12 Step Spread (Uses the Pagan Steps But Can Be Adapted To Use Others)

Glass Owl

A 12 Step Spread (Uses 3 cards)

A 12 Step Spread (uses 3 cards) by Glass Owl

This spread is a revamping or heavy modification of Rev. Alan Geddes's 12 Step spread at Wicce's Tarot Collection at http://www.wicce.com/geddes1.html, a site that no longer exists.

My version of the spread also uses the 12 Pagan Steps by Selena Fox; however, you can use it with any version of the 12 Steps. With some modifications you could even use the 16 Step model by Charlotte Kasl http://www.charlottekasl.com/site/16-step-program This is something I'm thinking about doing, in fact.

Directions: From your Tarot deck remove the following Major Arcana cards. These 12 cards represent the 12 Steps. (See the Definitions below for more information.)

The Devil
The High Priestess
The Fool
The Hermit
The Hanged Man
Strength
Death
Temperance
Justice
The Magician
Star
The World

Shuffle these 12 cards, cut, and turn one card face up (This is card 1). Now take the remaining 11 cards and add them to the rest of the deck. Shuffle, cut, and turn up card 2 and 3.

1-2-3

1. The card represents the "Step" to focus upon.
2. This card is the influencing factor of the "Step" card.
3. This card provides the action to carry out the influenced, "Step" card.

Definitions:

Step One
"We recognize that we have given away personal power by addiction to substances, that this has resulted in dysfunctional living, and that it is time to begin reclaiming our power and restoring balance to ourselves and our lives."
Tarot Card: The Devil
Interpretation: Sensation divorced from understanding. Addiction acknowledged. A "hell" that we have created for ourselves as a result of dysfunctional living.

Step Two
"Came to acknowledge that the Divine Power within can bring about healing
change and harmony."
Tarot Card: The High Priestess
Interpretation: Spiritual enlightenment. Inner illumination. The hidden connection between
material and spirit.

Step Three
"Chose to allow the Divine within of our own spiritual path to be the central guiding force in ourselves and our lives."
Tarot Card:The Fool
Interpretation: The Child Spirit. Perfect love and perfect trust. A new journey. A desire to accomplish a great goal.

Step Four
"Examined ourselves deeply and honestly on all dimensions- physical, mental, behavioral, emotional, and spiritual."
Tarot Card:The Hermit
Interpretation: Silent counsel. Prudence. Discretion. Soul searching. A spiritual journey. The internal light of self awareness.

Step Five
"Acknowledged to the Divine, to our egos, and to at least one ally what is
unhealthy and unbalanced in our bodies, thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and souls."
Tarot Card: The Hanged Man
Interpretation: Self surrender leads to the transformation of personality. Ego busting. Repentance. Developing a Oneness with the Goddess and God aspect.

Step Six
"Were ready for the Divine within to work transformation to restore balance to ourselves and our lives."
Tarot Card: Strength
Interpretation: The strength of "being ready" to move toward the will of The Goddess and God aspect. Higher nature over carnal desires.

Step Seven
"Sincerely invited the Divine within to dispel barriers to change and to facilitate transformation."
Tarot Card: Death
Interpretation: Transformation. Letting go. Abolishing negative patterns to open up channels for positive energy.

Step Eight
"Made a list of all beings we have harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all."
Tarot Car: Temperance
Interpretation: Adaption. Tempering. Balance. Working in harmony with others. Taking the objective view.

Step Nine
"Made direct amends to such beings as much as possible, except when to do so would cause harm to them or others or make a difficult situation worse."
Tarot Card: Justice
Interpretation: Justice will be done. The ability to divine right from wrong. A tranquil mind is the first requisite for good judgment.

Step Ten
"Continued our process of self-examination, acknowledging our strengths as well as our problems, and promptly acknowledging our mistakes and our successes when they occurred."
Tarot Card: The Magician
Interpretation: Will. Mastery. The ability to take power from above and direct it through desire, into manifestation.

Step Eleven
"Sought, through spiritual activities such as rituals, meditation, chanting, dancing, rhythm making, invocations, prayers, vigils, nature walks, journal writing, and other practices, to strengthen our relationship with the Divine within and to allow this dimension of ourselves to be the guiding force in our lives."
Tarot Card:The Star
Interpretation: Meditation and Prayer are the main channels to Higher Power. Insight, Inspiration, and Hope. Gifts of the spirit.

Step Twelve
"Having had a spiritual rebirth as a result of this process of healing transformation, we continue our work with these principles and are willing to share our story with those who come to us in need."
Tarot Card: The World
Interpretation: Completion. Reward. Joy of living. Action. Giving that has no reward. Love that has no price tag.

Alternate Version: After selecting first card, the remaing 11 cards could be put aside. Card 2 and 3 would then be selected from the rest of the deck.
 

Grizabella

Interesting. I just skimmed it. But for the 12th step, I'd use #20 because it indicates a spiritual awakening. In the AA 12th step the wording is "Having had a spiritual awakening-----"
 

AprilFool

Wow, you've changed your spread quite a bit from the first version posted; by eliminating the deliberate choice of a Minor card as Significator for card #13, and furthermore by replacing the 11 unused "Step" cards back into the deck prior to doing the draw for cards 2 & 3.

I'll try it both ways, since they each will provide completely different odds of generating the last two cards (the first option from only 12 more cards, and your new version from the remaining 77 cards).

Both are neat ideas! Thanks for sharing!
 

Glass Owl

AprilFool said:
Wow, you've changed your spread quite a bit from the first version posted
Yes, it is different. At first I just posted the spread exactly as it was from the other site, and then as I really thought about it, I realized that I wanted to mix things up a bit.

AprilFool said:
by eliminating the deliberate choice of a Minor card as Significator for card #13,
I didn't think a significator was needed; in fact, I think a significator may actually result in this spread moving away its intended purpose. If the significator ended up as card 1 I felt that it would take away from the whole point of trying to figure what "step" the person needing to be working on since there wouldn't be one.

AprilFool said:
and furthermore by replacing the 11 unused "Step" cards back into the deck prior to doing the draw for cards 2 & 3.
Actually when you read the original spread by Rev. Alan Geddes it doesn't make any mention of using the rest of the deck for card 2 and 3. It sounds like card 2 and 3 are supposed to come from the remaining 11 cards. I don't know if this is just a misunderstanding on my part or if their wording is unclear but this just seems so limiting if that's the case. Why avoid using the rest of the deck? Those other cards could definately provide some important information and direction. And why have all three cards end up being steps/a significator? This is why I made the decision to alter the wording so that it was clear to bring in the rest of the deck after card 1 was selected.

This brings me to the alternative version I also included at the end of the spread. (I actually like this one better, I think.) In this version you would leave out those 11 cards and just use the rest of the deck for card 2 and 3. This would make the spread a bit streamlined and simplied for those only wanted one "step" card in the spread to focus on.
 

AprilFool

I like ALL the versions! It's nice to see you taking one good idea and refining it and making it your own, and then sharing the results.

I think you interpreted his original spread correctly - he apparently just uses the 13 cards in the reading. Which REALLY limits the use of the reading to however many ways you can mix up 13 cards 3-ways. What's even weirder, is that his example has the SIGNIFICATOR card as turning up in Position 1, which is the STEP position. His explanation of how to interpret that was certainly challenging!

However, with your modification(s), if you either use all 78 cards, or use the cards that are NOT the steps (with or without the significator), you have an entirely different set of "odds" that cards will come up in the reading.

I'm planning to keep checking back, and printing ALL of your versions, LOL! I'll no doubt find my own way to tweak it too!

Thanks for sharing your thought process with us!
 

Glass Owl

Lyric said:
Interesting. I just skimmed it. But for the 12th step, I'd use #20 because it indicates a spiritual awakening. In the AA 12th step the wording is "Having had a spiritual awakening-----"
I think that when the original author assigned the cards to the steps he chose The World because he chose to focus on the 12 step's "carry the message"/"share our story." In your case you chose to focus on the "spiritual awakening"/"spiritual rebirth" part. Both work depending on your situation and viewpoint.

I found a site which talks about the AA 12th step and breaks it down like this:

Step 12 actually has four parts:

1. A spiritual awakening
2. Working all 12 Steps
3. Carrying the message
4. Practicing the principles

"Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."

Heck, now that I think about it, one could even create a spread just on the four parts of the Step 12. I think that would be awesome.
 

AprilFool

Wow, your inspiration is certainly flowing today! You are the High Priestess today!
 

Glass Owl

AprilFool said:
I think you interpreted his original spread correctly - he apparently just uses the 13 cards in the reading. Which REALLY limits the use of the reading to however many ways you can mix up 13 cards 3-ways. What's even weirder, is that his example has the SIGNIFICATOR card as turning up in Position 1, which is the STEP position. His explanation of how to interpret that was certainly challenging!
I'm glad that I'm not going crazy! :) I so like the premise behind this spread yet I just couldn't wrap my mind around using so little of the deck for such a complex issue. I love the idea of assigning cards for the steps and then using other cards to help one figure out how to do the step work. I think it is a great way to get active and "hands on" in the recovery process. I think I'm going to see if my husband would be interested in using this spread.

AprilFool said:
I'll no doubt find my own way to tweak it too!
Please share any ideas that you come up with. I'm wonding if we couldn't come up with a spread for each step...
 

Grizabella

Well, the wording is "having HAD a spiritual awkening AS A RESULT of these steps" so I'd say #3 and #4 make sense to me more than #1 and #2. That puts them in past tense.

But the topic isn't this, so I shouldn't quibble the details. :) Sorry. I'm glad to see the 12 Steps worked into a spread and made useful with the cards.
 

AprilFool

Glass Owl said:
I love the idea of assigning cards for the steps and then using other cards to help one figure out how to do the step work. I think it is a great way to get active and "hands on" in the recovery process. I think I'm going to see if my husband would be interested in using this spread....
....I'm wonding if we couldn't come up with a spread for each step...

Excellent Idea. My husband is an AA member as well. Recovered for 25+ years. But there is always room for further working of the steps.