Here is a spread that uses dominoes and tarot cards to project the best posture to adopt in any situation. It is based on the assumption that odd numbers are "active" while even numbers are "passive."
Tarot Spreads
The “War or Peace” Conflict-Resolution Spread
Here is a spread that can serve as a "first cut" to assess the advisability of taking a contemplated course of action in a conflict scenario. It's one of my "mixed-media" spreads that uses both tarot cards and dice. The outcome will either strengthen or weaken the initial urge to adopt a particular stance in … Continue reading The “War or Peace” Conflict-Resolution Spread
The “Flying Wedge” Redirection Spread
I've created spreads in the past based on the idea that the appearance of reversed cards in the sequence will cause a shift in the overall focus of the reading from an overt perspective to a more covert or indirect one. But the draw always proceeded from the top of the deck, which meant that … Continue reading The “Flying Wedge” Redirection Spread
The “Blame Game” Spread
The idea of assigning accountability (or more bluntly, "blame") for challenges encountered in a situation being addressed in a tarot reading continues to fascinate me. Not that I think we need to do it, or that it's even productive, just that it's often on a sitter's mind when the matter at hand is particularly elusive … Continue reading The “Blame Game” Spread
A Different Take on the “Past/Present/Future” Outlook
One of my "pet" notions is that people seeking a tarot reading who are experiencing difficulties in their lives love to identify someone or something else to blame for their troubles, whether or not they choose to admit it. The usual "past/present/future" spread design is somewhat imprecise in pinning down the likely "drivers" for these … Continue reading A Different Take on the “Past/Present/Future” Outlook
A “Psychometric” Yes-or-No Reading Approach
The dilemma of how to handle "yes-or-no" questions (or whether to even attempt answering them) is one that all tarot readers must confront sooner or later. I've tried numerous ways, both simple and complicated, to solve the problem and a few years ago I created a table of what I dubbed "Yes-Leaning," "No-Leaning" and "Maybe" … Continue reading A “Psychometric” Yes-or-No Reading Approach
The “Nature of the Evidence” Situational Challenges Spread
This spread uses the rank (minor, court or trump) of a majority of the cards pulled to show the projected urgency or intensity of any challenges present or anticipated in a developing situation. Because it is likely that "ties" will occur (such as a "2-2-1" distribution), one or two "tie-breaker" cards should be pulled and … Continue reading The “Nature of the Evidence” Situational Challenges Spread
A Chess-Inspired Major Problem-Solving Spread
When I think of it (which is often) our handling of a complex problem might be equated to the moves in a chess game, where we are angling for position and control of the "board." Here is a layout that amounts to an "exploded" version of the standard "action/reaction/resolution" spread that gives a detailed picture … Continue reading A Chess-Inspired Major Problem-Solving Spread
Big Little Spreads
I have to confess to shamelessly manipulating the title of John Crowley's "otherworld" book, Little, Big, for this essay. Sometimes a chance opportunity is too good to pass up. I recently came across a question on one of the Facebook tarot pages, "What is a good two or three-card spread?" As a great fan of … Continue reading Big Little Spreads
“Facing the Future” – A Decision-Making Advice Spread
Thinking about a recent question on "stay or go" decisions, I created a deceptively simple spread that uses random court-card facing to choose one of four three-card decision paths to show the advice and the short and long term consequences of the decision. It uses a "prepared" deck and the quintessence method. (Note that "gaze" … Continue reading “Facing the Future” – A Decision-Making Advice Spread
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 