Lunar Eclipse Spread

Published by Alison Cross on

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Tomorrow night is a lunar eclipse (28 November) – the last one until April 2013 – and it’s a wonderful event to witness.  What makes it very special, for me, is that hardly anyone looks up at the skies these days – perhaps lovers, foxes and those of us who have to travel by ferry πŸ™‚  People are trudging home from the pub or work, usually looking at the ground….and I’m sitting in the garden hugging a mug of tea for warmth, staring at the sky.

During a lunar eclipse, the Earth’s shadow falls across the face of the moon, turning her cool white face into a warm, earthy blush.  The red moon is magnificent to see!

It’s a humbling, awe-inspiring event, guaranteed to remind you that you are but a tiny speck on a big ball spinning in space!

Here’s a fun spread to do during the eclipse.

Apologies to readers who are also members of the Glasgow Tarot Meet Up Group because they are already familiar with this πŸ™‚

It’s very easy:

1  Shuffle your cards whilst contemplating the thought: ‘what energies are being eclipsed in my life?’
2  Complete your shuffle.
3  Turn your deck over so that the images are now facing you.
4  Flick through the cards until you find your World (or equivalent) card.
5  The card BEHIND the World is what you currently hold in shadow.

You can also expand upon it by adding in a Solar Eclipse element to the spread.  As you search for your World card, also keep an eye open for The High Priestess card at the same time and locate the card directly behind her too.

Why the High Priestess?  Well, The High Priestess is the card who represents the Moon, if you work with Astrology in your Tarot practice.  So with THIS adjunct to the spread, we can find out what a Solar eclipse hides from us too.

You can further expand upon the spread by bringing in more cards – how can I bring this energy out of darkness? How will this energy benefit me? and so on.

*** Edit: info added:  If the card you are seeking is right on the bottom of the pack, with nothing behind it, refer to the FIRST card on the top of the pile, as if they had been laid out in a circle.

I’ll be working a Court Card variation of this spread tomorrow and posting on Thursday.

If you try the spread, I’d love to know how you get along with it πŸ™‚


Alison Cross

The Tarot's Court Cards are my specialist area.Β  They talk to me. Not LITERALLY though ....

13 Comments

Trish · 2nd December 2012 at 3:28 pm

Loved it, especially the follow up. Dumb question: why not use The Moon card? Why the High Priestess instead?

    alisoncross · 2nd December 2012 at 3:44 pm

    It's not a dumb question at all, Trish! I chose The High Priestess to represent the moon, because in the system that I use for astrology and tarot, the HP is associated with the planet, The moon. However, The Moon Tarot card is associated with The sign of Pisces. Just saves me from getting confused!

    However, The Sun tarot card IS associated with the sun πŸ™‚

    Ali x

    alisoncross · 2nd December 2012 at 9:36 am

    Carla – have replied over at yours and am just heading back into my blog post to update on what one could do if the card you are seeking is on the bottom of the pile.

    Ali xx

Inner Whispers · 1st December 2012 at 6:37 am

Great spread, Ali! Will blog about it in a bit πŸ™‚

    alisoncross · 2nd December 2012 at 9:35 am

    Will hop over to yours to read about your results right now πŸ™‚

Bonkers · 27th November 2012 at 5:10 pm

Love this idea. Don't know if I'll have the time tomorrow, but if I do…I shall try it!

Anonymous · 27th November 2012 at 10:47 am

I found the Hierophant behind the World and the 4 of pentacles behind the High Priestess, not sure what it means

    alisoncross · 27th November 2012 at 10:52 am

    Anonymous – perhaps you are hiding some teaching energies (Hierophant) and the 4 of Pentacles, well, that's a tough one! Maybe you would like more money but are unwilling to promote yourself sufficiently to get it? Hoping instead that someone (the boss?) will see you for the asset that you are and just give you a raise? That's just an initial impression – you might have to sit with the card and meditate on it to see what it yields up. Sometimes, precisely because something is in shadow, we are not conscious of what it really is. Let me know what turns up for you!

Christiane · 27th November 2012 at 9:56 am

Great spread for the lunar eclipse, thanks for sharing! I found the Hanged Man behind my World… so interesting πŸ˜‰

    alisoncross · 27th November 2012 at 10:49 am

    oooh VERY! Perhaps you are 'hiding' from your route to spiritual enlightenment! I'd love to know what you make of it Christiane. Very significant that it is a Major Arcana though!!

    Ali x

    Christiane · 29th November 2012 at 8:49 am

    It's a deep card for me as it has been my year card this year. I like the idea of 'hiding from route to spiritual enlightenment'; that is certainly a possibility, especially in connection with 'not wanting to let go' (or not seeing how best to do it) πŸ˜‰ x

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