this is my magnum opus, a universal spread lending itself to many styles and layers of reading. it's part classic tirage en sept, part 7 sisters as taught by christiana gaudet, and part celtic cross as taught by vincent pitisci.
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7
6 - 4 - 2 - 1 - 3 - 5 - 7
lay out seven cards so that they form an arch, or come to a point in the middle card. traditionally it's done left to right, but i find that if i lay them out starting from the center i can more easily observe the cards as individuals, and get a feel for the composition of the spread - what suit dominates, are there court cards, are there repeats of a certain number etc. that gives some preliminary broad-strokes to the reading.
(for ease of explaining, i'll refer to the cards and their positions as if they were laid out left to right)
operation 1: card counting. start with card 1, count 5 to the right, repeat. chain a narrative from the cards. (it's going to be 1 - 5 - 2 - 6 - 3 - 7 - 4)
operation 2: triads. read the triads 1 - 2 - 3, 5 - 6 - 7, 3 - 4 - 5 in an "open reading" style
operation 3: pairs. read the pairs 1 - 7, 2 - 6, 3 - 5 for extra info, keeping in mind 1, 2, and 3 are earlier and therefore can be considered the past influencing current and future events
the order of these positions is based on the seven sisters, but the type of active advice they offer comes from vincent pitisci. each of these positions can help the querent reframe their issue or come at it from a new angle:
1. past - what's the querent's motivation (for whatever they're asking). is it healthy, would they get better results with a different driving factor? etc
2. present - what is this (whatever they're asking about) to them? are they putting too much weight on it, too little? is it a crutch, or obscuring something real?
3. near future - what are the first steps they need to take to move forward?
4. the querent - their disposition towards the issue, their mental state. could be skewed, might need help seeing it differently
5. strengths and assets - what they could draw on to move forward
6. "timing" - what absolutely needs to get resolved before anything major can happen
7. "outcome"/future - an incoming opportunity to be on the lookout for
of course any of these positions can have good outcomes, they're not all problem areas that need help. you might only want to read the ones that immediately stand out, or let the querent lead - maybe they're more introspective and you can focus on 1, 2, and 4. maybe they're a doer and want to make a plan based on 3, 5, and 6? etc
