The Linear Layout
I've found that the simple "linear layout" is a wonderful tool for reading the tarot. It's the layout that I use most often in my tarot readings.It consists of a simple open-ended row of tarot-cards. If the table space is too small then I bend the row of cards around as needed.
There is no consistent number of cards tabled during a linear layout. I stop putting down cards when the meaning starts to get foggy. I believe the reason for this fogginess is that the further into the future you go the less certain things become. The near future is easier to predict because decisions have already been made and a train of events has been set in motion. But the far future depends on many variables that the client has no knowledge of yet because certain events haven't occurred. So it's important to stop tabling cards and end the layout when you reach that "fogginess point".
The cards in the linear layout correspond to a sequence of events, but some of the cards at the beginning of the layout might represent events that have already occurred, and that are therefore in the past. It's important to determine where the client is at present in the card sequence. This is usually fairly easy to determine by questioning the client.
One of the benefits of doing linear layouts for yourself is that once you have determined where you are presently located in the layout then you can follow the remaining sequence of events as they occur into the future. And this means that you may not need to perform follow-up readings about the same question.
Determining the timing of events is also possible when you use the linear layout. Simply count where a particular event-card occurs in the linear sequence of cards and that number gives you a clue to the timing of the event. The number might represent days, weeks, or months, or a day of a month.
For example, if the Queen of Cups turns up in the 8th place then the woman she represents may appear in 8 days, or 8 weeks, or 8 months, or the 8th of a month.
Cheers,
Patrick.
