Using Surrogate Cards with J.r. Rivera—Part 2

So, in Part 1, we discussed the idea of how you can lay out spreads from a book or online with the Deck of 1000 Spreads, even if the position names don't match. J.r. sent me a handful of his own spreads, using his own words, and I have laid them out with the deck. So the first part is J.r.'s contribution and the part alongside the photo is my commentary. 


This spread I call the Vice Versa.
This spread is designed for people who have met and are dating or if someone is partnering with someone for different reasons (study partner, co-workers working together)

1-2-3
4-5-6

Card 1, That persons thoughts towards me.
Card 2, That persons feelings towards me.
Card 3, That persons intentions towards me.
Card 4, My thoughts towards that person.
Card 5, My feelings towards that person.
Card 6, my intentions towards that person.


The featured deck here is the Crystal Visions. 
So what I've done to recreate this spread is something I call the chart technique. See how J.r.'s spread was basically the same positions from the viewpoint of two different people? That makes it easy to lay out the reactions up top and the people down the side to create a chart you would then put your tarot cards within. I used the Attitudes and Thoughts spread card to replace his Thoughts position. Because I don't have a "Feelings towards the other person" card, I thought Relationship would work nicely, in the sense that that's how each views the relationship. And for the "intentions" position, I used Conscious Desires, though you could use Crowing Influences, Goal, Action or another card that makes sense to you. 



This next spread I call, The Theatrical Role spread.
This spread is to know the influences and importance of people in your life and what inspirations they bring to you.

1-2-3-4

Card 1, The stage (this represents the environment that surrounds somebody)
Card 2, The Leading Role (This represents that most important people in someones life ei: Mother, Partner, Children)
Card 3, The Supporting Role (This represent the secondary people in someones life ei: In Laws, Friends,)
Card 4, The Minor Role (This represents the "third party" of people in someones life ei: Co-Workers, Neighbors)
Card 5, This card is not mandatory, but it can give you advice on how you can understand and be open to this people. 


To represent the environment around someone, I chose the Situation card. I sometimes use the Others card (the thoughts and feelings of others) for that, but since we needed that elsewhere in the spread, I used Situation. The Problem might also work if you're asking about a problem situation. Now, for the next three cards, you can use any of your orange Character cards that apply to your specific situation. I made the reading about a Partner and how Friends and Family and Others viewed the situation. But if you were reading about a family matter, you might want to use Friends and Family in that first position, Others in the second and Co-Workers in the third, for example. J.r. says the Advice card is not mandatory, but I added it for the picture. 



This last spread I call the "Mind over matter spread"
This spread is used to double-check what your instinct is telling you. 


 





--1--
2--3
4--5


Card 1, The situation. 
Card 2, What your mind says
Card 3, Outcome if you listen to your mind.
Card 4, What your heart says
Card 5, Outcome if you listen to your heart


Featuring the Crystal Visions tarot. 



If you have two Deck of 1000 Spreads decks, you can lay out repeat positions easily. But if you don't, you can use the chart-type layout I suggested above. Or you can do what I've done here. First, though...for the first three positions, I had cards for the positions J.r. described. For card 4, I don't have a "Heart" card, so I substituted with Spirit. I also considered Heart of the Situation, Unconscious Desires, Body and What to Know for that position. You use the card that speaks closest to the reading and information you want to get. Now, because I didn't have a second Outcome card, I just left the space blank and drew a card for that position anyway. Another way you could have laid this out was to put the Outcome card in the middle and placed one card on either side of it. And another way would be to pull out your red blank card and use it as a placeholder. 





These three examples really show a good range of situations you're going to come across as you find spreads you want to try, but don't have the exact spread cards you need. When I was developing this deck, I knew there would be a lot of situations like that. Even if I had created a deck with hundreds of cards in it, we'd still have that problem. The Deck of 1000 Spreads comes with blank cards in every color that you label with removable tape or a sticky note. Or if you come across certain positions time and again, you can use marker to label each end of one of your blanks so they do double duty. But even without using blanks, chances are you'll find a card in your deck that will give you the same information, just with a different spread position name attached to it. So get to know your cards and then substitute away!