Ever Used ALL the Cards in a Single Spread?

I'd agree there tarotbear - frankly I cannot imagine the scope of such a reading, would you ever need another tarot reading again, ever?

There are a few spreads in our Tarot Spreads Index that use a whole deck. There is the Got All Day? (-such an appropriate name ) and the Complete Deck Spread.

I´ve never tried such a large spread. I usually get enough information from 1-3 card spreads. But I can imagine that such a large spread might make sense on special occasions like at New Year´s or on a major birthday or something like that.
I like the idea of reading the whole deck in a stream of consciousness-kind of way. I guess it would be more like mediatating or storytelling. I´m sure I´ve read about it somewhere recently. It might have been in 365 Tarot Activities by Deanna Anderson. I´ll have to check..

I nearly always do 3 card spreads as well and often with no positions. I have never used all the cards but have had a go with large spreads (there is even a monthly group here which is informal and has a go at them). It's good I think to challenge ourselves with something different to our usual methods and spreads, get out of that comfort zone! Large spreads are time consuming and complex (and frankly hard work) but I do like to have a go at them every couple of months! But I am not sure I would use the whole deck

tarotbear said:

My sister-in-law from my first husband 'threw the cards' and used every single card in the deck to do a reading ... more a 'stream-of-consciousness' act than a 'spread.'

She would have you shuffle the deck and just start laying out 6 or 7 cards and start talking and lay out another row on top of that one, and just keep laying out cards and talking until she ran out of cards.

For her the constricted concept of 'This Card in This Position is Your (fill in the blank)' was very odd.

Click to expand...

I really like this idea. I'd like to try it in a future reading but perhaps I'll start with half a deck since it would take me a LONG time to talk my way through all 78 cards

On another note, I recently watched a Youtube video from TheFourQueens in which she recommended creating a conscious (placing cards face-up) and unconscious (placing cards face-down) mandala using all the cards of the Major Arcana as a sort of free-form associative technique, paying special attention to what is central in the mandala and what is on each successive outer ring or corner. One could employ this same technique with all 78 cards. Has anyone done this before?

you could try Nisaba's awesome 42 card towel reading!

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=137441