Poll: Use Established or Your Own Speads?

[Croat]

I sometimes find myself pondering new tarot spreads.  And perhaps this is inevitable?  It seems like intuition and creativity go hand-in-hand, perhaps even build upon each other.  If that is indeed the case, then I suspect I am not the only Tarot enthusiast who at least thinks about creating their own unique Tarot spreads, or even prefers using their own creations above spreads established by others. 

 

How about you?  Are spreads established by others your typical go-to, or do you prefer relying on your own creative Tarot spreads? 

[Raggydoll]

I make my own so that I can get them precisely the way I want them. 

[Chariot]

I now make my own spreads, but I spent years using more accepted spreads, until I got a feel for how spreads work.

I realised that sometimes certain positions in a spread didn't apply to my question at all, while other aspects of the question got glossed over.  So I modified spreads to suit the situation.  And then started creating my own.

I still occasionally use the Celtic Cross, but have altered the meaning of some of the positions.  Position 7 is now "advice for the querent," Position 8 is 'what is outwith the querent's control," and Position 9—which used to be Hopes and Fears—is now "the querent's mindset."
 

Before doing any reading I now ask myself, 'what do I need to know about?' Then I design the spread accordingly.  I have tended, in recent years, to use fewer cards per spread than I used to.  My current spreads usually take no more than 5 cards, and sometimes fewer.  

Edited March 11 by Chariot

[DanielJUK]

I mostly freestyle and use 3 cards, no positions, for my own readings most of the time. However I do sometimes look out for established tarot spreads to use, if they don't fit what I want, I change them or create my own. Spreads with positions are much better for a structured reading. 

 

I very rarely use the traditional tarot spreads, Celtic Cross and others. I just find them a little rigid and complex for modern times. It's not good for a specific question but good for looking into a situation with uncertainty. I would be much more likely to search out a spread on the topic I want to read on. There are some great ones out there 🙂 

[Misterei]

On 3/10/2026 at 11:35 AM, Croat said:

How about you?  Are spreads established by others your typical go-to, or do you prefer relying on your own creative Tarot spreads? 

I use 3 types of spreads

1. my go-to spreads which are based on celtic cross and 7-card V by Gerd Ziegler but I have modified them to suit my style over the years. I often modify celtic cross as per the question at hand.
2. Traditional spreads - game of the hand and French cross. These are traditional historic and I use them as is with Tarocchi or other pip decks. I also have a specialty yes/no spread from the 1950s [?]
3. My own inventions as per the question. Sometimes "open reading"

I occasionally try new spreads invented by other people--but seldom get good results.😒

Also, some spreads seem universal. EVERYONE does: past, present, future, advice. I find many of the spreads created now-a-days are so complicated and woowoo. I think that's why i don't do well with them even tho they are fun to try. Too woo 😝

 

14 hours ago, Chariot said:

... sometimes certain positions in a spread didn't apply to my question at all, while other aspects of the question got glossed over.  So I modified spreads to suit the situation.  And then started creating my own....
I still occasionally use the Celtic Cross, but have altered the meaning of some of the positions.  ...

Celtic cross remains my "go to" spread. But I have modified it to suit my style. And I sometimes modify my modification 😉 depending on the topic. For example I might read past and future positions as "timing cards" rather than as descriptive cards. Various little tricks like that to make a general spread more specific.

[Saturn Celeste]

For my regular readings, I don't use spreads, but here in the circles, I use the suggested spreads, so I voted for the last selection.

[Nemia]

I'm always happy to find clever, creative and inspiring spreads by other people. However, for specific questions, I make my own spreads. Using other people's spreads for years has taught me how spreads work, and I find the whole topic of spreadcrafting is interesting in itself. So definitely - feet in both camps. 

[Natural Mystic Guide]

On 3/11/2026 at 9:43 PM, DanielJUK said:

I very rarely use the traditional tarot spreads, Celtic Cross and others. I just find them a little rigid and complex for modern times.

I completely agree.  I have never resonated with the Celtic Cross -- never used except when studying a book that suggests it.  This goes for other 'traditional' spreads, too.

[Natural Mystic Guide]

On 3/11/2026 at 2:35 AM, Croat said:

Are spreads established by others your typical go-to, or do you prefer relying on your own creative Tarot spreads?

I do both.  I don't use old time traditional spreads like the Celtic Cross, but I love modern spreads that others come up with.  Some are just terrific and I love trying new spread.  Professionally I tend to rely upon my tried and true personal variations of 3-Card readings and my own 4-World reading.  Sometimes I will do a series of 3-Card readings for a client to arrive at what they need.

[DanielJUK]

3 hours ago, Natural Mystic Guide said:

I completely agree.  I have never resonated with the Celtic Cross -- never used except when studying a book that suggests it.  This goes for other 'traditional' spreads, too.

 

Many tarot books from before about 2010, only ever recommended it as a traditional tarot spread. Like getting beginners to use it as soon as they had a basic learning of the cards and there used to be beginners posting on forums and tarot communities stuck on it. It's not a beginners level exercise, it's a much better idea to start with smaller spreads. It takes time and effort to work on it, It was a very rigid idea that this was "the traditional spread" and you use it or all readings. Since 2010, tarot has changed and opened up. There has been a bit of a backlash to the spread since around the 2010's with a lot of younger readers ignoring it entirely. It's interesting to watch it play out, but it became deeply unfashionable. Many tarot folk find it quite heavy and I think that's a great description of it.

 

I was one of those people, I remember the tradition of it in my early tarot studying and I really turned against it. However if you never use it, it's worth reading with it every so often, it has good positions and if you always use it, you should try other spreads and freestyle readings. Shake it up a bit. The thing about the Celtic Cross is that it's an in-depth spread for a complex situation or question. A lot of people use it for a daily reading or general reading and it doesn't fit that too well. So I am of the belief that every spread or no spread has it's place! You just have to use it in the right reading 🙂 .

 

There are some old forum threads discussing the CC and modern day usage....

 

 

It's still the number one spread with readings posted for help in this place