(or A Witching Hour Misadventure)

Friends,

I have come up with a new, or at least new to me, Tarot card spread that I think I will be keeping in my repertoire going forward. Here’s how it happened, now if you want to skip ahead to the spread I’ve centered an underlined the name below with the technique following, if you want the background info and my usual musings read on…

So, in part because I have a natural tendency towards insomnia and in part because I work an odd Hospitality industry schedule where sometimes I am overnight and sometimes afternoon, my sleep schedule is a creature of chaos. The other morning I was off for the day after an overnight shift. I stayed up late doing some chores, feeling a bit like a vampire on a day pass, and went to bed around 1 or 2pm. I was expecting to be up around 6 or 7 as getting 6 hours at best has been my pattern lately. I woke up a couple of times for stumbles to the bathroom or kitchen in the night only to tumble back into bed rather eagerly. The heavy and fuzzy bedspreads are my people now, they understand and accept me as on of their own!

I finally awoke around 2 something a.m. and was sipping some coffee and scrolling my socials when I felt the urge to pick up my Tarot cards. I haven’t been pulling cards or doing any spreads regularly for a while now, and after recent efforts to rebuild that practice ended up resulting in repeated reversed card draws and readings, and perhaps a bit of Tarot induced trauma, that’s natural enough.

As I shuffled the deck I tried to let go of any hang ups or fears about drawing a reversed cards and approached the process with a focus on the questions and an air of ‘it is what it is’ as possible. I pulled a card, then after spending some time with interpretation and meditating upon the card and what it could be referring too, I pulled 4 more. I contemplated their meanings, consulted some of my reference materials, and wrote some notes. I also thought for a bit about the process itself and wrote a few notes about that as well.

It was as I was writing my notes that I realized I had done most of this work around 3am, often cited in folklore as The Witching Hour, during the Hour of the Moon on the Day of Saturn. This felt worthy of noting and doing a little reference work review seemed in order so I did that as well.

After that, I did a very early morning run to one of the corner store for snacks and nicotine and went back to bed for a couple more hours around 6am or so…

The Crossroads Spread

A Tarot Card layout/experimentation.

A 5 card pull to use when you feel the need for direction or advice but are not sure what is bothering you, or why you are feeling adrift.

Shuffle the deck as you will.  As you are shuffling focus on the questions of what do I need to know, what do I need to focus on, what do I need to be more aware of. These and similar general and topic unspecific questions need to be the focus of your thoughts as you shuffle. Introspection, Learning, and growth are the goals of this exercise; especially of what we do not know we know or what we need to know.

When you are ready, pull the first card and set it down.

1st Card: is the basic answer or issue.  Spend some time with this card in contemplation of its meanings and what in your life it could be referring to.  Pay attention not only to the meanings that seem clear to you in the moment, but also spend a bit of time exploring the full set of possible meanings for any that you shy away from at first. Is there anything there that you may be deceiving yourself on or pushing away on some level as something you do not want to deal with? Once you feel comfortable that you have identified the key answer to the first card you can begin the next step.

Cards 2 thru 5 are pulled and layed down, one on each side and one above and below the 1st card, in whatever order as makes sense to you either in the moment or based on the lore and symbolism you work with. It is important to remember that unlike some reading layouts the position of the cards these cards around the first do not have a specific meaning or relationship to the first card.  This layout is one for contemplation and introspection whenever you find yourself at a metaphorical crossroads.

Cards 2 thru 5 can represent a few different things.  They could represent factors contributing to or complicating the current question or issue.  They could provide deeper background on the issues you are wrestling with at the moment.  They could present possible pathways or approaches you could choose from to deal with the current situation. This is an exercise in discernment and self-discovery so feel free to spend some time with the reading and any note taking you do related to the reading.

crafted at the witching hour during the hour of the moon and the day of Saturn January 15th 2023

If you decide to try this variation let me know how it works for you? Are there any spreads or techniques you’ve developed in your own practice seeking similar information? If Tarot is not your thing do you use any other oracular techniques in your practice? Let me know in the comments!

Bliss and Blessed Be,
Pax / Geoffrey