Layout: 7-card tree spread
**7**
*5*6*
2*3*4
**1**
Card 1: The gift or the surprise; the present under the tree This is the situation that will arise in the querent's life.
Card 7: The star at the top of the tree; the guiding light This is how the querent should act in response to the gift.
Cards 2-5 can serve to clarify or elaborate, but are not read individually or independently.
This is a quick spread that I like to use a lot at holiday gatherings where there is neither the time nor space nor privacy to do a more involved reading. It usually takes me less than a minute to draw and interpret this spread. In person, people get a big kick out of seeing the cards and like the Christmas tree shape.
This is an easy, fun spread, but it is a little bit idiosyncratic in a couple of ways:
1) There's no question, per se. Instead, the spread tells the querent about something to expect in the coming months and/or gives them a small piece of advice to take with them into the new year. The way I read it, the messages from this spread are meant to be short, concise, usually positive fortunes—much like what you might see on the fortune cookies that are commonly served at Chinese restaurants in the United States.
2) Most times, only cards 1 & 7 will be important to the reading despite the fact that it's a 7-card spread. The rest of the cards are (mostly) for show unless cards 1 & 7 are unclear on their own. Then, they would (maybe) fill in a few details, kind of like a set of clarifiers. The 'extra' cards should only be interpreted in terms of cards 1 & 7.
3) For me, I use this spread exclusively with TdM because it aids in the quick, concise style I want for these fortunes. I imagine, however, that other readers could be very successful using this with other decks.
Card 1: The gift or the surprise; the present under the tree This is the situation that will arise in the querent's life.
Card 7: The star at the top of the tree; the guiding light This is how the querent should act in response to the gift.
Cards 2-5 can serve to clarify or elaborate, but are not read individually or independently.
This is a quick spread that I like to use a lot at holiday gatherings where there is neither the time nor space nor privacy to do a more involved reading. It usually takes me less than a minute to draw and interpret this spread. In person, people get a big kick out of seeing the cards and like the Christmas tree shape.
Alternatively, experienced TdM readers may want to read cards 1 & 7 as they traditionally would paired cards.
Here are some example readings I did this morning:
Message: Communicate your ideas in a loving, friendly way.
Deliniation: As a gift, the 6 of Swords represents an internal intellectual harmony and new, fruitful ideas and ways of thinking. As a Page, The Page of Cups a communicator who brings his messages as though they were the wine in the cup. Always friendly and convivial, he gives air of friendship and care to even the hardest truths. If we look at the other cards, we see older ways of thinking (4 of swords interpreted as less than/prior to 6) transforming (XII) and moving off in a new direction. Above, there's a disconnect between the two figures in cards 5 & 6. The hotheaded King of Wands isn't tempering his message with the angel's water—harmony will only come with the cups.
Message: Keep your wits about you and you should have a very successful year ahead in work and business.
Deliniation: The 2 of Coins speaks to the ups and downs of fortune and is also where our money starts being put to work. The Chariot is a card of victory and success but, in order to achieve that, he has to balance the conflicting energies of his two horses. Looking further we see the control of dual energies again in cards 2, 3, & 4, where internal strength and emotional control (that queen keeps her cup covered) work in concert to create a strong foundation in the 4 of Coins. A firm will (4 of Wands) cuts through the conflict and leads to triumph (3 of Swords).
Message: Change your asset distribution in order to protect yourself from impeding turmoil in the markets.
Deliniation: Pretty much everybody agrees that the economy is due to have some down times before too long. The 9 of Coins shows financial abundance. Notice though that the core of the wealth is protected in the center. The 5 of Wands isn't immediately obvious to me here. It could be many things. What we do see clearly though is that thuggish Page of Wands standing near all of your money. With the 9 of Coins strong core protections in place, though, he has a much smaller amount of money (3 of coins) available to molest. Because of these protections, your emotional well being (6 of cups) is undisturbed.
