Past/Present/Future

Lady Skye

I usually do a three card spread. The first one I draw is the middle card, the second one is placed to the left (past) and the third to the right (future). Sometimes when reading for other people I will do three, three card spreads; the first is the past, 2nd is present and the last spread of three cards is future.

My question is that sometimes when I lay it out this way, the past, present and future spreads often seem to "not fit" in that order of the reading. By that I mean that what has been drawn for the past many times seems to fit into the future for the querent. Is there any way to actually know what is right here? Or, should I do the reading and then tell the person which order they "should" be in depending on the reading and feeling I have about it? I have only read for friends (and I certainly do not know every aspect of their lives) but sometimes they tell me that all three spreads make sense, but not necessarily in the order of past/present/future. Has anyone else had this happen?
 

lunalafey

what works for you is what is right.
The way you lay your cards, middle card first, make sense to me. I personally have always done the traditional 1..2..3..
There are no constants in reading tarot...
If it feels right then go with it...
 

lawguy51

Hi Lady Skye: In a spread, I've always felt that it is your intention that is important. If you intend the first card drawn to be the middle card, then that is the right card to go into the middle. I tend to cut the deck in two and restore the deck. Then I cut twice, creating three piles. I take the top card from the third pile first, since it was from the original cut, then first pile cut then the second. Does this make any sense? The fact is, it doesn't matter. Because that was how I intended to cut the deck before I started. That said, I don't see anything wrong with re-arranging the cards to make them make sense to you. If your intuition tells you to re-arrange, then re-arrange. The only rule, which you will hear over and over again in this forum, is that there are very few rules. Let your intuition be your guide just might be the only important rule to follow.

Lawguy51
 

HudsonGray

I agree with the intend part. While shuffling, before laying the cards down, I'm thinking the question & also visualizing the cards doing each position (card 1 is the base, card 2 is the incident, card 3 is the cause, etc.). Every time I do it this way there's no confusion of cards seeming to be in the wrong place in a reading. Things come out really clear.