It may sound strange to many, but I started creating my own tarot spreads as soon as I got my first tarot deck, when I was a young teen.

Those few years were for me a period of profound existential dread about the passage of time and the inevitability of changes and death; I remember the spread touched on those issues.

There was, to my knowledge, no guide on how to create your own tarot spreads at the time (especially not about the questions I was having), so I just had fun with it and let my common sense guide me.

I remember drawing the spread on a sheet of paper I had stained with coffee grounds to give it a parchment look. It made a nice looking scroll, but I have since lost it.

But what actually is a Tarot spread? To paraphrase Inna Semetsky’s (2006) words, a Tarot spread is “a geometrical area of tangible boundaries that acts as a tangible and psychological container for the tarot reading”. It is the structure that helps contextualize the symbols of the cards and direct the reader’s interpretation process. Without a clear spread, a tarot reading is simply a chaotic mess of unrelated symbols that can take any and no meanings at the same time.

So, why should you create your own tarot spreads when there’s now so many resources available, both paid and free? Well, first is in the case that a spread does not exist to answer your question. Secondly, you may simply have an idea for a spread that you would like to express. Thirdly, creating your own spreads, even if other spreads already exist, allows you to answer your questions in your own unique way. We don’t all understand our problems in the same ways, and as such, the spread that someone uses to answer a similar question that you’re having may not fully resonate with you, or at all. This may also help you feel more connected to your spreads, and facilitate your interpretation of your readings.

It’s been a couple decades since I’ve created my first tarot spread, and I have kept creating my own spreads for almost all of my readings; as you might have guessed, I have a pretty strong DIY ethic and don’t like to just follow other people’s ideas. Throughout the years, I have narrowed down my approach into a 3-parts, funnel-shaped process:

The Right Mindset

But before we jump in, there’s a few things you need to know to facilitate your creative process. First, let go of perfection, and focus on iteration. Try something, then adjust. Then try it again, and adjust it again. Life is not fixed, and a spread that was useful once could not be in a while. Second, if you’re having trouble getting your ideas out, I recommend breaking up your creative process between periods of free creativity, and then periods of review. Our inner critic can be quite strong when we try to do both at the same time. And finally, if you’re like me and hate scratching things off in your beautiful journals, consider brainstorming your ideas on random sheets of paper, and then transpose your finalized spread into your main journal.

So, without further adieu, here’s how to create your own tarot spreads, with examples taken straight out of my own grimoire.

1. Find the Purpose of Your Spread

This is the foundation of your tarot spread, on which you will build the rest. Although this is the broadest, most abstract part of the process, a clear purpose will maximize the efficacy of your spread, the same way that knowing the end recipe of a recipe will help select the most appropriate ingredients for a delicious result.

It might be tempting, but don’t skip this step.

The purpose may be very specific, such as a clear question in itself (e.g.: a spread designed to help find the best career etc), or it can be a framework through which many related or unrelated questions can be answered (e.g.: Celtic Cross).

Here’s a few questions to help you think through this step:

• What is making me want to create a spread?
• What goal am I trying to accomplish with this spread?

Let’s say, for example, that it’s late December and I am thinking about the year to come. Going through the aforementioned questions, I might find a need to clarify the unknowns of the future and make good decisions at the right time. Taking this all together, the purpose of my spread would most likely be to get an actionable overview of the year to come. We will use this as the foundation of the next examples.

2. Break Down Its Parts

You now have a clear purpose for your tarot spread. Perfect! Now is the time to dissect its parts, operationalize it, as the academic and corporate buzzword goes, describing it so it can be both quantified and qualified. Keeping with the “foundations” example above, this would be like assembling the structure, plumbing and electricity of the house.

This is probably one of the most variable parts of this process, as this is where you start establishing the meanings behind each of the card’s positions in your spread. This all comes from your mind.

Here’s a few questions to help you think through this step:

• What are the main parts that describe the goal of my spread?
• What are the steps to reaching the goal of my spread?

Let’s continue with the “actionable overview of the year to come” spread as an example. How do you operationalize the overview of a year? Well, there’s many ways to do that: seasons, quarters, thirds, months, weeks, lunar phases, zodiac, etc. Now, to save space on this page (and out of laziness), I will go with the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter. These are the parts that I have chosen to describe the goal of my spread. Perhaps you might have chosen the 12 months, or the phases of the moon of each month; that’s the beauty of creating your own spread! Now, to reach my goal, I need an actionable overview, so I could add an outwards and inner dimension to each season; what does life hold in store for me, and how can I make the most of each situation.

3. Organize the design

Finally comes the part everyone has in mind when thinking about creating their own tarot spreads; designing the spread itself! This is where we take the parts from the second step (above section), convert them into card positions, and combine them into a visually appealing and meaningful design. Keeping with the “foundations” example of the first step, this last step is the finalization of the house.

Again, be flexible in your creative process, brainstorm and draft a lot before getting attached to a design. The idea here is to create a container for the essence of your spread in the physical world.

Here’s a few questions to help you think through this step:

• What story am I trying to tell with this spread?
• What symbols, lines or shapes best represent my question/the goal of your spread?

Let’s finish the “actionable overview of the year to come” spread example. As mentioned in the previous step, I have chosen to represent the year using the four seasons, and present both an outer and inner dimension for each. Although we experience time (mostly) as linear, it is in fact relative, and can be felt in multiple different ways. Seasons, for example, happen in cycle each year, and vary depending on the region. I will therefore start designing my spread from a circular shape, and work from there.

From this, I have created two main versions of the spread, and two complementary, simplified versions (Feel free to adapt these spreads to your region or conceptions of a year).

Conclusion

Great! Now that you have your own tarot spread (or spreads) designed, it is time to write it down in your favorite tarot journal. One of my biggest regrets, when it comes to my tarot practice, is not using a journal in my early years. So much lot work. Don’t make the same mistake I did. Finally, have fun with this process, and view it as a creative outlet to your tarot practice.

Safe journey

References

Semetsky, I. (2006). Tarot as a projective technique. Spirituality and Health International, 7(4), 187–197. https://doi.org/10.1002/shi.252