This week we will be focusing our attention on the number seven. Seven represents Passion, intensity, and abundance.
This spread pattern is similar in appearance to the six card cross pattern (which I wrote about last week) although it differs in concept. The method is ideal for reading environments where the clients don’t really know what their question is. Its refined form was developed while I was reading in a bar -Employees Only- where it was necessary to determine what the sitter’s needs were, even if they were drunk, or if they really didn’t know. For this spread, I only use the Major Arcana. Its energy is extremely self-contained, and it is ideal for helping people to put their current situations into perspective. This is the most flexible general reading spread that I use.
Prepare for it by separating the 22 major arcana from the rest of the deck, and get into the magickal mindset. This is always the first step. Everyone finds a different way of getting there, but I do it as follows: I visualize the deck as a bowl, ready to receive energy. I empty the bowl of contents, clean it in a waterfall of light, heal any chips or cracks (think kinsugi!) and then I place my felt question, like a spark, into the bowl. I shuffle the deck while visualizing that spark within it, and when it feels right, I stop.
The Octahedron spread has two phases - the Open Phase, in which cards are selected face up, and the Closed Phase - in which cards are dealt face down.
Open Phase:
Tell your sitter that you want them to look at these 22 pictures and touch three of them. You want them to make intuitive choices from their unconscious, not rational choices from their judging minds. I say “Imagine you are tasting wine, beer, or whatever you like to drink. When you see these images, let the art affect you like a flavor, and touch the three cards whose flavor most leaps out at you.” Deal the cards face up onto the table slowly and hold each one upright for a few seconds in front of the sitter before before laying it down on a widely spread heap (see above).
Take the opportunity to watch for how they interpret and carry out this request. Some will just jump on cards with certainty and decision, others will wait for the whole deck to play out and then choose (hence the broadly spread pile).
Some will need you to explain, others will leap in and touch 5 or 6 cards, and you will need to find strategies for getting them down to just three - but this is ultimately no problem.
Some will perform an obvious cost/benefit analysis and choose cards that they think they want - but not the ones that truly draw them. This is a symptom of being “in the head” too much. Encourage them to "migrate your awareness from the head to the heart”, so that they are perceiving from out of their center. Offer them an opportunity to change their selection if they want, but don’t force it.
Some people will refuse the open phase altogether, because they see it as “cheating”. This also tells you about what they expect from a reading. In these cases, I assure them I will draw from the face down pile in the second part of the reading - but if they insist, I will draw the three cards face down and proceed to phase 2.
In any event, by the time they have selected three cards, you will know a lot about them - both by their selections and by their manner of choosing. Do everything you can to encourage an openness in which the client will discuss their situation and you can link it to the symbolism of the cards. You are here to help them help themselves.
Once three cards have been openly chosen by the intuition, put them aside and reassemble the deck.
Next, ask them to put these three cards into a small pile or stack, choosing which card goes on the bottom, which card goes in the middle, and which card goes on top. I show them this action with the cards face down, (so as not to influence them), but then have them do it face up.
In the above example the sitter has selected the Magician, the Wheel of Fortune, and Temperance. You can ask them to imagine that they occupy the position of the Magician, and that above their heads is Temperance, and below their feet is the Wheel (or whatever cards they select).
Once they have done this and you have the 3-card pile, it is okay to say “this is the open part of the reading, which means your unconscious chooses the cards openly, and puts them into three categories of above, middle, and below.” Evoke the image of walking through a field. “Above you is the sky and its open vastness, below you is the earth, and things hidden or buried in the earth. On a plane with you is the surface through which you interact with the world”. They may want you to label these positions things like “conscious” or “unconscious”, but I suggest you avoid labels, and instead keep referring them to the experience of looking up to the sky, walking across the surface of the earth, or sensing what is below. This is because the experiential understanding of these three domains is more important for this reading than any words we would use to classify them. You can use the terms “above”, “in the middle of it all…and ”below”, if you have to. In any event, they have chosen three cards openly, and ranked them from above to below - you will now have everything you need to give them a meaningful reading.
Pro Tip: By observing them, the cards they chose, how they chose them, and how they ordered them, you should be able to discover what their main question or concern is without asking. This is a technique of eliciting the most important question to the sitter when they themselves are not aware of it. Ask them a few questions to help narrow it down. “I sense these cards concern a relationship… is that right?”, or “ You have chosen cards that show you value skill - is there a project you are working on?” or “These cards indicate a battle of some sort, are you struggling in some way”? By this point the sitter will be ready to be open about their situation. If asked, you should be clear about the fact that you are reading them - this is not “cold reading”, it is warm reading. Don’t hide it as if you are trying to impress them with your powers. Impress them with your empathy, instead.
You can tell them “we’re basically just having a conversation about art”, if you want to get them into the right mindset. The emphasis in the octahedron spread is on empowering the present, not predicting the future.
Closed Phase:
1: The field.
2: Below the field.
3: Above the field.
4: The past.
5: The future.
6: The unseen/unknown.
7: The seen/known.
Since the first three cards are already down, you now lay out cards in positions 4-7. Notice how close this spread is in meaning to the 6-card cross from last week. The main difference is that we will not extend this into a Celtic Cross - instead, we will make a point of getting the sitter to visualize this spread of cards as forming an octahedron (hence the name) around themselves. We can guide them to imagining themselves in the center, with the three cards they chose as the central axis - and get them to see the other four, face-down cards at the cardinal points, N, S, E, W (above). You can tell them “the cards are just pictures of the true Tarot - they point to energies of meaning that form into fields of energy - like this octahedron. These fields impact our experience of time!”.
Turn over the cards and give your interpretation, asking them questions when you are unsure. If you can get them to actively help you co-create the total interpretation, you should - and by now, with the rapport you have created this should not be hard. It should be so that they are the builder - and you are the one giving them the materials and tools with which to build. I always ask them questions like “does this fit for you?” or “does my interpretation seem accurate to your experience?” I turn the cards over in the following sequence: past-unseen-seen-future.
Now we weave it all together into a synthesis. In this example we see that the sitter has established themselves as the Magician, and seems to be asking about their spiritual path - a path which involves a blending the material (Wheel of Fortune) and the spiritual (Temperance). They are essentially asking - “What is my path?”. They are probably alchemists. This is all determined from the open phase cards. The closed-phase cards show that they are undergoing a deep metamorphosis (Death) with a softening of clarity and certainty being temporarily experienced (Moon). This could take the form of a “brain fog” or of a period of self-doubt which it is important to persevere through. There is a great momentum of learning, however - and they may be highly educated (The Hierophant). On the future horizon there will be a return of clarity as the mind and body come into greater balance (Justice). It is all about connecting the abstract to the tangible, and finding their harmony. They will need to persevere to this point.
Pro Tip - Consider how to strike the balance between free choice and predetermination. This spread allows a great deal of room for psychology, “cold reading” “warm reading”, conversation, and consulting. The wow-factor of a purely face down reading is downplayed, while the elements of rapport with the sitter are intensified (which has its own wow-factor). This is a spread pattern for co-creating stories with the client. Here are some additional techniques you can do to enhance the impact of the reading.
Re-Positioning the Axis: Once the cards have all been laid out, inform the sitter that they have control over the central axis (the three cards they picked). They can shift them around or re-arrange them. If they are unsure, try all the different combinations of “above middle and below”, and have them intuitively feel (or “taste”) each one. Ask them to find the configuration that gives them the greatest sense of empowerment. This is excellent for helping people make discoveries about how shifts in attitude with change the energy of a situation, and reinforces the fact that they are the master of their own destiny.
The Anchor: Have an object such as a crystal or a key, or something with a distinctive feel when you touch it. If a particular card in the spread proves to be of key importance (and you will know this by their response to it, and by the conversation around it), you can instruct them to place that object on the card. The combination of the physical feeling of holding the object and the visual image of the object on that card (encourage them to take pictures), will create a memory anchor such that when recalling the reading, that will be the most prominent aspect they remember. Use this to “weight” the reading in favor of the most wholesome outcome for the client.
Dealing with Reversals: I try to avoid reversals by using one-way back cards. If a card is reversed, you can interpret it as follows - “there is something you need to do to make sure that you have harmonious access to this card’s energies. What is it?”. When they say what it is that they should do or change, invite them to un-reverse the card. This gives them a memory anchor of actively changing their destiny by performing an action. This will aid them in asserting their agency in respect to the actual situation.
Remember: your ultimate objective as reader is to weave a story with them that they can “brace” into, to carry themselves forward in their lives. This spread is designed to give them the maximum amount of freedom (alongside your guidance), to project an empowering course through their personal experience.
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