Developing a Spread

Hello,

Do any of you put a lot of time & energy into developing a spread?

I'm developing a 9-card spread which can apply to any topic (i.e. love, money, spiritual evolution etc.) ... its actually a bit daunting.

Curious to hear from others - what is your process to create and develop a spread?
... and I mean a spread you will use again & again. Not just what feels right in the moment (I've done that too ... this development thing is new to me)

Do you prefer to develop spreads around a particular topic? (i.e. love, job, etc.)

Or do you like to develop a general spread for all topics yet relating to a certain theme? (what Im doing).

What about number of cards? What is your process for deciding how many cards to use?

Bonus Question:
Why do you think celtic cross has been the standard for so many years when there are so many other spreads possible?

Thank you for any replies.

I don't know why the CC is so standard - it's really A Lot, and generally much too much for someone just getting into tarot. There's a lot of information to be had, but you have to spend time studying the spread and the way the cards interact to get at it.

Instead of making my own spreads I find myself more often adapting created spreads to suit my purposes. For me, card placements in a spread should be about the way that the cards can interact to create a more complete picture, instead of answering separate questions with each card. The whole thing should tie together neatly. I like spreads that answer not a specific topic, but a specific type of question, that answers in a way that allows the sitter to take action. For example, if your ultimate question is 'what will happen regarding ____', the questions to ask are 'where am I now?' 'what advantage do I have?' 'what are my challenges?' etc.

tl;dr, I want my spreads to suggest useful actions toward future outcomes, not just 'the future'.

I usually make mine on the fly. I just make the spread according to the main question and whatever aspects of the issue are in question. That works far better than trying to use specific spreads and trying to remember what the spread consists of.

When I was new to the cards, I thought I had to memorize a bunch of spreads that other people had made up. That was very daunting for me. It also meant keeping a little notebook with all kinds of other people's spreads and then rummaging through that to find a spread, which isn't very professional if you're doing in-person readings, or I thought it wasn't, anyway.

One of the spreads of my own that I use a lot is 7 cards on whatever issue is the concern. I use two cards for each position and then a third card on whatever the main issue is.

For instance, the sitter wants to know about a relationship she's in and the issue she's concerned with is occurring in the present, so the 3rd card will go into the middle of the spread---the present. The other two-card answers will refer to past and future. During the reading, if the sitter has further questions, then I draw extra cards, placing them in past, present or future as appropriate, branching off the initial cards in those positions. The finished spread sometimes looks like a Scrabble spread or a crossword puzzle. It works very well, though, and isn't hard to remember at all.

Take a look at Collaborative Spread Creation - Suggestion Thread and Index over in the Tarot Spreads forum. There are links to 11 exercises where we show the process for creating customized spreads.

Rodney

NatKat said:

Do any of you put a lot of time & energy into developing a spread?

Click to expand...

I have done so in the past. I have a good stock of my own spreads now - I haven't had to work on any for years.

Curious to hear from others - what is your process to create and develop a spread?
... and I mean a spread you will use again & again. Not just what feels right in the moment (I've done that too ... this development thing is new to me)

Click to expand...

I dunno. i think I just work out what I what the spread to tell me, and how I want it to look on the table. The rest just follows.

Do you prefer to develop spreads around a particular topic? (i.e. love, job, etc.)

Click to expand...

i have relationship spread which I use only very occasionally, a whole of life spread which is my go-to, and a number of introspective spreads tht look at the client in the moment from various angles. I also have comical spread, just for fun.

What about number of cards? What is your process for deciding how many cards to use?

Click to expand...

Whatever works. I've gone from three cards to 42 cards, in spreads I've shared in the spread sub-forum and use either frequently or occasionally.

Why do you think celtic cross has been the standard for so many years when there are so many other spreads possible?

Click to expand...

Because humans are an unimaginative species, with a few exceptions. They are followers. They do what others have already done and don't question it.

How else would we fill up crowd-scenes?