I took the weekend off from writing here again. Although this may not be good for my reader rate, it certainly benefits my family life. I got to see my son laugh until he cried on Saturday, and it made my heart sing. Sadly, it’s time to get back to work and back to my Month of Spreads posts. Today we were asked to create a spread for a fictional person named Kareem. He is worried about an upcoming job interview. Strangely enough, I came up with the spread for a similar situation just the other day. It is based on a layout I use regularly for the Lenormand called The Above and Below Spread. If you read that entry you may see the similarities. This one, however, focuses on First Impressions.
The First Impressions Spread
Clear your divination device of any prior readings. For example, I’m using Lenormand. That deck is made up of 36 cards and therefore easily dealt into three, four, or six piles. If you’re using Tarot, three or six piles will work well. (For runes or dice, simply shake your set well, either in your hand, bag, or rune cup.) When you are done dealing out your cards, collect the piles in any random order you wish.
Shuffle your deck while thinking of the meeting or interview that is about to take place. Stop when you feel satisfied.
Lay of the cards in the following order:
The Top Card of The Deck – The Conscious Impression You Will Make – This is your outer self. This includes such things as your appearance, your style of speaking and general manner, any references or credentials you might have, etc.
The Bottom Card of The Deck – The Subconscious Impression That You Will Make –This includes subtle signals they will pick up from you such as body language, hints you might not have noticed you dropped in conversation, “vibes” and your general energy.
Now layout three more cards. In order, these are:
The Events That Led to The Meeting (The Past)
The Meeting Itself (The Event)
The Likely Outcome (The Future)
You can also turn the spread around and ask the cards what you will think about the party you were about to meet. This can be especially important if you are considering some sort of contract or union, i.e. dating, employment, purchase agreement, etc. You can also focus on what your strengths are, whether these are those you’re consciously aware of or those that remain hidden in your psyche. If the meeting is of particular consequence, you want to concentrate on how you can call up your strengths to bring about the outcome you wish to happen.
Regardless of the system of divination you are using, the last three cards, runes, or dice can be read chronologically. If you’re reading this spread with Lenormand, the triplet can also be read as a sentence. The vertical line can be read in the same fashion. Of course, Tarot correspondences could be added to your Lenormand meetings for additional insight.
In regards to Kareem and his interview, let’s see how he does. After clearing and shuffling the cards I pulled:
The Conscious Impression Kareem Will Make – The Garden – community, groups, gatherings – a real team player, looks like he would fit into the corporate culture
The Subconscious Impression Kareem Will Make – The Book – knowledgeable, studious, has the smarts, knows what he is doing,
The Triggering Event – The Moon – This card can literally mean reputation as well as work! If you consider the Near and Far method of Lenormand reading, it is behind the event itself, meaning that Kareem’s reputation does not proceed him. In other words, it is important that he makes a good first impression because they have little idea who he is. The reason why he makes a good first impression is doubly important is because this card brings with it connotations of emotional satisfaction. This suggests Kareem wants to better his career, not that he is necessarily currently out of work. To me, it looks like Kareem is going for a promotion. He wants to make himself known and work up the ladder.
The Event Itself – The Anchor – stability, dependence, livelihood – Kareem comes off as a good, long-term, stable match during this interview.
Future – The Child – newness, starting afresh, being an amateur, new beginnings – Realistically, there couldn’t be a better card showing up here. Kareem got the job! He is in a sense starting over, but it is exactly what he wanted.
If I read these two triplets as a sentence:
Moon + Anchor + Child = Emotionally satisfying livelihood starts.
Garden + Anchor + Book = Social / public livelihood teaches. This implies that the position will involve more teamwork or a bigger step into the public light. If looked at as a summary of Kareem’s first impression, on the other hand, it says he comes off as hardworking team player who knows his stuff. That’s great, because his reputation wasn’t well known enough to earn him the job by word of mouth alone. The end result of the interview looks extremely positive, though!
If I wanted to, I could dig deeper and look at the playing card inserts on each of these Lenormand cards. From there I could figure out what Tarot cards match up with them and figure out a secondary layer of meaning. As it is, I’m pressed for time, so I hope you enjoyed this First Impressions spread!