If you're ever in the fortunate situation where you have a big crowd (bar, restaurant, cafe, party) waiting for readings, here's a handy spread for keeping things real while keeping the line moving. Three-card spread can feel unsatisfying to some customers, so for this spread, I throw down 5 cards, the 5 that form the "skeleton" of a Celtic Cross. Like so:

1) Self at Time of Reading
2) What Crosses You
4) Immediate Past Influences
6) Future Influences
10) Final Outcome

From a "storytelling" point of view, these are the elements that will give you the basic narrative of the situation. "First you were X, then you were Y. What's next is Z."


Cards 1 and 2 are the basic dilemma, the "this versus that" of the client's situation, and I usually lay them down crossed, just like a Celtic Cross spread. Card 4 is back-story, which is helpful for you, the reader -- a good anchor to see if you're on the right track, so pay close attention to that card. Ask questions of the client; get it right. Card 6 is your gypsy fortune telling card -- or to be more exact, it's the card where you can let loose your imagination/intuition, watch it run. (Oddly, in speed-reading situations, my antenna is usually more accurate, so I feel pretty safe cutting loose and making a lot out of this one card). Card 10 is the final message to the reader, the thing they ought to take away from the reading.

That's it. End of story. If they want more mojo than that, they gotta take a business card. Next!

What's cool about this spread, is that if I'm way off base (yeah, it happens...), I start filling in the missing cards of the Celtic Cross for help. Grounding Influences/Far Past (what would normally be Card 3), is usually a nice guide post to get me back on track, as is Card 5, Highest Self/Very Near Future. For whatever reason, most clients tend to connect with these positions, in my experience.

Card 9 is one that I withhold unless I'm really confident I'm on the right track and the client is down with what I'm describing. Because #9 is something of an advice card (at least in my practice), I don't like to pull that card unless I'm sure it will provide answers. Otherwise, I'll get bogged down in explaining way too much, and if I'm already on the wrong track, well, that's just a formula for disaster.

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