The Deck of 1000 Spreads: Your Tarot Toolkit for Creating the Perfect Spread for Any Situation Cards – 15 April 2013

This is a fascinating concept, which works exceptionally well. It is clear a lot of thought and planning went into both the design of the cards and the accompanying book.It can be used if you just want visual reminders (for yourself or the person you're reading for) of the spread positions on a standard spread. Or else you can customise a spread for the reading. Or let the cards decide what they want to tell you. And with all the possibilities of layering multiple cards, there really is no end to the number of spreads you can create!

This is brilliant,,, can not recommend enough.

Absolutly useful when doing Divination spreads.

A simple idea with many uses, double the value when I realised I could use it with runes as well as tarot. Nice bricht cards, good book to accompany it. My only gripe which prevented 5 stars was there was no box for the cards, nothing to keep them in.

I'm so glad I ordered these cards . I feel they really help and give a new dimension to readings .

This is such a simple and obvious idea, it's surprising no one's taken the initiative to produce and publish something like this already. Well done to Tierney for doing it! The concept behind this set is simplicity itself: a set of oversized cards which serve as markers for a tarot spread. They underlie the cards in a spread, showing the name of each card position. Why would anyone need such a thing? Several reasons: 1) it saves the hassle of drawing out an original spread on a bit of paper and then having to refer to it repeatedly during the reading to remind yourself what the cards stand for, 2) it saves the embarrassment of forgetting a card position during a live reading (which does happen, particularly if you're doing many readings back to back and each person gets a different spread--trust me, you never want to be saying, 'Oh, did we say this card was Finances or Relationships?' The looks you get, oh dear!), 3) it saves you having to tell the querent over and over what the card stands for (if you do that sort of thing). And 4) if you're learning a new spread you've found elsewhere, it saves you having to refer to the screen, book or your notes repeatedly as you try it out. It's just a handy dandy little idea.What's IncludedThe set consists of the usual flimsy Llewellyn box. Inside is a white cardboard insert which fits the interior of the box snugly (an innovation for Llewellyn!) and is meant to hold the cards. Unfortunately, although the insert fits the outer box, the cards do not fit the insert, so they do slide around in there. I don't know why Llewellyn can't get this right. The companion book fits snugly over the insert, so at least the cards will stay in the insert when the whole contraption is shut. I don't intend to keep my cards in this box anyway, so it's not that big a deal.The deck has 65 cards. Six of them are blank, then there is a Significator card (I never use those) and one is labelled 'Card of the Day' which I don't find particularly useful as I don't need a marker to remind me a single card draw is the card of the day, and wouldn't use it as a position in a larger spread. The remainder of the cards are colour-coded. More on the system later.The companion book is a soft cover 137-page book detailing how to use the system. It has the usual glued binding, and because it is not stitched, it will not be particularly easy to train it to lie flat, which is a shame. Hands free would be quite useful for this set.The CardsThe cards are of a supple thickness with a very light lamination, measuring 7 x 15 cm (3 x 6 in). This makes them too long to riffle shuffle, for me at least. However, I don't think you'd be shuffling them much, anyway.One of the things that held me back from ordering the set this long is that I find the look of the cards uninspired. Each card is coloured, with the name of the spread position in white capital letters at the top, a few words about the position in the middle, and the type of card at the bottom. Between each bit of information there are some scrolly embellishments. It looks like it took about five minutes to design. I really don't know what I would rather have seen, but the cards are quite bland and it did put me off. The concept of the set is too good to pass up, though, so I bought it. If a more stylish-looking one comes out in future, I'll no doubt buy it, too!The cards are divided into five subsets, colour-coded. I don't think I'll be giving away any secure information to tell you that they are:Green topic cards - the subject of the reading (Finances, Romance, etc)Blue influence cards - what is having an impact on the subject of the reading (Unconscious Desires, Attitudes, etc)Orange people cards - people who have an impact on the subject of the reading (Co-Workers, Family, etc)Purple timing cards - how the past, present and future impact the subject of the readingRed outcome cards - how it all turns out, lessons to be learned, etcThese are the basic elements of nearly all tarot spreads. Tierney, the deck creator, researched many spreads and used her own experience as a tarot reader to create these cards for the most common spread positions in each category, so you can select from these to lay out any spread. The blank cards can be used if you can't find the exact right card you're looking for (she suggests putting a little sticky note on the card). The colour-coding seems important according to the book, but I don't really see why it's needed other than to keep all the like cards with like, which one could do easily enough by reading the word at the bottom of the card, and I myself would prefer if they were all the same colour.The BookThe book, as you would expect, explains the concept behind tarot spreads, and then goes into the various ways you can use Deck of 1000 Spreads in your tarot practice. It is divided in three sections: Basics, Spreadcrafting, and Sample Spreads. The book is handy for those new to tarot or tarot spreads, and also is a way into creating original spreads for those who always use spreads written by others. For example, Tierney shows how to take the classic Celtic Cross spread and 'retool' it (by changing a few of the positions) and 'revision' it (by keeping the structure of the layout but changing every position's meaning).I'm aware that many readers are offering Tierney their creative ideas for using the cards. It might be nice if, when/if she creates a top-up set to add to this one, she did a second companion book offering many of these new innovations spreadcrafters have already developed. One interesting use is to 'divine a spread', where you shuffle and draw card positions for a reading. It's sort of like asking, 'What do I need to ask about this topic?' I haven't tried that yet but it seems like a fun idea.A couple of things I noticed right away about using this system:1) Selecting card positions with aid of the Deck of 1000 Spreads set encourages me to throw in more card positions than I normally would. This is not necessarily a good thing to me. It's like how you take more M & Ms from a big bowl of them than you would from a small pack. You just do it because they're there, not because you need that many. Rather than looking through the deck selecting card positions that sound good, I believe it would be best to decide what card positions you want, and then find those in the pack. It's a subtle difference, but gives you more control over making the spread you actually want rather than having a sprawling layout based on things that you threw in because they sounded good when you saw them.2) I am highly verbal and the giant white lettering at the top distracts me greatly from the tarot cards themselves. The card position becomes more important than the card. I decided to solve that by sliding the tarot card up to cover the heading, and if I need the label as a memory aid (the entire purpose of the set after all, at least as I see it), then I can always slide it down for a quick peek.Personally, I don't see the point of the colour-coding, and would prefer it if all the cards were the same colour, so that when they are laid out there would be a consistent look to the spread. I'd much prefer all black. (That way I could lay them out on a black spread cloth and they would essentially disappear, allowing me to focus on the cards entirely, but knowing my little cheat sheets are under there if I forget a card's positional meaning!) The colour coding doesn't seem to me to be particularly useful. I understand why Tierney's done it, but I don't see why anyone would need it. I would never draw attention to the Deck of 1000 Spread cards underlying the tarot cards to a client ('Now all these blue bordered cards are 'influences' surrounding your topic, which is green, remember...') and I as a reader know which cards are influences and which are people, etc. So there doesn't seem much point to it.The VerdictDeck of 1000 Spreads is a great idea and a really handy tool for tarot readers, as long as you stay in control of it and don't let it control you. If you can deal with all your cards having gigantic, multi-coloured borders, I suggest you give it a try. It is not a tool I will use on a regular basis, but it's there if I need it, and that's great! Thanks, Tierney, for bringing us such a useful thing.

This is a great tool for the intermediate tarot reader as it helps you create your own spreads. The book is very informative and the card design is perfect. It is not a tool for learning tarot, it is a tool to help with tarot readings.

"To get a better understanding of how a spread works, think of a tarot reading as a novel--stuff that happened and who was involved. But without some sort of organization, it's all just a random pile of words and information." - From the book How to Use Your Deck of 1000 Spreads by Tierney SadlerAh, the amazing Deck of 1000 Spreads. Incredibly, no one thought of this brilliant idea before (or, didn't have the courage to create or publish it until now): a labeled, color-coded deck of cards listing spread positions and what they mean.Seasoned and professional Tarot readers know how aggravating it can be do be in the midst of a face-to-face reading--especially with clients or addressing complex issues--and forget the designation of a particular position (especially with on-the-fly spreads)."Wait. Did I say that position indicated The Past...or What Needs Released?"Ack! It's happened to the best of us.Fortunately, Tierney Sadler had the experience and foresight to eliminate this pesky problem by crafting the Deck of 1000 Spreads and its 137-page companion book, published by Llewellyn. Separated into five categories (Influences/Blue, Topic/Green, Outcome/Red, Character/Orange and Timing/Purple), this 59-card deck covers just about every question addressed by the most popular spreads used by Tarot readers: The Celtic Cross, Horseshoe, Star and various 3-card layouts.For example, among the Topic/Green cards there are labels like Card of the Day, Career, Problem, Situation, Career, Friendship, Success and so on. For the Influences/Blue cards, there are labels like Positive Influences, What You Can't Change, What Is Hidden, Surprise, What to Avoid, Hopes and Fears, etc.Unfortunately, positions from the Zodiac Spread and Chakra Spread (two of my favorites) aren't provided, nor are there cards geared towards novelists (protagonist, antagonist, villain, sidekick, subplot, turning point, complication and so on). Those types of cards would have greatly enhanced the Deck of 1000 Spreads, especially since there are only six blank cards for those types of permutations. Granted, some of the cards could be "stand ins" for a few of those positions, but not most of them.Despite my "wish list" for this deck, it's still a fresh, welcome addition to the world of Tarot and a reader's toolkit.I've given the Deck of 1000 Spreads several test runs, with clear, insightful results. I often have tons of irons in the fire, so I asked the Tarot "What needs to be my main thrust right now in terms of creativity?"I then selected Hobbies and Talents card from the Topic/Green pool, since it "Addresses the current state of your creative energies. When not used as the spread's topic card, it can advise on creative endeavors". From the Snowland Deck, I drew Impermanence (Death). This card shows a melting snowman, a flying bluejay about to eat a bug, a moose drinking from a lake and the spirit of the snowman among the clouds, winking.I thought of how this card is traditionally associated with Scorpio, my Sun sign. Scorpio deals with penetrating truths, deep wisdom and transformation; it's a lot like the Phoenix mythos. Yet, Impermanence also deals with something "passing away" in the cycle of life...or the resistance to change.Was this card saying that I needed to let one part of my creative endeavors go--the one that I've been doing the longest--to make way for a new focus?I then fished out an Influence/Blue card: Clarification. I shuffled, asking for clarification for the Impermanence card. I drew the Mental Ace (Ace of Swords). I couldn't help but chuckle because this card shows a pointed icicle being offered from a cloud to a very eager snowman on a bright, clear winter day....clarification personified! It's also a card hinting at sharp, pointed, focused communications--an approach that happens to be my trademark. I took this to mean, "keep being you".So then I selected an Outcome/Red card, Advice. What was the Tarot's advice, then, in terms of my creative output? I drew Quester Energy, the equivalent of the Knight of Wands. In the Snowland Deck, this card--featuring famed Australian polar explorer Sir George Herbert Wilkins--portrays the consummate Renaissance Soul as his various exploits and talents. He was "all over the map"...just like me!So I weaved it all together as a message to keep pushing for the hard truths in life, expose bull*&^% when I see it, and celebrate being a polymath (rather than sometimes thinking it's a liability). And, that having several creative projects going at one time is what I'm good at and what will fulfill me.The companion book How to Use Your Deck of 1000 Spreads provides a wealth of ideas on how to vary spreads, switch out cards and create your own. And, as the author points out, "1000 Spreads" is a misnomer: with all the cards in this deck--and the option for choosing to arrange or select them consciously or randomly--there are literally tens of thousands of possibilities.I'm especially excited to try out the chart method, where cards from this deck are arranged outside a grid as placeholders, and then Tarot cards are placed in horizontal and vertical rows. What an innovative way to see a situation from various angles or explore how an issue may impact several people all at once!My favorite part of the companion book, though, was how the author explained three Celtic Cross variation usings the same cards (but different position titles). Just extraordinary. I'd love to read an entire book with the author riffing on a dozen or more spreads using the same cards in different positions!Although intermediate and advanced Tarot readers will likely be the most comfortable using the Deck of 1000 Spreads, there's no reason beginners couldn't cut their teeth on card layouts using this box set. In fact, it may very well save them months (or years) of grief that many experienced readers endured muddling on their own without such a handy, accessible tool.Highly recommended!(To see 6 card images from this deck, visit the REVIEWS--DECKS section at JanetBoyer.com)

アマゾンでの評判が良かったので購入しました。タロットのスプレッドを自分で作るキットです。中には解説本と65枚のカードが入っています。カードは、色分けされた大きめなカードで、グリーン（テーマ、トピック）ブルー（影響）オレンジ（キャラクター、人物）パープル（タイミング、時間軸）レッド（結果）と何も記入の無いカードになっています。例えばトピックのグリーンカードには、質問・ゴール・友情・健康などと英語で書かれています。本では、スプレッドを覚えられない初心者でもこのカードを予め場に展開しておけば大丈夫、とありますが、このキットを楽しめるのは中級以上の人間だと思います。全く新しいスプレッドを作るよりも既存のスプレッドを変形させるのが面白いです。例えば有名なケルト十字の場合。過去→過去世、近未来→来世、最終結果→今生の課題と変えてスピリチュアルな読み方をする例をあげています。私は、ケルト十字の変形にチャレンジしてみました。恋愛用のスプレッドで、十字架の上を conscious desires(望み)、下をunconscious desires(無意識下の望み）としてみました。但し、これをやってしまうとカードの解釈がより鮮やかになるメリットはあるけれど、意味が固定化・限定化してしまう欠点もあると感じます。どちらかというと、既存のスプレッドに追加する方が良いと感じました。例えば結果のカードを増やして、pro（結果の良い面）とcon（結果の悪い面）と分けたり、等です。英語は大変簡単で単語も繰り返しが多いので、読みやすいと思います。挿入画には、現代のタロットが沢山使われていて、こんなデッキがあるんだ〜と見ていて面白かったです。

Useful, concise, clear and easy to use. A joy to work with!

My Deck of 1000 Spreads arrived in perfect condition and is exactly what I was needing as a novice to the tarot. However, this deck is equally useful to you tarot masters out there as well due to the way it opens the doors, halls and rooms leading the way to pandora's box of infinate possibilities! I intend to use this deck with the beautiful and lavish "Tarot Illuminati" created by Erik C. Dunne and Kim Huggen's. First it's unlike any other device in the market today. It will greatly help any reader, with any spread, and any deck! It is non-threatening to any past, present, or future tarot authors or deck creators since it is designed to work in harmony with all modalities of decks and teachings pertaining to the Tarot. It leads in a way in which all novices and experts alike can approach it with ease. It offers new opportunities to enhance your readings with precision and accuracy. It will also help the reader remember which step of any reading they are on as this deck comes with headings, and accepted definitions on each card to work in conjunction with your favorite deck...no more losing track on more complex spreads! It affords the reader new opportunities to create totally new spreads, with unlimited possibilities for the querant...This deck is akin to the "Rosetta Stone". It takes the the risks out of remembering at which point of the reading you are at, while bringing the readings themselves to a whole other level. It provides the querant and reader a mutually easy to read and follow path of the spread tailored to the querant. The reader is now afforded the freedom to create spreads so utterly dynamic that even the experienced reader will embrace refreshing opportunities, leaving trodden paths of the past spreads in the dust, while creating and experiencing new ways of taking paths less traveled without the fear of getting lost along the way...because this deck consistently leads the reader, while shedding a new light upon the possibilities of the reader's imagination with increased accuracy and relavance to the querant. The deck allows unlimited possibilities so the reader can concentrate on the cards without the distraction of keeping track of where they are in a reading. The Deck of 1000 Spreads is a roadmap from the beginning to the ending of any spread of your choice or creation. I'm thrilled as a novice to begin my journey with this deck to help lead my way as I become more familier with the interpretations of my own deck, and less worried about learning and memorizing new spreads since The Deck of 1000 Spreads leads the way. It truly seems to be the latest technology in regards to Tarot history, and takes the misery of memorization off the table so the reader can concentrate on the task at hand. This in no way is a threat to other authors and pioneers of tarot wisdom, since it is simply a tool that is useful in any interpretation or modality. Through Tierney Sadler's Deck of 1000 Spreads, the Universe has just opened a new window of opportunity to the tarot community and it's clients, weaving a new tapestry in harmony with completely new possibilities in the way future spreads are brought to fruition and read. For that, I give The Deck of 1000 Spreads a 5 star rating, and eagerly wait for Tierney's new deck specifically created for Lenmorand readers to be offered here, on Amazon.com as well!  The Deck of 1000 Spreads: Your Tarot Toolkit for Creating the Perfect Spread for Any SituationThe Deck of 1000 Spreads: Your Tarot Toolkit for Creating the Perfect Spread for Any Situation