Travel Decision
9 cardsCategory: Education & Travel
Helps make a decision about an upcoming trip.
Overview
This spread is used when there are doubts and a decision needs to be made about whether a trip is worthwhile. It is built on comparing two scenarios: what will happen if you stay home (cards 1-3), and what the trip will bring (cards 4-6). Both scenarios are examined on three planes - physical, emotional, and spiritual. Additional cards reveal obstacles (7), support (8), and final advice (9). The spread was created by Anna Kotelnikova, from the book by A. Klyuev, E. Kolesov, and A. Kotelnikova 'Spreads and the Experience of Tarot Interpretation'.
Spread Diagram
Card Positions
Physical plane (if you don't go)
What will happen on the physical plane if you don't go anywhere. The card describes the material, domestic, and bodily consequences of the decision to stay - health, finances, everyday affairs, physical comfort or discomfort.
Emotional plane (if you don't go)
What will happen on the emotional plane if you stay. The card reveals feelings, mood, and state of mind - whether you will feel regret, boredom, relief, or peace from not having gone anywhere.
Spiritual plane (if you don't go)
What will happen on the spiritual plane if you don't go. The card shows how the decision to stay will affect inner growth, self-knowledge, and worldview - whether you will miss an important spiritual experience, or whether staying home will provide an opportunity for deep inner work.
Physical plane (if you go)
What the trip will bring on the physical plane. The card describes the material and bodily consequences of the journey - expenses, physical well-being on the road, impact on health, living conditions during the trip.
Emotional plane (if you go)
What the trip will bring on the emotional plane. The card reveals what feelings and emotions the journey will evoke - joy, inspiration, nostalgia, homesickness, or excitement from new experiences.
Spiritual plane (if you go)
What the trip will bring on the spiritual plane. The card shows how the journey will affect the inner world - whether it will broaden horizons, bring new meanings, or become an impulse for personal growth and spiritual development.
Possible obstacles and problems
The card warns about possible obstacles and problems related to the trip. These may be external circumstances (visas, tickets, weather, health) or internal barriers (fears, doubts, indecisiveness). If the card is positive - there are no serious obstacles.
Help and support
The card reveals what help, support, and favorable circumstances can be expected. It shows who or what will help in making the decision and during the trip itself - friends, family, fortunate circumstances, financial help, or one's own inner resources.
Advice
The final advice card. It gives a recommendation on what to pay attention to when making the final decision. This is not a direct 'yes' or 'no,' but rather an indication of which aspect of the situation is key and what should be considered first.
How to Read
Shuffle the deck while focusing on the trip you are uncertain about. Draw 9 cards and lay them out in a 3x3 grid. Bottom row (bottom to top): cards 1, 7, 4 - physical plane and obstacles. Middle row: cards 2, 9, 5 - emotional plane and advice. Top row: cards 3, 8, 6 - spiritual plane and support. Read the spread by columns: left column (1, 2, 3) - what will happen without the trip, right (4, 5, 6) - what the trip will bring. Center column (7, 9, 8) - obstacles, advice, and help.
Tips & Advice
The main strength of this spread is in comparing the two columns. Compare cards in pairs: 1 vs 4 (physical plane), 2 vs 5 (emotional), 3 vs 6 (spiritual). If the right column is significantly better than the left - the trip will bring more benefit than staying home. Card 7 (obstacles) and card 8 (help) balance each other: if help outweighs obstacles - the path is clear. Card 9 in the center is the final advice that should be considered in the context of all other cards. The spread is especially useful when logical arguments for and against are roughly equal and an intuitive hint is needed.
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