Reading Tarot Cards Without Spreads
I’ve been putting off writing this post for a while because every time I go to draft it I realize that I don’t have fully have words to explain how I intuit cards without spreads. Normally, when I suggest it to students, they come up with their own unique way so I think it’s totally possible to learn by just diving in and trying it. I’ve taken some extra time lately though to really dig into what it is I do but I still feel like I come up short. So I present this as best I can and I might come back and add notes or revise it later as I have new realizations. In the meantime, here are my thoughts.
For me, when I’m only drawing a few cards, there’s no real placement to read. I almost always take them as “This is what’s going on” or “This is what you need to know”. I use these more as a dialog between me and a spirit or me and the universe. So, for instance, I might pull 3 cards for “What’s going on?” and realize I’m neglecting my physical health and the reasons why. Then I can either stop and problem solve on my own with that new perspective or pull another set with a new question like “What do I need to do?”
It’s conversational and I like it because it really breaks the idea of one card answering one question that you get used to when you read with spreads. I think that’s really vital, especially if you’re doing lengthy interactive readings for querents who might request follow up cards or clarifications cards. When you get out of the “1 card for 1 question” mentality, that process becomes much more intuitive and smooth.
So there’s not much to add here. I really see drawing a few cards like a conversation with a person. They’re not going to always sit there and tell you a story in order – they’re going to highlight how they felt, what it meant, the why and the how. It’s very similar in my experience with pulling a few cards without a spread.
This is where I realized I’ve built up a combination of frameworks in my head for when I pull a lot of cards with no spread. A lot of people will say look at where the characters in the cards face to draw connections, count the major arcana and court cards to know how many people are involved – and I think that style can be really fruitful but it’s not what I know so I’ll let others speak more to that.
I do recommend pulling cards and not flipping them over until you’re done laying as many as you feel are needed for a question, just to prevent yourself from trying to make the story as you lay them down, but it will work just fine usually either way.
This is a rough diagram of how I interpret them.
Observant readers may note similarities between this diagram and my spiraling spread. It’s true they both inform each other, but the difference is that I’m not drawing a card for every “spot” on this diagram. I lay out the cards and then determine their meaning relative to each other rather than the numbered spot they occupy.
For instance, spreads done this way are often bottom or top heavy, pointing toward either a lot of outside influence or a lot of deeply rooted shadow self/unconscious blocks. They’re often left or right heavy too, meaning either the past was particularly relevant to the present or the universe is gearing up for some big shit in their/your life. There might be several cards in the self/present spot which might point to leading a double life or the strain of conflicting roles. I will generally let the suit of the present/self cards determine the area of life the reading is most relevant to.
If a querent is more interested in what to do at the end of a spread like this, then I might use one of my quick diagnosis spreads to gain a little more insight. Or draw 1-4 cards conversationally like I described above.
The real pro of reading without spreads is the flexibility of it. It really helps develop intuition and pattern regconition. It’s also super helpful for developing your own regular spreads. Several of my quick diagnosis spreads were patterns I kept seeing so I codified them into an actual spread. I really hope you try reading without spreads. Borrow from this method if you like, but I think developing personal systems works the best.
*I do not claim my way is the one true way so take what is useful and leave the rest.
**If you wind up using this stuff in another setting, please credit me. This stuff is my art. Don’t steal, please credit. Thanks!
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