I am a Tom Benjamin stan, and I followed along as he looked for a general spread.
The video above contains his thoughts on how a general spread could work.
In Tom’s experimental method, he explores the four areas of the querent’s life that correspond to the elements and dives in from there.
That felt a bit too much for me, so I’ve devised a simplified method that concentrates on just one row/column combination.

My Method
- Lay out 16 cards in rows. Start with FIRE/FIRE and end with Earth/Earth
- Find the double element that feels most out of balance
- Read that card’s row as the ‘Problem.’
- Read that card’s column as the ‘Solution.’
I read it more like a Lenormand box spread, so I read the cards in combination rather than individually.
The card that lands on the double element is the focus or heart of the matter. You may want to discuss the other dual element cards to acknowledge those areas in the querent’s life.
But like everything cartomancy, it’s best to try various methods and see what works for you.
I hope you try it out and see how you find it.