I don't often work with tarot spreads that have strict positional meanings. My go-to technique is to lay down 3 cards and let the images reveal a story. Recently I've been inspired to uplevel my reading skills to 9 cards and there's a specific spread I created called 'between soul and earth' in which I use the Homebound Tarot, the Tarot of the Abyss, and the Green Witch Tarot. I've been playing with this spread to situate myself in the cards and to experiment with layering different levels of meaning. Here, I'm sharing why I chose those specific decks and how the spread works. This is very woo, you've been warned.
the homebound tarot – the soul at home
After my father passed away, I began to dive into ‘soul literature’ (those books that hypothesize where the soul comes from & where it goes after leaving behind its human body). Michael Newton’s Journey of Souls was the first one I read and it impacted me greatly. It’s about the “interlife,” that time we spend as souls in-between lifetimes. The book tells us what happens immediately after death, how the soul finds its home, what teachers and guides come to its aid, why it likes to evolve in groups (I personally call them ‘soul gangs’ rather than clusters), how it reviews its immediate past life, and so on. It’s a fascinating read and certainly made me question my mother’s worries tainted by religion aka that we’re all condemned to the 18 levels of the underworld, forever chased and tortured by demons (what can I say, the Asian afterlife is quite colourful). I absolutely loved those passages that described how souls spend time in the Akashic Records, looking and selecting the details of the next life for the purpose of their continual evolution.
It seems my two biggest preoccupations in life are ancestors and babies, or death and (re)birth respectively. An astrology teacher that greatly influenced my way of seeing the chart was someone who practised and taught (her own version of) esoteric astrology. In this tradition, it is believed that the soul chooses its own chart and will come down only when it is ready, at the opportune time. The full potential of the rising sign is what the soul is coming down to achieve in this lifetime. In astrology, there sometimes can be a debate between free will and fate. Some traditions of astrology see the birth chart as predetermined, while others argue that we’re looking at possibilities. In my opinion, and as Journey of Souls would suggest, we have free will but the choices were made before reincarnation. If that is the case, can we accept that every hardship we experience was deliberately chosen by the soul so that it can have the right opportunities to evolve? (‘No’ is a perfectly valid answer.)
When we think of babies, rarely do we consider the fact that a soul is reincarnating. And this would also mean that we too, as spirit babies long ago, were once souls choosing to descend into our next reincarnation with intention and purpose. And this is where the Homebound Tarot comes in. In Journey of Souls, souls are described as these specks of light of different colours that can take human shape when desired, but remain mostly formless. This is what I see in the Homebound Tarot: it’s the journey of the soul in the interlife, in between reincarnations on Earth. When I use this deck, I specifically connect with that part of soul that remains at home.
tarot of the abyss – the earth mother
I consider Ana Tourian’s Tarot of the Abyss a deck that speaks to the energy of matrescence. The first time I looked closely at a walkthrough of the cards, I had an instant recognition that this was both about the transition from maiden to mother* and the holistic stages of birth. Many of us know the four stages of labour in medical terms: entering labour, pushing, delivering the placenta, and spending time with baby during the first 2 hours or so. In the holistic stages of birth, on the other hand, the focus is on the emotional and spiritual aspects of the journey. We enter the veil as our brain waves shift from beta to alpha to theta. From here, we climb the mountain to do the work, the active labour. We have relinquished all control: everything is happening naturally, instinctively. We may even receive or download information regarding our child during this time of heightened intuition. And after we’ve reached the peak of the experience, when birth has happened, we slowly return to a beta brain state while oxytocin kicks in and the immediate postpartum moment begins.
There are images in this deck that describe this ascent, this climb of the mountain during birth. But the abyss for me also speaks to a descent into the depths of ourselves, in order to find courage and confidence, to realise that yes, we can do this. It’s also a descent into the crust of the earth, to borrow energy and strength from our earth mother. In fact, in prenatal yoga, we often connect with this element to find support, grounding, nurturance, and safety. Earth is also where creation (and destruction) takes place. This deck in my opinion is a great tool to work with during this time of life, whether we’re entering matrescence for the first time or more. And so, bringing together these ideas, flavoured with yoga, ayurveda and TCM, here is how I interpret the Majors.
The Fool: descent, entering matrescence, diving into the crust of the earth, the maiden
The Magician: the channel between above and below, sushumna nadi
The High Priestess: yin and yang, brain waves
The Empress: the mother, Yoga (union), vayus, vata quality
The Emperor: steadiness in the face of change, pitta & kapha qualities
The Wise One: birth stories, community, the doula
The Lovers: agency, informed-decision making, a life-changing decision
The Chariot: action divinely inspired, hamsa (swan), two wings of a bird
Strength: the force within, coping skills, instincts
The Hermit: ancient knowledge of birth, traditional medicine, the midwife
The Wheel of Fortune: divine timing, sudden changes, unpredictability
Justice: knowing deep within, discernment
The Hanged one: a different opinion or perspective, trusting the process
Death: the end of a cycle, death and eventual rebirth
Temperance: balancing the elements within, alchemy of new life
The Devil: limiting beliefs, self-doubt, anxiety and fears
The Tower: control, isvara pranidhana
The Star: compass, values, birth preferences
The Moon: blood magic, moon magic, feminine mysteries, the unknown
The Sun: conception, creation, expansion
Awakening: emerging, transformation
The World: spirit baby, soul, birth
*I see myself in the triple goddess (maiden-mother-crone archetype), but I also recognise that this isn’t the case for everyone entering pregnancy. In fact, even the word “matrescence” assumes that the pregnant person is female-identifying. Although there’s been some efforts from organisations like Lamaze International to change our language surrounding birth, a lot of the terminology remains fairly traditional (especially in languages other than English!). I still think concepts like the stages of labour (medical or holistic) describe perfectly the experience of birth, regardless of how the birthing person self-identifies. But outside of that, all other references are personal to me. You are welcome to cherry pick what inspires you.
the green witch tarot – the meeting point
I like the concept of a significator deck, in which the entire deck represents moi in everyday life situations and beyond. I either choose the cards deliberately to refer to a problem or question I find myself confronted with, or I draw cards randomly and allow them to mirror what I’m currently not seeing. My favourite deck for this is usually the Pagan Tarot: I enjoy following the story of one single character through all 78 cards. Another deck I occasionally use is the ‘So Below’ volume of the Book of Shadows Tarot. This one also depicts scenes of everyday life intertwined with magical practice. And I think either of those would have worked great for this spread. But instead, I chose the Green Witch Tarot.
It’s always my intention to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature, in tune with the changing seasons and at ease with divine timing (not easy, but I try). For instance, although I did not grow up in a culture that honours the wheel of the year, I’m currently living in a country with four seasons. As a gardener, I find it helpful to observe the turning of the wheel. Of course, the ‘Magnificent North’ is quite different; winter typically lasts longer here. But we can still observe important changes in the behaviour of plants. For example, we rarely see snowdrops blooming at Imbolc (unless the previous winter was mild), but we can observe longer daylight once we get to February. This is when houseplants begin to transition out of dormancy. It’s also a good time to start sowing seeds indoors to give them a head start to the season. (In contrast, my homeland has a tropical climate that welcomes gardening all year long. We only ever have the wet and rainy seasons.)
In this particular spread, the Green Witch Tarot is a reflection of who I am right now. Admittedly, I don’t aspire to live in a cottage house, fully off the grid and self-sustaining (that’s so much work and I can’t see myself giving up travelling). But I like to grow my own vegetables, make herb bundles, and birdwatch. And little by little, I also try to find small crafts that I can feed into my dream of slow living, like pouring candles and making soap bars. Or I have larger ambitions of incorporating permaculture principles into my gardening projects and cultivating a medicinal garden. Overall, the Green Witch Tarot is a reminder that it’s always possible to be of the land.
between soul and earth, a tarot spread
This is a 9-card spread divided into three ‘realms’ (or levels). The realm of the soul above, the earth mother below, and the meeting point in between. I like to start in the middle: it’s the present moment, the me of right now. (We can also have a significator here in lieu of drawing a card, which can work well for decision-making or problem-solving.) Once I’ve drawn all three cards here, I move down below. Rooting to rise, I then finish with the soul above.
I’ve gone back to studying astrology recently (it’s an on-again off-again love affair) and I’m experimenting with aspects + tarot just for fun. For this 9-card reading, the first aspect I focus on is the square (8-3-5-2 in relation to 1), or the challenges that box around and really push 1 to grow. Again, since I don’t read positionally, I simply focus on what I see in the cards. The second aspect is the sextile (7-9-6-4 in relation to 1), which I see as nurturing possibilities or that which comes with ease. When relevant, I consider the elements. But most importantly, I focus on the three realms: the hidden gifts or forgotten wisdom of the earth; the intuition, recognition, or knowing of the soul; and the everyday life in between.
example reading (sort of)
I think this spread works well for questions relating to the soul: life purposes, challenges, what we’ve come here to learn, soul plans and contracts, karmic entanglements, etc. In this reading, the question is: Why did my soul choose this (this relating to my fertility situation)? It’s important to note that although this spread has three realms, the question can be answered by any card(s); the answer is not exclusive to the soul realm.
Let’s begin with the Five of Cups (position #1): I see a figure pouring an offering to the earth near a tombstone marked by a spiral. In some traditions, spirals and labyrinths are related to birth. Something or someone has been lost (a child?) and the energy is still stuck here. Perhaps this figure is unable to move on or there’s a cycle that hasn’t come to completion at this time. In soul literature, we often read about souls interchanging their roles throughout different lifetimes: the mother can become the child and vice versa. (Funny story: the first time I heard of this was during an astrology reading, I was told I would give birth to an ancestor. My reaction was, “ew, no thank you!”) Maybe there’s an experience of loss that the soul needs to go through in order to fulfill a contract from a past life.
Another card that’s calling my attention is the Ace of Pentacles (#5). In this particular representation, I am reminded of the first law of thermodynamics (which I learnt in French, so here’s my translation): nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed. Whatever was lost in the Five of Cups (#1) is not actually gone. The earth mother is reminding us that this is a cycle of constant transformation and everything is unfolding (or growing) at its own pace. We need to accept in order to release. (To me the Nine of Swords is a card of nonacceptance, which always shows up when I ask soul-related questions. This time it came up twice!) Another card that’s interesting here is the Three of Pentacles (#7). It makes me think of the Moirae spinning the thread of life. In ancient philosophy, it was believed that the soul chose how it wanted to live its next incarnation but it was the Moirae that locked those choices into fate.
If we look at the square aspect, we see a sudden change or abrupt tragedy illustrated by the Tower (#3). Perhaps there’s something to be said about the Two of Pentacles (#4) trying to balance the conflicting realities of being an eternal soul on the path of evolution and an earthly human afflicted by things it cannot control. The Nine of Swords (#8) is perhaps still trying to understand this while reviewing its past life. In the sextiles, releasing the stuck energy of the Nine of Swords (#4) to achieve a different level of awareness with the Emperor (#9) is crossed with this idea that there’s a purpose to this situation (#6-7). (I think you can tell by now, but I focus a lot on the artwork. Psychological projection was one of the very first tarot techniques that I learnt. I also studied art history in uni.)
final musings
Everyone has an area of life that is challenging to them. Some struggle with finding the right partner or have a hard time in their career. Others have health issues or trauma that need to be dealt with… I think this spread is versatile enough to accommodate a diversity of situations (if you believe in the story of souls & reincarnation, of course). We can swap out decks for the different realms or use these three specific ones that I’ve chosen in other combinations. We can also use traditional cartomancy reading techniques (directional, knighting, etc.) for interpreting the cards or even impose positional meanings. Feel free to take this spread where it inspires you.
🌖 ♍
References:
Tarot of the Abyss (Ana Tourian)
Green Witch Tarot, Spanish edition (Ann Moura, Kiri Østergaard Leonard)
Homebound Tarot (Arielle Moore)
Pagan Tarot (Gina M. Pace, Luca Raimondo)
So Below Deck: Book of Shadows Tarot, Volume 2 (Barbara Moore, Sabrina Ariganello)
Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives (Michael Newton) *I didn’t like his other book as much.*
Rosa’s Choice: A journey to the world of the spirit baby and how we can build a New Earth, together (Debra Kilby) *Channelled book about souls and babies*
Codex of the Soul: Astrology, Archetypes, and Your Sacred Blueprint (VerDarLuz) *Astrology book that’s more poetic and philosophical*
see Whapio Diane Bartlett for the holistic stages of birth