Can you suggest suitable spreads to use at a psychic fair???

Netzach

I'm doing a Mind-Body-Spirit fair in October, offering half hour readings. Because the costs of the fair are high, we have to charge a reasonable amount for readings so I want to make sure that clients get their money's-worth. I need two or three simple spreads that I can adapt to whatever questions are asked. I'm not terribly fond of Past-Present-Future because I don't see much point in telling someone about what's already happened to them. I rather like Where I am - Where I should be - How I can get there.

But does anyone have any other ideas please? I'd like some spreads that I can add extra bits into in case there's not much to say about the first three cards.
 

psychic sue

I do a celtic cross because that usually gives me the most information - but it depends really on what the question is. My CC reading lasts about 20 minutes, then I move on to an aura reading for about 10-15 minutes and for that I charge £25 (which is about what the others charge too, although some charge more). I would suggest doing 2 spreads which should take you about 35 - 40 minutes? Maybe a CC and then a more specific spread depending on the question/issue - like, love, money, career etc. You will find a lot of people don't actually have a question, but the CC will identify something in their lives that they need to work on.

Hope this helps.

Sue x
 

Umbrae

The best spread to use is the spread you are most comfortable with.

If at some point in the day, near the end when you're tired (please drink more water than you can imagine to prevent this), and you look down and say to yourself, "Uh - what does this position indicate?" it's the wrong spread.

You may find that 30-minute readings are a tad too long. try 15 or 20 minute readings (do more readings, charge a tad less per reading).

Sure the table costs a bit, but you also have competition. Some folks walk round and round comparing prices. Some folks walk round and round listening to an internal voice that says "That reader!", some folks walk round and round waiting for an opening. Most folks are there for services, so you should be flexible and confident.

Eye contact, a smile, and a pleasant hello will help bring them to your table when you don't have a sitter.

Do you read Runes (nudge nudge smack)? If so, you can combine Runes and Tarot - which will create a bit of distance between you and the 'other readers'. Do a combination Rune/Tarot spread reading. 5 Runes + 5 majors (sliding each Major under the previously read Rune). It’s pretty, it’s accurate, its nice for shorter readings.

Remember, reading for strangers is NOT a monologue. If you’re talking the whole 15-30 minutes, you had nothing to say.

(I expect, dear Netzach, a PM about a 5 Rune 5 Tarot spread.)
 

magpie9

Umbrae said:
(I expect, dear Netzach, a PM about a 5 Rune 5 Tarot spread.)
Hey!! Umbrae!! Share the wealth!! Post the spread here---please??
:D
 

magpie9

If you like and are comfortable with a few 5-card and under spreads, you can use a series of these to get very detailed answers. What's nice about this is that you can explore all sorts of odd directions in the context of the original question. It's sort of like a faceted stone, vs a carbachon(sp?). My clients appreciate it, and seem to feel they get more bang per buck this way. I think it's a lot of why they keep coming back. I find it more exact & less wearing over the course of a day than a series of CC or other big layouts. Just a suggestion...

I actually have finally come to understand why the past & present cards in a layout are of value.
You and your client can be sure from the getgo that everybody is on the same page...sometimes the cards feel they have something more important to say than the subject the client asked about. So you can end up flailing around for a while trying to figure out what on earth these cards are talking about.
The 2nd thing is, it establishes --in the clients mind--that you know what you're doing. If you have the past and present right, then it follows that you will get the future right, too. I've had many clients visibly relax and open up after the past & present cards. It makes my job a lot easier.

The last thing is that a lot of people with a specific question or area of enquiry on their minds will play it coy and say, "oh, just a general reading..." sit through a cc and then, with 5 minutes left on the clock, want the answers to a series of complex questions. So if you give them a very brief overview as the "general" reading, you have lots of time to read on the stuff they really wanted to know in the first place. :rolleyes:
 

Netzach

Thank you all for giving me the benefit of your advice.

The fair I'm doing is run by the same people as the Mystic Arts fair at Olympia. I went there and looked at what tarot readers were charging - it was anything from £25 to £45 for 20 minutes to half an hour. I'm sharing a stand with my friend who is a numerologist and we'll need to synchronise our charges and timings, I think. So I want - as Magpie9 says - small spreads that I can expand. Actually, I'd been thinking in terms of 3 card spreads but I think 5 may be a better idea. Thanks Magpie. Also I don't like the CC - thanks for the suggestion, Sue, but no, it's not for me!

Yes, I think you're right, Umbrae, perhaps shorter readings and cheaper - perhaps 20 minutes rather than half an hour. It would take the pressure off me - I wouldn't be feeling that I had to keep talking once I'd run out of things to say! And, of course, you're right about it not being a monologue.

Runes? Funnily enough I bought a set a couple of weeks ago but haven't looked at them yet. So no, although that sounds a super idea, I can't do that . . . yet.

Magpie9, your point about reading past and present is a very good one. May I ask you (if you're still reading this thread) for an example of the sort of spreads you use?

Again, many thanks to you all. The fair's not for six weeks but I'm already getting nervous!
 

lark

I've done many of these types of fairs and I like to use a five card
1. PAST
2. PRESENT
3. CHALLENGE/OBSTACLE
4. ADVICE
5. OUTCOME IF ADVICE IS FOLLOWED...spread.

This spread is great because if the person has more than one question you just put another line of cards down and keep going.
easy to remember and works for any question they might have.

If you're not comfortable trotting the runes out yet...
Another fun thing to do is a figure their life path number for them and then make up a flyer with the numerology or color associations..
You can do this at the end or beginning of the reading and give them the flyer with their number figured out for them and their life path circled.

I use colors~

Example: my life path is 2 so I am Orange so the lessons I should be learning in this life time are Cooperation, Harmony and Diplomacy.
Using colors makes for a beautiful little flyer as you can incorporate all the colors in your printed flyer.
People will like coming away from your table with a little something extra.
They can show their friends how to figure out their number and then they will look up their life path color ect.

Oh I got the color idea from a Richard Weber book called Color Magic for Beginners.

But if you don't have time to get the book just pm me and I can tell you what all the different colors mean...or I'll put it in this thread if anyone else is interested in using this method.
 

Red Emma

Spreads

For my uses -- family, friends, grandkids only -- the 3-card 'issue, advice, outcome' serves me well. After the person I'm reading for has asked a question, the 'issue' card sometimes gives them a new take on whatever they asked about.

While I've never used 'past, present, future' because the past and the present are all too evident, I think that Magpie's usage of it is brilliant.

On the other hand, in the PPF readings, do the cards sometimes give a particularly perceptive insight, perhaps not previously realized by the client? As my cards once said to me, "You're still trying to please your father."

Good luck on your endeavors!
 

Dwaas

lark said:
But if you don't have time to get the book just pm me and I can tell you what all the different colors mean...or I'll put it in this thread if anyone else is interested in using this method.

I am interested as well!
 

tmgrl2

I agree with Umbrae that whatever you use should be a spread you feel very comfortable using.

I wind up using my own spread most of the time....it's five cards and I use it in a "dynamic" fashion depending on what cards come up. I'm not suggesting that you use it, but I find that 5 cards works well....and that the spread offers me

"flexibility" within the guidelines....so that the cross except for the center card can act in a similar fashion to the CC cross section.

I do like that my last card, the Shield of Love, is a card that offers "loving protection" through this particular issue or concern....

Also, I find that the spread can be handled nicely in a 20 minute block of time, but I have also used it for an hour reading....I believe the main reason it works for me is my familiarity with it.

I occasionally use Umbrae's horseshoe but find myself having to review it...which is fine, but...not for a series of readings as you might encounter at a psychic fair.

I also like the addition of another "tool." I don't read Runes, but I do use color and I like to use the color cubes that came with my book that my friend wrote...The Rainbow Oracle. Color works well for me...so sometimes I have them pick out three from the bag or shake them and look at the cubes...there are both "dark/intesified" and "light" colors.

Keep us posted on how things go!! I love hearing about these events.

When my life squares away a bit, I plan to read at our Long Island Fall Festival one year....

terri

P.S. Here is my spread, so you have an idea of what I mean about the five cards:

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=25622