Shovel Down Spread

Glastonbury Ed

Having recently spent a wonderful weekend on Dartmoor (in SW England) with my girlfriend, one of the sites that we visited – Shovel Down stone circle, long stone and rows – inspired my to create a tarot spread based on it’s layout.

Details and photos of the site can be seen here if you are interested:

http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/20/shovel_down_and_the_long_stone.html

It is such an atmospheric and wild place. One can’t help wondering at the pagan worship that must have taken place there, really magical stuff!

There is an avenue of parallel stone rows running east to west that reach a stone circle. Form this there is another stone avenue that runs south to north, towards a giant single standing stone called the Long Stone.

Here is the spread that this amazing place inspired in me. I have used it with interesting results.

Although it looks huge with 22 cards it actually isn’t that bad because 16 of those cards are read in pairs.

As an example; in position 6 and 7 I have previously been dealt 2 of Cups and 5 of Wands – showing two people coming together and bickering. These pairs do seem to flow quite nicely.

I hope it is of use to you. All comments and suggestions welcome:



***************************************22*****
**********************************************
**********************************************
*************************************20**21***
**********************************************
*************************************18**19***
**********************************************
*************************************16**17***
**********************************************
*****************************2*******14**15***
**********12**10**8**6************************
**************************5**1**3*************
**********13**11**9**7************************
*****************************4****************
**********************************************

Stone Circle:

1) You, your current situation or the immediate circumstance/issue as it really is.
2) The principal physical aspect of the current situation or issue. How it physically manifests.
3) The principal mental aspect of the current situation or issue. Your thoughts, fears or plans.
4) The principal energy, motivation or desire (or lack thereof) manifesting around the current situation or issue.
5) The emotions and feelings associated with the current situation.

East to West Row:

Note: Each vertical pair is read together, with the first card in each pair holding most importance and the second
adding further information or clarification. Cards are dealt in the order numbered.

6&7) What has just passed. The immediate past events or influence that are now passing out of the current situation.
8&9) What has gone before. Past events and influences.
10&11) The unknown past. Past influences or aspects of the situation that are unknown to you/the Querent.
12&13) The root of the current situation, where it all started and the energy and motivations that first
brought it into being.

South to North Row:

Note: Each horizontal pair is read together, with the first card holding most importance and the second
adding further information or clarification. Cards are read as pairs in the ordered dealt and numbered, down to up
(south to north).

14&15) What is immediately before you and issues arising.
16&17) Warnings and advice.
18&19) Future events and influences.
20&21) The real heart of the matter governing all future events

The Long Stone:

22) Possible final outcome.



********************************
EDIT
********************************

Positions have now been refined to be:

Stone Circle:

1) You, your current situation or the immediate circumstance/issue as it really is.
2) The principal physical aspect of the current situation or issue. How it physically manifests.
3) The principal mental aspect of the current situation or issue. Your thoughts, fears or plans.
4) The principal energy, motivation or desire (or lack thereof) manifesting around the current situation or issue.
5) The emotions and feelings associated with the current situation.

East to West Row:

6&7) The immediate past events or influence that are now passing out of the current situation.
8&9) What needs to be learnt from the past or retained
10&11) What needs to be left in the past
12&13) The root of the current situation, where it all started and the energy and motivations that first brought it into being.

South to North Row:


14&15) What is immediately before you and issues arising from forces already in motion.
16&17) Warnings about what is to come
18&19) Opportunities which may present themselves
20&21) The heart of the matter governing all future events

The Long Stone:

22) Possible final outcome.
 

oak_woman

Thanks, Glastonbury Ed - this looks great! As a prehistory addict (with a healthy appetite for magic and mysticism thrown in) (and even being married to an archaeologist) I can't wait to try this spread.

Now I'm feeling inspired to make up my own spreads based on prehistoric monuments I've visited myself. We've explored several local ones over the Christmas/New Year break but they tend to be flattened barrows, visible only at certain times as cropmarks. No stone in Norfolk! So a spread based on those would need to be quite inventive ...

And, I will definitely make a point of visiting Shovel Down when next on Dartmoor, so that's TWO things to thank you for!

oaks xx
 

Glastonbury Ed

Hi Oak Woman - I'm glad you like it :)

It seems we have very similar tastes!

If you do visit Shovel Down, make sure you go to Scorhill stone circle and the giant hag stone in the river, both a relatively short walk away.

Let me know if you've used the spread and how it went for you.
 

oak_woman

Right, well it took a while for me to clear enough space and to summon up enough courage, but I've tried the spread now. I used the Greenwood, as it seemed appropriate somehow. Laying out the cards for the stone circle, avenues and Long Stone was really fun, especially seeing all the cards face down in formation with their images of an antler-capped shaman staring back at me.

The spread is a lot bigger than I would normally choose to work with, and I didn't always find that the pairs read together easily. On the other hand, some of them did! Also, I found it quite difficult to get to grips with the subtle nuances of all the 'past' positions, but that may have had something to do with my question.

On reflection (and 'Reflection' was indeed the centre card of my stone circle!) I think I will learn more from this reading when I give myself time to study all the positions in more detail, having written everything down. It might work well to look at all the 'past' cards as a block of eight, and then the 'future' cards, to see what patterns emerge.

The question was about how I can help my partner to overcome his anxiety, and the possible outcome card (the Long Stone) was the Seven of Stones, which in the Greenwood shows a peaceful, seated and antlered figure with the title 'Healing'. Now, all I have to do is figure out what the cards are telling me about how to get there!

Thanks for the spread, Ed.
 

Glastonbury Ed

Thanks for the feedback Oak Woman, and I have to say I have found some of the issues you did. Some of the pairs worked so well together it was enough to make me persevere with them in that format, but admittedly some I struggled with. Perhaps a flexible approach is best here.

I will try the spread again with the rows simply being a timeline (most recent being nearest the circle, in both directions).

Perhaps this will allow more freedom in the interpretations. Perhaps the second set of 4 cards in each row being an underlying theme against and active, dominant one?

I know the spread wants to be in that format, just need to tweak it to get it right!

:)
 

oak_woman

I think having the rows as timelines could be good. I agree it's a good spread and worth persevering with!

Maybe it would be good to have some more positions where advice is forthcoming. My question was "How can I help my partner with his anxiety?" Now, although a couple of the pairs of cards were spot-on and obvious, like the one pertaining to the root or beginning of the issue, these were things I already knew. The only pairing to do with advice, specifically, is the one in the 'future' avenue (16 and 17). This is advice and warnings, but sometimes it's hard to gauge whether it's a (negative) warning or (positive) advice you're being given (or perhaps it's just me!) so maybe these areas could be separated to make things easier.

I think the spread as it stands (or perhaps with the small change you've suggested) would work well to get an overview of a situation, but perhaps tweaking it further would help it to be more useful in answering questions/giving advice?

Just a couple of thoughts...

oaks xx
 

Glastonbury Ed

OK, so I've gone back over it and had a play with the spread based on both our experiences and comments and have amended it thus:

******************************************14**
***********************************************
***********************************************
*************************************13*******
***********************************************
*************************************12*******
***********************************************
*************************************11*******
************************************************
*****************************2*******10*******
************************************************
**********9**8**7**6*******5**1**3*************
************************************************
*****************************4*****************
***********************************************

Stone Circle:

1) You, your current situation or the immediate circumstance/issue as it really is.
2) The principal physical aspect of the current situation or issue. How it physically manifests.
3) The principal mental aspect of the current situation or issue. Your thoughts, fears or plans.
4) The principal energy, motivation or desire (or lack thereof) manifesting around the current situation or issue.
5) The emotions and feelings associated with the current situation.

East to West Row:

6) The immediate past events or influence that are now passing out of the current situation.
7) What needs to be learnt from the past or retained
8) What needs to be left in the past
9) The root of the current situation, where it all started and the energy and motivations that first brought it into being.

South to North Row:


10) What is immediately before you and issues arising from forces already in motion.
11) Warnings about what is to come
12) Opportunities which may present themselves
13) The heart of the matter governing all future events

The Long Stone:

14) Possible final outcome.


******************************************************

It seems to work and flow a lot better, I'd really value your comments and further advice.


***************************
EDIT
***************************

The original card positions showing two rows of four pairs have now been retained as these were found to work better with the new positional meanings.
 

oak_woman

Can't wait to try this out! I'll have a go with it later. If I use the Greenwood again it will be a good way to compare the two versions.

Thank you - it looks really exciting :) And of course I'll let you have some feedback :)
 

rosebud_a320

Ed I like the look of that second spread, I'll try this one at the weekend with the Druidcraft.

I looked at the first spread and my eyes strated to droop as if to say don't look, don't look....sooo many cards lol

Fantastic idea though!
 

Glastonbury Ed

rosebud_a320 said:
Ed I like the look of that second spread, I'll try this one at the weekend with the Druidcraft.

I looked at the first spread and my eyes strated to droop as if to say don't look, don't look....sooo many cards lol

Fantastic idea though!

Glad you like it, and you are right that it needed refining! I will be really interested to see how you got on with it. :)