Lightening the Load: A tarot spread for unpacking burdens

Introduction

The Lightening the Load spread is a simple eight card spread that will work with any deck but my suggestion is to start off with a hug deck if you have one. If you’re already feeling a little overwhelmed I believe a deck that presents the message in a gentle, yet honest way, is the best approach. Regardless of the situation, I never think there is a wrong time to be kind to yourself. Anyhow enough said. The deck you choose is obviously up to you.

Background

I had an idea, or should I say ideas/beliefs around what I thought was weighing me down and preventing me from doing what it was that I wanted to be doing. How wrong those thoughts proved to be. Since my underlying premise was wrong, all my attempts to remedy the situation were falling short. My frustration levels were growing and I found myself sinking into victim mode. Anyone that knows me at all knows that I am not a fan of that way of thinking because it goes against my unwavering belief that the only thing that we can control is ourselves. So, what to do.

I did what I usually do and I reached for one of my decks. In this case I chose the Everyday Witch Tarot because it felt like it would play nice with me and I expected that I was about to get schooled. As I was shuffling my cards though I couldn’t decide on the best spread to use, so, I created this one – the Lightening your Load spread. It really helped me, so my hope is that it might help you too.

The Lightening your Load Layout

Inadvertently, the layout became like a handheld mirror. I actually found the shape quite apt so I kept it, but you can arrange the cards in any way you like. Play around with it. Add things, remove things, change the layout. Do whatever feels right to you.

Some explanations

I have found spreads before, but I felt I had to put just as much time into interpreting what the positions meant as I did into interpreting the spread. This is my attempt to counter that.

1. What is burdening me the most?
   • You could add more cards here and ask instead what burdens do I carry but personally I think dealing with things one at a time makes it easier and can help prevent what I found myself doing – thinking the wrong things were causing the issue.
2. Why?
   • Why is this burdening me? What is it about this, (card 1), that I am I struggling with?
3. Where did it come from?
   • You may well know without needing to draw a card but for me it added clarity to the story.
4. How do I overcome it?
   • This is the big question but on its own, without any background, I don’t believe it is enough.
5. What impact will addressing it have on me?
   • Before I did this spread I would have thought the answer would have simply been, “I will feel better” but it wasn’t. It was something much more powerful. Therefore it provided the motivation to carry through on the advice on how to overcome it.
6. What impact will it have on others?
   • When I created the spread I thought this was going to be a big one because I had externalised the issue. In the picture of my actual reading below you will see I had the 9 of Cups come up here. The issue was always me.
7. Why is this such a focus now?
   • This is looking at what triggered the urge to unpack the situation in the first place. This card could be the starting point for a follow-up spread. I laughed when I saw the 10 of Wands come up. It felt playful. But a card such as 2 of Cups could suggest your lifestyle/responsibilities etc are impacting your relationship. Or as another example, the 3 of Pentacles in this position might suggest the need to go and find others to help you or that those you are leaning on aren’t the right people.
8. Where to from here?
   • I see this as the “next step” card.

My personal reading using the Lightening your Load spread

These are the cards I drew for my own personal reading the first time I used this spread. As I already alluded to, the cards told me a very different story to the one I had been telling myself.

Wrapping it all up

The Lightening your Load Spread was something I created to fulfil a particular need and I found it worked really well for me. I hope it does for you also. If you changed anything, especially if you added something that I didn’t think to include, I’d love to hear about it. I’m also curious as to whether you create your own spreads and/or what your favourite go-to spreads are. And, as always if there is anything I can do to help you on your tarot journey let me know either in the comments section or via email by clicking here and if I can help in any way I will.

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Image attribution

Everyday Witch Tarot

Deck Creator: Deborah Blake (author and creator), Elisabeth Alba (artist)

Pictured Version: 1st Edition, 5th Printing, published by Llewellyn Publications in 2019