I was an active tarot reader for a number of years before it dawned on me that I could actually design my own spreads. And given the number of questions I see posted to forums and tarot discussion groups asking for spreads to address specific issues, this apparently is foreign territory to a lot of people.
Why? Certainly a number of people who read tarot only for themselves may be "by the book" users, used to depending upon external sources for definitions and meaning. If you are still focused on a little white brochure to tell you what your cards mean, it might not occur to you that you can do something other than follow to the letter the little diagrams in the back. Others may have certain "gurus" or experts whose approaches they like and prefer to depend on spreads created by those individuals. While nothing is inherently wrong with either of these approaches, the one common element is a fairly serious one: a unilateral unwillingness to take on both the power of and the responsibility for truly reading and interpreting the cards.
It's not easy to trust our own inner voice, especially when we are new at something. It might seem like a daunting task, but the truth is that creating your own spread can be tremendously empowering, and can help you hear your own voice more strongly and begin to build trust in your own intuition or guidance rather than always depending on an outside source. So go ahead and do it: invent your own spread!
Here's how to start:
There are no hard and fast rules as to how to create a spread. Chances are good that if you're actively reading now, you have a couple of "go to" spreads that you tend to use frequently. For many people this includes the 10-card Celtic Cross and a basic five- or seven-card spread. It's easy enough to create variations of these familiar patterns, tweaking them to fit unique situations that you encounter or specific questions that you may have. I—and I think most readers—do this in our heads all the time, shifting the meanings of the placements as we read in order to pinpoint the most cohesive and appropriate message; this kind of interpretation is the core of a good tarot reading and requires personal confidence in our inner voice. This is really not different than actually creating a spread with a uniquely-designed pattern and set of definitions. So if you are somewhat daunted by the idea of creating a tarot spread, take heart in the fact that you already do it every time you read to one degree or another.
To begin creation of your own spread, think of a question or problem you are working with—your own or someone else's. Consider the key points that need to be covered in order to address the question, and write them down. Think about what you need to know, what sort of guidance you are seeking, and how or whether there are other influences or points of concern that should be considered. These points will form the basis of your layout.
Next, consider how to pare these points down, combine them, or organize them into a succinct compact grouping. I knew someone once whose "go to" spread was an elaborate 30-card layout designed by his "spiritual mentor." The card placement and interpretation was so complicated he never read without his "cheat sheet," a dog-eared, hand-written piece of notebook paper on which he'd taken careful notes and to which he had to refer quite often. A reading with this well-meaning individual would take the better part of two hours, just for him to interpret the lie of the cards, and much of the information was repetitive and not completely relevant to the question at hand. He would even sometimes lose his place on the "cheat sheet," read a section of cards one way, then decide he'd read them "wrong" and go back and re-interpret them. Clearly, this layout's reach exceeded its grasp. It's a bit like aggressive fashion on the wrong person; if the dress is wearing you, it should go back on the rack. If the layout is running you, it needs to be refined.
Once you have refined the number of cards and the position definitions, choose a layout pattern. This is based entirely on preference. You might want to create an "image" that fits your spread's purpose, like a star, an unfolding flower, or a tree. Or you might just want to place your cards in a straight line or a circle. The best plan is to use an arrangement that is sensible and easy to remember so you don't find yourself permanently enslaved to your own "cheat sheet."
Next, do a test drive of your layout. Play the role of both client and reader. Ask a question and use your new spread to answer it. It can be helpful to ask a question you feel you already have a handle on, in order to see how well the definitions you've selected for each position feed into the answer. If you find you have extraneous information or if a position feels out of place, refine your layout. If you feel you are getting incomplete information, add a position or tweak the definitions to better fit the information you need to obtain to answer the question or solve the problem.
When you feel you've got something workable in terms of pattern, definitions and number of cards, write it all down for future reference. But above all, if in the future you find yourself thinking that it's just not exactly right, DO feel free to revise it as many times as you might need to!
