Tarot Spreads — Printable Reference

Best for

Almost any real question. Three cards is the smallest spread with genuine structure.

Not for

Comparing more than two options, or a question you have already asked twice this week.

1. What is happening The shape of the situation as it actually stands. Read this one plainly. Resist the urge to make it a prediction.
2. What you are not seeing The angle that gets lost from inside the situation. This is the position that earns the spread. It is also the one people argue with, which is usually a signal.
3. What deserves your attention Where your focus would be most useful next. Translate this into something you could do this week, not a mood.

Full guide to the three card spread

Best for

Understanding how a situation got here and where its momentum points.

Not for

Anything you want a date or a guarantee from.

1. Past What set this up? Not your whole history — the specific thing that put the current situation in place.
2. Present Where does it actually stand right now? The most checkable card in the spread. If it does not match what you know, your question was probably about something else.
3. Possible direction Where does this point if nothing changes? Conditional, not predictive. The value is that it names the condition — which tells you what to change.

Full guide to the past, present, future spread

Best for

A live connection you are inside and cannot see clearly.

Not for

Finding out what the other person privately feels. No spread does that.

1. The current dynamic How is this connection functioning between you right now? Behaviour and pattern, not feelings you cannot verify.
2. The hidden emotional pattern What undercurrent keeps shaping how you both behave? This is the position that replaces mind-reading. It is about the pattern, and you are half of it.
3. What you need to know What is most useful to you, whatever they decide? Deliberately independent of their choices. That is what makes it usable.

Full guide to the love spread

Best for

An established relationship where something has shifted and you cannot name it.

Not for

Deciding whether to stay — use the crossroads spread for that.

1. What is holding this together What is genuinely working here? Read this honestly. Skipping straight to the problem produces a distorted reading.
2. What is straining it Where is the actual pressure coming from? Often practical rather than emotional. Pentacles in this position are worth taking literally.
3. What would change the direction What is within reach that neither of you has tried? Must be something you can do, not something they must do.

Full guide to the relationship spread

Best for

A breakup that has not finished being a breakup.

Not for

Establishing whether they will come back. No spread can carry that.

1. What remains emotionally live What is genuinely unfinished for you? For you. This spread is not about them, and that is deliberate.
2. The pattern that keeps pulling you back What is the return actually about? Often not the person. Frequently the version of yourself you were in it, or the certainty of the familiar.
3. What supports your clarity What genuinely helps you move, regardless of their choices? The only position with an action in it.

Full guide to the ex spread

Best for

A genuine choice between two things you could actually do.

Not for

A choice you have already made and want permission for.

1. Path A What does this option tend to bring with it? Name the two paths out loud before you draw, or the cards will drift to fit whichever you prefer.
2. Path B What does the other option tend to bring with it? Read this one with the same generosity you gave the first, especially if you already have a favourite.
3. The hidden factor What is shaping this choice that you have not been weighing? The card that earns the spread. It frequently reframes the whole decision.

Full guide to the decision spread

Best for

Direction, stuckness and whether the obstacle you assume is the real one.

Not for

Whether you will get a specific job. That is an outcome outside your control.

1. Your current position Where do you actually stand — not where you fear you stand? Anxiety consistently misreports this. The card is a useful correction in both directions.
2. The opportunity or the obstacle What is genuinely available, or genuinely in the way? One card doing both jobs, on purpose. Which one it is is usually obvious once you read it.
3. Your best area of focus Where would effort produce the most change? Translate to something you could start this week.

Full guide to the career spread

Best for

Spending patterns, a specific financial decision, and what you are not accounting for.

Not for

Investments, markets, crypto, gambling or any prediction about an amount.

1. Your current pattern How have you actually been handling this? Honestly described, not as you would explain it to someone else.
2. What you are not accounting for What is being left out of the calculation? Often something non-financial: time, energy, or a decision being deferred.
3. Where value can be created What can you actually influence about your position? Earning, cutting, renegotiating, asking. Something with a verb in it.

Full guide to the money spread

Best for

A genuinely complex situation with history, other people and competing pressures.

Not for

A simple question. Ten cards on a narrow question produces noise, not depth.

1. 1. The situation What is at the centre of this? The heart of the matter as it stands.
2. 2. The crossing card What is cutting across it? Read as a complication, not necessarily an enemy. Sometimes it is a help you are resisting.
3. 3. The foundation What is underneath this? The root the situation grew from.
4. 4. The recent past What is moving out of the picture? Fading influence rather than distant history.
5. 5. What is above What is your conscious aim or ideal here? What you think you want. Worth comparing to position 3.
6. 6. The near future What is moving into the picture? Direction, not destiny.
7. 7. Yourself How are you actually showing up in this? Frequently the most uncomfortable card in the spread.
8. 8. The environment What are the people and conditions around it doing? External pressure, not other people's private thoughts.
9. 9. Hopes and fears What are you both hoping for and afraid of? One card for both because they are usually the same thing.
10. 10. The likely direction Where does this point if the pattern continues? Conditional. Never a verdict.

Full guide to the celtic cross spread

Best for

Patterns you keep repeating, and questions that are really about you.

Not for

A substitute for support when something is genuinely wrong. See a person for that.

1. What you are carrying What are you holding that has quietly become heavy? Not a diagnosis. A description of a load.
2. What you are withholding from yourself What do you extend to other people and not to you? Rest, patience, honesty, permission. Usually one of those four.
3. What would genuinely help What is actually available and would actually help? Specific and small beats aspirational and large.

Full guide to the self love spread