Spread Shape as “Statement of Intent”
AUTHOR’S NOTE: I’ve now created well over 300 tarot and Lenormand spreads, and I often mention spread format (or “shape”) as one of the three main elements of my architecture: the other two are position meaning (“What do I want to know?”) and number of positions (“How much do I want to know about it?”). The geometric design of the layout addresses “How do I want the message delivered?” (call it “pattern recognition” as a means of inferring intent). Here I will go into a bit more depth about the latter. (Note that, unlike many intuitive readers, I don’t reject positional spreads in favor of a “freestyle throw” since I think a minimum amount of structure is necessary to accurately convey the scope of a reading. In short, I like a semi-formal narrative framework even when crafting unconventional, topic-specific spreads.)
The three-card line spread is one of the most popular arrays among beginners, who usually read it from left-to-right as “Past-Present-Future” or “Action-Reaction-Resolution.” I call this the “A-B-C” progression, in which case it comes closest to an expository sentence that tells a brief story. However, this spread can be read in several non-linear ways, with one card standing out from the others as more significant: A-b-c; a- B-c; or a-b- C. Relative prominence usually depends on the rank or inherent nature of the highlighted card as it relates to the context of the question. The most intense card of the three normally carries the narrative on its back. Five-card lines increase the amount of “adjectives and adverbs” and are basically a more detailed extension of the standard A-B-C approach in which the last card on the right supplies the outcome.
The five-card cross spread is popular in Europe but doesn’t see much use in the United States; the positions yield compact statements that link to construct a situational overview. In this design, the left-hand card usually defines positive aspects of the matter; the right-hand card describes negative aspects; the top card offers advice for reconciling the two; and the bottom card provides the outcome. A fifth card can be placed in the center as a “synthesis” of the entire reading, and it can either be pulled from the deck during the draw or derived by calculation (the “quintessence” technique).
The triangle shape works well for situations in which three roughly equal considerations are in play. For example, the “Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis” mode of inquiry benefits from this spread design. In this triad the cards can be compared one to another in any order for a cross-cutting perspective.
The square layout has some commonality with the cross spread but I’m not aware of any tradition or custom for reading it unless we consider the opposing angles as showing mutually unsympathetic conditions and the adjacent angles as reflecting sequential developments that will ideally be more cooperative because one flows directly into the next.
The “pentagram” (or five-pointed star) arrangement has specific applications that (at least in my own practice) align with the tenets of ceremonial magic. But I have produced a handful of such spreads for more general use.
The circle pattern generates a rotational flow that can be useful for examining cyclical circumstances that are prone to reprise their initial theme. However, I often see such matters as spiraling to another level rather than repeating themselves, and I’ve made one or two attempts to portray this ascending trajectory in my spread designs.
The 12-card astrological spread draws its inspiration from the “house” system of natal astrology that furnishes its position meanings as “departments of life” or “life-topics” (romance, work or career, money, family relations, health, etc). This is a comprehensive method that takes quite a bit of time to perform when read in full, and in level of detail it emulates the 36-card Lenormand Grand Tableau. There are similar but less-common layouts based on the 36 astrological decans and the Hermetic Tree of Life that I won’t go into here.
The venerable Celtic Cross spread doesn’t need much explanation, except to state that in one historical form of interpretation the six cards of the “cross” section delineate the causal factors and timing of the matter in question and the four cards of the vertical “staff” section depict the querent’s reaction to its development, a conceptual division that I find extremely useful in my own work. It is often stated as “the cross is about the question and the staff is about the querent.” As a side note, the Celtic Cross is often capped at a three-to-six month effective duration.
I typically don’t adhere rigidly to any of these conventions in my personal spread designs because the “How much do I want to know?” aspect of a reading dictates the number of cards I will use, and I follow my graphic-artist’s instincts on how to arrange them for maximum clarity of intent; I have even used fanciful patterns like the “sine-wave” and the “lemniscate.” This is not an uncommon practice among experienced diviners who devise their own spreads, and it’s not much of a stretch to say that there are far more unique spread types than there are readers. Here is a link to my library of posted spreads that amply reflects what I’m talking about; not all of these essays include spreads, some are more general discussions that touch on spread use.
https://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com/category/tarot-spreads/
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on June 16, 2024.
