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 (Card #15), and so on until Card #25 completes the row (see the diagram below). This “row of fifths” offers abundant justification for creating a portfolio of unique spreads based on the Pythagorean number sequence of One through Ten. A series of “Ones” would be identical to the traditional practice of drawing all the cards as an unbroken set from the top of the deck. At the other extreme, a “Ten” series would begin with the tenth card down from the top and proceed by “splits” of 10, delving fifty tiers deep into the pack before concluding. For larger spreads that run out of cards before the last pull, the reader can start over from the top of the deck using the same sequence as many times as necessary to populate the positions. In all scenarios but the “One,” this approach allows a wider range of cards to make an appearance than would normally be the case while being less indiscriminate than randomly selecting cards from a “fan.” (As I’ve said before, the goal of the draw isn’t to dissociate the cards by dispersing them, but rather to bind them into an orderly narrative congruity. The “heavy lifting” has already been done by the shuffle and I don’t want to work too hard recapturing the sense of it.)
Each unique spread devised in this manner is assumed to bear the qualities of its “root” number, perhaps something like the following blend of Pythagorean and Qabalistic number theory:
“Ones” Sequence: Initiative; An Incentive or Impulse for Action
“Twos” Sequence: Connection; A Personal Outreach or Emerging Relationship
“Threes” Sequence: Opportunity; A Chance for Expansion and Improvement
“Fours” Sequence: Fulfillment; An Experience of Security and Orderly Progress
“Fives” Series: Challenge: An Extreme Adjustment Following Stalled Growth
“Sixes” Sequence: Renewal; An Agreeable “Coming Together” or Reconciliation after Strife
“Sevens” Sequence: Redirection; An Urge for Increased Freedom; A “Test” of One’s Stamina
“Eights” Sequence: Reaction & Recovery; An Awareness and Acceptance of Alternate Measures
“Nines” Sequence: Completion; A Maturing or “Re-centering” of Previous Ideals; “Homecoming”
“Tens” Sequence: Disengagement: A New Chapter Presents Itself After a “Terminal Event”
I’ve always felt that the conventional way of drawing all the cards from the top of the deck leaves too much undiscovered, even though I’m a firm believer that the shuffle and cut produce the necessary cards to tell the querent’s story at that point in time. On the other hand, the “fan” method is entirely too random when the goal is to create a sensible narrative by assembling “just the right cards” to create order out of chaos in a subconsciously coherent way. The above method provides a middle ground by applying a numerical framework that also imparts some broader interpretive significance to the results. The objective is to select the sequence that speaks most directly to the seeker’s circumstances. The following design is a representative example; spreads of any numerical complexion and length can be used with this technique.
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on October 12, 2022.
