As predicted, I have spent the day testing my new Gypsy deck in various types of spreads, from traditional Oracle and ZWK spreads to Tarot layouts.
I provided a test reading for somebody earlier, and their question involved a timeline spread, using the cards as an indicator of when something is likely to happen. Of course, this employs the cards as a fortune-telling aid as opposed to a tool for enlightenment, but I do enjoy both types of reading. I was curious about how the deck could be used in this way.
Earlier this month, I stumbled across this spread (the link is here) on Mary K Greer's Tarot Blog, an old - and almost forgotten - Yes/No Advice Oracle. Using this as my inspiration, I removed all the cards pertaining to romance from the deck (the question was about love), and set Lover to one side.
Next, I shuffled the remaining cards and chose four at random. I shuffled these, together with the Lover, and dealt the cards in a row:
Card One: The Next Month
Card Two: The Next Three Months
Card Three: The Next Six Months
Card Four: The Next Year
Card Five: Over A Year From Now
I then used position of the Lover to determine the timeframe. Example: If it was the third card drawn, you could expect love in the next six months. Then I interpreted the surrounding cards to clarify the situation.
You could use this spread for a lot of situations, such as finance and work (use Money, removing Fortune and Some Money from the deck), or awaited news (using Letter and removing Message). Of course, like Yes/No spreads, some say timeline spreads are too deterministic - but they certainly are fun to try.
