Ravenswing
I’ve been working out a yearly spread for some time now and have finally fine-tuned things enough to satisfy me. It has a monthly, weekly and daily focus. I strongly suggest that you be prepared to do some journaling—you’re going to wind up with 13 two card spreads representing the lunar months, 52 three card spreads representing the weeks and 365 four card spreads represent the days. I have a journal just to keep track of things. I write down my thoughts, insights and contemplations in a separate journal.. I put the monthly spread on the top of a left hand page, The spreads for the first two weeks go on that page, the spreads for the second two on the right hand page. The seven days go under their week. It works out easier than it sounds. It’s not difficult, just rather involved. First, decide what week you are using for your starting point. Start at the beginning of next year, start tomorrow—it makes no difference.
Shuffle well—you’re going to use the entire deck. Count out 13 piles of 6 cards. Each pile represents a four week period—the lunar rather than solar division of the year. Each pile is examined in the same way.
Lay out a pile with the first card to the left, the next four in a vertical line, the last card to the right.
The first and last cards are an overview of the four week period—a two card spread. It is a point-counterpoint relationship. You may see it as yin/yang, revealed forces/hidden forces, solar/lunar, waxing/waning… I contemplate and meditate on this pair at the beginning of this period for a bit of direction.
These cards are combined with the other four, one at a time to form a three card spread. The first week is 1-2-6; the second 1-3-6; the third 1-4-6; the fourth 1-5-6. This might be looked at as thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. Perhaps you might see the center card as the general mood for the week, the first as a challenge, the last as a lesson. Anyway that strikes you as the proper way to examine a triad as long as the center card is your focus. The spread is a triangle—form. I consider these triplets at the beginning of each week, a modification and a closer focus.
Let’s say for example you have a pile that consists of: The Fool, the 8 of Pentacles, the Knight of Pentacles, the 4 of Wands, Judgment, and the Ace of Cups (Yes, I just drew them out the deck that’s always with me)
The two card spread for the period would be: The Fool—Ace of Cups.
The first week is: The Fool—8 of Pentacles—Ace of Cups
The second week is: The Fool—Knight of Pentacles—Ace of Cups
The third week is: The Fool—4 of Wands—Ace of Cups
The fourth week is: The Fool—Judgment—Ace of Cups.
Repeat through the thirteen periods.. Before you go any further, you’ll have to make some note of the cards in the 13 periods. To examine days, you’ll need to use the deck. Let’s start with the first week—every other week is worked out in the same way.
The first week of a period is the first, second and sixth card. Pull them out of your deck. On the first day of the week shuffle the remaining 75 cards and pull one. You now have a four card spread. I look at this spread three cards at a time. There are four three card spreads: four triangles. A tetrahedron—structure.
The first triad is the over-view of the week which you have gone over. Notice that this spread doesn’t include the card of the day. There are three other three card combinations and they all include the daily card. I order them this way. The first order is the first monthly card, the daily card and then the second monthly card. The second is the first monthly card, the daily card and then the weekly card. The third is the weekly card, the daily card and then the second monthly card. I always place the daily card in the center.
I usually look at the first spread as the general atmosphere of the day, the second spread as the challenge or incoming forces, and the third as the lesson or outgoing forces.
To find the card for the second day, I pull out the three cards for the week and the card for the first, shuffle and pull.
The third day, I remove the weekly cards and the cards for the first and second day…
In this way, each day is represented by a unique set of four cards.
So, let us use the example above for the days of the first week. The cards for the first week are the Fool, the 8 of Pentacles and the Ace of Cups. I take them out of the deck, shuffle and turn up the card for the first day, the King of Cups. The four triads for the day are:
The Fool—8 of Pentacles—Ace of Cups
The Fool—King of Cups—Ace of Cups
The Fool—King of Cups—8 of Pentacles
8 of Pentacles—King of Cups—Ace of Cups.
For the second day, I remove the Fool, the 8 of Pentacles, the Ace of Cups and the King of Cups from the deck. I shuffle and turn up the three of Pentacles. The triads for the second day are:
The Fool—8 of Pentacles—Ace of cups
The Fool—3 of Pentacles—Ace of Cups
The Fool—3 of Pentacles—8 of Pentacles
8 of Pentacles—3 of Pentacles—Ace of Cups
For the second day, I take out the Fool, the 8 of pentacles, the Ace of Cups, the King of Cups and the 3 of Pentacles. I shuffle and get the Devil (yes, I’ve really been pulling out cards). So the third day is:
The Fool—8 of Pentacles—Ace of Cups
The Fool—the Devil—Ace of Cups
The Fool—the Devil—8 of Pentacles
8 of Pentacles—the Devil—Ace of Cups.
And so forth…
As I said, initially, I write only the 13 periods and the weeks in my journal. The days I do as they come along. So far (it’s been over a year) the cards have presented me with proper directions and meditations. This process has been a wonderful contemplation piece.
If you’ve gotten this far
and have any questions—fire away
Fly well
Raven
Shuffle well—you’re going to use the entire deck. Count out 13 piles of 6 cards. Each pile represents a four week period—the lunar rather than solar division of the year. Each pile is examined in the same way.
Lay out a pile with the first card to the left, the next four in a vertical line, the last card to the right.
The first and last cards are an overview of the four week period—a two card spread. It is a point-counterpoint relationship. You may see it as yin/yang, revealed forces/hidden forces, solar/lunar, waxing/waning… I contemplate and meditate on this pair at the beginning of this period for a bit of direction.
These cards are combined with the other four, one at a time to form a three card spread. The first week is 1-2-6; the second 1-3-6; the third 1-4-6; the fourth 1-5-6. This might be looked at as thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. Perhaps you might see the center card as the general mood for the week, the first as a challenge, the last as a lesson. Anyway that strikes you as the proper way to examine a triad as long as the center card is your focus. The spread is a triangle—form. I consider these triplets at the beginning of each week, a modification and a closer focus.
Let’s say for example you have a pile that consists of: The Fool, the 8 of Pentacles, the Knight of Pentacles, the 4 of Wands, Judgment, and the Ace of Cups (Yes, I just drew them out the deck that’s always with me)
The two card spread for the period would be: The Fool—Ace of Cups.
The first week is: The Fool—8 of Pentacles—Ace of Cups
The second week is: The Fool—Knight of Pentacles—Ace of Cups
The third week is: The Fool—4 of Wands—Ace of Cups
The fourth week is: The Fool—Judgment—Ace of Cups.
Repeat through the thirteen periods.. Before you go any further, you’ll have to make some note of the cards in the 13 periods. To examine days, you’ll need to use the deck. Let’s start with the first week—every other week is worked out in the same way.
The first week of a period is the first, second and sixth card. Pull them out of your deck. On the first day of the week shuffle the remaining 75 cards and pull one. You now have a four card spread. I look at this spread three cards at a time. There are four three card spreads: four triangles. A tetrahedron—structure.
The first triad is the over-view of the week which you have gone over. Notice that this spread doesn’t include the card of the day. There are three other three card combinations and they all include the daily card. I order them this way. The first order is the first monthly card, the daily card and then the second monthly card. The second is the first monthly card, the daily card and then the weekly card. The third is the weekly card, the daily card and then the second monthly card. I always place the daily card in the center.
I usually look at the first spread as the general atmosphere of the day, the second spread as the challenge or incoming forces, and the third as the lesson or outgoing forces.
To find the card for the second day, I pull out the three cards for the week and the card for the first, shuffle and pull.
The third day, I remove the weekly cards and the cards for the first and second day…
In this way, each day is represented by a unique set of four cards.
So, let us use the example above for the days of the first week. The cards for the first week are the Fool, the 8 of Pentacles and the Ace of Cups. I take them out of the deck, shuffle and turn up the card for the first day, the King of Cups. The four triads for the day are:
The Fool—8 of Pentacles—Ace of Cups
The Fool—King of Cups—Ace of Cups
The Fool—King of Cups—8 of Pentacles
8 of Pentacles—King of Cups—Ace of Cups.
For the second day, I remove the Fool, the 8 of Pentacles, the Ace of Cups and the King of Cups from the deck. I shuffle and turn up the three of Pentacles. The triads for the second day are:
The Fool—8 of Pentacles—Ace of cups
The Fool—3 of Pentacles—Ace of Cups
The Fool—3 of Pentacles—8 of Pentacles
8 of Pentacles—3 of Pentacles—Ace of Cups
For the second day, I take out the Fool, the 8 of pentacles, the Ace of Cups, the King of Cups and the 3 of Pentacles. I shuffle and get the Devil (yes, I’ve really been pulling out cards). So the third day is:
The Fool—8 of Pentacles—Ace of Cups
The Fool—the Devil—Ace of Cups
The Fool—the Devil—8 of Pentacles
8 of Pentacles—the Devil—Ace of Cups.
And so forth…
As I said, initially, I write only the 13 periods and the weeks in my journal. The days I do as they come along. So far (it’s been over a year) the cards have presented me with proper directions and meditations. This process has been a wonderful contemplation piece.
If you’ve gotten this far
and have any questions—fire awayFly well
Raven
WOW! 