Reading the tarot can take years to master, but anyone can do it at any level and do it well. When you start reading the tarot keep a journal and document the cards you draw and their established meanings, what they mean to you, and what you think the relationship between the cards in the spread are. This will will help greatly in your learning of the tarot. Speaking of spreads, let's dive in!
The Spreads
Small Spreads: These two spreads are great to start out with if you have never read the tarot before. They are also great for quick readings, insight in to something or someone, or a daily reading.
3 card spread
The 3 card spread is very versatile and can be just about anything you want. Typically people will use the 3 card lay out as past present future, mind body spirit, me them advice (in relationship readings), me situation advice (if you want a simple reading into a situation and your place in it), anything goes. This is a great spread to begin with if you have no experience with the tarot.
1 card spread
Another spread is the 1 card spread. It doesn’t seem like much but pulling out one card for a bit of insight in to your day, a situation, a relationship, even your job, can be very informative. I personally do a 1 card reading almost every morning to think meditate on and think about throughout my day.
Larger Spreads: If you feel comfortable with the tarot and how the cards relate to each other, then these are two great spreads to use. Both are not intended for daily use (as the spreads mentioned before) but are great for monthly readings, birthdays, New Years, before you start a new job, etc. Both are done by grasping the big picture on your present self.
Chakra Spread
Card 1- Root: how to stay grounded
Card 2-Sacral: how to express yourself with creativity and passion
Card 3-Solar Plexus: how to claim personal strength
Card 4-Heart Chakra: how to share feelings of compassion
Card 5-Throat: how to speak with truth and wisdom
Card 6-Third Eye: how to see with intuition
Card 7-Crown: how to open yourself to receive divine essence
The Woven/Celtic Cross Spread
Card 1- Where you are now
Card 2- What supports or blocks Card 1
Card 3: What to strive for
Card 4: Immediate past
Card 5- Lower Self
Card 6- Immediate future
Card 7- Hopes and dreams
Card 8- People around you
Card 9- Mental state
Card 10- Advice to reach your “higher self”
The Woven/Celtic Cross Spread we find ourselves dissatisfied with the spreads that we find online or in books. The good news is that, that's OK. Follow your intuition and make your own. There aren’t any rules to do this since it is very free form, but here are two things I would recommend you think of when you are creating your own spread:
Identity what you you want out of the spread. What are you looking for exactly? Do you have a specific issue to target, do you just feel lost in general, or are you looking for some insight to your purpose? Figure this out, write it down, set the intentions for the spread.
Shape or linear? Do you want your spead to be one card laid out after the other? Do you want to make shape in the spread like a cross or circle? Remember, anything goes there are no rules. Do what feels right to you and go for it.
Shuffling the Deck
OK, now that you have picked a spread, what do you do? Start shuffling!
Shuffle: Everyone shuffles differently. I shuffle my cards my cards seven times before I cut my deck. Some don’t have a set number, they just shuffle till they feel “right”. Completely up to you (as all things are)
Cutting the deck: This is done when you are finished shuffling, and not necessary if it doesn’t seem useful to you. Place the deck face down on your surface and separate the cards in three piles. Then put the middle pile on the pile to the left then take the new pile and put it on pile to the right. After you do this, fan out the cards, of if you are doing the one card reading just pull the top card if you choose.
Drawing the cards: If you are fanning out our cards, draw randomly as your intuition guides you. Do this with your eyes closed if it helps. Lay them out in order as you draw them so they end up in their right places in your spread.
How to Read the Cards
Your cards are now laid out before you.Look at them for a moment before you start examining their meanings. How does what you are saying make you feel? Stay judgment free in this. The most important thing to remember when reading any spread that has two or more cards is that each card has a deep relationship with the others around them.
They are linked: Each card you draw has a relationship to the others around it and will impact the message.
Example:
In the picture there is a 3 card past present future spread. How I would interpret this is this:
5 of Cups- In the immediate past I have been very depressed or sad. Fixated on the spilled cups in my life and not the full ones behind me.
3 of Cups- Right now I need to seek friendship and companionship in others to pull myself out of this emotional slump that I am in.
And finally, The Star - By turning around to see the full cups behind me, and by seeking out the companionship in others, I will find myself in place of hope in my life. I will feel inspired by this new found hope and faith that all is as it should be.
As you can see we take the “base” meaning of each card into play but then we “link” them together for the big picture (the interpretation of the reading). If we don’t link the cards and understand the relationship between them then we won’t have get the message our intuition is telling us through the cards.
No one reader will read the cards the same way, so embrace your own style as it grows. Find the fun in digging deep in the meanings of the cards and how the play together in your spreads. Often as we learn more about the cards and who they are, we learn about who we are. That, to me, is the beautify of the tarot.
Love and Peace,
Shannon