Tarot Spread Survey

ArwenNightstar

Ok, in the hopes of generating another article for either the ATA Quarterly or the ATA Tarot Reflections, I have the following questions for y'all. This is for those that read with spreads. For those of you who don't read with spreads, I'll try to do another survey.


1. What spread do you use the most?
2. How many spreads do you know by heart?
3. Do you think it is important to have a variety of spreads for reading?
4. If you read for others, do you have spreads you only use for yourself? spreads you only use for others?
5. What is the most useful spread you have?
6. What defines a useful spread for you?
7. Where do you go to find new spreads?
 

Sophie

ArwenNightstar said:
Ok, in the hopes of generating another article for either the ATA Quarterly or the ATA Tarot Reflections, I have the following questions for y'all. This is for those that read with spreads. For those of you who don't read with spreads, I'll try to do another survey.

1. What spread do you use the most?

No spread - free-form conversation with question and answer.


2. How many spreads do you know by heart?

About 15


3. Do you think it is important to have a variety of spreads for reading?

Not really unless you only work with spreads. It's like cooking from recipes - if you only ever cook from a recipe, better have a few handy. If not, a few stalwarts as back-ups and useful starting points are good.


4. If you read for others, do you have spreads you only use for yourself? spreads you only use for others?

No. But I do like to make up spreads to fit the person I am reading for and their question.



5. What is the most useful spread you have?

The free-form conversational style question and answer ;). In actual spreads... the 3-card flexy-spread, which can be expanded as much as you want in multiple of 3s. Other than that, the 7-card horseshoe and Joan Bunning's Yin-yang relationship spread.



6. What defines a useful spread for you?

Set positions for the cards, and something like a pattern.



7. Where do you go to find new spreads?

My own head, books, tarot forums.
 

Alpha-Omega

1. What spread do you use the most?
Most of the time I make custom spreads for my clients.
The types would fall under Relationships mostly.

2. How many spreads do you know by heart?
I know the Celtic Cross, but I dont use it. Other than that I have spreads in books I have bought and written down the ones I like that I see online.

3. Do you think it is important to have a variety of spreads for reading?
Yes

4. If you read for others, do you have spreads you only use for yourself? spreads you only use for others?
No

5. What is the most useful spread you have?
Depends on the issue.

6. What defines a useful spread for you?
A useful spread is a spread that can answer all questions asked and the questions that are not. A spread should inighten and teach the client somthing.

7. Where do you go to find new spreads?
Here of course!
 

Gayla

1. What spread do you use the most?

3 card - yes, no, maybe. Mainly because I read for the FTN and most of the questions are yes, no, maybe oriented.

2. How many spreads do you know by heart?

5 to 10

3. Do you think it is important to have a variety of spreads for reading?

yes...spreads are the essence of using tarot

4. If you read for others, do you have spreads you only use for yourself?

no
spreads you only use for others?

no

5. What is the most useful spread you have?

I think the Celtic Cross is the most classic and useful spread ever developed.

6. What defines a useful spread for you?

It has a defined focus and the cards are laid out in a reasonable, logic arrangement to develop options or draw the answers to the question from within the querent's subconsious. Also, not less than 3 but no more than 12 cards. When I develop a spread I try to keep it between 5 to 10 cards. I, personally, don't find large spreads using whole decks useful.


7. Where do you go to find new spreads?

I develop my own or look it up on the internet.
 

ArwenNightstar

Thank you for your input! I really appreciate the support!
 

MoonLitCrystal

ArwenNightstar said:
1. What spread do you use the most?
2. How many spreads do you know by heart?
3. Do you think it is important to have a variety of spreads for reading?
4. If you read for others, do you have spreads you only use for yourself? spreads you only use for others?
5. What is the most useful spread you have?
6. What defines a useful spread for you?
7. Where do you go to find new spreads?

I think I can answer most of these questions by stating that I work best when I make up my own spread. That means that I take the question, think about the important points of it, and designate different cards to represent an aspect of the question. So there are no spreads that I use the most, I do not know any particular spreads by heart, I do not have a most useful spread, and I don't have spreads that I only use for certain people :)

Of course I would think that it is important for me to make up a variety of different spreads. I feel that since every question is unique, every question should get a spread that is taylored to it. Granted, some spreads have certain designations in common (for example, if I am doing a relationship reading it will most likely include cards for how each person feels about the other and cards for what each person wants out of the relationship). Most of my spreads also include an advice card. Then again, these cards are in no set position within the spread.

To me, a useful spread is a spread that adequately assesses the person's question. It does not just give a yes/no answer, but it explores the hows, whys, and even some different options that the person has.

I do come here to AT to find new ideas about threads, but I don't take spreads directly from here anymore. (I used to when I was brand new to Tarot.)

I hope that answers all of your questions! :)
 

Gavriela

1. What spread do you use the most?
Elemental Array
2. How many spreads do you know by heart?
About 20.
3. Do you think it is important to have a variety of spreads for reading?
No - the fewer the better, as a rule.
4. If you read for others, do you have spreads you only use for yourself? spreads you only use for others?
Nope
5. What is the most useful spread you have?
Elemental Array
6. What defines a useful spread for you?
One that gives the client information that is true, useful, and surprising.
7. Where do you go to find new spreads?
If I need one, I'll usually make it up.
 

Mi-Shell

1. What spread do you use the most?
Grandmother Spider , Bear Cave Healing, Healing the Heart and a couple of others

2. How many spreads do you know by heart?
~~20
3. Do you think it is important to have a variety of spreads for reading?
It is important to read the cards and the client and sometimes spreads can hamper that and need to be adjusted to what is needed

4. If you read for others, do you have spreads you only use for yourself? yes
spreads you only use for others? no
5. What is the most useful spread you have? the above mentioned one and several that I made up to get to the root of a problem or differentate between choices

6. What defines a useful spread for you?
That it will provide helpfull answers / suggestions to the client but not confuse him / her or be too long and over-extends their attention span

7. Where do you go to find new spreads?
I create them or adapt existing ones to speciffic needs
 

Azarial

1. What spread do you use the most?

Most of the time I don't use spreads. I draw three cards with now positional meaning.

2. How many spreads do you know by heart?

None since I stopped using spreads most of the time.

3. Do you think it is important to have a variety of spreads for reading?

Only if you feel the situation calls for one, or if you read better with a spread.

4. If you read for others, do you have spreads you only use for yourself? spreads you only use for others?

No I don't

5. What is the most useful spread you have?

None

6. What defines a useful spread for you?

One that answers all possible questions surrounding the situation.

7. Where do you go to find new spreads?

When I use a spread, I look here or I make up my own spread.
 

Formicida

1. What spread do you use the most?

Probably some variation on the three-card.

2. How many spreads do you know by heart?

5-10

3. Do you think it is important to have a variety of spreads for reading?

I generally make up a spread to suit the reading. So yes, in a sense it's useful to have a variety, but I don't feel it's helpful to me to have them "armed and ready," if you will.

4. If you read for others, do you have spreads you only use for yourself? spreads you only use for others?

Not specifically. I don't typically ask, say, relationship questions for myself, so in that sense a relationship spread would be used only for others, but not because it's a spread for others.

5. What is the most useful spread you have?

Three-card, with its infinite flexibility.

6. What defines a useful spread for you?

The one characteristic that I want in a spread that I don't see others wanting a lot is some relationship between the positions and the meanings associated with them. If there's a subconscious factors position, for example, I like to see it at the bottom, and so forth. The Celtic Cross really excels at this, in my mind, although I don't often use it because it's so long. Other than that, I just want a spread that will provide the right information to answer the question at hand.

7. Where do you go to find new spreads?

As I said, I usually make them up. Many on the forum or in books are too gimmicky for me. I have found some good ones, but since I'm perfectly capable of making up my own I usually don't look to hard for others.