#diy spread

#MonthOfSpreads2 Day Twelve: DIY Spread

Tarot and divination is a great tool for answering questions and analyzing situations from a different perspective. Today we are not going to be doing that. lol Instead you will be using the cards pulled to create your own spread. I am a firm believer that while the cards can provide us answers, they also hold questions and spread positions within them as well. This can add an additional layer of meaning to your readings if you so choose to use it that way. 

Step One: Shuffle your deck or mix up your divination tool of choice. How many times and however long is completely up to you.

Step Two: Pull three cards however you see fit.

Step Three: Look at each card pulled and find the question within that card to create your own prompt or spread.

There’s also a bonus suggestion in the instructions I trimmed out that said to do a reading with the spread, so that’s why there are six cards in the photo. The top row are the prompt cards, the bottom row is the reading.

First, the cards of the top row and the prompts they suggest to me:

Platinum - Opener of Ways. “What obstacle are you facing now?”

Arsenic - Ancient Witch Power, a.k.a. The Priestess. “What mystery is revealed beyond the obstacle?”

Barium - Roses and Thorns • Wisdom, a.k.a. The Star. “What wisdom and hope does this mystery bring?”

The reading itself goes like this:

Chromium - Superficial Flash. There’s something distracting me from seeing what I need to see. “Shiny thing!”

Aluminium - New Technology. Hmm. There’s a card in my deck for ‘future technology,’ so this is about a mystery that isn’t ancient, but is already fully formed.

Step One: Shuffle your deck or mix up your divination tool of choice. How many times and however long is completely up to you.

Step Two: Pull three cards however you see fit.

Step Three: Look at each card pulled and find the question within that card to create your own prompt or spread.

You may want to look at a particular symbol in the card, the book meaning, the meaning you have of the card, the emotional response the card gives you, etc. There is really no wrong way to do this.

Example: The Fool: What new adventure am I embarking on? Three of Wands: What part of the bigger picture am I missing? Queen of Cups: Where in my life can I be more patient?

Bonus: You can use the spread you created and read for yourself, or you can read it for someone else if you want to. It is not required though.

Deck: Tarot of the Silicon Dawn

Here’s how I actually draw cards.  After shuffling, I fan the deck out into an arch on my tarot tuffet (it’s a big leather pillow) and then draw the cards intuitively from there.  Once drawn but before I turn them over, I check with my pendulum to make sure the draw was done correctly, mostly meaning I was in the right frame of mind.  If the pendulum says no at this point, I ask if it’s a reshuffle, or if more cards need to be drawn.

This draw was good, so I turned it over and got the first image in this post.

The Devil (15) - (rejection of) Duality - I feel this as conundrum (an intricate problem or conjectural answer) or paradox (a situation having contradictory qualities)..  At first glance at the card, I heard the old 70s song “Torn Between Two Lovers” in my head.  Somebody on Tumblr recently described Venom as being both the angel and the devil on Eddie Brock’s shoulder, and this spread resonates with the idea of being torn by two impulses, both coming from inside you.  In the Matrix series, Morpheus tells Neo there’s a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.  In Harry Potter, Dumbledore speaks of choosing between what is right and what is easy.  Those are all forms of the devilry at work here.

The Universe (21) - In this spread, the Universe represents the high ideal, the theory, the wish, or the choice that is easy.

10 of Wands, on the material plane, is the unglamorous slog, the uncomfortable necessity, the decision that is right.  

DIY Spread, which I’ll always think of as The Devil May Care Spread

Not every conflict or question in our lives comes from the unknown.  Some of our biggest challenges come from situations we understand, where we have lots of information and where we struggle to make a choice where we understand the conflicted situation intimately.

1. What conundrum or paradox are you struggling to coalesce?

2. What is a swifter, easier solution to the rift, even if only temporary?