Full Moon in Libra - Balance Tarot Spread

It's been awhile since I talked about Tarot, but with the Full Moon in Libra last night, I thought it was a good time to share a spread I developed a couple years ago that is useful in figuring issues of balance and fairness.  I mainly use it for conflict resolution readings, although it's also successfully helped me sort out situations where there are conflicting desires, needs, or goals.

 It is meant to look like a scales, pointing toward issues relevant to Libra or to the Justice card.

Libra Balance Spread

1. Person A, or Desire A

2. Person B, or Desire B

3. The tension that exists between A and B.

4. A's perspective.

5. What A needs (to feel satisfied, to feel fairness has been accomplished, possible needed from B)

6. What gives A's perspective weight - why it matters.

7. B's perspective.

8. What B needs (to feel satisfied, to feel fairness has been accomplished, possible needed from A)

9. What gives B's perspective weight - why it matters.

10. Best approach to achieve balance and fairness  for A and B.

Now for a briefly outlined sample reading - this has to do with a couple I know who are struggling financially and arguing a lot.  The husband has a history of job hopping with periods of unemployment in between, and the wife is carrying a lot of anger about this, which tends to come out in harsh words.  In spite of this, they do love each other and their young daughter and would like to understand where the other is coming from - and to be understood as well.

Deck Used: Fenestra Tarot

1.Husband 

3 of CUPS - He enjoys socializing far more than he does working.  He's an optimistic, upbeat person who enjoys having fun, sometimes at the expense of more serious obligations. (Note - this card often denotes 'partying', which is not something he regularly does, however, he will put a great deal of time into home brewing projects which has caused issues when his wife is asking him to make needed repairs or to work longer hours)

2. Wife

9 of WANDS - She's in defensive, protective mode, and is getting tired and wounded over the situation.  She believes someone's got to look out for the family's well-being, and it's falling to her to do so.  She is concerned that they will never get ahead because all her energy is going toward just keeping it together, and she feels like she's on her own in that regard.

3. The tension that exists between Husband and Wife

10 of WANDS - this is just plain hard work.  This lack of balance is putting a huge strain on their marriage, and on their ability to enjoy life together.  Instead everything is a big burden to lug around with no end in sight.

4. Husbands's perspective.

PAGE of PENTACLES - Husband feels like he gets around to things, just slowly.  He likes to be hands on, and to take things at his own pace, and when he is engaged in a project, he wants to himself in it, to the exclusion of other priorities.  When he feels pushed, he gets stubborn and slows down even more.  For him, this is about who he IS, so he doesn't want his needs and desires to be negated.  When they argue, he will often say nothing and just wait for the words to subside, and then go back to what he was doing.

5. What Husband needs (to feel satisfied, to feel fairness has been accomplished, possible needed from Wife)

7 of CUPS - Husband feels that Wife has forgotten how to dream and imagine anything beyond the mundane - they used to talk a lot about what they were going to do together, and now it's all just about daily needs.  He needs her to acknowledge his dreams and share her own.  Just as she's handling all the worry, he's handling on the dreaming, and they should be sharing both.

6. What gives Husband's perspective weight - why it matters.

KNIGHT of WANDS - The reason Husband's preference to be a hands on learner who immerses himself in projects , and to be a dreamer matters is because another aspect of his personality is that he only moves when his passion and interest is ignited.  Rather than insisting he turn aside from his hands-on explorations or give up his dreams, these things should be harnessed in a way that has a positive impact on the family's financial situation.  Maybe he should be looking for the sort of work that uses these traits, or his daydreams should be turned to doable goals in order to motivate him.

7. Wife's perspective.

6 of CUPS - Wife wishes it could be as it used to be, when they had fewer responsibilities and there was harmony between them.  Now, though, they have a child, and they need to protect *her* childhood by creating a safe environment for her to grow up in.

8. What Wife needs (to feel satisfied, to feel fairness has been accomplished, possible needed from Husband)

PAGE of WANDS.  Wife needs Husband to pull his characteristics of the PAGE of PENTACLES and KNIGHT of WANDS  together and start learning how to motivate himself to get moving, instead of digging in his heels and not doing anything at all.   She gets that it will take time - she just wants him to start learning how to do it, so that he can grow into the KNIGHT of WANDS eventually.

9. What gives Wife's perspective weight - why it matters.

VII: THE STAR -  This is a biggie... The reason why it is important that she be able to see him making progress toward becoming a more self-motivated ambitious person is because that's where she's put her hopes for the future.  While she's willing to wait and trust that things will get better, she needs to see some signs that things are headed in that direction.  If she loses hope, she's probably going to be done trying.

10. Best approach to achieve balance and fairness  for Husband and Wife.

KING of SWORDS - These two need some guidance from someone more mature than they are who can offer them some objective insight into how to correct the imbalance in their marriage, and how to work together to accomplish their goals.  This card suggests a counselor of some sort is their best bet for fixing this situation.  That this is the King of Swords and not King of Cups indicates to me that the problem isn't so much an emotional one, but rather a matter of problem solving and brainstorming about how to communicate more effectively, rather than getting into the rut they're in now of her using a string of harsh words, and him clamming up and refusing to do anything at all rather than feel 'pushed'.