How Do You Test New Tarot Spreads?
I recently wrote a blog post where I tested a tarot spread my friend sent me. I also started a new series, Tea&Tarot where I review a tea I'm drinking and show a tarot spread that I use or have tried out. This has caused a couple of people to ask me about trying out new spreads, how I choose a new spread, and what is my method.
How Do You Choose Tarot Spreads to Test?
In the case of Down the Rabbit Hole Spread, I was asked to test that spread by a dear friend of mine. I love sharing my love of tarot with others and find that sharing and testing spreads created by others is a great way to do that. If you have a spread that you've created that you would like to see if it is readable and beneficial to others than just yourself, please feel free to Contact me and we will see if it is a spread I'd be interested in trying.
When it comes to choosing spreads from various resources, as I do with my Tea&Tarot posts, then I try and use spreads the correspond with my editorial calendar's theme for the blog. For example, in September, we focused on education and harvest so our tarot spread was one that expanded on a traditional tarot spread and was one I had learned a great deal from and wanted to share as an educational resource. In October, our focus is on Ancestor Work, Witchcraft and Halloween so our tarot spread is one that focuses on Samhain and the Ancestors.
In other cases, I try out tarot spreads that associate with my situation at hand. When I was healing from my miscarriage and had questions about my own womanhood and fertility, I chose tarot spreads that uncovered emotional turmoil, discussed other forms of fertility and nurturing, and revealed aspects of shadow work that I needed to practice. I found tarot spreads for this online and in tarot books, keeping an open mind to different ways the tarot could help me in my time of need.
What Test Deck Do You Use?
When testing out a new tarot spread I usually stick with 2 options.
- If the tarot spread I want to test is in a companion book to a specific tarot deck, then I will use the companion tarot deck. The spreads with companion decks are usually created with those cards in mind. While many, I have found, work with any deck, the working and language usually corresponds with the images in the companion deck itself rather than a similar tarot deck.
- If the tarot spread is not connected to a specific deck or is one that a friend asks me to test, then I will use the Rider-Waite deck. The Rider-Waite is my go-to deck for new spreads, tarot practices, and teaching because the symbols in it are vivid, obvious, and familiar to me. I have no issues with reading the individual cards or deciphering their meaning. When testing out a new deck, just like testing out anything, you want to keep the other variables of your reading as low as possible. By using the Rider-Waite, I am not experimenting with the variables of a deck that I haven't acquainted myself with fully yet, so my focus can be on the spread and not the cards.
Will You/Can I Use New, Tested Tarot Spreads for Professional Readings?
This can be a tricky question when it comes to a person's creative property. ALWAYS ask the person who created the spread about their licenses, copyrights, and if they are ok with you using their layouts in readings that you make money from. Always give credit to the creator of that spread.
I tend to stick to spreads I've created or some very basic spreads such as the Past, Present, Future; Body, Mind, Spirit; or Celtic Cross spread when reading for others. This prevents copyright hassle and allows me to give consistent readings to return clients.
That being said, I won't say never and there may come a time in the future that I work something out with a spread creator and offer readings with that lay out to my customers.
I tend to stick to spreads I've created or some very basic spreads such as the Past, Present, Future; Body, Mind, Spirit; or Celtic Cross spread when reading for others. This prevents copyright hassle and allows me to give consistent readings to return clients.
That being said, I won't say never and there may come a time in the future that I work something out with a spread creator and offer readings with that lay out to my customers.