Tarot Spreads

Thors simple 5-card cross layout shows the present situation going into the future. The first card is the significator, meaning the overall theme and mood of the question posed. The significator is compounded by the next 2 cards, showing the current problem and a clue to what will offer a helping hand to overcome this problem. The 4th and 5th cards show the near future, leading into what will be the longer term outcome.

This easy-to-read 4-card layout is one of the most useful of all the spreads. The first card is the significator, and the last shows the outcome, provided you follow the advice given. The advice is broken down into 2 cards which can easily be compared and contrasted. Card 2 tells you what you should avoid, while 3 shows you the path you should take.

Use this reading to assist in reaching, or possibly even defining your goals for the future. This reading explores your strengths and weaknesses, suggesting areas in which you will have to make some effort to ensure you reach your goals.

The Ankh was inspired by the ancient Egyptian symbol of the same name. It answers deeper questions by looking into the past causes they may have triggered the current state of events. There are 2 significator cards which may fulfill or contradict each other, showing the root of the situation. The upper loop of the spread tells you about the spiritual aspects of your question. This area shows the distant and recent past as it has effected where you are at right now. The pinnacle shows the way a higher power sees your plight, and the sixth card shows what must occur regarding your query.

The first card, as usual is the significator, meaning the overall personality of the relationship as a whole. On either side of the significator are 2 columns. The columns show how each person relates to the other on the 3 levels described above.

The lower base or stem of the Ankh shows the way the future plays out, starting with 7, the immediate future. Before the final outcome at the very bottom, Card 8 indicates something that will surprise you along the way.

This simple 3-card spread is the easiest spread to read because it is so simplistic. It requires no explanation: just read the story from left to right as if it were a 3-panel comic strip in chronological order.

[The Career Mirror] [The Path] [The Decision Game] [The Horse Shoe]

The first of the 3 rows shows your rational or intellectual thoughts concerning your question. The second row is concerned with your emotional attitudes, meaning your feelings. The bottom row represents your posture or stance, meaning how you project yourself outwardly, to the world.

The Path is laid out in a scientific grid like some other spreads, utilizing 2 columns and 3 rows.

The 7-card Horse Shoe is a convenient basic layout that can be used to answer different types of questions, especially concerning questions where a little insight would be helpful. Like several other spreads, it has cards representing the past, present, and future.

This 5-card spread is similar to the Cross layout in focus. The main difference is that rather than focusing on the outcome, it provides clues to what drives you and to other peoples opinions about your plan. As usual, the significator shows the main theme. The final 2 cards provide the advice that you ask for. Card 4 indicates the route which should be avoided, as it leads to failure, while 5 shows the way to make your plan successful. The trick is to compare the differences in the last 2 cards to get an idea of what they mean.

Other clues are provided in Cards 3 and 5, which indicate hidden and outside influences that come into play effecting the journey to your goal.

Drawing one card from the deck is the easiest and probably the most common method of doing a reading. Without a storyline like when interpreting a spread, there are no cards to compare and contrast. You can simply interpret the card as the answer to your question.

As usual this reading begins with the significator and ends with the outcome. Between the ends we analyze cards which stand for the planetary influences, one by one. The Moon card represents the influence of the home. Mercury shows the side of the intellect regarding ones skills to interact. Venus or course is the planet of Love, and Mars is the planet of war. These 2 also represent the female and male energies respectively. The final 2 planets both relate to Mercury. Jupiter shows the financial side of business, regarding personal gains. Saturn represents the purely intellectual aspects of a persons life, or what you think on a more personal level.

[V] [Tree of Life] [Relationship] [The Loving Cup] [The Diamond]

At the right, 4 cards are laid going upward. At the bottom you have a card representing yourself, and the next card shows how others may effect the question. Card 9 indicates what you may be hoping for or possibly what you hope will not happen. Finally at the top we come to the outcome, meaning the distant or ultimate future.

This spread progresses through 8 stages similar to the tarot decks Major Arcana, beginning with birth and the area of fertility. After birth comes the initial growth which leads to a period of adaptation, change, and re-balancing oneself. Once the process has grown enough, security comes into focus, as it is necessary to protect what weve earned. After this, once again growth is important, but on the level of the mind and creativitity this time, leading to another phase of personal changes. Finally upon completion of the journey, the rewards become evident, and beyond that the persons spiritual development can also be noticed.

The pinnacle of the Horse Shoe, looking like the top of the mountain, shows the obstacle or challenge that needs to be addressed and overcome. Card 6 suggests a course of action to meet this challenge. The final card shows the outcome or future should you take this advice.

This layout forms the shape of an arrow pointing upwards, symbolic of the focus of any ambitious, career-minded individual. The first card shows where you are at now in your career. The second shows the challenge that you will need to overcome on your way up the ladder of success. You can rely on your strengths, hinted at in Card 3 to help you along your way. Cards 4 and 5 show the Past and Future Influences that effect your journey to the top. Finally Card 6 shows the future in the outcome of your efforts.

The left column shows how you currently think, feel, and act regarding your concern. The right column gives advice on how you would be better served if you changed your attitudes on these 3 levels. The trick is to compare and contrast the 2 columns, which will give you hints as to what the cards mean and how you should make certain changes, small or large.

This spread can also be used to ask about the meaning of a card from a previously executed spread that may have been confusing. In this usage, Card 2 shows what it did not mean, while 3 clarifies the meaning.

The Diamond is an in-depth 8-card layout that shows various aspects of a personal journey. It is good for exploring generalized personal questions, but can also be used to explore relationships if the couple is viewed as a whole.

The Decision Game spread resembles a fork in the road. The significator shows where you are right now, and the 2 paths indicate 2 possible futures laid out chronologically. If you should choose to do what you are thinking about doing, this path is apparent in the 3 cards on top, 3-1-5. In case you decide not to exercise the option you were thinking about, the bottom row indicates the outcome in Cards 4-2-6.

[Planetary Reading] [The Ankh] [The Celtic Cross]

[Odins Reading] [The Plan Game] [The Persona] [Attainment Reading]

The Celtic Cross is the most well-known of all the tarot spreads and also the largest available here, involving 10 cards. This spread begins with a pair of crossing cards at the center of the issue, essentially being 2 significators. When 2 significators are involved, they may strengthen or oppose each other, which speaks of the nature of the situation. Above and below the initial cross, we have 2 cards which are symbolic of the intellectual (top) and emotional (bottom) basis of the issue. The Before and After cards show the past and immediate future.

[The Past, Present, and Future] [The Blind Spot] [The Cross] [Thors Cross]

The Planetary reading yields insight into a number of several aspects of the current state of your life. This astrology-inspired spread reads into the planets influence on your psyche.

This 7-card layout provides an excellent source of advice, when you come to a crossroads where you need to make a decision.

This is a wonderful specialty layout for analyzing a relationship on 3 levels: the intellectual or rational thoughts, emotional attitudes or feelings, and the postures, meaning the way each person acts in regards to the relationship.

The Tree of Life is a 7-level design that yields insights that you will want to become aware of in order to achieve a high level of personal and spiritual growth. The roots of the tree, shown in the first 2 cards, tell you about what you need to learn and where the challenge lies. Growing upward, the next 2 cards are about the forces that guide you and what will help boost your growth. The next 2 cards show the lower branches of the tree, which provide warnings and tell you about what you need to let go of in order to maximize your progress. Finally at the top of the tree we come to the outcome, showing where this growth process will ultimately take you.

This spread shaped like the letterVis similar to the Horse Shoe, but provides insight on different levels. The first 2 cards begin the reading with the past and present, but then the cards switch to a different focus. Card 3 warns you about possible side effects that could accompany the future outcome, 7. The base card, 4 points out actions you may or may not wish to take concerning the issue. The external environment is shown specifically as the people around you and how they feel about what you have going on here. Things that might come into play which could cause setbacks are indicated in Card 6, another more specifically focused card than what is generally labelled the Obstacle or Challenge card in some other layouts.

The Blind Spot is unique in that it does not even require a question in order to answer your thoughts. It has a scientific grid-like layout that breaks down levels of awareness between yourself and other people, telling you about what you keep secret from others as well as what others are secretly aware of about you. To establish common ground, it tells you about what both you and others are aware of about you. Also in Card 2 it provides a clue about what exists, but nobody is aware of.

The Loving Cup is a specified relationship spread that uses 9 cards to analyze where a romantic relationship is at and where it is headed. The first card shows where it is at now, and can be considered the significator. The second and third cards determine where your partner stands and how it relates to where you are at personally.

This psychological spread shows you about your own mind. It is meant to provide clarity so that you have a better idea of what you want out of life. Cards 3 and 4 show very similar ideas, the difference being that 3 is more about fun things, and 4 is more about ambitions and what you want to achieve.

Above the stem, the 3-card base of the layout, a cup forms. Cards 4 and 5 show each persons desires, meaning what they want to get out of their coupling. Above this, Cards 6 and 7 show the challenge that this pairing presents to each individual. The final 2 cards at the top form the rim of the cup, symbolic of the taste of the relationship to each person, which shows how things will turn out on each side of the pairing.

Another Norse deity offers a simple 5-card layout, this time in the form of and extended version of the Past, Present, and Future spread. Reading from right to left, we begin with the distant past, or the early causes of present circumstances. The next card shows the recent past, or triggering causes. The focus of Card 3 is the Now, and the final 2 cards show where things are headed in both the immediate and the distant future.

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