Another spread that can be used is that of the reversed pyramid. It is rather intuitive and not especially complicated. The base of the pyramid can be any number of cards, usually 4, 5, 6 or 7. I usually limit myself to 4 or 5. You can allot the first row to the past, the second to the present and the subsequent ones to the future, or you can just see what comes up. Usually, this spread is good for exploring topics (“tell me about my love life”) before using a row of cards to answer more specific questions. It can also be used without a question. The tip of the pyramid, i.e., the last three cards, is usually read together, but be flexible.
If you have questions about a particular row of cards, you can still either fan out the deck and choose three cards at random to clarify it, or shuffle the deck and draw three cards from the top. Either way, don’t abuse clarification cards. Sometimes we understand something perfectly well. We are just not willing to accept it. What follows are two examples, one with a 10 card pyramid and one with a 15 card one. Lay out the cards and follow along. Strive to come up with your interpretation before reading mine.
Example of 10 card pyramid
The querent asked if his marriage, which was hitting the rocks, was salvageable. The cards were
A♦R + Q♥R + A♠ + 8♠
7♠ + 3♣ + 2♥R
10♥R + 2♠
7♦
The first row speaks quite obviously of the discovery of some form of negative behavior on the part of the woman, which led to sorrow, strife and jealousy. She was probably cheating on him, which he confirmed.
The second row shows either the immediate past or immediate future, usually. There is an abrupt move away from a house he doesn’t like anymore.
The third row shows that there won’t be a continuation of the marriage and that the situation is waning. The spread ends with the Child, which shows new situations, a new life, a new love story. A few days after the reading, the querent left the house after an argument and they divorced some time later. He is now with a different woman.
Example of a 15 card pyramid
A querent asked a general fortune. Here were the cards:
Q♦ + 2♥R + K♥ + 5♦ + Q♣R
2♦ + K♠ + 8♣ + 4♦
J♥ + 9♥ + 6♣R
A♥ + 10♥
4♥
The first line clearly speaks of family matters. There’s a married couple in the family, probably her parents, who make life difficult for her. They likely don’t get along together (they are connected by the reversed House card). The mother is probably more at fault than the father. All this creates sadness and melancholy in the querent, showing up as the Q♣ reversed, which emphasizes her sense of helplessness.
The second row speaks of some communication or document concerning a legal or bureaucratic practice that will arrive. The thing will resolve itself (8♣) but it won’t be very satisfactory (4♦). What ended up happening was that quite soon after the reading (the second line shows the present or near future) the querent received her tax return documents, which showed all was in order but she would receive less money in deductions than she expected.
The following line shows that the girl will enter a rough patch with her boyfriend due to growing apart with him and not finding common interests (6♣R). However, the following lines show that they will talk at length (A♥ + 10♥) and will rekindle their relationship.
Note: due to formatting, it looks like the cards are laid out in a right triangle. In reality it is an inverted pyramid. It doesn’t really change anything, but I thought I’d let you know.
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Thankyou the spread is a different way to look at it also when using reverse cards what is the best way to shuffle them to get a good mix of cards
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Hi Graham,
thanks. As far as reversing cards is concerned, I’m going to write a post about it in the future. That being said, you can use any method you like, but it would be better to be consistent. You can smoosh the cards face down on the table, for instance. You will get a lot of reversals, but a reversed card isn’t necessarily bad. Or you can even not reverse them at all. If a card needs to show up reversed, it will. You can, for instance, not pay too much attention to how you gather up the cards after a spread.
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Thankyou for your reply
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