Using the Black System™ Tarot Deck

There are very few Tarot "spreads" which use the entire deck in a single connected style, but the Black System does just that. What follows is a description of the Black System spread which is suited for any situation, no matter if a great deal of complexity is present, or you and your friends plan a 'general' reading for fun. The steps for creating the Black System spread are:

1: Preparation: Thoroughly shuffle the deck yourself until it seems tactility legitimate. If the reading concerns someone else, it is acceptable to allow that person to clutch the deck while concentrating upon the matter(s) in question.

2: Dealing: From the 'top' of the deck (i.e. with the cards face up, and dealing from the bottom most position), create seventeen piles of six cards each. Shuffle the cards again. Then create thirty-two piles of three cards each. Shuffle again. Now deal the first card (Card 0) and place it in the center of where your spread will be. Now randomly choose five more cards from the deck and place them so the first card dealt (Card 0) is in the center of a circle of five cards (Card 1 through Card 5). You will notice that this circle is, in actuality, in the shape of the powerful five-pointed star, also known as the pentagram. (See example below.)

3: Now interpret the spread: Interpretation of this spread is based upon our proven and patented Veridical Soothsayer Symbolism of the Several Sacred Mounds System™, or VSSSSMS™, a B. L. Zeebub Industries exclusive.

The first card in the circle is House 1, the second is House 2, etc.. Card 1 represents the topic in question (the 'problem', 'question', etc.). Card 2 represents the 'derivation' (cause of the problem, initiation of an intention, etc.). Card 3 represents factors which appertain to the matter, but which are external to it (and probably out of the control of the supplicant). Card 4 represents actions (i.e. just about any verb) taken in relation to the situation. Card 5 represents the ultimate outcome of the overall process behaviors.

Card 4 is the most difficult to interpret, since 'action' could here represent several different things. First of all, it might represent an action which has already been taken. If so, then Card 5 will represent the probable outcome, unless counter actions are taken. Secondly, it might represent the action which the supplicant is asking about (i.e. 'Should I ...'). Card 5, again, represents the probable outcome. Thirdly, it might represent the suggested course of action (answer to the question 'What should I ...'). In this case, Card 5 is the implied objective.

It is quite possible that Card 5 will relate to a past outcome (i.e. everything has already occurred). If this seems to be the position, then it is possible that all five cards must be interpreted as relating to another person, instead of the supplicant. Card 0 always represents the 'heart' of the individual Star spread. Usually, this relates to the supplicant's own relationship to the matter which is germane to the question in question. It can also, however, represent underlying factors which have quickened the matter, not to be confused with the 'cause' of a problem. In this sense, it will usually represent motivations, rather than actions.

Also, in some cases Card 0 will represent a person, other than the supplicant, to which the Star actually relates. In such a case, an attempt should be made, based upon the situation and the nature of the card to identify that person, since this implies that the matter is either out of the hands of the supplicant or the supplicant is only a diffusive factor (and will then be represented by Card 3 for that particular Star. In a similar manner, card 0 (again, the one at the center of the circle), represents the nucleus of the entire reading. This will always pertain to the reasons or motivations of the supplicant, and interpretation of this pentagramic spread must be used to modify all of the others.