On the previous page, I discussed and demonstrated the single card spread, on this page the first of the two new single card spreads are discussed, both of which can be found in Your Tarot, Your Way by Barbra Moore.

The Birth Card Spread is the first of the new spreads that I have been introduced to. On this page I am going to take a look at the spread with a little more depth.

Before You Begin...

To do this spread effectively, you will need the following:

- A Deck of Tarot Cards

- A Journal to Make Notes

- Time to Practice

Step 1: Divide the Cards

• Take your chosen Tarot Cards, and seperate the Major and Minor Decks. 

The Major Arcana have 22 cards, if you are not certain which is the major and minor, here is a good rule of thumb to go by:

- Major Deck: 22 cards starting with The Fool and ends with The World.

- Minor Deck: 56 cards featuring Ace to King in Cups, Wands, Swords, and Pentacles.

Step 2: Shuffle the Major and Discard the Minor

• Discard the Minor 56 Deck and Shuffle the 22 Major Deck

Shuffling is important for a few reasons:,

- It mixes the cards together to prevent them being in chronological numerical order, this is a purely practical reason, but it is functional and effective.

- Clears the energy from any previous card reading sessions. It is important for the cards to be clear of any influences, as you want a clear channel and a clear reading.

- Gives you time to set an intention and connect with the deck. It is important to connect with the deck, you are looking for an answer either for yourself or another, without an intention or connection, the cards will be aimless, and you'll not get a good result.

Step 3: Preparing to do the Single Card Spread

• Birth Data: Adding Day, Month, and Year

1. Begin by adding the digits.

Add your date, month and year together, let's use the date I wrote this as our working example: 05/01/2022, as a mathmatic sum it looks like this: 

0+5+0+1+2+0+2+2 = 12

The answer is above 9, so add the digits together, which as a mathematical sum would look like this:

1+2=3

The final answer should be a single digit between 1 & 9.

2. Finding the Corresponding Card.

In the Birth Card Spread, the final card between 1 & 9 has a buddy or corresponding card. In certain circumstances there may be two cards.

However, in our working example above, we have 12 and 3. Unlike the Single Card Draw from the previous page, its not the third and twelfth card from the shuffle, but rather the third and twelfth card in chronological order (see below).

3. The Major Arcana List

01/10: Magician/Wheel of Fortune

02/11: High Priestess/Justice

03/12: Empress/Hanged Man

04/13: Emperor/Death

05/14: Hierophant/Temperance

06/15: Lovers/Devil

07/16: Chariot/Tower

08/17: Strength/Star

09/18: Hermit/Moon

01/10/19: Magician/Wheel of Fortune/Sun

02/20: High Priestess/Judgement

03/21: Empress/World

0 - The Fool: If you have a situation where there is no corresponding card, for example your data adds up to 22 and above, then your buddy or corresponding card should be the fool.

The following is a demonstration of the Single Card Spread, it is using Llewellyn Classic Tarot, which is part of Your Tarot, Your Way.

In Practice: The Birth Card Spread

To begin with the cards have been seperated into their Major and Minor decks, the Major deck has been shuffled.

1. The cards have been divided into Major and Minor decks.

2. The Major Deck has been shuffled, to clear the energy.

3. I have worked out my Birth data, and the final answer is 31. Which works out to be 4 (3+1), there is no corresponding card to 31, this means that I would use The Fool.

Note: The images of The Fool and Emperor are from Llewellyn Classic Tarot, which is featured as part of Your Tarot, Your Way.

The last part of single card spreads is 'reading' or interpreting the card itself. There are a few ways in which you can decide to this, if you are just starting out then you can learn from the book which came with the deck itself. 

There is nothing wrong with this in the slightest, the one important thing to keep in mind is that the interpretation is from that authors understanding, you may find another author has a different idea of the cards mean to them.

Sometimes the only way to learn is by collating meaning from different authors and bringing them together. I've had a very interesting upbringing where Tarot is concerned. I'm self taught, and only decided to do Tarot Courses, in later life out of either interest or necessity.

In any case, for the purposes of this practical demonstration of the card reading, I will talk about it from my understanding, and through later posts in Tarot Playtime, I'll aim to introduce you to my understanding of what the cards from both decks mean.

Birth Card Reading: The Fool and Emperor

The Fool is about beginnings, as well as naivity or innocence. It can be a card that represents being foolhardy or having a devil-may-care type of outlook, where there is an unwillingness to face the consequences.

The Emperor on the other hand, is about duty, responsibility, and leadership. It is being placed in charge or being forced to take charge, whether its wanted or not.

Within the context of the Birth Card Spread, these cards represent both my outward appearance, that is what I show the world, and also my inward or private appearance.

The Emperor is how I appear, in control and in charge, I have drive and energy to get things done, whereas inwardly I tend to go through stages of starting again and in many ways I approach the world with child like wonder and innocence, but the one thing I am not is a fool.

Where I am right now is both Emperor and Fool, as I have choices to make that will lead me into a position of having to start again from scratch when I am ready.