I developed my first tarot spread recently, and I’m so excited about it that I wanted to share it with all of you! The following spread is based on the tale of Bluebeard, as told in Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes.
For those unfamiliar with the tale, a young woman and her sisters are wooed by a rich nobleman. Her older sisters think the dude is creepy as fuck and reject his proposal. However, the young woman is blinded by the promises he offers and marries him.
Not long after they wed, he goes on a trip, giving her the keys to the castle. He tells her she can go into any of the rooms except one. Her sisters, who think this is weird, convince her to look for the forbidden room and turn the search into a game.
When she finds it, she discovers that her husband is a serial killer who has chopped off the heads of all of his former wives.
Stuff happens where, of course, he finds out that she found out and tries to kill her, but she is miraculously saved by some random brothers that come out of nowhere (really don’t get that part!)
So, yeah. Really short summary.
Clarissa’s version is way better. In fact, it was so good that it inspired me to create this five-card spread for getting out of stuck situations. I’ve used it several times already and have found it to be one of my most direct and powerful spreads.
The layout is as follows:
~~~5~~~
2~~1~~ 3
~~~4~~~
Card 1—The Proposal: This is what the querent wanted and thought they were getting when they entered into the situation
Card 2—The Predator: This card represents what is entrapping the querent currently. Although this could potentially be a person, the predator can also be a belief or situation.
Card 3—The Trick. This is what has been lost in the process of pursuing the proposal. The querent may already have some inclination of this loss but may be unable to see it because of the emotional investment in the proposal.
Card 4—The Secret. This card represents a truth that the querent must confront. Sometimes it’s about something in a relationship with someone else; sometimes it’s about something within the querent themselves (negative beliefs, lack of boundaries, etc.)
Card 5—The Key. This is what will give the querent the power to free themselves. It could be an action or it could be the new perspective that the querent needs in order to avoid repeating an unhealthy pattern.
If you read Tarot, give this spread a whirl and let me know what you think!
sometimesmagical 
wow! i was seeking a spread to help gain clarity and i came across this one randomly searching the internet. let’s just say i will be using spread in addition to my tried and true spreads. thank you SO much for sharing and honoring the wild woman archetypes and all that clarissa pinkola estes writes in ‘wwrww’ in this simple yet profound spread ❤