Tarot Spread: From Point A to Point B
An 11-card layout for transitions
Recently, a querent asked me about ending one phase of their life in order to start the next.
The standard 5-card cross shows the past influences on the left and the future for which you should prepare is on the right.
For my quick & dirty block buster readings, I tend to use a simple but comprehensive intuitive spread, the standard five-card cross. This tried and true favorite can show the past influences (2) and future expectations (3) around a central topic (1), as well as the underlying concerns or hidden agendas (4) and the overriding area of necessary focus (5). I provide some exercises for practicing it in the Forecasting My Life Line challenge and workbook.
When moving from a potentially messy Point A to a potentially messy Point B, a five-card cross didn’t seem enough. I started to do two crosses, but that felt like two separate readings, so I decided to merge them, and goodness but was that powerful. The merging point turned out to be a new central card (3): a merging point where the future of Point A becomes the past of Point B.
Having a five-card line in the center (2–1–3–9–6) provides additional wisdom through a five-card sentence, as I use in my Life Line Tarot spread and my Tarot Tableau method. But it seemed unfinished. After all, the central transition point couldn’t be the only bridge linking the two events. That would put too much emphasis on the unilateral progression of time, and I didn’t want such a heavy forward march.
So I added a bridge above (11) and a bridge below (10).
The full 11-card spread featuring both 5-card crosses with another bigger-picture view and higher-perspective 5-card cross.
This really empowered the spread to be so much more because it allowed for a glimpse into what really needs attention, what’s buried deep beneath the rationale for both ending the one phase and starting the other (10). And that’s because we often look to think of our underlying motivations or the work to understand our emotional baggage in terms of discreet events rather than as part of a bigger pattern.
That makes sense. Dealing with just the one pressing piece of emotional baggage can be challenging enough. Adding a second and then looking for the real root cause can seem a step too far. But actually acknowledging and working through the root cause (10) will help the process go much more quickly and reduce the need to reopen old wounds. (Emphasis on reduce, not eliminate.)
The card at the top (11) provides the higher perspective that you need keep in mind. The individual ending of the old and the starting of something new each require their own special focus, but if they’re both to be successful and integrated into your life, then it’s good to see the full picture.
Having a card above and below provides more visual symmetry, which some people appreciate, but for me it provides a bigger-picture 5-card cross to keep in mind while making this transition (and perhaps future transitions). There’s the starting place (2) and the further future expectation (6) around the central transition point (3), interpreted differently now from this grander view. And there’s still the below (10) and above (11) to provide opportunities for inner healing and higher focus.
It just gives me all the feels knowing how useful this will be for me and others who enjoy navigating change.
Layout design: If you’re curious why the center of the second cross is card 9 and not card 6, that’s because it felt right as I was pulling the cards. I think it’s easy to think we know the central focus of a future event because we have certain plans—that mentality would suggest a straightforward 3–6–7 pattern. But in reality, so much can happen before we get to that future state that we should be forced to see that gap in our knowledge before filling it in.
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