I almost stopped reading The Grand Etteilla when I reached the minutiae of tables, spreads and examples at the end. I'm glad I didn't because the "Inverted Pyramid" relationship spread gave me the inspiration (although I tweaked it drastically) for one of the more practical and useful partnership affinity forecasts I've come up with so … Continue reading Convergence (or Not) – A Relationship Spread
Tarot Spreads
“Riddle Me This” – An Astral Exploration Spread
I've seen more than a few online requests for advice and spread suggestions about communication with disembodied entities (spirit guides, ancestors, angelic powers, etc). My personal belief is that our access to such beings is channeled through the Astral Plane, with the inherent risk of self-deception and the psychological peril that traveling the Lunar path … Continue reading “Riddle Me This” – An Astral Exploration Spread
The “Keynote Series” Developmental Insight Spread
Here is a concept that uses three brief "mini-readings" (Past/Present/Future) to derive a fourth "keynote" spread showing a condensed developmental path for the situation. It applies Elemental Dignities to the "Present" line, which is read from the outside-in according to standard ED practice. (The center, or "principal," card is the focus; the others feed into … Continue reading The “Keynote Series” Developmental Insight Spread
The “Parsifal’s Draw” Negotiated Situational Development Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have a number of new spreads stacked up that have taken a back seat to other projects. For the next few days I will posting them exclusively unless something else intervenes. In his book, Etteilla or the Only Way to Draw the Cards, Jean-Baptiste Alliette described what he called the "Etteilla Draw," … Continue reading The “Parsifal’s Draw” Negotiated Situational Development Spread
The Three-Card Draw
Although they may prefer to deliver insights that offer a deeper psychological or metaphysical perspective, tarot readers who perform very brief readings at venues like psychic fairs must often resort to exceptionally small spreads to keep the queue moving along. I've done a few such events and quickly discovered that my favorite layout, the Celtic … Continue reading The Three-Card Draw
A “Chaldean Vertical Slice” Situational Development Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Although the Chaldean decans are a useful symbolic tool on a card-by-card basis, I'm always seeking ways to press the model into wider service. Here's another attempt that treats the attached Golden Dawn "wheels" as more than reference works. I decided to turn the diagrams of Chaldean decan and tarot card correspondences into … Continue reading A “Chaldean Vertical Slice” Situational Development Spread
A “Deep Dive” Card Selection Method and Multipurpose Spread
Here's another "new-to-me" idea, courtesy of The Grand Etteilla. In the book there is a five-card spread in which the reader creates the layout by initially pulling the fifth card from the top (Card #5), then the card five tiers below that one (Card #10), followed by the card five tiers below the tenth card … Continue reading A “Deep Dive” Card Selection Method and Multipurpose Spread
The “Box of Chocolates” Life-Reading Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Those who have seen the Tom Hanks/Gary Sinise movie Forrest Gump will appreciate the reference in the title. This spread uses all 78 cards to create a six-card reading in one of thirteen situational and temporal settings as determined by the location of a pre-selected "Significator" card. The four general topic areas are … Continue reading The “Box of Chocolates” Life-Reading Spread
The “Wages of War” Conflict-Resolution Spread
This conflict-resolution spread links tarot divination back to its Italian game-playing roots. The card-selection method presented here uses two decks to determine which card of a pair is to be read in each of five "conflict engagement" areas. It is based on the simple "trick-taking" game "War," in which one card bests another in a … Continue reading The “Wages of War” Conflict-Resolution Spread
“Turn the Page:” A Personal/Professional Development Spread
I'm always looking for new ways to use the facing of the human figures and other directional elements on the tarot cards. Here I've created a spread that takes on different forms depending on whether or not the salient features are focused "off-page" and which way they're looking or pointing (left, right or straight out). … Continue reading “Turn the Page:” A Personal/Professional Development Spread
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 