Tarot Spreads for Beginners: One, Three and Ten Cards

A spread is the layout of cards in a tarot reading. Each position has a meaning, so the same card can say something different depending on where it falls. Start with one card, move to three, and save the ten-card Celtic Cross for when the cards feel familiar.

Before you start

• Shuffle while you think about your question. How to shuffle tarot cards.
• Ask an open question. "What should I focus on at work?" gives a better reading than "Will I get the job?"
• Lay the cards face down, then turn them over one at a time.
• Decide about reversals — upside-down cards — before you start. Many beginners read every card upright for the first few months.

One-card spread: the daily draw

Draw one card each morning and ask: what do I need to notice today? Note it down. In the evening, look at the card again.

This is the best way to learn the 78 cards: one at a time, in the context of a real day.

Three-card spreads

The most useful spread there is. Lay three cards left to right. The same three positions can mean many things:

Read each card in its position, then read them together as a story.

Five-card cross

1. Centre: the present situation.
2. Left: the past, or what is behind it.
3. Right: the near future.
4. Above: what you are aiming for.
5. Below: what is underneath — hidden influences.

The Celtic Cross

The classic ten-card spread, described by A. E. Waite in 1910 with the deck most people use today. The cross on the left holds six cards; the staff on the right, four.

1. The present — the heart of the matter.
2. The challenge — laid across card 1: what crosses you.
3. Above — what crowns you: the best you can hope for, or your conscious goal.
4. Below — the foundation: the roots of the situation.
5. Behind — the recent past, passing away.
6. Before — the near future.
7. Yourself — your attitude and position. (Bottom of the staff.)
8. Your environment — other people, outside influences.
9. Hopes and fears.
10. The outcome — where things are heading. (Top of the staff.)

Different books number positions 3 to 6 in slightly different orders. Choose one version and stick to it.

Reading tips for beginners

• Look at the picture first. What is happening on the card? What does it make you feel? The Rider–Waite–Smith images were drawn to be read.
• Notice patterns. Lots of Major Arcana cards: big forces at work. Lots of one suit: cups for feelings, swords for conflict and thought, wands for energy and work, pentacles for money and the body.
• Write readings down, and look back in a month.

For the meaning of every card, see tarot card meanings.