File - Tarot Card Spreads

The Tarot is consulted by performing readings, which 
may be general in nature or may address a specific 
question or area of the querent's life. The simplest 
form of reading is the selection and interpretation 
of a single card (see our free weekly readings for 
an example of this), but a greater number of cards 
is usually employed to allow a fuller exploration 
of the subject. Interpreting the cards according to 
their basic meanings and associations alone is a 
rather disjointed and unsatisfying approach. For this 
reason, the cards are selected and arranged according 
to a predetermined pattern called a spread, in which 
each card is interpreted not only with respect to its 
innate meaning, but also according to its position in 
the spread. 

Spreads offer many more refinements to interpretation 
than positional considerations alone. For example, 
each card can be related to other cards in the reading 
to clarify particular points and bring an additional 
richness to the interpretation. In some spreads, 
certain positions have strong links with others, and 
cards in these corresponding positions are interpreted 
with reference to each other. Spreads allow the use of 
techniques like synthesis, majorities, dignities, 
resonance, dissonance and combinations. All of this is 
covered in Interpreting a Tarot Reading. 

There are many spreads, from the simple to the 
confusingly complex, but all strive to provide a 
framework on which the meanings of the cards involved 
can be placed and worked into an insightful whole. Each 
spread is designed for a particular type of reading. 
Some are well-suited to general readings where no 
particular question is being asked, others work best 
when a specific question is being explored, and others 
are geared towards gauging the time scales involved in 
a reading. 

Preparing a Tarot Reading

Initial Preparation

Before beginning a Tarot reading, there should be some 
sort of initial preparation. Consulting the Tarot is a 
contemplative process at the very least, and some 
believe it is a psychic one. Time should certainly be 
taken to attain an appropriate frame of mind and to 
attune to the cards. Some form of simple ritualization 
may be used to help with this, and many readers stress 
the importance of some kind of prayer or protecting 
visualization before the commencement of a reading. 
Those inclined towards a psychic interpretation of 
the Tarot view this as a necessary precaution to 
protect against negative energies to which the reader 
may be prey, others simply see it as a means to attain 
the balanced psychological state needed to get the most 
from the cards. 

Framing the Question

Before the reading proper can be performed, its nature 
must be determined. A reading may be completely general, 
directed towards a particular area of concern or 
performed to address a specific question. In the third 
case, the question must be formulated carefully. Like 
other methods of divination, such as the I Ching or 
Runes, the question posed must be simple and unambiguous, 
otherwise there is too much leeway when it comes to 
interpretation. 

Selecting the Spread

The spread to use for the reading depends on the type 
of question being asked (if any) and the amount of 
detail required from the reading. For example, the 
Celtic Cross spread is often considered to be more 
suitable for answering particular questions than for 
general readings, and it provides a deeper level of 
interpretation than, say, the Simple spread or the 
Triskele spread. Of course, the more complex a 
spread is, the more difficult it is to master and the 
longer it takes to perform a reading with it. 

Getting a sense of timing is notoriously difficult 
with most spreads. Where timing is an important 
factor, Calendar spreads may be employed, in which 
time scales are explicitly built into the structure 
of the spread, usually at the expense of detail and 
thoroughness. 

Certain spreads are designed to deal with decision 
questions like "Shall I choose A or B?" For most 
spreads, though, such decision questions are best 
approached by performing two readings, "What if I 
choose A?" and "What if I choose B?" then comparing 
the results. 

Choosing a Significator

Some spreads and readers employ a card chosen to 
represent the querent. This card is called the 
significator, and it is normally placed face-up in 
the middle of a spread with the other cards placed 
face-down around and on top of it. The card is not 
usually part of the reading, but it serves as a 
representation of the querent's position in the 
events and influences that the other cards detail. 
The significator may be chosen in a number of ways. 
Purely mechanical methods include selecting a court 
card based on the querent's astrological sun sign or 
their age, sex and appearance (such as hair and eye 
color). The intuitional approach allows the reader 
to choose any card based on what they know of or 
sense about the nature of the questioner or question. 
Sometimes, if a further reading is being performed to 
clarify a previous one, the 'Outcome' card of the 
earlier reading is used as the significator. 

Selecting the Cards

The cards should be shuffled and optionally cut, 
usually by the questioner, while focusing the mind 
on the nature of the reading or the specific question 
to be explored (in the case of a general reading, the 
mind should be cleared). The cards are then dealt 
face-down from the top of the deck in the arrangement 
dictated by the spread being used. Once all cards 
required for the spread have been dealt, the process 
of interpretation can begin, with each card being 
turned over in sequence and interpreted according to 
its position and relation to other cards in the spread. 
Some readers prefer to lay all cards face-up from the 
start, but the more useful method is to allow the cards 
to unfold the story of the reading as they are turned up 
one by one, then to reassess the reading as a whole once 
all cards are on view. 

The Simple Spread
___ ___ ___
|_1_| |_2_| |_3_|

The simplest possible Tarot spread is the drawing and 
interpreting of a single card. The simple spread above 
goes a little further by employing three cards, and the 
meaning of each card is modified according to the 
position it occupies in the spread. To prepare the 
reading, three cards are selected and dealt in the 
order shown. They are then interpreted in turn as 
follows: 

1. The Past Events or influences from the past that 
have affected the present but are now passing away 

2. The Present The important events, issues, attitudes 
or influences around the question or current situation 

3. The Future Future events and fresh influences about 
to come into play that will operate in the near future 

If a specific question has been asked, then each 
position is interpreted in a manner relevant to the 
question. Of course, the spread may be varied in any 
way the reader sees fit, with greater or fewer cards, 
or different attributions to the three positions. The 
important thing is that the form and meaning of the 
spread are known in advance. For example, the simple 
spread could be interpreted as follows if this suited 
the reader's purposes and preferences better: 

1. The Present The important event, issue, attitude 
or influence around the question or current situation 

2. Obstacles Current obstacles, problems, conflicts 
and opposition that the questioner must deal with 

3. The Outcome The eventual outcome of events shown 
by the other cards 

The Triskele Spread

5
2--1-- (CARD 2 LAID ACROSS CARD 1)
3 4

Just as the figure from which this spread gets 
its name consists of three branches radiating 
from a common center, so the Triskele Spread 
shows present concerns at the focal point of 
past, future and ultimate influences. This 
compact yet powerful spread can be used to 
address a specific issue, or it can be used 
for a more general reading. To prepare the 
reading, five cards are selected and dealt in 
the order shown. They are then interpreted in 
turn as follows: 

1. The Covering The important events, issues, 
attitudes or influences around the question or 
current situation 

2. The Crossing Current obstacles, problems, 
conflicts and opposition that the questioner 
must deal with 

3. The Root Past events or influences that have 
played a role in bringing about the current 
situation 

4. The Future Future events and fresh influences 
about to come into play that will operate in the 
near future 

5. The Outcome The eventual outcome of events 
shown by the other cards 

The Horseshoe Spread

1 7
2 6
3 4 5


The Horseshoe is a simple spread of seven 
cards arranged, unsurprisingly, something 
like a horseshoe. This spread is often 
considered to be more applicable to a specific 
question than a general reading, though it may 
be used for either. To prepare the reading, 
seven cards are selected and dealt in the order 
shown. They are then interpreted in turn as 
follows: 

1. The Past Important events, issues or attitudes 
that have given rise to the current situation 

2. The Present The prevailing circumstances 
around the questioner 

3. Hopes and Fears The questioner's hopes, 
fears and expectations about the question 
or situation 

4. Obstacles Current obstacles, problems and
conflicts that the questioner must deal with 

5. Environment The attitudes and actions of 
other people around the questioner 

6. The Future Future events and fresh influences 
about to come into play 

7. The Outcome The eventual outcome of events 
shown by the other cards 

The Celtic Cross Spread
3 10
1 9
(CARD 2 LAID ACROSS CARD 1) 5 --|--2 6 8
4 7

The Celtic Cross (sometimes called the Grand Cross) 
is probably the most common spread used to read the 
Tarot, though it is not the easiest to master. It 
is often stated that this spread is only suitable 
for answering a specific question, but in actual 
fact it works very well for general readings, too. 
The Celtic Cross is usually (though not always) 
used with a significator, selected during the 
preparatory phase of the reading. The significator 
is placed face-up on the table and the selected 
cards laid out as above, with the first card being 
placed face-down over the significator, the second 
across it and the rest around it. Some readers opt 
to say the following phrases as each card is laid 
down in turn: 

This covers you (or me, him, her or them, depending 
on who the reading is for) 

This crosses you 
The crowns you 
This is beneath you 
This is behind you 
This is before you 
Yourself 
Your house 
Your hopes and fears 
What will come 

The interpretation of each of these positions 
is as follows: 

1. The Covering The important events, issues, 
attitudes or influences around the question or 
current situation 

2. The Crossing Current obstacles, problems, 
conflicts and opposition that the questioner 
must deal with 

3. The Crown The best that can be achieved or 
attained from current circumstances 

4. The Root Past events or influences that have 
played an important part in bringing about the 
current situation 

5. The Past Events or influences from the more 
recent past that have influenced the present but 
are now passing away 

6. The Future Future events and fresh influences 
about to come into play that will operate in the 
near future 

7. The Questioner The questioner's attitude and 
how they relate to the current situation 

8. The House How other people around the questioner 
affect and view matters in hand 

9. The Inside The questioner's hopes, fears and 
expectations with regard to the question or the 
current situation 

10. The Outcome The eventual outcome of events 
shown by the other cards 

A few readers consider that if they feel the 
tenth and final card does not indicate the 
ultimate culmination of the reading, another 
reading should be performed using this card 
as significator, for clarification. 

Spreads and Meanings

The Tarot is normally used to provide a reading 
in which a particular question is explored or the 
questioner's life in general is considered. Each 
card in the Tarot pack has a basic set of meanings 
and associations attached to it, but interpreting 
cards according to these attributions alone would 
be an unsatisfying and one-dimensional exercise. 
In order to provide a framework that allows a 
greater richness of meaning, the reader employs 
spreads: layouts of cards in which the position 
of a card in the spread modifies the interpretation 
of the card. 

For example, the Nine of Cups is a card of 
contentment and fulfilling relationships. If this 
card appears in a spread in a position indicating 
the future, then it suggests that a time of 
well-being and fulfillment is on the way. If it 
appears in a position that shows current 
difficulties, then it warns that complacency, 
taking things for granted or stagnation are 
problems that the questioner must avoid. 

Reversed Meanings

As well as modifying the interpretation of a card 
according to its position in a spread, there are 
a number of further refinements that may be 
employed to adjust a card's meaning. One of the 
most common, and arguably the least useful, is 
that of reversed meanings. With this method, the 
cards are kept or shuffled so that they may appear 
either upright or reversed (upside down) in a 
spread. When a card is reversed, the meaning is 
modified, usually either tempered or reversed. 

As a simplistic example, the Wheel of Fortune 
appearing in an upright position would indicate 
the felicitous intervention of Fate through a 
lucky break or good fortune. A reversed position 
would be more suggestive of bad luck and a 
downturn in fortune. Many readers do not use the 
system of reversed meanings at all, largely 
because it is a rather clumsy and inelegant 
mechanism, and there are better ways to refine 
the interpretation of a card. 

Synthesis and Majorities

All but the simplest spreads contain positions 
that can be considered together for a richer 
interpretation. Spreads like the Celtic Cross 
are arranged so that cards in certain locations 
explicate and refine the meanings of cards in 
related positions. For example, the Covering 
and Questioner positions are closely related, 
as are the Root and Past positions and the 
three positions dealing with future influences. 
The House and Inside positions show the external 
and internal influences on the matter in hand, 
in an analogous way to the Covering and Crossing 
showing aiding and opposing influences. There are 
many ways, some obvious and some subtle, in which 
the positions in a spread work with each other, 
and this synthesis of cards is a very powerful 
way of bringing a reading together as a whole. 

Majorities are a way of getting an overall sense 
of a reading and are another prism through which 
the interpretation of individual cards may be 
refracted. In most readings there will be a 
dominant suit of the Minor Arcana, and this is 
termed the Primary Majority. The attributions 
of the suit involved indicate the tenor of the 
reading. For example, Wands or Pentacles might 
suggest that the reading largely concerns 
objective events or objects respectively, and 
Swords or Cups could indicate subjective thoughts 
or feelings respectively. 

The Secondary Majority is the next most prevalent 
suit in a reading, and this can impart a 
subordinate, weaker influence. The compatibility 
or otherwise of the suits in the Primary and 
Secondary Majorities can give further clues to 
the dynamics of the forces at work within a 
reading. 

The other significant majority that readers 
look out for is the proportion of Major Arcana 
to Minor Arcana cards. An important time with 
long-term consequences is suggested by a 
relatively large number of Major cards. If the 
cards are mostly Minor, then a less critical 
time is indicated where events are unlikely to 
have lasting significance. 

Dignities, Resonance and Dissonance

Almost all spreads have positions that explicate 
other positions, or positions that may be considered 
sequential or neighboring in some meaningful sense. 
Some spreads even have multiple cards in each 
position for a deeper interpretation. In all of 
these cases, cards are easily linked to others 
through physical or interpretational proximity, 
and the meanings of these linked cards can be 
modified according to a system of dignities. 

For this to work, certain suits of the Minor 
Arcana are considered as being beneficial and 
strengthening to each other (resonance), whereas 
others are considered to be antagonistic and 
weakening to one another (dissonance), and the 
rest remain neutral to each other. Resonant cards 
are well-dignified and dissonant ones ill-dignified. 
Suits of a similar nature strengthen; suits of 
opposite nature weaken. Cups and Pentacles are 
neutral towards each other, and the remaining 
resonances and dissonances are as follows: 

Suit Resonances Dissonance 
Wands Wands, Swords, Pentacles Cups 
Cups Cups, Swords Wands 
Swords Swords, Wands, Cups Pentacles 
Pentacles Pentacles, Wands Swords 

Combinations

When a reading produces groups of identically 
numbered or titled cards - for example, three of 
the Eights or all of the Queens - then those groups 
or combinations may be given further significance. 
For example, all four Aces appearing together in a 
reading would be indicative of a momentous time of 
great energy and new beginnings in which the 
questioner must take care to make the most of 
opportunities in a positive way. 

Timing

Getting a sense of the time scales involved in a 
reading is notoriously difficult. Some spreads 
have positions dealing with the 'recent' past, 
'near' future, 'distant' past, 'eventual' 
outcome and so on - all rather nebulous phrases. 
As a rough guide, the 'present' may be considered 
as a few weeks either side of the current date, 
'near' and 'recent' refer to a small number of
weeks or months, and 'eventual' and 'distant' 
may be months or years away. Some readers employ 
mechanical methods of suggesting timing, using 
formulae based on such things as the suits 
involved in a reading, but these are usually 
less than helpful. Spreads like the Calendar 
Spread are constructed around specific time 
scales, and these may be employed when timing 
is important. 

Certain cards, notably Judgement, can have an 
accelerating or decelerating effect on a reading. 
A well-dignified Eight of Wands, for example, 
can bring an end to delays and move things on 
at a pace, but if the Eight is ill-dignified it 
can slow matters down and herald delays and 
cancellations. 

The greatest influences on the time scales 
involved, however, are the questioner's own 
actions. They may choose to go with the trends 
shown by the cards and speed things up, or they 
may oppose them and slow things down or avoid 
the predicted consequences altogether. The Tarot 
is actually an empowering rather than a 
fatalistic system - it helps to put a person 
in control of their own destiny, as long as it 
is approached in an intelligent way. 

Difficult Readings

Sometimes part of a reading is hard to place: 
the cards may seem contradictory or just plain 
wrong.

Dealing with Difficult Readings

Tarot readings can sometimes seem confusing and 
even contradictory. Occasionally it may be difficult 
to get a handle on the meaning of some part of the 
spread as it applies to the situation or question 
being explored. Some approaches to these issues are 
considered here. 

When a reading goes against the questioner's 
experience

It may be that the cards are accurate, by chance 
or otherwise, and the questioner is mistaken or 
unwilling to admit the truth, but let's consider 
the case where the reading seems to be genuinely 
wrong about some matter. For example, the cards 
suggest that you are going through a prosperous 
time, but you are struggling to find the money 
to pay the bills. Are the cards amiss? Not 
necessarily: there are several possible 
explanations in addition to this one. 

Firstly, there is the question of interpretation. 
Each card has a variety of meanings, and these 
are usually narrowed down by context and the 
card's relationships to other cards in the spread. 
Sometimes, though, it isn't entirely clear which 
way to interpret a card, particularly if the 
reader knows little or nothing about a querent's 
situation. In the example we started off with, 
the prosperous time would most likely be suggested 
by Pentacles, but this suit can refer to physical 
health as well as material and financial matters. 
So even though you may be finding it difficult to 
make ends meet, the cards may be reminding you 
that you still have that most vital of commodities, 
your good health, and that this can enable you to 
overcome your current difficulties. 

Another possible explanation is that of timing. 
Some rough timing rules of thumb are given in 
Interpreting a Tarot Reading, and, considering 
these, it can be seen that the cards could still 
be accurate in our example if you are about to be 
gifted an upturn in fortune or if harder times are 
a recent occurrence. 

Misinterpretation is also a possibility: a reading 
is only as good as the reader. More accurately, a 
reading is only as good as the reader and the 
questioner taken together. An open and honest 
approach by both is the best way to get the most 
from a reading. 

Another point to consider is that of generality. 
If the questioner has asked a specific question, 
then the cards are all interpreted with this 
question in mind, and the chance of vagueness 
and misunderstanding is reduced. General readings 
have more leeway and are more difficult to place 
without help from the questioner. 

The final reason for discrepancy could be that 
the cards are simply wrong, either because of 
some breakdown in the unknown method by which 
the Tarot works or because there is nothing 
truly presaging about the random selection of 
cards: it depends on your point of view. Even 
in this case, perhaps particularly in this case, 
the reading can still be valuable, as it 
encourages you to explore possibilities that 
you would not normally consider, offering new 
ways of looking at a situation or confirming 
existing knowledge. Realizing that something 
is not the case is an increase in understanding 
over not being sure. 

When a reading seems contradictory

Life is contradictory, and it's quite possible 
for the cards to show opposing views of a 
situation. Let's say the cards suggest that 
relationships in general should be going very 
well at the moment, and at the same time they 
highlight disagreements and conflict with 
others: 

If relationships overall are positive for the 
questioner but they are having trouble with 
their boss, then the cards would be accurate 
and may even imply that work is the source 
of conflict. If relationships are not going 
well at all, then the cards are suggesting 
that, though there are problems, relationships 
should be very positive and the querent has 
the means at their disposal to make them so. 
If there don't seem to be any conflicts with 
others at all, then the cards are likely to 
be showing that things are not what they seem, 
that problems are hidden for now and will 
surface at a later date. In such a case it 
would not be surprising to find a card like 
the Moon in a prominent part of the spread. 

And, of course, the cards could be wrong. 

The Calendar Spread

3 4 5 6
1 2 13 7 8
11 12 9 10

Obtaining a sense of the time scales involved 
in a reading is quite difficult with most 
spreads. Calendar spreads, however, are 
designed around specific time scales, 
though timing is usually made explicit at 
the expense of the depth and interdependence 
found in the larger, non-calendar spreads. 

The particular calendar spread is an excellent 
way of obtaining a six month forecast. Thirteen 
cards are used, and during the preparatory phase 
of the reading, the cards are selected and 
arranged as above, with the odd-numbered card 
of each pair laid down first and the even-numbered 
card immediately placed across it. Interpretation 
is in the order shown, with card pair one dealing 
with the current month, two dealing with the 
following month, and so on. For each pair, the 
upright card is the Covering for that month, 
indicating the important events, issues, attitudes 
or influences active during that month. The card 
placed across it is the Crossing, which highlights 
the obstacles, problems, conflicts and opposition 
that must be dealt with during that month. The 
final card, labeled seven, sums up the overall 
influences and outcome of the whole six month 
period.