One of my most popular posts is where I featured my own Tarot spread for decision-making, the Two Options Spread. The spread came out of my private practice with my clients, those who were faced with situations that required some important decision between two (or more) options.

I was delighted to hear from people who either were going to give it a try, or those who actually did a reading using it and wanted to share their results.

And some even asked if I had other spreads I could share (one person even asked If I’d written a book with spreads in it).

It was because of that level of interest that I recently shared a quick 3-card reading to be used with a new deck, asking about the relationship between reader and deck, which I call the “You, Me, and Us Spread.”

Keeping in the spirit of bonding with a new deck, I thought I’d share a spread I was using long before I came up with the “You, Me, and Us Spread,” and it’s called the New Deck Interview Spread.

You might have heard of this; I discovered it many moons ago on Aeclectic Tarot, in its community forum. The spread was created by Fire Raven, and it consists of six cards, each one positioned to ask a new Tarot deck questions about itself and how it will work in the reader’s life and practice.

Over the years I’ve tweaked it (which I’m sure most readers do with spreads and layouts), so I’ll be showing you how I work with it these days.

First, here’s the layout (to the right); the position meanings are as follows:

1. Tell me something about yourself (this is what the deck has to say about itself)
2. What are your strengths?
3. What are your (perceived) limitations?
4. What are you here to teach me and/or What can I learn from you?
5. How do I best work with you and/or How would you like to be used?
6. What will our relationship be like?

And now that you get a sense of the spread and its position meanings, I thought I’d let you see how I work with it…

Interviewing the Bharata Tarot

Here’s a New Deck Interview Reading I did with the Bharata Major Arcana Tarot (by Sunish Chabba & Ishan Triveda of Guru Playing Card Company), a deck I recently added my collection…

First, a look at the cards that turned up in the reading:

​Now, let’s take a closer look at each of the cards, and what they had to say…

Wanting to respond to “Tell me something about yourself,” the Page of Cups turned up.

Speaking for the deck as a whole, the Page said, “I’m creative, and a good resource for learning to develop intuition. Oh—and I make a great first impression.”

The Emperor turned up to take the question, “What are your strengths?”

He replied, “I (again speaking for the deck as a whole) follow the RWS (Rider Waite Smith) structure, again making me a good deck for a beginner.

“And,” he added, “I bring a different sensibility (referring back to the Page of Cups) to those readers in the West (noting he’s facing west).”

That last bit was The Emperor’s way of noting the art style of the deck (Page of Cups mentioned being creative), which is Indian (Hindu) folk art.

​The Tower popped up to answer the question, “What are your (perceived) limitations?”

The Tower said, “Because I follow the RWS structure, I may be seen as not offering any surprises (meaning nothing new to see here).”

The Tower went on: “One ‘shock’ has been that I’m not a ‘full deck’ (being a Majors-only deck), that some people fail to realize and/or understand that my playing card counterpart (the Bharata Playing Cards) is a part of me.”

The Tower mentions the fact that both the Bharata Playing Cards and the Bharata Tarot were meant to be combined to work as a full Tarot deck.

The Chariot zipped in to tackle the question, “What are you here to teach me?”

The answer…? “To take your reads/readings in a new and/or another direction.”

Keeping things moving, The Chariot deferred to The High Priestess, who chose to answer the inquiry of “how to best work with you.”

Like the others before her, speaking for the deck as a whole, the Priestess said, “You can use me independently (the Majors only deck), or pair me with my playing card counterpart.”

“Either way,” she continued, “I want you to read (do readings) with me.”

She added that her appearance, along with the Page of Cups, carried another message, which was that the deck wanted to be an aid in developing my intuition.

Shining a light on the final question (“What will our relationship be like?”) was The Sun, considered to be the best card in the deck, and a very auspicious sign.

He said simply, “Our relationship will be a happy one; it will be warm and satisfying. I’ll help clarify the questions you bring to me, and help you to look on the brighter side of the things we discuss.”

I’ve been accustomed to pulling an additional card when a Page appears in a reading, and this is because Pages are the messengers of the deck; the card pulled is intended as an additional message the Page is bringing and/or bearing to the reading.

For the Page of Cups, I pulled Temperance as the additional message.

​Immediately, Temperance pointed out that the deck is a blend of both the east and the west, in terms of cultural influences.

​Then Temperance had this to say: “Experiment with me (again, the deck as a whole). Dip your toes into the waters, get your feet wet. See how I complement the playing cards, should you combine us. Be adaptable, go with the flow. Become adept at working with me.”

And, with that, our interview came to a close.

Wrapping Up

And there you have it, the New Deck Interview Reading, a fun way to bond with a new Tarot (or Oracle card) deck.

You might have noticed that I allow the cards to talk to me as if the deck were a person.

I personally find that fun to do, to give the deck a “voice,” if you will, because it really does have one. Every deck speaks a different way, and approaching the interview in that way can allow that “voice” to come out at the start of the relationship.

And this reading doesn’t just have to be with new decks. You could use it with one you’re currently working with, or one that you put aside, and thinking about picking it back up.

If you do decide to give this spread a try, I’d love to hear how it goes. And, in the meantime, enjoy bonding with your oracle!