Celebrating my website’s tenth anniversary: 174 blog articles and 42 website pages on tarot history, reading with non-scenic pips, and decks of historic significance. Throughout the summer, I’m going to group the most useful articles by topic and send out links in a series of blog posts. Today’s links are all about reading techniques.
The Spreads page of the Cartomancy section of this website gives simple techniques for reading with two and three cards.
I rarely use spreads, but the following articles describe ones I like, plus a few of my favorite techniques.
This article gives the nuts and bolts of the Quintessence Spread, also known as The French Cross, which appears in every European LWB and how-to-read book. It’s quite versatile, especially for decision making.
In Cross Spread with the Rosenwald Deck I ask the cards a “should I do this….” question and give myself a reading with the Quintessence spread using the historically significant Rosenwald deck reconstructed by Sullivan Hismans.
At the bottom of my review of the Rosenwald deck with folded paper borders, Bordi Rivoltinati, by Marco Benedetti, I show a Cross Spread layout using my favorite technique.
A report on my dismal failure with Yes/No Spreads.
My favorite All-purpose Three-Card Spread you can adapt to any situation where you want a peek at the most likely outcome.
Reading with a Significator is a three-card technique with a designated significator for the question.
A line of three cards is standard TdM practice, but I prefer two cards. Reading Between the Cards talks about how I read two cards as a vortex of energy.
Illustration at top: Quintessence Spread with the Ancient Italian Tarot published by Lo Scarabeo.