Creating Your Own Spread: Valentine Tarot Spread

I love creating my own spreads, and any occasion is an excuse.  It’s a simple process, and here is the formula:

1. Decide on the deck you wish to use for the occasion.
2. Think about the shape of the spread.
3. Choose an appropriate spread cloth or cut one out especially for the purpose.
4. Lay out the cards on the cloth, and count many cards you can fit (reverse side up) onto it comfortably.
5. Write down appropriate questions for each position.  These are never yes/no questions, but rather are enquiries as to what the situation really is, and what I can do to improve it.
6. Shuffle your intentions into the deck, and practise either on yourself or a good friend.

So, it’s Valentines now.  I love Valentine’s.  Not the commercialism, but the romance.  I never buy things, and neither does my husband.  We make things, and this is so much more special.  He still has a card I made 15 years with an erotic story written inside and bound with ribbon.  In actual fact, he liked it so much that he asked me to write a new chapter every year.  Well, I could probably publish it now, but it’s our little secret!  Anyway, we’re here to talk tarot…

So this year I have made him a spread.  I don’t think he’ll be very surprised, since that is pretty much the theme of the year! I used an old read sheet and a crotchet cushion cover for the base, and found a piece of red paper from my mum’s craft supply from which I cut out a heart.  I selected the Gummy Bear Tarot in a Tin because it’s small and colourful, and to be frank oozes fun and love. I managed to squeeze in six cards, and formulated the following questions:

1. The Heart of the relationship
2. What I bring to the relationship
3. What they bring to the relationship
4. How I can help myself
5. How I can help them
6. The expected outcome

If you’ve only come to find a Valentine’s Spread to use, then you can go now, cos the rest of this post is going to be about my reading, which I’m not best pleased about because it’s full of Court Cards, and I’m obsessed by drawing clarification cards for those!  As I shuffled the cards, I thought about each question, one by one, until I had a jumper or a right angle card shouting at me to take it. And then I did the same for the clarification cards.

1. The Heart of the relationship: Page of Wands, Death Rx
2. What I bring to the relationship: Knight of Cups, 6 of Cups
3. What they bring to the relationship: The High Priestess
4. How I can help myself: Queen of Wands, King of Swords Rx, 9 of Pentacles
5. How I can help them: King of Pentacles, Ace of Pentacles
6. The expected outcome: The Fool Rx

So, the Page of Wands talks of creative projects coming to fruition, and that’s good, since we have both been pursuing new interests in the area of spiritualism recently.  The inverted Death card suggests that we are putting off a major change – and he’s got that right.  We’re supposed to be moving out of my family home and back onto our sailing yacht so we can live a wandering life without ties, exploring beautiful and distant lands… but it has been delayed time and time again. But it’s good to know that fate is aware of our plans and simply delaying them!

The Knight of Cups is telling me I bring lots of fresh enthusiastic loving into this relationship (no news there), and the 6 of Cups says I’m not afraid to show it. The High Priestess is reminding he brings balance, wisdom and harmony into this relationship.  I hate it when the cards tell me he’s all grown up and mature, but it’s something I am getting used to by now. And he is ancient compared to me…. with 8 years and 11 months more experience under his belt.

The Queen of Wands inverted…. now, isn’t she the nag?  I’m not liking that at all. And King of Swords?  Oh yes, he can be very cutting with his tongue.  Very.  And a dictator.  Or at least he could be.  Not any more though.  18 years into this relationship, and we’re getting a bit better at it.  I’ve learnt to walk away and ignore it, rather than react and interestingly enough, when the words fall on deaf ears, they melt really fast.  We are so much better at resolving disagreements now, and the Nine of Pentacles pretty much sums up the result of that.  Our marriage is, indeed a green garden of harmony and sunshine, smelling the roses, and talking to the birds!

Interestingly enough the King of Pentacles is also imparting advice which I have already taken.  Now, we don’t have much. In fact, I spend about 40 quid a week at ALDI for the two of us, and 70 quid a month on petrol.  We are frugal, and we have to be because we are skint.  Investments haven’t worked out, loans haven’t been returned, and quite frankly it’s a worry. But here I am being told to trust him.  And I do.  And the more I trust him to do the right thing, the more he confides in me and seeks my advice.  But I wonder what this Ace of Pentacles is referring to?  Has HE got a new project in the pipeline which I should support, or is this talking about my little business dream that I’ve been contemplating but not implementing?  Well, I guess time will tell

And the Outcome?

That Fool is inverted again, and seems to be reflecting what the Page of Wands said…. so yes, I do believe we are going to get off back to that big adventure…. but the time isn’t quite right.  There is still work to be done here, though, and we need to do it.  But when the time is right, we’ll get there.

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Katie Horn

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