A Twist on the Romany Spread

Barleywine

I'm always looking for creative ways to merge astrological principles with tarot. The 7 X 3 arrangement of the Romany Spread offers an ideal opportunity because it aligns well with the seven planets of traditional astrology as aspects of the personality. (I don't use the three modern planets here because they don't add anything of value for this purpose.)

This spread can be read across the rows to create a personality profile for different windows in time, or down the columns to focus on the development of one characteristic over a longer period. The spread is quite elastic; you can populate only the specific column(s) that you want to examine. Thus, it can become a set of three-card "snapshots" of different facets of personal evolution. This would in turn create more possible combinations; for example, "What did/does he feel, think and want, then, now and in the future?" could also be read as three cards across as well as down to create a nine-card square. Note that the "I" in each position is rhetorical. It could just as easily be "he or she" (or "they" if you're so inclined).
 

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Barleywine

Example Spread

I ran this spread on my neighbor. He and his wife are social friends of ours who have been having some relationship problems. He is a "man's man" country-gentleman type now gone a bit to seed. Reading the columns first, using the Albano Waite RWS (a photo of the spread is attached):

In the last couple of years, he had a major blow to his ego (Tower rx), which nothing on Earth would get him to admit (Tower rx implies "damage control"). His wife confided to my wife that they haven't had sex in a long time since she no longer finds him physically stimulating. (We will see why later.) In addition to the ego hit, we also see considerable bottled-up sexual frustration. The Tower card is in one of the cornerstone positions of the spread.

His hopes have been dashed because the naked lady has been steadfastly denying him (Star rx).

If he keeps on vainly hoping without doing anything positive about it, this will bring him to a desolate place (10 of Swords). This is a another cornerstone position.

She has psychologically emasculated him (7 of Swords rx).

As a classic Leo type, he is still keeping up the brave front (Strength).

He still intends to hook up with someone else if he can pull it off (2 of Cups). That much is obvious; when he and I are around young girls, he ogles and practically drools.

The Queen of Cups rx and Emperor are very much at odds. She has been keeping him in emotional limbo for a long time and he looks rather disgruntled.

Their current connection is one of financial expedience and platonic coexistence. They own a large country estate together and a get-away home in Central America. (10 of Pentacles)

She is absorbed in her own world; she is a relentless flower gardener and can spend 8 hours a day at it (9 of Pentacles rx). He escapes whenever he can (King of Wands rx). Pentacles and Wands are elementally friendly, so they have an "arrangement" that works for them.

They have both walked away from any kind of emotional engagement, apparently deciding to just "let it be" (8 of Cups). Perhaps "emotional estrangement" is the best way to put it.

He may have tried to "high-hand" her to get what he thinks is his due. (Ace of Wands); as an alpha-male Leo with Strength and the Emperor in cahoots, I wouldn't put it past him. There have been some day-long arguments.

He still "can't get no satisfaction" (Knight of Cups rx). Unless, of course, that hand on the phallic Ace of Wands is his. :)

He's hoping for a miracle (7 of Cups)

The "Jupiter" column here is worrisome. He loves to eat (and eat) and drink wine (King of Cups), and his girth has expanded accordingly.

The High Priestess suggests that there may be an undiagnosed condition related to his obesity. He already has high blood pressure, and a heart condition would not be out of the question. He has a female primary care physician, so there could be some synchronicity here.

He needs to take this seriously, drastically slim down and get fit. (Page of Pentacles, in dramatic contrast to the King of Cups).

He feels unfairly beset by circumstances (7 of Wands). This is another cornerstone position.

Unless he can buckle down and become the Page of Pentacles, he may have to accept less than he thinks he deserves (7 of Pentacles).

He will probably wind up feeling like there's "no justice in the world." (Justice rx). This is the final cornerstone position.

Very briefly reading the rows:

After the ego-slam of the Tower rx, she indeed (at least in his eyes) "stole his manhood," denying him emotional and physical gratification. Despite his efforts to overmaster her, she quickly sat him back down and cooled his jets. He wound up feeling strenuously put-upon.

Her denial of his wishes has made him feel self-righteously wronged and not shy about expressing it, but it won't do him any good. She may also be keeping another secret from him. Her invalid parents have a male caregiver and she spends a good deal of time there. This creates suspicion on her husband's part that she's having an affair. It may explain the "stealing away" shown in the 7 of Swords. He's being left to "tend the garden" on his own and he complains about being lonely.

The bleakness of his situation could entice him to seek someone else for a dalliance, but it's likely to be platonic and give him no satisfaction, so he will walk away from it in disappointment and seek something else "over the rainbow." He needs to get realistic, but there is still probably no vindication to be had without some hard work.
 

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Samikcha

Wow.... okay I was searching for personality spread like for past two days and nothing was satisfactory. So any exercise I should do before hitting this huge spread. I have never done such a large spread before but this looks so enticing :)

love love love:*
 

Barleywine

You might want to try only a couple of personality traits (columns) at a time and see how they inter-relate, both at that moment and over time. Then I would look at the seven-phase personality overview for one particular "window" (past or present) to see if what's there matches your knowledge of the individual and provides any insights on that. This would give you some confidence in the future outlook of the bottom row.
 

Samikcha

Wow.... okay I was searching for personality spread like for past two days and nothing was satisfactory. So any exercise I should do before hitting this huge spread. I have never done such a large spread before but this looks so enticing :)

love love love:*
Thank you... well I am trying out this spread on me:)

love love love:*
 

Barleywine

One thing I forgot to mention is that this spread - like all odd-numbered spreads - has a central focus card that would be an interesting place to work from. I see yours is the Knight of Wands in the "Venus" column of "Desires," or "What I want."
 

Hemera

I added this spread to our Tarot Spreads Index right after the other Romany Spreads that we have. We have a good collection of them now. :thumbsup: They are under "Large Spreads" in post #2
 

Barleywine

Updated Version

Here is the updated version including explanatory text that I never posted. The text was copied from my original post so it stays permanently connected. The layout didn't change.
 

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