A Child Is Born Spread (6) by Glass Owl

Glass Owl

A Child Is Born Spread (6) by Glass Owl

Each child is special and this spread is designed for those who want to explore that uniqueness and help a child grow and shine as bright as he or she can.

*This spread may also be useful for writers looking for assistance with character development.


When all of the cards are laid out, it should look like a star.


-----6-----
-----------
4---------5
-----1-----
-----------
2---------3


1. The child's personality or temperament

2. The child's strength

3. Child's weakness or challenge

4. Positive environmental influences
What will have a positive effect, helping the child flourish and thrive.

5. Unhelpful environmental influences
What may have a neutral or negative impact on the child's growth and well being.

6. The child's gift or potential
What he or she has to offer the world.

*Optional: Use the shadow card (which is the card on the bottom of the deck) to see what the child was like in his or her most previous lifetime.

If this spread is used for fictional character development the shadow card may be used as an indicator of a event in the character's past.
 

Graymalkin

very helpful indeed! I may have to take up on that idea for character development, (for story contests at school. )

One question though. would it be better for the mother/father to shuffle/pull cards or should I do it and tell them later?
 

Glass Owl

Every reader has their own preferences and ideas about shuffling, whom may touch their cards, and what type of readings/questions they will ask regarding a third party. In this case, a reader can not get the permission of the actual person (the child) so the decision to the reading has to come down to you, your intentions, and what you are comfortable with.

As a courtesy I would ask the parents if they would like a reading and if you're comfortable with them touching your cards, I think it would be nice to have them actively participate. But personally, I think that the right cards have a way of turning up and if you shuffle them or do the reading with them in the room that's okay too.

Now if you don't have parental permission or can't get it then the decision to do the reading to assist you/others in relating and helping the child is going have to one that only you can decide for yourself.
 

Graymalkin

The parents never had a problem doing readings in the past and would actually ask me to do one for them now. I might wait for a little while before I do it, to give them time to relax. this is their first child and I don't want them to get alarmed if a card in the reversed shows up or Death or the Devil card, it might make them nervous (since my friend is going through all these mood swings and they have both been sleep deprived for the past 2 weeks).

I might wait for a little while till things start calming down for them. But I'll mention it and see how it plays out.
 

Glass Owl

Graymalkin said:
The parents never had a problem doing readings in the past and would actually ask me to do one for them now. I might wait for a little while before I do it, to give them time to relax. this is their first child and I don't want them to get alarmed if a card in the reversed shows up or Death or the Devil card, it might make them nervous (since my friend is going through all these mood swings and they have both been sleep deprived for the past 2 weeks).

I might wait for a little while till things start calming down for them. But I'll mention it and see how it plays out.
Waiting a little bit sounds like a wise idea, that can be a trying time. Since you fear a negative reaction if they see certain cards, you could always ask their permission and do the reading on your own. Then you take some time to write up the reading (maybe even take a picture of the cards) and present it to them when things have settled a bit.
 

Eowyn

a suggestion :)

Perhaps, due the nature of this spread, it would be nice to do the reading (with all the permissions mentioned) alone, and write the results, somewhat like the natal chart is done, and then going with it to the parents. As Graymalkin says, some cards may alarm them, adding unnecessary stress to their life, and perhaps doing the reading in advance may help the reader to prepare and deliver those possible challenges in the best way.

And/Or use a well chosen deck!

ETA: Glass Owl we thought about the same idea lol :heart:
 

Graymalkin

lol, you two had a mind meld! What I may do is practice on it a bit on myself and maybe once things calm down a bit I'll bring it up. They seemed to like getting readings in the past before the baby was born, I'll just wait till things settle down before I ask. He was born just a couple of weeks ago.

you said it could help with character dev. Owl?
 

Glass Owl

Eowyn said:
Perhaps, due the nature of this spread, it would be nice to do the reading (with all the permissions mentioned) alone, and write the results, somewhat like the natal chart is done, and then going with it to the parents. As Graymalkin says, some cards may alarm them, adding unnecessary stress to their life, and perhaps doing the reading in advance may help the reader to prepare and deliver those possible challenges in the best way.

And/Or use a well chosen deck!

ETA: Glass Owl we thought about the same idea lol :heart:
We did! :)

And I agree, deck choice would be very important in this case, thank you for mentioning it, Eowyn.

The Whimsical Tarot is very cute. The Fey, Shadowscapes, Mystic Faerie, and the Animals Divine would be other good choices for this spread I think. (Any other suggestions out there?)

Off the top of my head there are quite a few decks in my collection that I would never use for a reading like this one lol
Graymalkin said:
you said it could help with character dev. Owl?
Yeah, you could use a spread like this (or others) for brainstorming up a character. Just shuffle, lay out the cards and build a character using the cards as a guide. Some years ago I created another spread to help write a story called Writing A Suspense Thriller Spread. By the way, the new Experimental Techniques forum is a place to try out experimental techniques, including using cards to write stories.

You may also want to check out the book, "Tarot For Writers" by Corrine Kenner.
 

Graymalkin

Glass Owl said:
We did! :)

And I agree, deck choice would be very important in this case, thank you for mentioning it, Eowyn.

The Whimsical Tarot is very cute. The Fey, Shadowscapes, and the Animals Divine would be other good choices for this spread I think. (Any other suggestions out there?)

Off the top of my head there are quite a few decks in my collection that I would never use for a reading like this one lol

I have been currently working on my RW deck, but I'm think about getting another type of deck. I like it mine but the colors tend to be very stark to be in some of them. I would like something a little more delicate like Sharmen-casseli that I had. It was the perfect size until one day I noticed that I had lost a couple of cards *heartbreak* :'(
 

Graymalkin

Glass Owl said:
We did! :)

Yeah, you could use a spread like this (or others) for brainstorming up a character. Just shuffle, lay out the cards and build a character using the cards as a guide. Some years ago I created another spread to help write a story called Writing A Suspense Thriller Spread. By the way, the new Experimental Techniques forum is a place to try out experimental techniques, including using cards to write stories.

You may also want to check out the book, "Tarot For Writers" by Corrine Kenner.

I've seen that book here and there and I have always been tempted, but I honestly haven't expressed such a strong desire to write till this past semester. (I'm not entering in a writing contest at school!) This could really help with a story I have been wanting to develop about the full moon.

It would b interesting to see what the cards recommend about my idea.