Spreads #1: 3 Card Spread pt. 1

Thirteen

Right. First lesson on spreads. Pt.1, how spreads work:

You know the basic meanings of the cards, but to really get the cards to talk, you need to set them into place, give them a role to play.

I'm sure you've all at one time or another played that game of "who would I have play this role in a movie?" Say, for example, who you'd have play Superman if there was a new Superman movie. Maybe you thought about it when they were casting the Harry Potter movie or the Lord of the Rings movie. Who would you want to play this or that role?

And you've probably imagined how different actors would play the same role, right? Let's say you were casting a play of a Christmas Carol. You can have any actor you want to play Scrooge. Should it be Anthony Hopkins, who would be a soft spoken but menacing Scrooge? Or Patrick Stewart (who has played Scrooge on stage) who is louder, sterner, more business like; also stronger, more energetic? How about Ian McKellen who would probably play him as more frail and misery, more of a loner?

This is the way cards work in a spread. Each card has it's own meaning, is it's own kind of actor. But when it's in a spread, it takes on a role. So you get THAT character/role, as translated through the lens of that actor. If you see what I mean.

In addition, no card in a spread is alone. Like an actor on stage or in a movie, there are others with him, playing off him, taking their cues from him, and giving him cues. The meaning of some cards become clear only thanks to what the other cards are saying. Going back to Christmas Carol, it makes a difference if Bob Cratchit cringes from Scrooge in fear, or just takes Scrooge's meanness for granted, shrugging it off with resignation. Is Scrooge's nephew hurt by what Scrooge says, or amused? Their interpetation so of their roles lets us know if Scrooge should be feared, or pitied, if he's really a monster or just a curmugeon.

I hope this gives you some idea of how spreads work. Now, let's go onto actually doing a spread.