Lunarcana

· DESIGNING SPREADS ·

Designing Your Own Spreads

From using the catalogue to making one on the spot for a single question.

The twenty-eight spreads in the catalogue are a starting point, not the destination. If you keep pushing the same "relationship spread" onto "does he still love me" and "should I change jobs" and "how do I talk to my parents," the shell stops fitting the question — the seams pull in the wrong places. A good spread is not universal; it is tailored, in the moment, for a specific situation — a coat cut for one body, not off the rack.

This page breaks the design process into learnable pieces. First the grammatical elements (how many positions, what each does, how they relate). Then five basic structures (linear time, decision tree, three-dimensional, relationship dual, mandala radial). Then the art of naming positions (avoiding predictive language, avoiding third-party minds). And finally a workshop where we design a six-position spread for an actual decision, live.

Grammatical Elements

Every spread — from a one-card draw to a 21-card Celtic monster — decomposes into three design dimensions. Separate them, and spread-making shifts from an inspiration game to a craft.

· How many positions ·

The bluntest dimension, and the one that sets the reading's tempo. A single card forces maximum compression; three cards form the smallest story; five to seven allow complex angles; nine or more require you to read in groups, or attention dilutes. One honest rule: position count is not depth. A three-card spread journaled across three honest paragraphs is deeper than a twelve-card spread half-read.

· What each position does ·

Assign every position a single clear job you can name in one sentence — "the current situation," "the obstacle you have not yet named," "the invitation in the next step." A common mistake is to pick poetic names that even you cannot quite unpack later. Prefer plain over pretty.

· How positions relate ·

The shape itself is syntax. Linear means story; parallel means compare; diagonal means tension; a centre with spokes means integration. Putting two cards side by side tells the reader to read them together; putting two across from each other says there is a tension between them worth seeing. Shape speaks — you are only borrowing its voice.

Five Basic Structures

However complex a spread you eventually design, it will almost certainly reduce to one — or a composition — of the following five shapes. Mastering these five is like learning a small syntactic library.

Linear time — three positions on a horizontal axis

Linear Time

Three or more positions arranged left to right, forming a timeline. Past / Present / Future is only one rendering — you can rename it Seed / Current / Harvest, Cause / Event / Aftermath, Last Year's You / This Year's You / Next Year's You. It shines for retrospection and turning-point questions. Caveat: the "future" slot is not prediction; it is "what grows out of present conditions if they continue."

· Example ·

Seed · Current situation · Tone of the next three months

"Where did this relationship start, where is it now, what tone does the next season carry?"

Decision tree — two options beneath a central question

Decision Tree

One card for each option (two or three), plus one card above or at the centre for "what you are really asking about." The triangle geometry insists all three be read together — no single card is enough to decide on. Perfect for "stay or leave," "grad school or job," "now or wait." A sharper version adds one "cost" card under each option, giving you a six-card decision map.

· Example ·

Cost of staying · Cost of leaving · What I actually want

"Should I stay another six months in this role?"

Three-dimensional — three stacked layers of the same moment

Three-Dimensional

Three cards stacked (vertically or horizontally) each representing a dimension — body / mind / spirit, or thought / feeling / action, or past wound / current pattern / future potential. It does not care about time; it cares about layers of the same moment. Ideal for "why am I stuck" kinds of questions that need diagnosis in several registers at once. Choosing the three dimensions is itself an act of framing — which is much of the therapeutic value of the structure.

· Example ·

What my body is saying · What my feelings are saying · What my intuition is saying

"Where is this stretch of fatigue coming from?"

Relationship dual — two parallel columns read across

Relationship Dual

Two people, one column each, read across. Common widths are 3+3 (brief), 4+4 (medium), 6+6 (long). The key design rule: each pair of positions must be equivalent and read across — "what I hope for" mirrors "what they hope for," "what I can give" mirrors "what they can give." Do not include a "what they are really thinking" position — tarot cannot do that, and the attempt crosses a boundary. "What I feel coming from them" is fair — it is your own internal experience, which tarot can read.

· Example ·

What I hope for · What I can give · What I feel from you · What you hope for · What you can give · What you feel from me

"What are we actually offering each other in this relationship?"

Mandala radial — core at centre, four positions around

Mandala Radial

One card at the centre for the core theme, with four / six / eight cards arranged around it — each radial position representing a direction, element, or dimension. Best suited to integration work — a birthday self-review, a year-end retrospective, a life-stage threshold. Unlike linear structures, a mandala has no "next step"; it invites you to see all dimensions at once. Readers often finish with a map of their current inner terrain rather than an answer.

· Example ·

The core question · North: mind · East: vision · South: passion · West: feeling

"On the threshold of turning 35, what am I being asked to see?"

The Art of Naming Positions

Position names are the most overlooked, and most consequential, detail of a spread. A bad name ("Future," "Answer," "Destiny") makes any card drawn into it read as prediction. A good name ("the tone of the next three months," "what you need to notice," "the most stubborn pattern") pulls the reader into reflection instead.

Three principles hold. **Avoid predictive language** — replace "Future" with "what present conditions extend into," replace "what will happen" with "what is being asked of you." **Do not ventriloquise third parties** — never place a "what they are really thinking" position; tarot cannot do that. You can swap it for "what you are sensing from them." **Leave a mirror** — however short the spread, include one position that points back at the reader: "what you are bringing into this situation."

Avoid
Prefer
Why
Future
Tone of the next three months
Collapses open prediction into "the direction current conditions extend into"
Answer
What you need to notice
Swaps "told from outside" for "awakened from inside" — tarot is good at the latter
What they are really thinking
What you are sensing from them
Third-party mind is off-limits to tarot; your own perception is not
Will it succeed
What this path is asking of you
Prediction → reflection — gives agency back to the reader
Fate
The most stubborn pattern
De-fatalises. Replaces "inevitable" with "visible and movable"

Workshop: Designing for a Real Question

A live demo. Suppose you have received a job offer — the compensation is better than your current role, but you are uncertain about the new team's culture, and your current role sits in the aftermath of a reorg that disappointed you. An off-the-shelf three-card timeline is too coarse; "stay or leave" is neither a simple yes/no nor a single-line story. We will design a six-position spread for this specific question.

  1. Step 1 · State what you are actually asking

    Write the situation as one sentence you can ask yourself. Aim for specific, not elegant.

    The real question is not "take the offer or not" but "what do I actually need right now, and which of these two roles sits closer to that need?"

  2. Step 2 · Choose a structure and position count

    Pick a structure based on how many dimensions you want to see. Binary choice → decision tree or dual column; body/mind/spirit → three-dimensional; long integration → mandala.

    This is a binary decision with costs on each side plus a personal need, so: dual column (3+3) with one central anchor card for the need. Six in total.

  3. Step 3 · Give each position a one-sentence job

    Each position gets one sentence saying what it answers. If you cannot write the sentence, cut the position.

    "What staying gives," "what staying costs," "what leaving gives," "what leaving costs," "my deepest need right now," "next step."

  4. Step 4 · Audit the names for predictive or third-party leaks

    Read the position names aloud. Anywhere the words "will," "they" (for absent parties), or "when" appear, rewrite.

    "What will happen if I stay" → "what staying gives me." "What the culture is like" → "what I am sensing from the new team."

  5. Step 5 · Sketch the shape and test-draw once

    Draw the geometry on paper (or on a custom spread canvas if one exists in Lunarcana). Then draw a sample round with current feelings to see whether reading it flows.

    Two cards on the left (staying), two on the right (leaving), a central column of two (need → next step). Gold anchor line through the middle.

· Final layout ·

  1. What staying gives me
  2. What leaving gives me
  3. My deepest need right now
  4. What staying costs me
  5. What leaving costs me
  6. Next step

Six cards — two columns with a central axis. Read the central "deepest need" first to set tone; then read the two columns side by side, comparing what each path gives and costs; end with "next step" as the single sentence that collapses the previous five into action. This spread exists only for this decision — the next one will need its own.

Borrow From the Catalogue

If you are not ready to design yet, pick one from the site's twenty-eight existing spreads. Each carries position descriptions, difficulty, and suited occasions — and you will notice most of them reduce to one of the five basic shapes above.

Browse the catalogue

Later: Community Sharing

This entry point is pedagogy for now. A future version may allow readers to save and publish their own spreads so others can use them — if you want to see this, say so in the FAQ.