I typically read a 9x4 spread when I attempt a Grand Tableau and that's largely bacuse I've never known quite what to do with the final four cards. I have heard them called both the line of fate and the suggested advice (which seem to be polar opposites). So how do you make use of those four cards?
Hi Shade,
Just as Barleywine put it, as Rana George says in her book the last 4 cards can be read as the final say and tie-up to the reading, they can be read as final advice in a general sense for the client, or, a technique developed by Rana George and of course explained in her book, you can actually withhold those last 4 cards (so do not lay them down) and you can use them for something called Crowning. Rana explains Crowning as keeping the last 4 cards off to the side unrevealed until the end of the reading, where you will have the client choose 4 different issues from within the reading that they would like clarification on. They will then choose 1 card for each issue by placing the card on top of that issue card in the GT. So, if they wanted more clarification on their love life you might choose to place one card on top of the Heart card, or if they wanted to know more about their finances you would pick a card and place it on the Bear. After you've placed all 4 cards, turn each card up and read them in combination both with the cards below and with the houses they're in. So say you turn up the Scythe card on the Heart card in the house of the Ring, you might say Scythe and Heart look like a painful separation of a relationship (Ring's house).
Me personally, I prefer to keep them as a nice tie-up ending to the reading. I've noticed that where the first 3 cards of the reading are my general feel and tone of the reading before I dive into it, usually showing me some main points of interest that will be touched upon in the reading, the last 4 cards wrap up the reading nicely for me.
But the most important thing to remember is that if you're going to use a 8x4+4 GT, make sure you
consciously choose what role those last 4 cards are going to play! Like charging a card, pose to the cards that they are going to act as this or that, etc. Enjoy!