Tag: Tom Benjamin

Categories
Spreads

Spread: Tom Benjamin’s General Reading Spread (Adapted)

Tom Benjamin’s YouTube Video: An Experimental General Spread

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.

Tom Benjamin’s General Reading Spread (Adapted)

My Method

  1. Lay out 16 cards in rows. Start with FIRE/FIRE and end with Earth/Earth
  2. Find the double element that feels most out of balance
  3. Read that card’s row as the ‘Problem.’
  4. 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.

Categories
Thoughts

Reflection on: Reading Non-Representational Tarots: A Guide

Tom Benjamin is one of my favourite Tarot educators. With this YouTube tutorial, Tom must have known that I’d just bought the 20th anniversary edition of the Margarete Petersen Tarot despite knowing that abstract images on tarot cards scares me.

I bought it as I know Tom and Colin creator of the OceanDry Tarot (and YouTuber) both enjoy it. And I really wanted to experiment and experience a reading style outside my comfort zone. But I wasn’t sure what to start.

The Muse must have whispered in Tom’s ear, as this is exactly what I needed to hear.

In this video, Tom gives advice on how to use the tools that are already exist in your Tarot toolbox and gives permission (he gave it to me at least) to bring those into play during your reading.

He neatly demonstrates how (before you have the context of the question) you can build a series of connections that can be confirmed/or refuted when you know the context of what the querent wants to know.

Tom encourages us to embrace each tarot reading as an experiment. To see what talks to you from the cards on the table, and then add what you know about their meanings and connection so you build up the layers of meaning and understanding.

Thanks to this video, I now have a framework, based on the Pages, to experiment with the abstract image Tarot decks in my collection (which at the moment is only the Petersen). How long can I hold out before getting the Shimmering Veil’s 2nd edition?

I’d highly recommend this tutorial for those with abstract decks or for those who want to shake-up their reading style.