let go of
4. Chesed...building the corner-stone of cosmocity within the self
3. Binah... unmanifest knowledge
2. Chokmah...bridge to higher cosmos
1. Keter...where your next stage of development will lead you.
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Subject: Re: Tarot Spreads Again
From: de0t+@andrew.cmu.edu (Daniel S. Efran)
Date: 16 Feb 92 02:01:08 GMT
Here's the Tarot layout I use, one I invented (as far as I know). I
developed the basics of the layout very soon after I became interested
in the Tarot (I didn't think much of the standard ones), but I'm still
working on it. It's not meant to be primarily predictive. Instead,
it's intended to help the querent examine their question in a new light.
(For this reason, it's a reasonable layout for self-readings, if you do
them.) There are predictive elements, but I tend to use them rather
broadly. Results may vary.
If you don't view this in a fixed-width font, it will look weird.
THE KEY LAYOUT
2 4 6
1 8 9 10
3 5 7 11
(I generally don't leave space between the 2-4-6 row and the 3-5-7 row,
but that's harder to draw in ASCII. It doesn't matter, anyway.)
Card 1: You, the querent, and your position in relation to your
question/situation.
Cards 2 - 7: These cards are arranged into 3 pairs (2 & 3, 4 & 5, 6 &
7). Each pair represents a conflict between two opposing influences,
factors, people, opinions, etc. The interpretation obviously depends on
the question, but these conflicts tend to be problems or obstacles you
face. You may want to choose one option in a pair over the other, or
attempt to reconcile the two, or simply recognize that a conflict exists.
Card 8: The past -- what led up to the current situation.
Card 9: The present -- where things stand now.
Card 10: The future -- where things are headed. This could be the
future if no action is taken, or the desired future, or the future if
some specific action is taken. This is the weakest part of the layout,
in my opinion, and I'll probably change the details. You could try
adding a card between 9 and 10 to represent the action or decision that
will lead to card 10's future, or have several 'future' cards for
various possible outcomes (two would be reasonable). If you are
comfortable with a single card 'prediction' of the future, the layout is
probably ok as is.
Card 11 (Optional): A summary of the reading, or a final comment on the
situation, or advice, or a clarification of cards 8-10 if they are
unclear. I don't always use this card -- I have found that it generally
doesn't clarify things much. (See card 10 for other things to put here
instead.) I feel that there should be a card here, because then the
layout is shaped roughly like a key (hence the name), which in my
opinion looks cool. I suspect the layout would look unbalanced without
a card here.
When doing a reading with this layout, I generally ask the querent to
interpret the cards with respect to their question. I offer suggestions
based on the standard meanings of the cards, or new meanings that
suggest themselves in light of the relationships between cards, but
ultimately the querent knows the facts of the situation they're asking
about, and they can best align those facts with the cards. (I tend to
use cards whose meanings are obvious, like the Rider-Waite-Smith deck or
the new Robin Wood deck.) I generally like to discuss each card or
group of cards with the querent, but if they feel they understand the
meanings and don't want to share their interpretations with me, that's
fine too.
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Subject: Re: Tarot Spreads Again
From: kditto@isis.cs.du.edu (Kimborly Ditto)
Date: 16 Feb 92 00:16:21 GMT
***DISCLAIMER: I am going on memory from a book I read a long time ago,
which I cannot remember the title or the author.
The cards are shuffled and cut by the person asking for the reading. The
reader then takes the cards and, starting from the top, deals them out
into 3 piles of thirteen cards each, face up, and puts the remainder
aside. The question is answered by the aces, if there are any, on the top
of the piles. 3 aces is an immediate answer, 1 or 2 involve a wait for an
answer, and none mean that the cards are unable to answer the question at
that time. Straight up is positive, and reversed is negative (or "no").
I should have said this at the start. This reading is used for definite
yes or no questions.
I have no idea how well this reading style works, as I use the standard
Celtic cross myself, and I have my doubts as to the effeciveness (if that
is the correct word) of it.
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Subject: Re: Tarot Spreads Again
From: plord@HUB.CS.JMU.EDU (Paul Lord)
Date: 18 Feb 92 20:00:21 GMT
Just out of curiosity, does anyone use the spread outlined in the
booklet that comes with the Thoth deck? You know, the following layout
(fixed width font disclaimer applies)
13, 9, 5 4, 8, 12
2, 1, 3
14, 10, 6 7, 11, 15
Where [2,1,3] = nature of querent and question, [13,9,5] and [4,8,12] are
two possible outcomes, [14,10,6] are "psychological commentary" on the whole
spread and [7,11,15] are factors beyond the control of the querent.
Works wondrously for me. Anyone else use it?
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From: cortese@netcom.com (Janis Maria C. C. Cortese)
Date: Thu, 2 Sep 1993 22:42:17 GMT
THE FOUR SEASONS
This spread is used to examine motivations for plans or ambitions.
The cards are arranged so as to call to mind the progression of the
seasons and also the progression of any action or plan through the
four stages of conception, progression, resolution, and reflection.
3
4 6
1 5
2 8
7
Card 1 is the dominant for spring, symbolizing the conception or
initiation of an action or ambition, the planting of the seed, so to
speak. The modifier for spring is card 8.
Card 3 is the dominant for summer, symbolozing the progression of a
plan, the way in which an idea will flower. The modifier for summer
is card 2.
Card 5 is the dominant for autumn, symbolizing the resolution of the
plan, how events will "wind themselves up." The modifier for autumn
is card 4.
Card 7 is the dominant for winter, symbolizing the period of
reflection after an action or plan has been completed, or what the
querent may wish to learn from the progression of events. The
modifier for winter is card 6.
Since the cards are not read in the order in which they are laid out,
it may be best to lay out the cards face down before the reading, and
turn them over one-at-a-time as they are read. I prefer to turn over
the dominant for a given season, then turn over the modifier for that
season; I usually interpret these two cards before I progress to the
next season. However, this is simply a matter of personal taste for
me; I heartily encourage you to turn and read the cards in what ever
fashion with which you feel most comfortable.
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THE GRAND SOURCE
This is a good general-use spread for giving an overall picture of
the resolution to a problem in the past or future. It affords an
opportunity to examine inner and outer influecnes before an action is
taken, the inception or motivation of the action, the progression of
the action, the resolution, and what inner and outer effects this
will have. It may also act to highlight the process by which a
question uppermost in the querent's mind may be answered, though it
may not give the answer.
The cards are read as they are dealt from the deck here. Card Q
represents the querent, of course, and may be interpreted as you
would the querent card for other spreads.
1 2 3 8 10 12 15 16 17
Q 7 14
4 5 6 9 11 13 18 19 20
Cards 1, 2, and 3 are used to highlight the inner influences at work,
the motivations of the querent, or what the querent wishes to learn.
Cards 4, 5, and 6 are used to examine the outer influences, or the
influences from people or things outside of the querent that may have
caused the querent to ask their question.
Card 7 symbolizes the initiation of the action, the seed that will
grow, or the question that will be answered.
Cards 8, 10, and 12 show the three stages of the action or answering
of the question under examination, and they are modified respectively
by cards 9, 11, and 13.
Card 8: beginnings. The initial stages of the actions.
Card 9 modifies card 8. It may give a hazy picture of the
outcome that the querent has in mind, or it may simply be a
further examination of the beginnings of the action under
consideration.
Card 10: progress. This highlight the way that the outcome
is achieved.
Card 11 modifies card 10 in the same fashion as card 9 does
card 8.
Card 12: possible changes in plan, or resolution. This card
may serve to eaxmine any ways that the querent will have to
change course in midstream.
Card 13 modifies card 12 in the same fashion as card 9 does
card 8, as well.
Card 14 symbolizes the outcome of the process outlined in cards 8
through 13.
Cards 15, 16, and 17 symbolize possible effects that the resolution
may have on the querent.
Cards 18, 19, and 20 symbolize possible effects that the resolution
may have on things other than the querent, or on the querent's
relationship to the world around them.
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