Creating Spreads
Do you know people who love to make jewelry but don’t wear it, love to bake but don’t eat sweets, or something like that? I am that way with spreads. I really love creating spreads; I don’t mean the on-the-spot specific spreads, but more general spreads. I make them up, test them, use them a while, and then forget that I made them. I don’t like testing them out on clients right away, so I make up people and pretend to read for them using the spreads. You all do that, too, right?
One of the places I turn for inspiration for creating spreads is the decks themselves. For example, for the Mystic Faerie Tarot, the theme of the deck—a magical faerie garden—inspired a number of spreads and their too-cute-for-words titles. Like the Dew Drop (for a one card spread). Hey, I thought it was cute. Maybe you’d like the Love Me, Love Me Not Daisy Spread? That one was for love and romance.
When creating spreads for Shadowscapes Tarot, the cards themselves inspired me. Here’s one I called Balancing Act.
This spread was inspired by the two of pentacles card in the Shadowscapes Tarot. It is a card about precarious balancing. In our lives, there are times when we must juggle many things: responsibilities, obligations, wants, needs, desires, etc. Sometimes these have to do with our external life, things that we do in our day-to-day existence. Sometimes they have to do with an inner balance of beliefs, thoughts, and feelings. This is a good spread for those situations. It helps you understand yourself and the environment that is surrounding and affecting your efforts. It also reminds you that even during these times of balance, nothing is every truly stable. Everything is in the process of coming or going. As you maintain the illusion of balance, what is really being created? What is actually being destroyed?
1. You: this card shows you something that you need to know about yourself in this situation. It can be how you are positively or negatively affecting the situation or how it is affecting you.
2. Creating: this card shows what is in the process of being created. This could be something tangible or intangible. It could be what you intended to create or it could be something you weren’t expecting.
3. Destroying: this card shows what is in the process of being destroyed. This could be something tangible or intangible. It could be what you intended to destroy or it could be something you weren’t intending on destroying.
4. Wind: this card, like the zephyr in the two of pentacles, represents the external environment that affects the situation. This card will show if it is beneficial or not. It will show if it is changing or remaining stable.
If you like to create spreads, where do you find inspiration?
Love this spread, what a great inspiration! Shadowscapes is a very inspiring deck, of course, can’t wait until it’s out!
Yes, I do exactly the same thing, create spreads, and then test them, I do celebrities. I’ve tested all my decks that way after the art is done, it’s a good process, glad I’m not the only one.
I am just getting in to actually learning how to read the cards and I never thought of making up spreads just because. That sounds like a fantastic way of learning the cards and I’m sure I’ll employ it!
Of course, I’ve made up a spread on the spot because I was too lazy to look one up for the purpose/question I was reading, but I think that is slightly different. 😛
I may have to try this even though I don’t have the shaddowscapes deck!
Uhmm, no
but I’ve come to see you have a much more playful relationship with your cards than I do, no bad; and I hope no bad on me, but for me I see the cards as a means for speaking to my guide; making someone up and proposing a made up question, well it would feel like making a Crank Call, to my Goddess and Guide, and I could not imagine doing that myself.
I have of late, tonight being an example in fact; had to re-invent certain spreads to get anwsers to certain questions, and I am happy with the results of that reading, but we will see.
I do find your spread interesting by the way, I like the Yin/Yang of it myself. Blessings, BB.
Thank you Barbara for sharing thi spread, it realy inspired me. I think I will add it to my spreads for myself list 🙂 Only I would like to add positions for things I am nurturing and continuing. It would resonate to the triple gods and goddesses around the world of giving birth, nurturing and destroing like Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva
Lina, I like the idea of adding a third and resonating with the triple aspect. I think I tend to focus more on yin/yang or duality. I wonder…it would be fun to play with spreads I’ve made that have a duality nature and see how they change if modified to be more of a triplicity.
BB, yes, I think I am very playful. The older I get, the less serious I think I become. Not less meaningful, but less serious. I’ve always been extremely serious. My relationship with the god and goddess has also changed and is way more laid back (but not disrespectful). At this point in my life I am more involved with the nurturing aspects (something that has been neglected in most of my 47 years). I don’t see my made up readings as crank calls but as learning experiences that the goddess would not begrudge me.
I have two other colleagues who are more like you in their practice and life. One told me when we are in tarot meetups and just “playing” that she simply cannot…that every time she uses the cards it is a serious communication with her guides.
That is the great thing about life, though, that we all have different journeys and experiences. And you are so right…no bad on me or on you!
By the way, I love your comments and am so glad that you participate here. Not only for my sake but also to provide a balance for the other readers.
blessings! Barbara
I should have mentioned that even if a certain deck or card inspires a spread, I do use it with different decks or spreads. Good point!
Thankyou, I’m quite flattered. Blessings, BB.
I often find myself making spreads based on the question, which we’ve discussed before, but also on the theme of the deck. Lo Scarabeo’s ‘Tarot of the Pirates’ really got me going about a year ago,and other decks seem to inspire this sort of creativity to some degree or another.
Although I have read that reading for celebreties and politicians is good practice, it always turned me off because it does feel invasive (even as they jockey for headlines) and it would mean I’d have to keep up with celeb news, which has always been a turn off. So I use myself as a metaphysical guinea pig, and my clients, with their permission, of course.
‘The Tarot of the Pirates’ deck inspired me to create a ‘Walk the plank’ spread that identifies the root of a problem, factors influencing it, possible solutions, and likley outcomes. What can I say, I’ve always been intrigued by pirates…
Ty, I’ve tried “practicing” on celebrities, too. But it didn’t work as well for me, not because of the intrusive aspect but because, as you said, that would mean I’d have to keep up with such things. The benefit of celebrities, though, is that if you want to practice predictive readings, you can often know the often and see how accurate you were.
I have a hard time practicing on myself a lot of the time. Thanks, Ty!