AUTHOR’S NOTE: I still see far too many novice readers using tarot spreads with an even number of cards. Unless the focus is strictly on the four elements, the problem with this approach is that it will frequently contain two equal groups of cards of an opposing nature, fortunate on one side and unfortunate on the other, warring with one another. Under these circumstances it is difficult to arrive at a definitive assessment of the evidence, and the reading can trail off into unproductive hair-splitting.
In general I prefer linear spreads with an odd number of cards so there is always a middle card – sometimes called the “hinge” – on which events turn. I think of it as a climax, crisis or turning-point that serves as a mobilizing incentive for advancement of the situation. It has the added benefit of preventing “analysis paralysis” when the rest of the cards are equally disposed. Unless it is largely neutral (like the Fool or the Wheel of Fortune), it will typically favor one faction over the other, and it is even more potent when it aligns with the testimony of the outcome (or “end of the matter”) card.
When a query is of the “should-I-or-shouldn’t-I” decision-making variety, the cards flanking the hinge card (one or more on each side depending on the number of options presented) will describe the available choices, and the middle card will provide the “tie-breaker” according to which of the other cards it best supports and facilitates. The ideal scenario would be the binary “this-or-that” decision but it is often messier than that, and some judgment may be required to find the right answer.
In a previous essay and accompanying spread (linked below) I likened the design to a “wave-form:” the affair begins uneventfully, surges, crests, subsides and ends. The “crest of the wave” is where it is most amenable to being ridden toward a self-directed solution. Reversed orientation or an inconclusive “hinge” card can flatten the curve and make the “turn-around” less dramatic. In a more recent post I described it as a “bell-curve” that displays the same characteristics.
I was just talking with someone online who has been using two-card spreads for competitive events, one card for each participant, as a way to predict a winner, although often with inaccurate results. I explained the above dilemma to the individual and advised that, when the cards indicate a stalemate, a “tie-breaker” of some kind is needed to push the verdict one way or the other. Without it the decision can become indeterminate.
Another method I’ve used is the “numerical essence” card,* a calculated aggregate of all the cards in the spread based on combining their individual values. This is always a trump card that sits outside of the main spread, and it can be compared to the outcome card to see whether or not it reinforces the conclusion. It emerged from the tirage en croix of French cartomancy, a four-card “cross” layout, and serves as a summary statement of the “big picture” or long-range consequences. It makes an excellent tie-breaker.
*Numerical essence refers to the practice of calculating a single number from the rest of the cards pulled for a reading by summing the face values of the cards and then – if the result is 22 or greater – reducing it to a number that falls within the 0-to-21 range of the 22 trump cards. (Certain accommodations must be made to include the Fool as zero and to factor in the unnumbered court cards.) This produces a “roll-up” card (always one of the Major Arcana) that offers a summary outlook. See my previous posts on the subject.
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 