Is there any “true” way to lay the cards? Probably not. But here is the first tarot spread to appear in print. It is in an article by le Comte de M*** (Mellet) in Court de Gébelin’s Le Monde Primitif (1781). The spread instructions were followed by a sample interpretation—the dream of Joseph in the Bible. I decided that such a simple but powerful layout deserves to be brought back “into play.” Try it out for yourself.
The layout is best accomplished by two people working together, who have divided the deck into two stacks so that each has one of them:
Person 1 — the 56 Minor Arcana
Person 2 — the 22 Trumps (Major Arcana).
Each person takes their stack, shuffles it, and then simultaneously goes through the stacks card-by-card as follows:
Person 1: Turns the cards of the Minor Arcana over one-by-one while counting Ace, 2, 3, 4, … Page, Knight, Queen, King (use the court card names from your own deck), and continue counting with the Ace. Any card which has the same number or rank as that named is to be set aside. That is, if when counting 5, you turn over a 5 of any suit, that card is selected and put to the side.
Person 2: Goes through the Trumps at the same time, putting down a card each time Person 1 does so, but without turning it over. When Person 1 puts a card aside (because the number and the card matched), Person 2 takes the card he/she put down at the same time and turns it face up next to Person 1’s card to form a pair. When Person 2 has gone through all the Trumps, he/she picks up the reject stack and continues to put them down in the now-reversed order.
The process ends when Person 1 runs out of Minor Arcana cards.
Interpret the resulting cards as pairs.
For example, in the first reading I did with this spread, the result of the count was:
Ace of Pentacles — Lovers
Ace of Cups — Sun
Three of Cups — Death
Knight of Wands — Star
These cards had an incredible feeling of power about them. My partner in the reading immediately said, “It’s all about the deaths!” and I realized he was right. We had just found out about the deaths of three people we knew (Three of Cups plus Death). Three incredible people—each making the transition (Knight of Wands) to another world in their own way. They were being shown to us as Beings of Light (the Sun) starting a new phase of existence (the two Aces). I was awed by the beauty of their souls that radiated out from these cards as if reborn in the spirit (the Sun). It was good to feel that they were with loved ones (Three of Cups and Lovers), and it seemed to me that they were riding (Knight of Wands) towards their highest destiny (Star). I took it as a message to us from the other side, saying that they were all right and just where they should be. (Deck: The Albano-Waite Miniature Tarot Cards.)
9 comments
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April 3, 2008 at 10:35 pm
judithornot
This is interesting, Mary. Thank you for sharing it! I suppose you could do it alone, but it would be cumbersome. It might be an interesting way to further involve some clients in their reading.
April 3, 2008 at 11:08 pm
marygreer
Judith – you’re right, you can do it alone but it is very easy to get mixed up if you don’t concentrate – what with counting, turning and not turning. This spread is also interesting because you can end up with one pair (or none) or seven pairs to read.
Mary
April 4, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Starweaver
Cool – I’ll be trying this soon. I’ve always liked spreads that handle the major arcana (and possibly court cards too) separately from the others somehow. But them, I’m a structure junkie!
April 6, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Pedro Ribeiro
Greetings. Just found your blog. Great stuff. I’ve tried this spread yesterday with my wife, and found it extremely precise and clear. During the readings, I’ve got a feeling that this technique is somehow more “objective”; it’s like the Spirit of the Tarot has a greater involvement in the process. Of course, others may have different experiences. Thanks for sharing this spread!
April 6, 2008 at 5:51 pm
marygreer
Pedro – thanks for letting us know how it went for you to use this spread. I agree there is a sense of something (Spirit?) moving through the cards when obtaining them this way.
Mary
August 26, 2010 at 1:02 pm
jamesricklef
Hi Mary,
Thanks for this very interesting variation on doing readings. Donnaleigh referred me to this article in a comment (http://jamesricklef.wordpress.com/2010/08/25/variations-on-tarot-readings/#comment-866) on a post I did about variations on doing readings.
And for Starweaver — The spread for my Ask Knighthawk readings that I post on my blog do what you’re taking about — separate the Majors, Courts, and Pips for the readings.
Bright Blessings,
James Ricklef
August 26, 2010 at 1:03 pm
jamesricklef
Oops… forgot to include the link for Starweaver: http://jamesricklef.wordpress.com/category/readings/ask-knighthawk-readings/
May 27, 2013 at 8:42 am
alisoncross
This is brilliant, exactly what I was looking for when I googled ‘what is the oldest Tarot spread?’ So glad that it was this blog, very trustworthy! Will try it out this weekend 😀
February 27, 2020 at 1:59 pm
Carrie Melendez
Do you know if this spread has a name?