In my last Tarot Tip I went over the many different cards that can represent various types of animals and pets in your client’s reading.  Usually when you’re reading someone, their pet is not their top priority, but it does help to be ready to locate their pet in the reading if they have a question about it.  So, if that situation occurs, from my last Tip, you now know which card(s) to look for depending upon what type of pet they have.

     But what if none of those cards turn up? Or if you have trouble pulling it into the reading?

     There’s an easy solution.  You can use a simple layout designed to answer a question that will focus on the pet. I’ll talk about two that I use myself, or you can create one of your own.

     If your client says, for example, “I’m very concerned about my cat.  Do you see anything about her here?”  You will first look at the cards in the spread you are using, and see if any of the cards that talk about a cat are present.  In this case you’d be looking for the Queen of Wands, Strength, or the High Priestess. If one of those cards are there, just read it as the cat in the spread.  But suppose none of those cards are in the reading? Or even if they are, you can’t get enough information in the layout to address your client’s needs?

     The easiest solution is to do a quick 3-card spread that just talks about the cat. From left to right the first card is the cats past, the second (middle card) is her present, and the last card is her future.  That will give a general overview of what’s going on with the cat.

    If the client wants more detail, my choice would be to use a Kabbala (sometimes called a Pyramid) 10-card spread. The pyramid can be laid out with the point towards you or away from you, it makes no difference.  It will have 4 rows.  The first row has 4 cards and is the cat’s physical condition and situation.  The second row has 3 cards and tells what is behind or causing the problem or situation.  The third row has 2 cards and tells how the situation is likely to resolve itself, or what needs to be done about it.  The card at the top (or bottom if your pyramid points down) of the pyramid is the outcome.

   Remember, if it’s a negative outcome you can continue to lay out more cards in a row until things return to a positive place.  There are no real beginnings or endings in the Tarot; an ending is also a beginning. What gets worse, gets better, and vice versa.  Everything is a circular pattern. Always keep laying cards out until you bring your client back up again.  That’s one of my most basic rules.

     So now you have two possible spreads you can use that will tell you more about the cat. These spreads are very versatile.  They can also be used to tell you more about any person or situation the client wants to know about!  I use both of these spreads all the time, both for myself and for my clients, as they are quick and simple and contain so much information!