The Strider Tarot Reading Method

There are probably hundreds of different ways in which one could read their Tarot cards. There are books published that offer only card spreads. With that being said, you don’t have to look very far to learn a card spread.

Part of my fine arts training was to look at the world around me and make something unique from it. So I try to do the same thing when I create Tarot card spreads.

Creating a Method

I came up with this method after purchasing the Linestrider mini Tarot deck. You will have to tell me in the comments below if this method exists. For now, I am calling this card reading the Strider Method.

The fact that it was a travel deck was the key. I needed a way of using the cards that didn’t require any space but my hands. I also needed a way to work with more than one card at a time and somehow save the results so I could look at them later.

The most work for the Strider method is in the preparations, and then reading the cards as a whole afterward. The real beauty of this is that it can capture a whole week and show you how it went.

Ideally, you can do this with any deck that you are willing to take with you every day. You just need to be able to access it at least once a day. The Linestrider mini Tarot is a good choice for this or the pocket Thoth deck.

The Strider Method

This method has phases and takes between 5 to 7 days to complete. The first phase is the preparation of the cards. The next phase spending a week drawing out a card each day. The last phase will have you extracting all the drawn cards and reading them together.

Preparation

Shuffle the cards well. Do a wash of the cards. Spread them out on a surface and just mush them around for a few minutes. Gather them up then perform at least 10 riffle shuffles on the cards. Then do a few overhand shuffles to mix the cards around. Using these three methods in order will clear the cards of any patterns or clumps in the deck. Why 10 riffle shuffles? Read my article on shuffling here.

Once the cards are shuffled wrap them up in some way so that you can take them with you. I use a hair tie to keep the cards together.

Use

Keep the deck with you as often as you can. Once a day reveal a card from the deck. Flip it over and keep it on the top of the deck. Now turn the deck upside down to see the bottom card. Use these two cards to gleam your divine message. Keep the cards exactly as they are until the next day.

Find an ideal time the next day to draw a card. Before you do this perform a few overhand shuffles to mix the top facing card back into the deck. Now reveal another back facing card and keep it on the top of the deck. Use this card and the card on the bottom for your divine message. Repeat this for up to 7 days.

As you go through each day you can look at the front-facing cards stored in the deck to see your previously daily messages. The point is that the message will grow and change over time.

Extraction

Any time after the 7th day you can begin the extraction phase. Make sure you keep the cards as they were when you drew that 7th card. Take the top front-facing card and all the back facing cards from the top of the deck. Continue taking the front-facing card and all its back facing cards out of the deck until you have extracted all the cards from the deck.

You will notice that each front-facing card has a different amount of back facings card underneath it. This helps rate the significance of each card. The more back facing cards under the front-facing card, the more significant it is.

Have you ever thought in a Tarot reading which card means the most? This reading method is a way to determine that. The front-facing card with the most back facing cards is your significator card. It describes you within the situation the cards have created.

Arrange the cards in order significance based on how many back facing cards are under your front-facing Tarot card. After you read the cards in order of significance, mix up the order and see if you can reveal anything else. Do this until you are satisfied with the reading.

Here is an example of my reading I did with 8 cards. I drew an extra one on a bad day. Can you spot that day?

This reading is from 2020-09-01

King of Wands, Six of Swords, Three of Swords, Five of Swords, King of Pentacles, Six of Pentacles, Knight of Pentacles, The World.

Further Work With the Cards

This method will give you at least 7 cards to work with. If you want to learn more about what the cards have to say reshuffle them back into the deck. When you reshuffle them leave the front-facing. This is so that you can reset the order of significance. Then perform an extraction once more. See which cards have the most back facing cards underneath. Now read the cards again in whatever way you want. Doing this a few times can help clarify the reading if you got stuck somewhere.

There is a limit to how much further work you can do with the 7 cards. You could do this up to 3 times to see if the cards can be reordered in a meaningful way. Beyond a few times, the cards will just repeat the same message in different variations. If you require more work, then it would be recommended to clear the cards with shuffling and start a new week. Or… use another Tarot deck. Enjoy this method and stay well-read.