Tarot Spread of the Week: Advanced Relationship Spread

I’m coming up on almost ten years of tarot reading.   I’d like to share a little bit of what I’ve learned.

Over the next month, I plan to post a tarot spread once a week.

I will to try to avoid spreads you’ve already heard about (the Celtic Cross, 3-Card spread, ect) and focus on spreads that are unique but applicable to common situations.  The most frequent inquiries in the tarot usually fall under one of the following categories:  Relationships, Money or Career.

This week, our focus will be on relationships.  Here is an example draw of this spread:

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Let’s go over the positions.

The left side represents Person A.
The right side represents Person B.
We’ll go over the ones in middle in just a second.

relationship spread

Position 1:  Represents the feelings, emotions and facts that Person A wants person B to know or be aware of.

Position 2:  Represents the the feelings, emotions and facts that Person A does not want Person B to know about.  These are the underlying issues that may or may not be obvious to Person B, but either way, Person A is doing her best to conceal them.

Position 3:  Same as Position 1, but reversed.  Represents the feelings, emotions and facts that Person B wants person A to know or be aware of.

Position 4:  Same as Position 2, but reversed.  Represents the the feelings, emotions and facts that Person B does not want Person A to know about.  These are the underlying issues that may or may not be obvious to Person B, but either way, Person A is doing her best to conceal them.

Position 5:  Represents the emotional and spiritual point of intersection between these two people.

Position 6:  Represents the emotional and spiritual “block” that is preventing further growth.

This is where it gets interesting.  What I really like about this spread is the way it reads.  In order to reconcile or resolve the underlying issues of the mutual parties involved, they have to “pass through the point of intersection.”
relationship spreadcrossing

Let me give you a (fictional) example.

Position 1:  The Empress (maternal love, grace, beauty, elegance)

Position 2:  Three of Swords (infidelity, heartbreak)

Position 3:  7 of Cups (Wishful thinking)

Position 4:  8 of Cups (A readiness to move on)

Position 5:  Judgement  (Atonement)

Position 6:  Seven of Swords  (Betrayal, “back stabbing” behavior)

In this example, Person A outwardly pretends to be the picture of a graceful, devoted, maternally-minded partner  (The Empress).  She is graceful.  She is lovely.  She is the picture-perfect “Stepford” wife.   But this image she has created for herself is an illusion.

Underneath the surface, Person A is actually miserable in her marriage, and has been involved in a long-term affair (Three of Swords).

Person B has known this for many years.  He is exhausted and has been ready to move on for a very long time (8 of Cups).

But on the surface, Person B maintains a blissful denial (7 of Cups).  He confuses this self-delusion with optimism, and hopes that by ignoring his wife’s infidelity, it will go away.

In order to resolve this situation, the partners must pass through the trial of the two cards in the middle.  So, in order to resolve the underlying issue of Person A’s infidelity (Position 2) with the surface mentality of Person B’s denial  (Position 3), Person A must atone for her wrong (Position 5) and “unblock” their relationship by no longer engaging in backstabbing, deceptive behavior.  Equally, Person A must stop pretending to be a perfect person beyond reproach (Position 1) and atone for her fraudulent persona (Position 5) so that Person B is able to move on (Position 4).

It takes some practice to get the hang of concepts like this in the tarot.  This spread is deep and complex, but so are the nature of relationships.  It is well worth the effort to advance your practice by enriching your technique and expanding your spread vocabulary.

For other tarot-related posts, check out my Tarot and Divination section.

Enjoy!

 

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