Try this.
Divide your tarot deck into five sections — majors, wands, cups, swords, and pentacles (or their equivalents in your pack).
Think about a topic or area of life about which you’re curious. Write it down. Depending on your topic, pick a card from the appropriate face-down card pile. E.g. if it’s about BIG life lessons, choose from the Majors. If about self-discovery, self-expression, independence, etc., choose from the Wands stack. If your inquiry is about feelings, relating, intuition, etc., pick a card from the Cups. If you’re curious about ideas, communication, networking, education, etc., pick a Sword. And if you want to know about something tangible, physical, or material, pluck a Pentacle.
Look at your card. What symbols, colours, characters, shapes, activities, and so forth grab your attention? Let each one suggest an open-ended question about your topic of inquiry. Write down these questions. Number them in an order that makes sense to you.
Draw a diagram, using little rectangles or circles (depending on the shape of your deck), creating a shape that’s pleasing to you or appropriate to your topic. Number each little rectangle or circle according to your numbered questions. Ta-da! You’ve just created a spread/layout to explore what you’re curious about.
This gets better! Imagine that your self-created layout is superimposed on the single card you chose. Notice what symbol is at the place where the first question position would be on your card. What response to your first question does it offer? Do the same with each of your questions, imagining each spread position in its correponding region of the card image. Let the symbol(s) in each answer your questions. How great is THAT?!
Terrific if you really want to learn about a specific card. Also good if you have a small surface on which to lay out your tarot reading.
I’d love for all of you to try this and to give me some feedback about it. Thanks in advance!
