Choose Your Topic

A tarot reading with several cards shows more than a single card can: each card sits in a position with its own role, and together they describe a situation from different sides. Here is how a reading on this page works and how to get the most out of it.

Step by step: from topic to result

1. Choose your topic. Love, career and finances, decisions and life path, personal development, family and surroundings, spiritual path, or an open question. The topic shapes how each card is interpreted.
2. Pick a time perspective. You can focus on your current situation, on the next few weeks, or on your next step of development.
3. Choose a layout. The free three-card spread uses the positions past, present and future. Premium layouts add five-card spreads such as the Love Cross (you, partner, connection, challenge, outcome) and other spreads with different positions.
4. Draw and reveal. The cards are drawn at random from the 78-card Rider-Waite-Smith deck. You turn them over one by one, and you then read an interpretation for each card in its position.

Why positions matter

The same card reads differently depending on where it lies. Take the Five of Cups, the figure looking at spilled cups. In the "past" position it can point to a loss or disappointment that still colours your view. In the "future" position it is better read as a risk: if you keep focusing on what went wrong, you may miss the two cups still standing behind you. Always read the card together with the question the position asks.

How to ask an open question

Open questions give the cards room to say something useful. Compare:

• "Will I find a new job this year?" invites a yes or a no and little else.
• "What helps me most in my job search right now?" invites ideas you can act on.

Good questions are about you, about one issue at a time, and about something within your influence. If you really need a quick tendency instead, the yes or no tarot is designed for that. Our tips for your first reading go through more examples.

Reading reversed cards

Some cards appear upside down. A reversed card is not automatically negative. It often shows the same theme as the upright card, but weakened, delayed, turned inward or overdone. The Chariot reversed, for instance, might describe drive that is there but pulling in two directions. Ask yourself: is this energy blocked, or am I using too much of it?

Looking at the reading as a whole

Before you dive into details, scan the spread:

• Many Major Arcana (such as The Tower, The Star or Judgement) suggest that the situation touches bigger life themes. The Major Arcana overview explains each of the 22.
• One suit dominates? Many Cups point to feelings, many Swords to thoughts and conflicts, many Pentacles to practical matters, many Wands to energy and plans. The Minor Arcana overview gives the background.
• A shift from past to future is often the most interesting part. What changes between the first card and the last?

Reflecting on the result

A reading is a starting point for thinking, not a verdict. After you have read the interpretations, write down one sentence per card in your own words and one concrete step you could take. If a card does not fit at all, note that too and come back to it a few days later. You can look up any card in the tarot card lexicon, and the guide on tarot as a decision-making tool shows how to use a reading when you are facing a choice.

Remember that a reading cannot predict events or another person's choices, and it does not replace professional advice on health, legal or money questions.

For a theme that spans the whole year rather than one question, try the tarot year card.