Match the shape of the question
A specific question with a specific scope → one card. Do not use ten cards to answer "should I send this email".
A situation you want described → Past/Present/Future.
A situation you want advice on → Situation/Action/Outcome. The difference from the above is real: one describes, one instructs.
A binary decision → The Crossroads. Two options, side by side, with costs and gains.
A relationship → Love & Connection, or the Relationship Cross for more depth.
A whole life area you feel stuck in → Celtic Cross.
Something recurring that you suspect is about you → Shadow Work.
Bigger is not better
The temptation is always to draw more cards. Resist it. A ten-card spread on a question that needed three cards produces seven cards of noise, and the reader inevitably finds meaning in the noise, because that is what readers do.
If you finish a spread and cannot state the reading in one paragraph, it was too big.
When to stop drawing
One reading per question. If you do not like the answer, sit with it. Do not re-draw, and do not draw a "clarifier" for every card you find difficult.
A clarifying card is legitimate when a single card in a spread is genuinely ambiguous in its position. It is not legitimate as a way to keep drawing until you get something you like, and in practice the difference is easy to feel and easy to ignore.
