"Jacob's Ladder" Spread (orig, "Etteilla")
A useful general spread for cards with reverse meanings, where each "step" is intended to build on the last
If you’re not a purist (and I’m not), you’ll find that you can often easily adapt spreads from classical and folk cartomancy and some Tarot to use with oracle cards. The tone is of course different depending on the deck, but this spread is no exception.
It was originally created by the infamous 18th century French cartomancer Etteilla (the nom-de-plume of one Jean-Baptiste Alliette), who came up with several classic pre-Rider Waite Tarot decks, books and layouts (such as the “Book of Thoth” Tarot and the “Egyptian” or Grand Etteilla deck). “Jacob’s Ladder” is of course a biblical symbol, representing Jacob’s steps to ascend from earth to heaven, and as you’ll see, the spread is made up of seven ‘steps’, with three cards in each, from base to pinnacle.
So! Time to find out more about what this spread can be used for, and how we lay and read it…