So I picked up a copy of Sasha Graham’s 365 Tarot Spreads to give myself some structure in getting to know the cards again AND to pick up some cool new spreads. It came last night, so I got started with today’s entry – the Bird’s-Eye View Spread.

The trick with this spread is that after shuffling the cards, you stand above your reading space, close your eyes and cast cards until you get eight facing up. Then you read them from left to right. My method for this (because if your eyes are closed, how the hell do you know when you get eight cards?) was to start by throwing down eight, then peeking to see how many were face up, then subtracting that number from eight and throwing that many cards and so on. So my first throw was eight cards, and two landed face up. The next throw was six cards, and none landed face up, so I threw six more, got two, threw four and so on until I had eight facing up. Each time I threw, my eyes were closed and I was concentrating on imbuing the cards with my life force.

When all eight were face up. I was to read them from left to right. When there’s a mass of thrown cards, they’re not exactly lined up just so. My solution was to pick the leftmost card and work right. The resulting cards are below, and are followed by the questions they were answering.

1. What is my situation: 2 of Pentacles
2. What didn’t I see before: The Tower
3. How do I best see the overall view: The Lovers
4. What becomes apparent when looking down from above: 8 of Swords
5. Where am I heading: Judgment
6. What is truly important: King of Pentacles
7. What should I remember: 7 of Pentacles
8. What is my message: 9 of Wands

This read was so obvs about my current career and life situation that it was kind of mind-blowing. I can see how my current situation is about finding balance in a new situation because I’ve just come from a place of the falling tower – in this case, the tower built by my former career expectations. I’m getting my best 360º view by checking in with loved ones (like the posts I make asking for feedback and input) and it becomes apparent when looking down from the birds-eye that I need to be careful of isolating myself with words – I am a PRO at this. I’m heading towards Judgment, which I like to remember as described by Cynthia Jones at Diana’s Grove – calling back the pieces of myself and preparing to work in an entirely new paradigm. What’s important right now and what needs to be remembered is that I must work to produce, and I need to be sure to keep close attention to tending my metaphoric work/career garden. The message, the 9 of Wands?  What a great card to have in this reading – it’s all about wisdom and experience, leveraging past knowledge and experiences into a new experience. And wands are also about identity and creativity – all of these things are a huge part of my new endeavor.

Overall I’m really pleased with the spread. It certainly feels on point. The throwing of the cards was kind of chaotic, and there were a few that drifted off the table. One of those landed face up, and I found it later (The Star), but I left it out of the reading. I felt a little silly standing over the table with my eyes closed, tossing out cards, but I can see how it could be a great way to set up a reading with someone else, with me watching as they throw the cards.