Breaking Down Tarot Spreads into Pairs & Triads
✨ Breaking Apart Spreads ✨ Let the Cards Tell You the Message, Rather than the Spread ✨
In my last post, I demonstrated how I create intuitive spreads on-the-fly. The Eight of Swords spread from this post, in a more complex and fine-tuned form, will post after tarotbyphil and I finish our analysis. There’s so much potential to create something truly special.
Today’s post will show how I break down a typical pyramid spread into an entirely new formation using only intuition and symbology. Where it starts is not where it ends, and it depends entirely on identifying and grouping pairs and triads. The cards slide around one another until the story is revealed - a beginning, middle, and end.
Let’s get into it! To prepare this lesson I shuffled my deck and drew six cards into a upside-down pyramid formation:
I really didn’t have a specific seeker question for this, but to keep me honest, I’ll assign one to focus our interpretations as we work with the spread.
My gut reaction is that this spread should be read top-down - the Ace of Pentacles on the bottom is the “conclusion”, whereas the top and middle rows are supporting cards. We are going to work through each row, then move the cards around to uncover the true narrative. I am not going too deep on the interpretations because the focus of this lesson is the technique itself.
Top Row (Triad):
Don’t I owe a question from our invisible “seeker”? Yes! The Page of Wands, Knight of Pentacles, and Nine of Swords tell a clear story. The seeker really wants move forward in their life! They want movement, but the Knight of Pentacles gives pause on the excitement by reminding the seeker that one must be grounded in its execution. Clearly, the seeker is feeling upset about this - the source isn’t identified just yet, but as we work through this spread we hope to uncover the underlying issue. This the most important card to analyze so far. Noted!
Middle Row (Pair):
Interesting pairing! The Emperor and Six of Cups hold opposing energies, don’t they? My first impression is the feeling of an overbearing parent from childhood - the strict adherence to rules and discipline. What does that do to us as adults when we look to the past and remember this environment? Does it strengthen or weaken us? It there trauma? Do we rise above?
The elemental dignities of fire and water are ill-dignified. The Emperor (fire) suffocates the softer energy of the Six of Cups (water) - wounding, inner-child issues, trauma, and and stifled growth. This is clearly the source of the sorrow.
Bottom Row (Single):
This is a hopeful card, and I love it in this position - a very grounded affirmation that the new thing in our seeker’s wanting to do is supported. Grounded is the keyword here - considering the Nine of Swords’ influence of sorrow, a strong push from the Ace of Pentacles is the swift kick in the ass our seeker needs.
I’m ready to shake this up. It really doesn’t offer any real advice, does it? All cards in the spread interact, even if they don’t land right next to one another. My mind tends to create maps of the relationships as I work with them, and it opens up possibilities. This is how I do it, take notes.
The first shift I make is to push the Ace of Pentacles between the Emperor and Six of Cups to create a new triad. It feels like its the first issue I need to tackle. This triad supports the Nine of Swords directly. Symbolically, I am integrating the stabilizing energy between the two - reassurance that support is abundant despite the echos of the past surfacing.
This next shift is my laser focus on the second grounding energy in this spread - the Knight of Pentacles. I am splitting up the top and bottom row to see what the stabilizing energy of our Knight brings. I’ve now created two new pairs on either side of the Knight. This formation is the most telling due to the direction of the Knight facing the Nine of Swords and Six of Cups.
Behind him, The Emperor pairs with the Page of Wands, and they feel like like a cauldron of heat in their elemental fire energy. They strengthen one another - the Page of Wands needs the order and rigor of the Emperor to focus their efforts.
In front of the Knight of Pentacles, the Nine of Swords and Six of Cups represent the action needed to resolve the seeker’s sorrow. Remember the traumatic pairing of the Emperor and Six of Cups? When we put the Emperor behind the Knight of Pentacles as foundational energy, we see the pairing of Nine of Swords and Six of Cups.
This is the key. It unlocks the spread.
The Emperor, behind the Knight as the dominant fire elemental fuel, seems to push the Knight towards this action. The role of the Emperor shifts to foundational structure and rigidity. The pairing of the Nine of Swords and Six of Cups indicates that the seeker needs to look to the past, most likely childhood and memories, to trace back the source of their sorrow. Resolution is essential to heal their inner world to move forward in life. The Knight of Pentacles says that this is the only way and he will not move forward unless he feels grounded and secure.
This is the last shift, and it offers the support our seeker needs to move out of sorrow. I shifted the Six of Cups and Ace of Pentacles to form a triad for resolution. Let’s address the elemental dignities to determine the most significant cards:
The Nine of Swords (air) and Ace of Pentacles (earth) are ill-dignified. I expected this, as our seeker needs more than just permission and grounding to heal. It lacks mental focus.
The Ace of Pentacles (earth) and Six of Cups (water) are dignified and well-supportive of one another. This is the action the seeker needs - a grounded exploration of their past, giving themselves permission to work through their emotional issues within a stable, supportive framework. This could be therapy or slow, intentional inner work.
This was fascinating, wasn’t it? I dealt this spread with no plan, instead opting for intuitive moves to uncover the seeker’s narrative and ultimate resolution.
If I gave this reading for a real seeker, I’d probably offer to explore the sorrow itself in a secondary spread, but only with their permission. When giving readings discussing sensitive topics can be either triggering or welcoming, depending on the person.
Try this technique and let me know how it goes!
A free 15 minute zoom reading is yours for the taking for anyone posting a summary of their experimental spread.
Fascinating! Thanks for sharing this with us 🙏🏼