Natalia Lee

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Category: Spreads

Continuing lines and pythian gifts

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Spreads
Motivated weeks ago by Camelia Elias I had the idea to create a spread inspired by my contribution to 21+1 The Fortuneteller’s Rules. By weeks ago I mean back in December. During most of December I was in a distinct Sibylline mood, thinking on the annunciation of the divine light and the doom of the apocalypse entwined with these revelations.

For context see these following links:

Christmas in Mallorca

The Song of the Sibyl

A video- Canto de la Sibila Catedral de Mallorca 2012

A wonderful french article on the history of the chant- “À propos du chant prophétique de la Sibylle“

I was also reading Danny Nemu’s excellent book, Neuro-Apocalypse, so you can understand somewhat what was playing around in my mind. In essence, an apocalypse is a veil shattering revelation that uncovers what is hidden. “ORIGIN Old English, via Old French and ecclesiastical Latin from Greek apokalupsis, from apokaluptein ‘uncover, reveal,’ from apo- ‘un-’ + kaluptein ‘to cover.’” How else to encounter the divine light but through the apocalypse? For me, divination is a tool that facilitates apocalypses, instances of revelation. With all this in mind and considering my 21+1 contribution, I birthed this spread.

In true Sibylline mode I have titled the spread, The Vision of the Oracle.

Paestan red-figure bell-krater depicting the Delphic oracle sitting atop her tripod, circa 330 BC. With my superimposed tarot card images.

Priestess of Delphi (1891) by John Collier, showing the Pythia sitting on a tripod with vapor rising from a crack in the earth beneath her.

I envisioned the shape of this spread following the shape of the Pythian tripod, “The Pythia would chew laurel leaves and bay leaves, drink from the sacred spring and wear a crown of laurel while sitting on a tripod adorned with laurel over a fissure in the cellar of the temple (Sourvinou-Inwood, 233).” “The Oracle then descended into the adyton (Greek for “inaccessible”) and mounted her tripod seat, holding laurel leaves and a dish of Kassotis spring water into which she gazed.”

The image of the tripod and a vessel or curved dish merged in my mind’s eye, I began to see both the Pythia on the tripod and the vessel with water mirroring the other. Meaning that, just as the oracle sits on the tripod and divines, so the vessel used encapsulates the same meaning. From within the vessel, the waters, and from without, the vapors mix to rise and play with the visions of the diviner. In like manner the diviner sits on the tripod and she is the water that experiences the oracle as her body and sight entwine with the vapors around her. Then she speaks and the utterance pronounces the oracle.

Speaking specifically of the spread, it functions both as the oracle’s tripod and the vessel. There are three cards at the bottom in the shape of a basin (at least that is my intention for the spread) and two cards moving upward that mirror the vapors of revelation. The two flanking cards are the initial instigators that mirror each other, the center pillar three cards are the revelation and the answer. This is a spread for feeling your way through to the answer, letting your eyes and mind move with the rhythm of the forms sans restraint. It focuses on apocalypses, on sharp revelations. There are no defined questions for each position. The shape of the spread defines the intention. The spread’s clear aim is to sharpen the vision, to sharpen the words, to sharpen your inner trust, and especially to sharpen truths.

The Delphic Oracle. Kylix by the Kodros painter, c. 440-430 BCE. From the Collection of Joan Cadden.

Now I will take the spread for a spin. Context: I am currently pining after an obscure Italian deck by artist Franco Anichini, a deck created to raise funds for the Sacred Heart Institute, Fantarocco (Images can be viewed by following the link). The deck would would be purchased from Italy and I would have to pay the price of the deck, which is not modest, plus the shipping. Now my birthday is coming up soon, and despite going through certain financial restrictions at the moment, I really want to add this deck to my small collection of Marseille type decks. I asked the cards about this situation, framing it from the angle of revelations.

Question: What is the truth behind my desire to purchase the Fantarocco deck?

The Spanish Tarot, published by Heraclio Fournier, Vitoria, Spain.

The two mirroring cards demonstrate the obvious, I want to seize the opportunity to indulge in spending for myself. The revealing column illustrates that the truth behind my extravagant spending desires is that I feel at odds with myself, frustrated at what is not moving and unsatisfied. Displacing my desire for change upon the purchase of an obscure tarot deck fulfills a fleeting desire instead of the real desire. In other words, my deck lust is all about displaced desire.

There you go, reading the cards for apocalypses.

Freely play with the spread at your leisure and may it serve as a drop or a ripple in the well of your craft, and may it facilitate revelations.

~~~

Sources:

Apocalypse definition from the New Oxford American Dictionary.

Both “Paestan red-figure bell-krater depicting the Delphic oracle sitting atop her tripod, circa 330 BC” & “Priestess of Delphi (1891) by John Collier, showing the Pythia sitting on a tripod with vapor rising from a crack in the earth beneath her” taken from wikipedia: Pythia

“The Delphic Orcle. Kylix by the Kodros painter, c. 440-430 BCE.”
From the Collection of Joan Cadden from www.coastal.edu.

The featured image is from Pixabay and is a Temple in Delphi, Greece. Walkerssk.

Read Camelia Elias’s spread.
Spreads, spreads, and more spreads

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Spreads

I now offer tarot readings here on my website, and if you have ventured to the tab that lists my offerings and wondered what all of it means, this post is meant to get to the details of what it all means. This is a clarification of what exactly it is that I offer.

The first thing I will say is that I don’t offer strict positional spreads for my readings. As I’ve said before, I read the cards by looking at the tensions and dynamics between the forms playing out in the spread, the equilibrium or lack thereof. The Symmetry. None of the following spreads are set in stone, in the sense that none of them mean anything outside of the moment of the question and the reading. Context. Also a reading with me always starts with a question.

Now I dive into the specifics.

The one liner

This is a straightforward one-line spread that answers questions that don’t require too much depth consisting of 4 cards maximum. Perfect for yeses and nos.

The one-liner can also become a comparative look, two cards addressing one aspect of the question, and another set addressing another aspect. The two sides of a coin. This creates slightly more detailed looks into a matter while still remaining concise.

The cross

The Spanish Tarot published by Heraclio Fournier, Vitoria, Spain.

The cross can be several things. One is a three card spread with more concrete suggestions defining the trio. Three cards answer, while the top and bottom contextualize and advice. In other words, I look at how the trio answers your question and then how the top and bottom card shape the answer. It can also take the form of an influences reading, wherein the influences surrounding you, the center, are addressed diretional-ly and dynamically. Depending on the question, I look at how you stand in the middle affected by the surrounding cards. Naturally, this takes on the form of a directional reading, North, South, East, West.

The magic square

The magic square is a square of nine, nine cards, 3x3x3 arranged in a square. This particular spread is interesting because it complex-ifies the cross, giving further depth and detail concerning the question. That is the influences, the tensions, where the issue at hand (question) is moving, towards what, and where it has come from. It also addresses above and below aspects, or the hidden and revealed. I find this spread is always fruitful, insightful and detailed, offering diverse perspectives. If you are looking for thorough and rich insights than this is the one to try.

The map

Mapping the journey is inspired by two things, one is Camelia Elias’s Samurai’s Cut. The other is from my own explorations with the suit of swords, my thoughts are found in An Otherworldly Journey with the Suit of Swords. For me, the suit of swords is the suit of magic, cunning craft, witchcraft, etc. I put 1+1 together and voilà a spread that explores the magical/occult/mystical journey was born. This reading consists of 13 cards laid out in the shape of a diamond. It is suited for questions of a magical nature. What I mean by this is, if you are looking to know how your craft is going, where it is headed, if there are any obstacles barring your way, what lies ahead, matters of spirit work, etc., then this is the one that wanders through these areas. What I mean by craft is not delimited to any tradition in particular, this is all irregardless of the form your craft takes. This reading is about you and your magic.

~~~
The Stairway

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Spreads

Continuing from my previous post about having courage and a good deal of agility, I went down that route out of a realization that I am often too headstrong for my own good. Determined to achieve a specific goal, or vision in mind, unwilling to relent even when all fingers point the other way. It is a weakness to attachments. As the years go by, I realize that relentless attachments to ideas, concepts, and “goals” are counter-intuitive to life. When do plans ever pan out as we anticipate them? When is life every truly linear? No matter how one wishes to “construct” illusions, life is about change and flux. It is out of this understanding that I decided to end the individual survey of the pips in the Tarot de Marseille decks. Only the batons are left and I will most likely pool them together.

Now to keep things fresh, I want to share a spread I have had swimming in my mind for some time. About a month ago I wrote a small essay on spreads as cartography. Wherein I talk about looking at spreads as an organic interaction between the cards themselves and the shape of the spread. Sans specific positions.

This is the stairway spread, its focus is tension and progression.

Eros Tarot by Uusi Design Studio, printed by The Expert Playing Card Company, 2017.

As always, tension is never absent when reading cards, in this specific case it is pertinent to look at the tension between the two cards on each level. While afterwards, looking at how this tension leads to the progression on the following level. The two optional cards, are only for context and if needed, you can play around with the signification of these cards as they relate to their position in the stair.

Here is an example from my previous post.

Eros Tarot by Uusi Design Studio, printed by The Expert Playing Card Company, 2017.

The Seeker steps through into the unknown, a demanding proposition requiring strength before her. Sharp teeth gnaw at her fingers, threatening to devour her efforts and kill her resolve. The cold sharp blades open to give way for calming waters. A new road of potential opens, an outgrowth of the entanglement. The waters lead to the king of coins. From a tentative beginning, the lady has arrived on solid ground, a mighty staff on hand, with the power of a newly minted coin as a reward. The power of knowledge and discernment. The power to know and act.

There was no specific question here, I just wanted to see what the cards had to say at that particular moment. As you can see, the theme here is about handling unexpected opposition when the unknown presents itself, and seeing how the opposition opens up viable possibilities of movement. It is clear how each phase interacts within itself and consequently leads to the next step. The seeker opens up the conversation as a portal into the unknown, where two coins are proposed as inherent potential in exchange. The 2 of coins then move seamlessly into Strength, as the Lady and the Lion. The suppression found in the abundance of swords clashing speaks of the tension in the previous card, which in turn transforms into the 6 of cups. The polarity of the swords is now appeased as the green leaves grow upward and downward, with the cups in accord. What was once hostile is now tamed. The Lady is now the King, capable and agile.

It is an interesting spread to use when thinking about plans and projects. It can show possible routes as things (ideas, hopes, goals) intertwine or unravel. A possible teleological play. It is amusing to look at these progressions and the structures we create for ourselves and our lives and realize that none of this means anything other than subtle possibilities. As I look at whatever potential I might hope for in my life, I learn to really embrace the agile and tenacious, my swift feet, while remaining ever in the moment.

Feel more than free to play around with this spread and if you have any comments on it, do share.
Spreads as cartography

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Spreads

Tarot spreads as a cartographic map

I am exploring of late how the eye wanders around a given shape. This idea was first introduced to me by Camelia Elias through her teachings in Radiant Reading and also here. It is something most of us card readers already do, except this particular approach is an openly intentional one which focuses on contemplating the cards, instead of designating meanings for each position. It is about letting your eye wander around the layouts you use for spreads without positional restraints. Which in turn, intensifies and unlocks the potential to see and visualize the interplay of the cards, allowing you to immerse yourself in them as they interact with their movements, their tensions, and their releases. In this way, it is very much both an art of contemplation and the art of mapping gestures, shapes, and momentum.

A spread, according to its dictionary definition, is about expansion, opening up, distribution, dispersal. Hence, and in my layman words, a card spread is about laying out possible routes, expanding on a specific question. Looking at the different angles.

The French Cross

Here we have 3 cards in the center with one card above and another below. If you let your eye wander around this landscape you can see several things. Now again, I dive into all this from a state of contemplation. First, the flanking cards can be seen as directional emanations. North, South, East, West. Or from an elemental angle, earth, fire, air, water. Radiating inward towards the one, or outward from the one to the directions. When viewed this way, the center takes on an almost grand overarching quality. As if taking in, receiving from all the fours corners the 4 distinct powers or forces. Inversely, the center is expanding in specific ways towards these directional forces. Whichever card that lands in the center is the culmination of all the 4 emanations.

Jean Noblet Tarot de Marseille reproduced by Jean-Claude Flornoy, 2009.

Second, and closely tied to the first, the flanking cards can be seen as key points in time. Like a clock-face, each one turning around the center. Or vice versa, the center acts as an influencing force within these specific time reference points. This can speak of subtleties taking shape in these positions, subtleties that reflect the central card. It is interesting to note that this is a recurring mythic shape, equidistant, balanced, and circular. One that speaks of the iteration and placement of the self, the center, in moment and time, and its extensions. Using this perspective, one can read the flanking cards as a circular movement while the inner card is fixed.

The Diamond

Jean Noblet Tarot de Marseille reproduced by Jean-Claude Flornoy, 2009.

This is the french cross but with additional flanking cards, or a square of nine with the four directions as reference points. It can be read starting from the cross outward, above being the upper influences, divine or spiritual, below being the earth or grounded influences. The two corners can easily be associated with the elements of west and east and its derivatives.

Additionally, each side can be read as mirroring the other, two sides of the same coin, from above/below, east/west orientation. Reading it as the magical square with directional influences, it is very useful for seeing how the square is placed in situ. The moment contextualizing the tableau, locally. The square itself has the potential of revealing the varying subtleties of a situation, especially (and in my personal opinion) a spiritual one.

The Magic Square

Jean Noblet Tarot de Marseille reproduced by Jean-Claude Flornoy, 2009.

A miniature tableau that speaks within a condensed tapestry of the diverse facets connected to an individual and the question. I call it the magic square, it can be called the square of nine or simply the square. It is quite possible it has many other names. As to the why of the ‘magic,’ I believe that has to do with the symmetry of the spread and the number of cards, nine, which is in itself, according to lore, a magically significant number. The same perspective as the previous layouts apply, as far as how to contemplate this spread. I tried to find a way to make circular markers but when you look at this square, you can imagine a circular rotation as well, interacting fluidly among the outer cards, clockwise. When the cards are outspread, and you begin to see action and context, the approach I speak of can be more clearly experienced. Because it is in action that the contemplation of the cards really takes full effect. The corner cards have the potential to mirror each other while the center speaks specifically about the individual or querent. The square expresses progression and forward motion.

Playing with diverse spread shapes, sans positional meanings, opens the imagination of the reader, as one enters into the conversation with the cards. Similar to reaching into a tapestry, walking into it, interacting with it, and allowing the forms to speak freely. Moreover, the approach refines our awareness. This reminds me of the first time I learned to appreciate and understand modern sculpture.

A few years back, while in New York City on vacation, I went to the Whitney Museum during it’s free visitor day, a quiet autumnal evening. I can’t recall the specific day. I wasn’t sure what to expect, as I had never gone before. There was an exhibition from a contemporary sculptural artist whose name I cannot recall either. It was an exhibition on the geometry of the body and its environment. Geometric shapes and minimal colors dominated. I remember thinking, “oh great, the type of art I don’t like,” and setting my expectations low. As I walked around the room, looking at the shapes, the fluidity of motion between them, the tensions, oppositions, the engagement and connections, something clicked inside of me and I understood the essence of what was being portrayed. Stripped of all artifice, colors, and distractions, this is the interaction that lies at the essence of ontology. It was quite a philosophical realization, as I renounced my initial statement and let myself be taken in by the art and the moment. I was understanding shapes in motion, gestures that oppose and attract. Despite the cold (an adjective I add to describe my initial unfeeling reaction) geometric shapes on display, I began to witness the warmth, the life within that spread outward as the story of the shapes moved through each piece. I saw my body in these geometric shapes.

Likewise, this contemplative approach to reading a spread of cards has the potential to offer revelations of all kinds. Unfurling routes, practical directions, and prospects.

Give it a try yourself and see where it takes you.

~~~