Tarot Elements Signature Spread©

Welcome to the Tarot Elements Signature Spread Tutorial. This is my very own personal spread that I use exclusively, but am now sharing with you, my readers and friends. I will be outlining the positions of the Tarot cards using a mix of explanation and visual graphics, and giving tips along the way to help you gain the most out of my favourite Tarot spread.

I have also provided an example Tarot reading using this spread to further enhance and illustrate its benefits to you. The reading itself was done today, and to make it as real as possible, I asked a personal question for myself and share the results with you honestly and openly – in my opinion the only way to get the best from Tarot and Tarot readings.
Lay your first three cards out in a straight line.

Directly underneath those, add your next three cards. Now you have six in total and these six Tarot cards form the basis for your reading. There are no defined positions in this set of cards, suffice to say you will have everything you need to weave your story from the Tarot cards in front of you.

Allow yourself to free-flow amongst the cards, picking them out randomly as they speak to you. Perhaps one particular card stands out to you, and you feel drawn to the card underneath it – this is a special combination that is giving you a particular message and will help you to narrate a really deep and detailed reading.
These six Tarot cards have provided the base of the reading, or as I like to call it – setting the scene. You will have established the here and now, and also looked into any pitfalls or help that is on the way, identified any supporters or antagonists, in fact anything that you need to know will be contained within these six cards.
Tarot Tip: Look to see if any cards are pairing themselves together – they don’t have to be next to each other, relationships of all kinds can jump at you when you free-flow in your Tarot readings. These could be ‘same number’ pairings, or the repeat of a symbol on others. You just need a little confidence to do it and a Tarot spread like this one that will give you enough cards to free-flow with but isn’t too large to be intimidating or likely to become confusing.
The next two cards, 7 and 8, will begin to show potential outcomes in the divination and they are laid on top of the base of six cards, squarely in the middle of them. These two Tarot cards will be showing you the direction in which you are heading in relation to your question. You may also find that these cards extend the narrative you have begun. What you will most certainly find is a relationship between the top two cards and the bottom six cards; they will be pulling the reading together, tightening it and bringing your narrative to its conclusion.

Finally, add the ninth card. This sits firmly on top of the previous two Tarot cards, 7 and 8. The ninth card will almost certainly represent the most likely or expected outcome of the reading. This card will be the culmination of the bottom two underneath it, which in turn are the culmination of the six below them.

Once you have laid out all nine cards and have analysed them, it’s also very useful to go back over the reading and look for other information. The spread will look very different with the top three cards over the bottom six cards and you may see other relationships between the cards forming or, see how the outcome cards are derived from the scene setters. Giving this process a few minutes of your time will further enrich your reading and be well worth the re-examination.

An Example Reading

As I said at the beginning of this Tutorial to my Signature Spread, this Tarot reading was done today. I asked a real question of the Tarot and the results of that reading are here for you all to read and assess yourselves. You may find that we use different interpretations for individual Tarot cards – this is fine; neither of us are wrong. Please feel free to read these cards in the way you would normally, and if you feel you need to share any information with me regarding this reading or your findings, please do so.
I have been making plans for some time now to monetize my blog. In all honesty, I love working online and want to build my Tarot practice around my blog. This is my home now, on the internet, and so it feels right that I should operate from here too. My question to the Tarot was based on this situation.

What will the likely outcome be for me when I monetize my blog? What help or pitfalls may I encounter? Is there anything I haven’t considered in my plans that I should know about?

You will notice that I have asked a series of questions as opposed to one question. This was quite deliberate because as you will see, this Tarot spread is more than capable of answering any and all of those questions. I have also elected not to use elemental dignities in this reading simply because not all Tarot readers use that system of divination, and I wanted to show the benefits of this Tarot spread in its own right, and by its own merit.

Looking at the first three cards that came out of my Thoth Tarot deck – Five of Cups, Seven of Wands and the Three of Disks surely shows I have a lot of hard work on my hands with some disappointments thrown in! It’s not a great start, but as you’re about to see, it doesn’t get any better.

Oh dear. The Seven of Disks, the Six of Wands and the Tower! I’m in for a rough ride for sure. Let’s examine these six cards in a little more detail together.
The first thing I look for amongst the horror is some hope! And there it is in two cards, the Three of Disks and the Six of Wands, Work and Victory respectively. The Three of Disks is seen as a card of excellence in work as well as work itself – at least I will be producing high quality work. The Six of Wands is the card I would be hoping for – Victory! Though we can’t ignore its bedfellows – the Seven of Disks and the dreaded Tower. So is my victory short lived? I don’t believe so. I think these cards are showing me a hard ride and if I had any idealistic or romantic notions of a rapid success, I’m being brought down to earth with a bang – by the Tower. The Tower is also forewarning of a change of ideas or direction. Something I had included in my plans is either unfit or inappropriate and like it or not, I must identify that and make the appropriate changes.
I can’t ignore the Five of Cups up there in the top left of the reading – I’m not pleased to see that despite a valiant effort, it looks like I’m heading for some disappointments. When you look at the Tower though, I must then level that disappointment, for it may just mean that I will be disappointed at the performance of certain parts of my business plan and that by way of the Tower, I will change them. The Seven of Disks does indicate frustrations, delays and possibly the failure of certain aspects of my plan or ideas.
It would seem that in trying to establish my business plans for my blog, I am going to be in for a frustrating time. No doubt I will see successes and losses and the rethinking and changing of plans will be commonplace at least in the early days of establishing my business. These cards speak to me of ducking and diving, rolling with the punches and taking measured responses to problems as they arise.

Card Pairing the Scene Setters

You can pair any card that speaks to you when you free-flow during a tarot reading – there are no rules to say you are confined to any particular system or set. Having said that, it’s natural to pair the cards next to each other for further information, and while we’re having fun pairing adjacent cards, let’s pair the ones underneath them.

Five of Cups and the Three of Disks: Do I lose heart at the amount of work involved, perhaps I loose perspective as to what I’ve actually achieved so far?
Seven of Disks and the Tower: Will this financially break me while I’m waiting for my business to take off? Does this pairing suggest I cannot wait for success?
Five of Cups and the Seven of Wands: Disappointment at the amount of effort it’s taking to make my business plans work – perhaps I thought it would be easier than it’s going to be.
Seven of Wands and the Three of Disks: I certainly enjoy the challenge and rise to it, producing good work.
Seven of Disks and the Six of Wands: Success will come but it will take longer than expected.
Six of Wands and the Tower: Short lived success or success borne of dramatic changes made to ensure the success of my plans?
Five of Cups and the Seven of Disks: Is this where my disappointment lies, in the length of time it takes to see success?
Seven of Wands and the Six of Wands: Yes! Success can come through persistence, standing my ground and fighting for what I believe are the right moves.
Three of Disks and the Tower: Are we seeing a total change in my working pattern? Does this pairing actually show change so dramatic that I actually abandon my plans to monetize my blog, no matter how far I have travelled down that road already?

Cards Seven and Eight – Pulling it Together

Laying cards 7 and 8 out gave me more hope and a smile – here at last I am beginning to see some improvements in my fortunes. These two cards are in some senses, the middle distance in terms of the future and while I would have preferred the Ace of Disks, I will gladly accept the Ace of Cups as my indication that after all my trials and tribulations, I will begin to see improvements. I also feel this card shows I will remain connected to my readers and of course, connect with new ones. Good times! The Six of Cups, while pleasant and appealing – shows I will thankfully keep my love affair with my blog alive; the Six of Cups also carries with it a warning – of rose coloured glasses and sentimentality. I believe it shows I need to be less romantic about the whole process and operate as a business. This will be quite a balancing act – remaining close to my readers and clients whilst also being a businesswoman at the same time. The lessons, pitfalls and warnings in the six scene setting cards make a lot of sense now that I have seen these two cards and already I am alerted to a potential problem area contained within myself. The question is, can I do it?

Well if I ever needed confirmation that indeed I can make all of the necessary changes within myself, then the Princess of Disks in the Thoth deck is it. Aleister Crowley called her a “woman on the brink of transfiguration.” I’ll take that, thank you very much!

Signature Spread Reading Summary

So what did I learn about my business plans, and my plans to monetize my blog? Well, it would seem that some or part of my plans are flawed or ill thought out. That I will have some successes and some failures. Not all of my ideas will work and I must pay close attention to what my readers and clients want from my blog and indeed myself if I’m to make a success of my plans.
Success can be mine, but I have a lot of hard work ahead of me and I must be prepared to change whatever isn’t working despite any romantic or sentimental attachment I may feel toward it. I must be prepared to grow and change as a person, a tarot reader and a blogger if I’m to succeed, but more than anything, I must be prepared to face those changes head on. The road will be a little rough and at times I may wonder what on earth I’m doing, and there will no doubt be times when I’m a little scared to make a change or move forward, but do you know what? I’m going to feel the fear and do it anyway ;)
I hope you enjoyed reading the Tarot Elements Signature Spread Tutorial – please join me in the second part where we’ll beef it up a little by applying elemental dignities to the reading, and in doing so, we have to make a little change to the layout. All will be revealed…

Catherine