The Lavender Mars Tarot Spread

1.  Shuffle and cut the deck as you would normally and deal them into eight equal decks (setting aside as discards any left over or remaining cards) but only after selecting the significator.

2.  Flip up the top card of each deck and add any pairs of the same numbre or suit to the discard pile.  Piles which reveal a major arcana card are compleatly removed.

3.  After all pairs or matching cards are removed and added to the discard pile the remaining face up cards are placed face down on the bottom of each deck which they came from.  Stack these decks, shuffle and redeal as before.   Once again turn up the top card of each deck and repeat the elimination process.  Continue this way of flipping and reshuffling until you cannot eliminate anymore cards.

4.  Once all cards are face up without the ability to eliminate any more cards, or you have compleated this method eight successive time, then place all face up cards, face down, on the bottom of their decks.  You will unlikely ever have less than eight cards but should this occur the reading is forfeited and assumed an ill-omen.

5.  Combine remaining piles into one deck, shuffle and cut these as you would for any reading.  Place the significator at card zero (0) position and deal sequentially from the deck until all cards are spent.  The eight piles are called stations and the rows called quadrants.  Both will individually be explained below.  Should the cards not deal evenly the last remaining few are discarded.  However though this spread has these piles only the top-most card is read.  Optionally one can look at the second top-most card as an underlying influence of the top cards of each deck.

Defining the stations:

Each station is read individually and not in relationship to the other cards.


0.  The Significator.  The card you chose to represent the querant.

1.  The Ideal Man.  The querant's expectations, often unrealistic, about the sort of partner they seek.

2.  Mr. Right.  What he actually needs from a relationship.

3.  The Bum.  The man he should have lived without and what he learned.

4.  Here He Comes.  The next man moving into life or if already present may give insight into him instead.  But remember just because we are in a relationship it doesn't mean it's the right one or that there's not another moving in.

5.  Movin' On.  That which the querent SHOULD bring from the last relationship and why.

6.  New Olde Habits.  Bad baggage the new Mr. Right is bring and why he SHOULD NOT.

7.  Release The Past.  Excess baggage you should have lost in transit and why or what one should have learned from the experience and how not to carry that baggage into the next one.

8.  Right As Rain.  That which Mr. Right will bring with him that is positive and will help form this relationship.

Defining The Quadrants:

These are read in groups and in relationship to the other cards of that group and the below reference letters are coloured to match the image with the following exceptions.  The image does not contain quadrants D, E and F but are composed of the rows and should not be difficult to figure out.  Quadrant D contains cards numbred 5, 1 and 8; quadrant E contains cards 7, 0 and 4; and of course the remainder is composed to form quadrant F. 


A.  Learn Or Relive.  The querant's past and it's influence.

B.  Facts And Falicies.  The present ideals, foundations and other fantasies the querant imagines he understands.  This quadrant either affirms what the querant knows to be true or clears up their misinterpretations.

C.  Que Sera, Sera.  That which is coming to pass in the near future and/or moving out of the querant's life.

D.  Yesterdays And Tomorrows.  Balance, positive attributes of the past and present and how they harmonize with the future events unfolding.

E.  My Lovers, Myself.  Reflections on the self and its aspects and illusions.

F.  One Bad Apple.  The negative traits surrounding the yesterdays, today and tomorrows.

X.  Cross To Bear.  The querant's negative aspects and baggage compared to Mr. Right's positives and how they interrelate.

Z.  Bear To Cross.  The querant's positive aspects and baggage compared to Mr. Right's negatives and how they interrelate.

Conclusion:

Though some of the names used to define the areas of the spread are "cutesy" and fun intentionally but this reading is complicated and contains a lot of comparison possibilities for cross-referencing through-out.  So do not allow the cutesiness to disarm you.  If you find the names too distracting make-up your own for your use, but please don't try to claim my hard work as your own after so doing.  If you feel it's too complicated for you to tackle then don't.  If you're comfortable with it and confident in your understanding of the reading and your skills as a reader then do not hesitate to explore all of the many angles and possibilities of this multi-trine reading.  See the below notes for other important comments.

NOTES: This spread is designed for homosexual relationships and should only be used for such as that's where I've found my best successes.  The Song Of Sappho spread (forthcoming) is for lesbian relations.  There is little in the way of readings specifically designed for either so I felt inclined to create one for them.  Besides, I needed it for such folke as most common relationship oriented spreads didn't really seem to mee their needs.  Just to clarify leaving no room for question, homosexual refers to same sex male romantic relationships and lesbian refers to the same in regards to females.  However I have used it for all types of relationships and alterations/results were as follows:

I have successfully used this reading for heterosexual couples however instead of eight piles in the elimination process I dealt nine and that seemed to assist it.  I refer to this spread as The Green Venus Spread.  However, I find this method no better for heterosexuals than far less complicated ones.

I attempted this spread for lesbian relationships calling it The Red Venus Spread but was less satisfied with it (thus the creation of The Song Of Sappho Spread).  I tried the original eight (8) pile spread and the participants just didn't feel it was accurate.  So I tried it as The Green Venus Spread but experienced the same dissatisfied results.  But when I changed the numbre of the piles dealt to seven (7) the situation did improve but I don't think it was much more satisfying than before in all honesty.