13 Cards

The way we look at some spreads changes over time. I have often used different kinds of a 13 card draw in the past. I would like to show you how this spread evolved in my practice, and how I use it today.

I recently saw in some facebook groups a way of doing this quite similar to the one I use today. The first mention I saw of a similar spread was in Mary Marco’s book, then Dawn Jackson described another way in her now defunct site. In her book, page 266, Mary marco calls it “la coix”, the cross; Dawn Jackson gives it the name of the coven. And of course, we still find a lot of other adaptations on the internet.

I’ve used a lot of these different ways, and I really like Mary Marco’s way of doing it, I took it as a basis for what I use today. The spread is divided into several overlapping areas. These can represent different aspects of the question, and some cards end up in more than one area, which makes the spread quite dynamic.

My version has four zones, in addition to a single card in the center, which serves to indicate the main energy around the question, the most important element.

The cards on the left of the central card represent the past. A past which certainly has something to do with the current situation and the question. Above, the cards will talk about what the person has in mind, or what they are going to face, depending on the question. The cards below represent the foundations, or the bases on which the consultant can build their future. The right part represents where the situation is headed, the future.

Then I give a final look at the diagonals, to give a conclusion, a final note to the interpretation.

Mary Marco draws a few more cards, what she calls the lifeline, which shows how the situation will develop over the longer or shorter term. I have never found it useful to pull them, usually the right part is enough to determine the direction in which the consultant is headed. There is often redundancy between the two.

Let’s take a practical example. An 18-year-old young woman has just graduated from high school, she will be starting college soon and likely leaving home to live on campus. She wonders what to expect with all these changes in her life.

First, before we even start reading the cards, let’s take a quick look at what might attract us. I only see two annoying cards, the mountain, which is in the past, and the clouds. The reassuring thing about the clouds is that the dark side is on the right, pointing outside of the spread, and with the sun weighing on it, it diminishes its importance. The key, in the middle, is also quite reassuring, as we will see.

The suits are fairly balanced, with a slight majority of diamonds. This is not surprising, as the consultant is relatively young, and everyday risks are part of the strengths that define youth, we can see a fairly significant dynamism in this.

The key in the central position describes that this is a very important development in her life. A key is used to close and open doors, a beautiful symbolism for someone who closes one chapter of their life, in order to open another. Another important point with this key is that it provides our consultant with confidence and makes solutions available for her future.

If we look at the past, we can immediately see a situation where she felt a bit stuck, quite in an unfriendly position. I find it remarkable to find the mountain in a central position between the dog which could represent friends, the birds which represent dialogues, and the letter which speaks of communications. We see a potential problem with difficulty communicating with some others, a sign of possible arguments with some of her friends, or said otherwise, a degradation in relation to some of the people she was close to. The urge to leave home could certainly be seen here too, an unfriendly situation where she feels completely blocked, resulting in difficult communications with the rest of the family. No wonder we find the key in this context, she can close that chapter and open another one somewhere else on the school campus. Briefly, a solution is available to fix what is no longer suitable from the past.

The lily, as focal point above, shows a person who is very mature for her age, in terms of her choices for what she wants to study. Everything here seems to show that in her mind, the choices and decisions for her future have been well thought out. Here we see the importance in what guides her and how she communicates, to focus on finding her long-term happiness and serenity, and thinking about how to progress at her advantage.

Let’s see what can be used as foundation to her concern. The moon is first and foremost a card of honor and recognition, showing that she can rely on her achievements. The clover shows that she knows how to seize the opportunities that come her way. She is certainly still a little bit nervous because her choices are not very clear yet, but I really like seeing the sun above the clouds, her situation should clear up quickly. In any case, even though we see a lack of clarity in what she can rely on, the moon does guarantee some form of success.

Of course, in the near future, she’s going to have to fight to get what she wants, both for her studies and the changes she’s making in her life. Her dynamism represented by the sun should help her a lot. Even if not all is clear yet in the way she will progress, not sure where she is going, this source of energy should solve quite a few problems and illuminate what these clouds are still blurring at this moment. I really like the ship above the sun, it shows a progression all to her advantage, the sun gives it the energy to fight to get there.

If we look at the diagonals, we have 2 communication cards, the letter and the birds. It will therefore be very important to communicate well in order to move forward and try to understand what is fuzzy.

Deck: Maybe Lenormand, by Ryan Edward.