I developed this spread to help me focus (and avoid overwhelm). My grandparents had plenty of trauma... they all lived through the Great Depression. Both my grandfathers fought in World War II. Newell drove liberation trucks out of Dachau and suffered massive PTSD... he'd already had a traumatic childhood, losing a sister when he was young and getting put up for adoption as a boy because neither parent wanted him (His father was an alcoholic who came home from World War I with his own baggage). Fran was orphaned at 8 years old, Norma's dad died when she was 5... the more ancestors you look at, the more wars, deaths, depressions, miscarriages, unhappy marriages, betrayals, losses and pain you uncover.
So I don't dissolve in a big puddle of pain and panic when I work on ancestral trauma, I like to use readings for conversations with specific ancestors.... I'll light a candle, make an offering for Apphia or Caroline or Newell or whoever I'm working with, and invite them to tell me what hurt needs some love. Here's the spread I use:
Aside: The headstone photo in the background is from the Vine Lake Cemetery in Medfield, MA... I visited in April 2009 to do some research on the Hammond/Hamant branch of my family tree and took this photo, even though Sarah seems not to have been a direct ancestor and the Hamant stones I was looking for were a bit older. A broken headstone seemed like the perfect visual metaphor for ancestral trauma.
If you decide to work with this spread, I'd love to know what you think. Please tag me in photos of your readings. Thanks so much.
]]>Most of us are used to asking the cards questions when we sit down to do a reading. We want answers! But if the answers you're getting don't seem to make sense, you may want to choose a spread to provide an extra level of detail and focus.
Think of it this way: Say you're out with a friend in an unfamiliar neighborhood and your friend asks what you want for lunch. You may come back with a question: What's in the area? If your friend had started the lunch discussion with a few options, telling you there's a great taco truck, cool sandwich shop and a funky diner nearby, you'd have more intel to guide your choice. That's how spreads work: You're giving your deck intel and context so the cards can give you the best possible answers.
Here are some suggestions on working with spreads in your readings.
Framing the question
What do you want to know? How does what you want to know line up with the insight the tarot can provide? This is the intersection where great tarot questions are formed. I am a huge fan of questions that help us shape our responses to specific situations, rather than inquiries about what is going to happen. We can’t always control what happens to us—but we can try to manage how we respond.
For example, for my daily draw each morning I ask, “What energy should I tune into today (for my greatest good)?” One day, the Knight of Cups came up with a message to be charming and engaging. I ended up having an unplanned phone conversation with a prospective employer—the Knight’s energy helped me focus on how to present myself as an attractive candidate for the role. Another day, the Three of Swords may turn up as a reminder that someone I’m close to is suffering—by noticing and acknowledging that suffering, I’m in a better position to help my friend.
Here are some questions I like:
Choosing a spread
How do you want your answer? Think about the format that will give you the best understanding of the matter at hand. How do you plan to use the intel you get from the cards?
Certain questions, such as how to reach a goal or best care for yourself (or someone else) in a certain situation, lend themselves nicely to time-bound spreads:
Other times, you may want to focus on different areas, actions, or attributes:
Start exploring different types of questions and spreads and journal about your results to determine what works best for you. You may find that one type of spread works well for certain types of questions or with a particular deck, while others may not give you the clarity you want. Eventually, you’ll figure out what approaches give you the best results.
Enjoy the journey.
I get this question at every event where I vend. It also comes up regularly when I tell people I run a business selling independently produced tarot and oracle decks. It’s one of my favorite questions to answer – I love demystifying divination. If you’re interested in learning to read cards but feel like you don’t know where to start, this is a good place.
The main difference between tarot and oracle cards: structure
Tarot cards follow a specific system. A full deck includes 78 cards, divided into the Major Arcana and Minor Arcana. The Major Arcana, numbered 0-21, follow the Fool’s Journey – these cards reflect archetypes and significant points in our lives. The Magician, the High Priestess, Death… you may recognize these cards from different cultural references. The Minor Arcana has four suits, like playing cards, typically associated with the elements. In addition to cards numbered 1-10, each suit includes four court cards, which typically correspond to people and personality traits in a reading.
Oracle cards, on the other hand, don’t follow a set system or structure. The artist may choose to draw any number of cards, focusing on a specific theme or keywords they find meaningful. Oracle cards typically have a card name or keywords printed directly on them to guide your interpretation.
Is one system better than the other?
One system may be better for YOU as a reader. That’s the only criteria that matters. Some people can comfortably work with either type of deck, others strongly prefer one over the other. If you get clear messages from a deck, go with it. Period.
Common variations in tarot
The tarot suits usually align to the four elements, but different decks may use different names:
The court card names may also vary. Some decks rename the cards to remove traditional gender associations, while others maintain two male and two female court cards:
The court cards typically reflect a progression, with the pages as beginners, just starting the journey and kings as leaders or mentors who have mastered a particular skill or domain. The Fortuna Tarot, pictured here, renames the Earth suit to Talismans and uses the names Princess and Prince instead of Page and Knight for the court cards.
Some of the cards in the Major Arcana may also get new names: The World may be renamed the Universe, Temperance is sometimes called Alchemy, some decks refer to the Wheel of Fortune as Fate.
Examples of oracle decks
Oracle decks offer artists more creative leeway, as they don’t conform to any set system or number of cards. A deck creator may opt to draw 47 cards featuring different crystals, the 28 days of the moon’s cycle, 55 goddesses, or cards aligned to any number of keywords. The Inner Star Oracle, pictured here, has simple messages printed on each card, paired with designs featuring sacred geometry.
What about guidebooks?
Some decks come with guidebooks, some don’t. Because tarot decks follow a common structure, most general tarot books offer relevant guidance on how to interpret the cards. As oracle decks are all unique, if your deck doesn’t come with a guidebook, you’ll have to rely on your intuition -- which isn’t a bad thing.
In general, Tarot tends to work better for readers who like system and structure, where oracle decks are great for those who are more flexible. Again, plenty of readers are able to use the two together in ways to beautifully complement one another. Pick up a deck, draw a few cards and have fun figuring out what works best for you.
]]>A lot of different factors drive deck production costs, which ultimately influence sale prices:
Bigger or more cards? More materials = more cost. Fewer or smaller cards may translate to lower costs. Expect to pay more for a standard-sized 78-card tarot deck than you would for a 44-card oracle deck with the same size cards, with comparable stock and packaging. Card shape can influence costs, too – standard sizes are easier to print without equipment changes, where other sizes and shapes can require custom cutting which – you guessed it – drives up the price. Round or square decks are a great example.
Different card stocks have different weights – and prices. Paper is often described in terms of GSM, or grams per square meter. It’s exactly what it sounds like: how many grams does a square meter of a particular paper stock weigh? The heavier the weight, the denser or thicker the card stock. Cards may also have a core, or middle layer, which prevents light from passing through them. Most indie tarot and oracle decks range from 300 GSM (lightweight cards) to 400 GSM (heavier cards) though some decks, like the Cosmic Whisper Rune deck, fuse multiple layers together to create thicker cards – Cosmic Whisper cards are a whopping 1000 GSM and feel like cardboard.
Paper sources influence price too. Using recycled or FSC-certified paper can increase costs.
In general, the more colors used, the higher printing costs go. Black and white or two-color printing costs less than full-color (also known as four-color). Beyond simply taking more ink to produce, it’s more challenging for printers to ensure all color reproduces correctly in a four-color process. Special inks, like metallics or foil, and gilded edges also add cost and complexity.
Finally, coatings that protect cards and make them easier to shuffle factor into cost. Matte laminate or anti-scratch coating is a popular choice. It may increase cost, but coated cards will last longer and suffer less wear and tear.
Let’s start with the box. You’ve got your basic tuck box, two-piece rigid box, two-piece rigid box with thumb cutouts, clamshell box, magnetic closure book-style box, wooden box, oversized box designed to hold a large guidebook and split the cards into separate compartments… Some deck creators opt to skip a box entirely and go with a canvas or velvet bag, or even a tin.
Square decks usually come in square boxes. Round decks may come in a square box with some sort of special insert to keep the cards in place. Again: more materials = higher cost. Details like printing on the inside of the box or foil accents can also add costs. Beyond that, most deck makers choose to have decks shrink-wrapped in plastic. While this can protect the deck (and typically signals to buyers they are getting a new deck), there’s also a price for this option.
Some decks come with no guidebook. Others have a simple fold-out sheet with a few keywords, or a card or two listing interpretations for each card. Maybe there’s a PDF guidebook with a QR code inside the box or a postcard with a download link included with each deck. For decks with more detailed guidebooks, size and binding drive cost – is the guidebook stapled or perfect-bound? Full color or black and white? Does it fit in the box, or is it oversized? Paperback or hardcover? More detailed guidebooks = more expensive decks.
Some deck creators opt to manage all aspects of creation themselves. Others may hire outside resources to complete some of the work:
These add costs – but can also ensure a better product.
Printers offer price breaks for higher volume/larger orders. While the total goes up for printing more decks, the cost per deck decreases. Not everyone can afford the initial outlay for 5000 decks as opposed to 500. Let’s do some math: based on current prices on MakePlayingCards.com, the per unit price for 1,000 78-card standard tarot-sized decks on S30 stock with a rigid two-piece box is $8.21. Increase the volume to 10,000 and the unit price drops to $4.66 - but it’s $46,600 up front as opposed to $8,210.
Storage space is a concern as well – do you have room in your home for pallets of decks? Great. Live in a 500 square foot apartment? Maybe not. In that case, you may have to rent a storage unit – which costs money, as does transportation back and forth to the unit to pick up decks. Mass market decks cost less because publishers buy in volume. They have huge warehouses and fulfillment centers dedicated to storage.
I hope this helps you better understand deck pricing and costs (and see that most indie deck creators are not trying to rip you off by charging more for their decks than their mass market brethren).
]]>The Tower represents massive shakeups—often forceful and unexpected. Those moments when we feel as though the world is falling apart around us? That's the energy of the Tower at work. It can feel raw and electric, like the lightning strike typically pictured in this card.
But lightning brings clarity: in that bright light, everything comes into sharp contrast, even if only for a few seconds. Numbered 16, the Tower reduces to the number seven… like the other sevens in the tarot, it's about assessment, evaluation, and seeing through illusions or deception to be able to choose the best course of action. When the Tower turns up, it's time to seriously consider what's beneath the surface and reevaluate your path.
In the chaos of dramatic change, it's often difficult to see the Tower as an agent of purification. But once we can clearly see the false beliefs, outdated structures, and unhealthy relationships that have been holding us back, there's a beautiful potential for a fresh start.
Use this spread to explore what obstacles have been removed and uncover the opportunities for rebuilding on a true foundation as you move forward.
Broken into two parts, the four cards that represent the Tower look at the structures being called into question, why they're being torn down now, how you can cope with the change, and the overall lesson to be learned. The second group of cards, representing the lightning strike, looks at how you can best take advantage of the clean slate you've been given.
Once upon a time in 2015 when my marketing career was feeling stagnant and I wanted to learn something new that could help me both personally and professionally, I decided I wanted to launch an ecommerce website. (I learn by doing, so this seemed like a reasonable action). But I didn't just want to sell stuff - I wanted to feel like I was helping people somehow.
I'd been drawing a daily tarot card for several years at that point, tarot was an important part of my personal growth. By then I'd also started collecting decks - I appreciated the way different images helped me see different stories and messages in the cards. I decided to offer tarot readings - that's how I would help people. Online readings would be the focal point for my website.
Then a funny thing happened...
I started doing readings at local psychic fairs. A lot of them were slow, so the readers would swap readings. I had started working with indie decks by then: decks most of the other readers had never seen. We'd talk about the decks, where I got them, the artwork, the gorgeous packaging, the unique takes on different cards and... I realized that I liked talking about different decks and helping people connect with decks they loved way more than I enjoyed doing readings.
The entire concept for my business shifted. I wanted to sell indie decks. But it wasn't just about selling decks: I was helping readers find the decks that really resonated with them and helping indie creators connect with a broader audience. Still ticked my "helping people" box.
I started reaching out to some of the indie deck creators whose work I loved to see if they offered wholesale. Claire from Black and the Moon, James R. Eads, the makers of The Fountain Tarot, Skullgarden and Amy from This Lavish Earth all said yes. I will forever be grateful to them for trusting me with their amazing creations.
Since my start in 2016, I've expanded my shop to include many more magical decks from around the world. At one point, I added some spread cloths and crystal grids from a major magical supply house and while people liked them and they sold? They didn't feel right. That helped me realize that the "connecting indie artists and makers with their people" component is always going to be a crucial part of my shop. I've added jewelry, spread cloths, deck bags, boxes, candles, and other magickal tools over the years. At some point, when I open a larger brick and mortar location, I'll add more and take joy in continuing to help people connect with the unique tools that make them feel most magical.
When you have the right tools, you trust them. Better that that: you trust yourself. You become a more confident reader, storyteller, healer, magician. You dream bigger. You speak bolder things into existence.
I'm here to help you unlock that energy. Let's go find your deck.
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