When using a pattern deck for divination, there are two common layouts: a nine-card spread, and a three-card line. The latter is better for addressing specific questions and concerns, while the former is better for more generalized understanding of an individual or a situation.

In a three-card line, the first card represents where the querent currently stands regarding the issue. The second describes the path they should follow, and the third indicates where they will end up. The difficulty of interpreting this type of layout lies in the fact that any card can be read according to its revealed (good) or veiled (bad) significance.

In a nine-card spread, each row indicates a layer of time. The bottom is the past, the foundation of the subject; the middle is the present; the top is the future yet to come. The right-hand column indicates the good in the situation, and the left the ill, while the center is neither -- meaning either contextual information, or an element which is both good and bad. Cards laid in the right-hand column are always interpreted according to their revealed meaning, and those in the left are always veiled. Furthermore, a row or the spread as a whole gains significance if it contains a preponderance of cards from a single thread: the spinning thread for the inner self (spiritual matters and the mind), the woven thread for the outer self (social matters and relationships), or the cut thread for the physical self (material matters and the body).