“I want to know what the cards have to say” spread

Even though I´m not a huge fan of the Celtic Cross, I use it every time I get a client who just wants to know what the Tarot has to say (or who doesn´t want to reveal their true question). Does anybody have a better spread when you don´t have a specific question or a specific topic to explore with the client? I´ve been searching in this forum but haven´t found any that I like.
Thank you!

Oh, this. Tips to help the querant ask an actual question would also be great!

I'm not professional tarot reader, however I need from time to time just general spread with no specific question. I have made a Lenormand spread into a tarot spread. The spread has 32 cards. You need to choose client's significator from these 32 card, preferably that should be the first card the client selects and you need to see that card, you don't look at the rest of the cards yet. Then the client chooses yet another 31 cards, next the cards should be shuffled and then tarot reader spreads the cards in 8 rows and 4 columns (now you see all of them). You need to find the place where the significator is and:
- on the left side from the significator there's current situation and events
- on the right there's the past
- above the head there are plans, client's thoughts
- below are minor events from the closest future or recent past
- on the diagonals from the significator there's the future

And that's the core of this spread. The original version is more complicated, you do more with the cards before and after this spread with those 32 cards (something like subspreads), however I doubt if you need them. After all, I'm sure you know lots of tarot spread that are going to be helpful when some specific questions arrive.

this:

http://i.imgur.com/DsqGXvM.jpg

is my go-to 'what do I need to know' spread, which is more or less 'what do the cards have to say'. It's plenty accurate without a question from the sitter. I use it for myself often as a 'check-in' kind of spread. It's much clearer than the CC to explain and makes a nice coherent story of a spread, where the CC can get a bit all over the place.

The double 7 is optional, I usually draw one card and toss an oracle there if the story doesn't seem complete. You can use it as the 'lens' through which to draw your final conclusions about the spread.

Thank you! Both spreads look very interesting and I´ll definitely try them. Thanks for sharing!

TK_Finch said:

Oh, this. Tips to help the querant ask an actual question would also be great!

Click to expand...

Honestly, don't worry too much about getting them to ask a question. Start with the first card and go into the meaning, ask if it resonates and how. If you can start a conversation, you then know how to direct your reading. If they won't talk, you can only craft the story that's there. I do 3-card draws for my friends for practice without any question, or with them keeping the question in mind (i really don't know, I just don't ask) and they always find resonance there.

barefootlife said:

Honestly, don't worry too much about getting them to ask a question. Start with the first card and go into the meaning, ask if it resonates and how. If you can start a conversation, you then know how to direct your reading. If they won't talk, you can only craft the story that's there. I do 3-card draws for my friends for practice without any question, or with them keeping the question in mind (i really don't know, I just don't ask) and they always find resonance there.

Click to expand...

I love all of this. Thank you!

barefootlife said:

this:

http://i.imgur.com/DsqGXvM.jpg

is my go-to 'what do I need to know' spread, which is more or less 'what do the cards have to say'. It's plenty accurate without a question from the sitter. I use it for myself often as a 'check-in' kind of spread. It's much clearer than the CC to explain and makes a nice coherent story of a spread, where the CC can get a bit all over the place.

The double 7 is optional, I usually draw one card and toss an oracle there if the story doesn't seem complete. You can use it as the 'lens' through which to draw your final conclusions about the spread.

Click to expand...

I have just used barefoot life's spread and posted in your readings xx

I've done numerous readings for people who have never had a reading and don't know what to ask or how to ask it. In those situations a 5-card linear "Past-Present-Future" reading is what I routinely turn to. I was pretty sure this had been discussed before, but I'm not finding it. Anyway, it's a fairly easy to use spread, deceptively simple considering the complexity of the readings I've gotten sometimes.

You shuffle the deck, lay out the top 5 cards in a row;

.....1.....2.....3.....4.....5

1) Past (usually within the last 3 to 6 months)
2) Recent Past (the last 1 to 3 months)
3) Present (what's going on/of concern currently)
4) Near Future (next 1 to 3 months)
5) Future (3 to 6 months out)

Usually, when I use this, the Present position will give you a pretty good idea of what the subject of the reading will be about. Then I go to the 1st card and read it as a single narrative; "this happened in the past, which led to this recent thing and here's where you are now - here's some advice/what you need to work on and where you may end up."

I have sometimes had readings that span a longer chunk of time, say going back as much as a year. Usually when that happens, it's looking at those past influences and rarely goes much beyond the 6 months into the future. I find it to be a very good general purpose spread.

[eta] I have also found that if the person does have a specific question and they or you feel you need to look at a longer piece of time, you can just add positions to either end of the layout.

Although I'm a fan of the Celtic Cross and use it for general life-readings when time permits, I found that I had to pare it down to fit into 20-minute public reading sessions. So I came up with this variation, which works quite well since I don't ask my sitters to tell me their question or focus area up-front.

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=263258