TABI member and contributor Magenta contrasts the in-depth with the succinct by breaking down the imposing Tower spread, and showing us a snappier 4-card option
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Magenta and I am an Ancient Member of TABI, having joined in 2007. I have actually been reading the cards since the mid-1970’s and over the years I have amassed a huge collection of Tarot Spreads (& decks!), as you can imagine.
For this Blog, I thought I would share with you two of my favourite spreads, which although were designed for specific purposes, can be adapted to suit many questions. These are The Tower which uses 22 cards, and a simple four card spread. I’ll start with the biggest one, The Tower.
THE TOWER SPREAD
The Tower uses 22 cards and is basically a Past, Present and Future spread but there are interactions between the cards. In the centre are placed Card 1, the Heart or core of the matter and Card 2 (crosswise), what is crossing or obstructing the matter. These two Cards are read first.
Cards 3,4,5 & 6 are then placed in an upward column to the left of Cards 1 & 2 and represent the Past or Foundation of the matter.
Cards 7,8,9 & 10 are then placed in a horizontal line across the top, representing the Present, or what has brought the matter to light.
Cards 11,12 & 13 are then placed in a downward column to the right of Cards 1 & 2 and represent the Future, the advice & guidance or possible outcome.
Cards 14,15 & 16 are placed on the left hand side in an upward column next to Cards 3,4 & 5 and again represent the Past.
Cards 17,18 & 19 are placed on the right hand side in a downward column next to Cards 11,12 &13 representing the Future.
Card 20 is placed at the top above Card 8 and represents the Present and in particular what is on the Querent’s mind. Take note of what Card 8 is as often Card 20 will re-enforce this message.
The final two, Cards 21 & 22 are placed to the right of the Future column but face down and these are read after all the other cards have been read.
Looking at the interactions of some of the Cards, Card 6 and 10 connect the Cards of the Past and Cards of the Future and these are known as link Cards, often the turning points in the matter. In the photograph, Card 10 is the Ace of Pentacles and links with Card 11, the 9 of Pentacles.
The six Cards in the Past column (3,4,5,14,15 &16) can be read in pairs for a deeper understanding and this also applies to the six Cards in the Future column (11,12,13,17,18 & 19) For example, Cards 5 & 16 in the photo are the Page of Pentacles and the Ace of Swords.
Turning then to the final two, Cards 21 & 22, these are laid face down so as not to influence the messages from the other Cards. They are generally seen as the Final Message/s of the reading and very often re-enforce the overall theme or feeling of the spread. In the photo, these were the 2 of Pentacles and Justice.
A FOUR-CARD SPREAD
The second spread that I have found quite useful although un-named, uses just four Cards. Extra cards can always be laid for further clarification of course.
The positions of the Cards are Card 1, the Foundation of the matter is laid first. Then Cards 2, 3 & 4 are laid in a line above Card 1. Card 2 is the Obstacles, Card 3 is the Potential and Card 4 is the Outcome.
As a point of interest, if you are using a Rider Waite influenced deck, when you use this spread, have a look at which way the characters on the Cards are looking as this often gives an extra layer of interpretation. For example, in the photograph, Card 2, the 3 of Wands has his back to us, Card 3, The Lovers look at each other, while both the 2 of Swords, Card 4, and Justice, Card 1, look towards us, although of course, the 2 of Swords is blindfolded! A suggested interpretation could be that someone has turned their back on the situation, someone has turned a blind eye to something and yet there is the need for the situation/matter to be faced head on.
Also, the left side of the Cards is connected with the Past and the right side of the Cards with the Future. Is someone looking back into the Past with regard to the situation for example?
Now, I wouldn’t recommend using the ‘Which way are they facing?’ in larger spreads, as it can become just a little bit too complicated, but it is very useful when using only a few cards in a reading.
Have a play around with these two spreads and see what you think.
I’ll be writing a few more Blog Articles on Tarot Spreads, so until we meet again, have fun with your Tarot cards!
Magenta
0 Comments