Reader · 15 min
Telling the story
Turn a spread into a story you can act on: one line per card, the spine that answers the question, the words that join the cards, and one step to take this week.
In this lesson you will
- Write one short line per card and find the spine of the reading.
- Join the lines with words that show cause, tension and consequence.
- End a reading with one step inside the asker's own power.
- Tell a story from a full spread without leaving a card out.
A friend asks what your reading said, and you hear yourself list it: “The first card was about money, the second was about change, the third was about rest.” Your friend nods politely. Every card was there, but the story was not, and neither was anything to do next.
From cards to a story
A reading is finished when it becomes a story with a next step. The cards are the material, the positions give each card its line, and the links from Card pairs and the patterns from Patterns across a spread give the story its shape. This lesson puts them together in four moves:
- Lines: one short line per card, answering its position's question.
- Spine: the card or link that answers the question most directly.
- Joints: connect the lines with because, but, so and while, not only with and.
- Step: end with one thing the asker can do this week.
The moves work for three cards and for ten. With more cards there are more lines, but there is still one spine, and still one step at the end.
This lesson is part of Plus
Plus opens every lesson of the Practitioner, Reader and Advanced tiers, with practice that explains every answer.
What the lesson covers
- Lines and spine
- Joints: how the lines connect
- The step
- Your turn
- Practice
Foundations and the first lesson of every course are free.