Saturday, June 19, 2010

Why Three-Card Spreads Get a Bad Rep

I am always surprised by people, sometimes by their generosity, sometimes by their out-and-out rudeness, and sometimes by their kindness. What really surprised me the other month, however, was a potential client's negative reaction to the three-card spread that I usually do at events.

"How much information can someone really get from a three-card spread?" she complained to me.

Hence the title and impetus for this post.

In my experience, three-card spreads are some of the most difficult readings to do. I only offer them during short events, such as carnivals, fairs, etc. because it allows me to read for more people and not have people waiting for a reading for too long. When I do a Celtic Cross spread for someone, they are usually sitting with me for forty-five minutes to an hour. Not an ideal time frame when at a carnival! Three-card spreads are difficult for me because you're reading for someone with a very limited amount of cards. There's only three cards... so intuiting a situation and its possible outcomes becomes more of a challenge when there are only three positions in the spread: past, present, and future. Some tarot readers do three-card readings with no positions defined as well, making the reading that much more challenging, in my opinion!

I liken to calling a three-card spread a "snapshot" spread—a very good reading to have to know if your life patterns are on the "right" track, so to speak.

So, some of you might be wondering what my answer was to this woman who asked, "How much information can you get from three cards?" My answer: "a heck of a lot!" My unsaid answer: "It's just a lot more work for the reader!"

I think different spreads have different uses, depending on the situation. All I know is three-card spreads work for me in a carnival setting... and I've never had a complaint until last month after doing them for five years at carnivals! I say to each their own.

2 comments:

  1. "How much information can someone get from a three-card reading?" Jesus, lady. That's three times as much information as you'd get from a Tweet or FB status update. So blow me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think being a reader and hearing that question being asked of another reader elicits a "wtf" response :)

    ReplyDelete