A spread is essentially a storyboard that allows the reader to sequentially follow a pattern that is designed to address a particular topic. Some spreads cover all the bases, whereas others are specific to certain decks and issues. The most commonly used spread is called the Celtic Cross, which has been modified and adapted ad infinitum since its inception. It is highly effective for general overviews of a situation and the energies present.

Without a spread, a reading can be clumsy and awkward, with no parameters to hold the energy of the question being asked. For instance, a simple three-card spread is almost meaningless if we have not assigned a function to each card. It can be as simple as past, present, future or conscious factor, unconscious factor, and action. As soon as each card is given an attribute that it will represent, the reading is given direction.

Most readers have their go-to spreads that they have memorised, but individual decks like Bee Tarot will have developed spreads that are in keeping with their theme. What follows is a bee-related spread for you to try.

The Meadow Spread
This is a spread that utilises elements of your intuition as well as the tarot system. The cards are laid down in five positions, but the number of cards in each position is not set in stone. As you consider the question, lay as many or as few cards in each position without thinking too much about the laying-out process. So you may have three cards in position one, six cards in position three, four cards in position five, and so forth. This offers a greater depth of reading than the usual one card per position system.

1: My current situation or the issue at hand

2: What my expectations are

3: What unseen forces are at play and what my anxieties are

4: What guidance and advice is available to me

5: The potential outcome

Excerpted from Bee Tarot, by Kristoffer Hughes and Nadia Turner.