Welcome to my 52nd edition of the Tarot Blog Hop, where we cover all kinds of topics from musicals to horror, and all the in-between. If you haven't read or hopped before then why not check out this post and find out more. 

Our wrangler for this turn of the wheel is me, and I thought up this little ditty for us to consider:

 What does the summer solstice symbolise?

The Summer solstice represents the transition from action to nourishment, which is exactly what the Sun gives us during the long nights of summer, both to our actual crops but also to the continual journey we travel from darkness to light.

With this in mind it's time to shuffle your best tarot deck, adorn yourself in Soltice regalia, and raise a glass as we explore the topic below...

Topic: Transitions

There are two paths that you may wish to take with this blog hop.

Path One: Action to Nourishment

In your experience of working on yourself or with others, how do you see the Tarot work you are doing nourishing or encouraging change through action, or do you find that there is inaction, where nothing changes by the time the next reading comes around.

Path Two: Darkness to Light

The power of the Tarot is well known for its tranformative and healing properties. It seems to lift burdens and bring joy where there wasn't any before. Therefore, how has Tarot helped to transform you, or your clients.

As always with these adventures, you may take parts of these themes and run with them in your own way, or within the concept of the topic, Transitions, you may have come up with something entirely unqiue.

Gerd B. Ziegler, wrote in her book Your Tarot, Your Way "The Major Arcana cards represent major events in your life..." 

This wasn't a concept that I had considered until I read that statement. Which, then got me thinking about the Tarot Legend of the Fool's Journey. If it’s not something that you are not familiar with, then in brief the story explains the patterns, numerological sequences, and meanings of each card.

In the first part of this Solstice blog hop, I am going to explore a few different spreads that can be used for Solstice work, these are: Three variations of the Single Card: The Single Draw, The Birth Card, and finally The Card of the Year. We’ll also explore how to tweak the Card of the Year, to look at the Day, Week, or Month ahead. 

Finally, I will explore a Solstice specific spread, incorporating the Zombie Tarot, Influence of the Angels, and Witches Wisdom Oracle. 

So, let’s get started, by firstly exploring some spreads.

So, picture this its Glasgow 1991, there I was with my favourite deck in one hand, and projector at the other side, and I launched into it, this single card spread that I had never met before...

That's right, my first introduction to the concept of the Single Card Spread, was around the age of 16/17. As memory services, and it was part of a job interview fir a company in the city. 

They asked me to do a skills test, which meant I had to stand in front of a large crowd and do live Tarot readings. Being totally honest here, until that evening, I had never done platform in any capacity before. 

All I recall outside of the sheer terror, was the person in charge of proceedings, basically said, stand here, put the card in there to show it on the screen and do what you do. That was all the assurance I was given; other than the whole it’ll be easy speech... 

… Thrown in front of a crowd, where there must have been around 30 - 50 people, use this small projector at the side of me, to display the card selected. Simple right? 

Looking back on this, it was don't get me wrong; however, when you’re a complete newbie and couldn't even work the projector properly without being shown, it didn't feel like it...

The Single Card Spread...

The single card spread doesn't use the full 78 cards, it only makes use of the 22 Major Arcana, which as you'll remember from the start of this post, deals with major life events and experiences.

Start with a Shuffle...

It may sound daft, but it is wise to give the Major Arcana a shuffle before you start working with it, otherwise there is a chance that you'll end up working with a deck in its chronological order, plus if it has been used for readings and spreads, the previous energies may still be present...

Okay now, discard the very first one from the pile, and decide on a number between the range of 1 and 22.

Deal out that number, and as soon as you reach it, turn the card over and begin the reading.

Variations on a Theme

It’s not that much of a secret, I am a closest fan both of Cairo Marchetti and Barbra Moore, ever since I picked up the Gilded Tarot, which is also part of the Easy Tarot: Learn to Read the Cards Once and for All! by Ciro Marchetti and Josephine Ellershaw.

The following on from the single card spread, Barbara Moore's Your Tarot, Your Way, has some suggestions on how to amend the spread, to look at the Birth Card and the Card of the Year. So, let’s explore these for a moment.

Follow the same formula above for the Single Card Draw, as both variations below are based on this format.

Single Card Draw: Birth Card 

This spread uses the 22 Major Arcana and has links to some of the principles from Numerology. Where the full birth date is reduced into a single numerical value, for Day, Month, Year or Month, Day, Year for the USA.

Single Digits and Grouped Pairs

While there are connections between Numerology, Astrology, and Tarot; the purpose of the single card draws is to keep things simple. In this variation of the Single Card Spread, each aspect of the birth data is reduced to a single value between 1 & 9, in most cases there will be two cards. Although in exceptional circumstances there can be a single card or a group of three cards depending on how the numbers from the birth data work out.

Card of the Year 

The variation makes use of the same principles from Numerology, which are to reduce the numeric value from the year data into a single value.

Remember to follow the same Single Draw formula as before, and again focus only on the 22 Major Arcana. This spread is focused on the themes and patterns that may play out in the year ahead.

Singular Focus

Whereas the Birth card gave pairs or in some cases individual or a group of three cards, this variation will produce only a single card, based upon the data used.

The spread uses similar information, in that it requires Day, Month, and Year or Month, Day, and Year. However, in place of the birth year it is the current year that is used. Which, at the time of publishing would be 2023.