Xtof Posted October 16, 2023 Posted October 16, 2023 I’ve seen a few “best beginner spread”, but what would you consider to be the spreads that every beginner should work on to learn the ropes?
Misterei Posted October 16, 2023 Posted October 16, 2023 I start my Level 1 students on 3-card spreads. Many possibilities: Past Present Future is typical, but you can just as easily say Pro Con Advice. Beginning Middle End or whatever applies. Level 1 goes to 4 and 5 card spreads by the end. I teach larger spreads in Level 2. I personally learnt on the 10-card Celtic Cross b/c I'm old and that was the only spread back in the day ... now there are waaay too many spreads and beginners often get confused by so many options. Which is why I start with 3-card spreads. It's a nice tight focus for someone to learn cards.
Natural Mystic Guide Posted October 16, 2023 Posted October 16, 2023 7 hours ago, Xtof said: what would you consider to be the spreads that every beginner should work on Here are the spreads that I teach in my beginning class on spreads. These are the essential spreads that I use most often both for myself and for clients. 1 Card spread. This is a great reading for learning a new deck. I pull a card a day. It's also a great reading to get a snapshot of the day ahead, to be followed by reflection and journaling at days's end. 3-Card spreads. Like @Misterei, I find this to be an extremely versatile spread. I have eight basic permutations that can address any possible issue. 4-World Reading. This is a comprehensive spread that works with the four Kabbalistic worlds. It can look at how taking a certain course of action could affect every aspect of one's life. Also it is excellent for getting a probable future reading for a set period of time. Weighing Options spread. This is perfect when you want to evaluate two or more possible options. It is easy gives a very clear result. I recently used this to help a friend decide which car to buy. New Moon Reading. This 5-card reading helps one to process the previous month. Then a card is drawn for each lunar week to come: New Moon; Waxing Moon; Full Moon; and Waning Moon. I study this reading before I begin each day. It gives me a good idea of the prevailing energy of the week that I am in. There examples of this reading posted on my blog here at Tarot Tea and Me.
tetragrammaton Posted November 26, 2023 Posted November 26, 2023 I am a boring prude. Celtic Cross, Golden Dawn spread and the 9-card Thelema spread are what I usually go for spiritual readings.
Misterei Posted November 27, 2023 Posted November 27, 2023 9 hours ago, tetragrammaton said: I am a boring prude. Celtic Cross, Golden Dawn spread and the 9-card Thelema spread are what I usually go for spiritual readings. i resemble that remark! Seriously, though. In the digital Tarot Renaissance of the 2000s ... there are SO MANY [too many?] decks and spreads. Like if we don't do 1001 different spreads and own 1001 different decks ... we're boring and inadequate??? I have 3 go-to spreads: Celtic Cross, Tirage en Croix, and 7-card V. These spreads serve for 95% of situations. I find my intuition works BETTER when I really know a spread ... not when I'm referencing a book or JPEG to double-check every card position. This actually slows my roll. New spreads are fun for novelty from time to time ... but if I have a SERIOUS question ... it's CC, Tirage en Croix, or 7-card V. Those spreads are a solid platform for my intuition to launch.
Siri5 Posted January 18, 2024 Posted January 18, 2024 On 11/27/2023 at 2:26 AM, Misterei said: I find my intuition works BETTER when I really know a spread ... not when I'm referencing a book or JPEG to double-check every card position. This actually slows my roll. New spreads are fun for novelty from time to time ... but if I have a SERIOUS question ... it's CC, Tirage en Croix, or 7-card V. Those spreads are a solid platform for my intuition to launch. Same for me. If I can’t even remember what I’m asking for when I’m positioning individual cards, I don’t feel confident in my cards, if that makes sense. I also find that with a lot of complex spreads there are positions that make little sense to because they either duplicate or else add unnecessary or unclear meanings/information. I need to know what I’m asking with each card and why while I’m laying the spread so while I may have some fun with a new reading I tend to gravitate to familiar spreads for serious readings, where I can concentrate on the question rather than mechanics of a complicated new spread.
Barleywine Posted January 20, 2024 Posted January 20, 2024 I consider the three-card spread to provide the minimum amount of useful information because it allows for some narrative development of the matter. I find the five-card layout (line or cross) to be best for most straightforward questions, and the Celtic Cross for more complex situations. I think those three are plenty to get started.
thornapple Posted January 25, 2024 Posted January 25, 2024 Three-card spreads are the most versatile. You can learn to pull additional cards for more context/information if the initial three don't give a clear enough picture. That's how I was taught, anyway. Wouldn't recommend the Celtic Cross for beginners, but it's okay once you've gotten the hang of three and five-card spreads.
Barleywine Posted January 25, 2024 Posted January 25, 2024 4 hours ago, thornapple said: Wouldn't recommend the Celtic Cross for beginners, but it's okay once you've gotten the hang of three and five-card spreads. I certainly wouldn't recommend Waite's original, but Eden Gray's version is more logical and easier to master.
Chariot Posted January 26, 2024 Posted January 26, 2024 I’ve recently started using a four-card spread which I modified slightly from one recommended by a favourite tarot author of mine - Theresa Reed. I call it the Mind/Body/Spirit layout, with a fourth Advice card added in at the end. I usually just lay them out in a straight horizontal row, with the Advice card set a little way apart from the other three. The Mind card deals with what I will be thinking about during the day, or HOW I will be thinking during the day. The Body card can be about my physical state during the day. When relevant, it can be about health, but I find it more often has to do with what I will physically be doing during the day. The Spirit card will deal with how I will be mentally feeling during the day, or how my attitude towards life in general will manifest during the day. The Advice card will suggest things I might want to do or not do, to bring about the results I hope to achieve during the day.
Nemia Posted January 26, 2024 Posted January 26, 2024 I love designing spreads for each specific question, and instead of adding "clarification cards" (which has never worked for me), I "milk" my readings. I found Mary K. Greer's permutation technique very helpful where you use the cards you have but simply move them to another position for additional insight. One of my go-tos is the SWOT spread, like the well-known SWOT analysis. For cards, two of them positive, two challenging, two of them about internal and two about external factors. Strength and Weakness, Opportunities and Threats - that's it. Very good to get insight on a specific situation. When I use a three-card spread, I like to play with the layout. Put into a simple row, it's a timeline. Arranged with the middle card a bit higher, you get triptych: the main issue and what helps and/or hinders. Arranged then like steps, how to lift yourself from the situation and move forward. Arranged like a bridge, the middle card can tell you how to solve a conflict. Put up vertically, you get the layers of a problem - unconscious, conscious and goals. Here are some examples of how you can arrange these three cards and get different meanings from the same three cards. (The last example was inspired by a user called Fee Lion on another forum - take the cards from different places of the stack, the bottom, middle and top, to represent the layers of your mind). Again, I try to make the most of each spread. I play with these three cards until I feel I have really grasped all the facets of the card meanings and applied them to my question. Oh, and I learned a great spread from the book Power Tarot by Trish MacGregor and Phyllis Vega. It's a four-card spread called Desire Spread: 1. What you have 2. What you desire 3. What you need 4. What you get The contrast between 2. and 3. is usually especially insightful.
Misterei Posted January 26, 2024 Posted January 26, 2024 4 hours ago, Nemia said: When I use a three-card spread, I like to play with the layout. Put into a simple row, it's a timeline. Arranged with the middle card a bit higher, you get triptych: the main issue and what helps and/or hinders. Arranged then like steps, how to lift yourself from the situation and move forward. Arranged like a bridge, the middle card can tell you how to solve a conflict. Put up vertically, you get the layers of a problem - unconscious, conscious and goals. I love how you give visual examples.
Siri5 Posted January 28, 2024 Posted January 28, 2024 On 1/26/2024 at 7:31 PM, Nemia said: I love designing spreads for each specific question, and instead of adding "clarification cards" (which has never worked for me), I "milk" my readings. I found Mary K. Greer's permutation technique very helpful where you use the cards you have but simply move them to another position for additional insight. One of my go-tos is the SWOT spread, like the well-known SWOT analysis. For cards, two of them positive, two challenging, two of them about internal and two about external factors. Strength and Weakness, Opportunities and Threats - that's it. Very good to get insight on a specific situation. When I use a three-card spread, I like to play with the layout. Put into a simple row, it's a timeline. Arranged with the middle card a bit higher, you get triptych: the main issue and what helps and/or hinders. Arranged then like steps, how to lift yourself from the situation and move forward. Arranged like a bridge, the middle card can tell you how to solve a conflict. Put up vertically, you get the layers of a problem - unconscious, conscious and goals. Here are some examples of how you can arrange these three cards and get different meanings from the same three cards. (The last example was inspired by a user called Fee Lion on another forum - take the cards from different places of the stack, the bottom, middle and top, to represent the layers of your mind). Again, I try to make the most of each spread. I play with these three cards until I feel I have really grasped all the facets of the card meanings and applied them to my question. Oh, and I learned a great spread from the book Power Tarot by Trish MacGregor and Phyllis Vega. It's a four-card spread called Desire Spread: 1. What you have 2. What you desire 3. What you need 4. What you get The contrast between 2. and 3. is usually especially insightful. I love all of these, thank you so much for sharing these. I’m going to play with them a bit to see how they work for me!
Scandinavianhermit Posted November 17, 2024 Posted November 17, 2024 I've found this one very useful: 13 9 5 4 8 12 2 1 3 14 10 6 7 11 15 1 = the client 2 & 3 = the situation and personality Lower right = influences outside the client's control Lower left = the past and constructive advice Upper right = the future if the Client doesn't change Upper left = the future if the Client makes another decision or changes him/herself
Sonnenkind Posted August 7 Posted August 7 Nemia (I can't tag anyone, yet, as I haven't done 5 posts, yet), I just did the Desire As which you suggested at the end of your reply and it was indeed very insightful and led to me immediately doing another spread. Thank you for sharing this.
DanielJUK Posted August 8 Posted August 8 I am sure @Nemia will see your compliments on her spread the next time she is around the place @Sonnenkind and yay you can tag now 🙂
rainydayinagoodway Posted August 14 Posted August 14 I'm new here too and can't yet tag but this timeless post has opened my eyes to some great spreads, without being overwhelming. Thank you to the TT&M team for prompting these incredibly insightful responses! And thank you to the members above for the well thought-out replies for us newbies. The time you take to teach does not go unrecognized. You light a spark in those of us that are thirsty for guidance but do not know where to start. I am so thankful to you for taking the time to share your experience and mentorship!
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