TAROT DECK & SPREADS

Tarot Deck

Tarot is a 78 card deck consisting of 22 Major Arcana cards, 16 Court cards, and 40 Minor Arcana cards. Just as in a traditional deck of playing cards, there are four suits in a tarot deck. Instead of diamonds, heart, spades and clubs, the tarot suits are swords, cups, pentacles (or coins/discs), and wands (or rods).

Before we dig into more specifics, I want to emphasize a very important aspect to remember when working with the tarot: Every tarot image is a metaphor. Okay? I’m going to say it again, because this is really important to remember…..

Every tarot image is a metaphor

It is unwise to look at a tarot card and take it literally. A tarot deck is a storybook, each card a page with a visual depiction of one aspect or characteristic of possible human experience. It is your story today, and a spread opens the book to the possible pages you may CHOOSE to turn to. It does not reveal what WILL happen.

While there are some powerful images (usually interpreted incorrectly in horror movies), I have found that the majority of the situations depicted are quite human. For example, there is Take a Nap card.

Yes. There is a tarot card which tells you to crawl into bed, pull the covers over your head, and check out for a while. There is also a Do Nothing card. A Sit on the Patio and Look at the Sky card. A Party with Friends card. A Get Off Your Fanny and Get Down to Business card.

Major Arcana Cards: These cards represent the broadest and most complex universal themes such as The Child, The Mother, The Father, The World, The Lovers, The Teacher, etc. When these appear in a reading, the recipient is navigating an especially auspicious time in their life.(There is no parallel of Major Arcana cards in in a traditional deck of playing cards)

Court Cards: Just as a deck of playing cards has kings, queens and jacks, tarot also has royalty cards. The tarot Court cards consist of four kings, four queens, four knights and four pages (sometimes referred to as the student), one of each suit for a total of sixteen. Kings and queens represent mastery, knights represent action taken towards mastery, pages represent someone beginning, learning, a student.

Minor Arcana Cards: Numbered ace through ten, one of each suit, for a total of forty. Minor Arcana cards are pragmatic, encompassing a mini-story in each of the forty images. The Minor Arcana is where all the living gets done! Dealing with the dry cleaning. Walking your dog. Getting to work. Calling a friend. Housework, schoolwork, career and family. How you walk the walk of your everyday life.

The Suits

Wands (or rods): Communication. Passion, both professional and personal. Growth. Excitement. Fire
Cups: Emotion. Love. Insight. Friendship. Compassion. Water
Swords: Intellect. Clarity. Cutting through. Analysis. Air
Pentacles *(or discs): Things you can touch, your home, car, money, clothes, food, the physical world. Earth

*In some religious traditions, pentacles have come to represent something negative. There is a long, complex history surrounding the evolution of how to this interpretation came to be. My belief (in a very tiny nutshell) is this framing of pentacles had its motivations in political forces at work hundreds of years ago. In my thirty years of tarot reading, nothing scary or weird has ever happened surrounding my daily contact with this aspect of tarot.

A tarot reading is a conversation about you

Today’s world is filled with chatter. People interrupting, interjecting their opinions on top of yours before you’ve even reached your second comma, opinions, judgments, polls, Facebook comments, and a whole lot of assumptions. A person can get lost in the noise of it all!

The power of a tarot reading is that, for a brief span of time, all energies are focused on you. And not in an “Oh, you look great!” or “How’s the family?” or “Did you get that promotion?” way but in a deeper way. It can reveal why you look great, the role you hold in your family and if it is fulfilling you, or the reason why you really may not want that promotion! A reading taps into the themes you are navigating, bringing them to the fore of your mind so you can hammer out what is really going on and how you want to proceed based on that insight.

How to do a reading

First: Decide what you wish to explore.

Each position in a spread is assigned a specific meaning (for example: Current state of my job) and the card placed there reveals the theme or issue that’s at work.

Within each spread, meaning is conveyed by each card’s position.

Some card position examples:

My current state
The current state of another person
The current state of a situation
The true reason for my current state
What is my biggest obstacle in this situation?
What is my greatest strength in this situation?
What is my best course of action? (Full disclosure: This is my favorite position. I am a To-Do List maker. I want to know what to do!!!)
What do I need to see? What is my blind spot?
Outcome
Outcome if I follow a specific course of action
Key Factor. This is an expression of the larger themes at work. Serves as a title to this particular chapter in your life.

Second: Once a spread is selected or designed, shuffle the cards.

Third: Lay out the spread

A spread (or layout) is the order in which the cards are laid out, each card placement assigned a specific meaning, for example “What is My Best Course of Action?” These card assignments give your reading the context we will use to address your question or situation.

Some Examples

**The Me, Right Now Spread**

First Card: You, Right Now
Second Card: Current State of My Question/Situation. This can offer a great illumination or validation.
Third Card: True Reason for the Current State. This oftentimes can be very revealing, providing insight to the forces at work in your particular situation.
Fourth Card: Your Best Course of Action. This will offer a recommended course of action.
Fifth Card: Outcome or Key Factor. Outcome is the most likely result if you follow the best course of action; the Key Factor is the title to this chapter of your life, a card to sum up the series of cards which have been laid out.

Strengths & Challenges Spread

First Card: You, Right Now
Second Card: Current State of Your Question/Situation
Third Card: True Reason for the Current State. This oftentimes can be very revealing, providing insight to the forces at work in your particular situation.
Fourth Card: Your Strengths in this Current Situation
Fifth Card: Your Challenges in this Current Situation
Sixth Card: Your Best Course of Action Regarding Strengths
Seventh Card: Your Best Course of Action Regarding Challenges
Eighth Card: What is Your Blind Spot? What do You Need to See?
Ninth Card: Outcome. Most likely result if you follow the best course of actions
Tenth Card: Key Factor. The title to this chapter of your life. A card to sum up the series of cards which have been laid out

Project Management Overview Spread

First Card: You, Current State
Second Card: Current State of Project
Third Card: Current State of Team Members
Fourth Card: Current State of Client
Fifth Card: True Reason for Your Current Sate
Sixth Card: True Reason for Current State of Project
Seventh Card: True Reason for Current State of Team Members
Eighth Card: True Reason for Current State of Client
Ninth Card: Your Best Course of Action
Tenth Card: Your Best Course of Action Regarding Project
Eleventh Card: Your Best Course of Action with Team
Twelfth Card: Your Best Course of Action with Client
Thirteenth Card: Outcome or Key Factor

**The What Do I Do? Spread**

You have a choice (or number of choices) in front of you. For this example, let’s say you have three possible options open to you.

First Card: You, Current State, in this situation
Next Three Cards: Reason for considering each particular choice

Choice One
Choice Two
Choice Three

Next Three Cards: Your best course of action if you make this choice (1, 2, or 3)

Choice One
Choice Two
Choice Three

Next Three Cards: The outcome if you follow this course of action

Option One outcome
Option Two outcome
Option Three outcome

Final Card: Key Factor is the title to this chapter in your life

The People In Your Life Spread

First Card: You, Current State
Second Card: Current State of Partner/Friend/Co-Worker
Third Card: Current State of Child/Friend/Co-Worker
Fourth Card: Current State of Child/Friend/Co-Worker
Fifth Card: Best Course of Action for YOU!
Sixth Card: Your Best Course of Action with Partner/Friend/Co-Worker
Seventh Card: Your Best Course of Action with Child/Friend/Co-Worker
Eighth Card: Your Best Course of Action with Child/Friend/Co-Worker
Ninth Card: What is Your Blind Spot? What do You Need to See?
Tenth Card: Outcome. Most likely result if you follow the best course of actions
Eleventh Card: Key Factor. The title to this chapter of your life. A card to sum up the series of cards which have been laid out

The Three Carder Spread

First Card: You, Current State
Second Card: Your Best Course of Action
Third Card: Outcome or Key Factor

Reversals

When a person places cards in a spread, some cards will be right-side up, others will be upside-down. When a card is upside-down, AKA reversed, it means the theme that card represents in your life at this time is either blocked or being released/freed. How this will inform your journey is dependent on both the card itself and the position in which the card has been placed in the spread.

Final Thought

Sometimes, the universe is not ready to give a clear answer. That can be hard. We want to KNOW. But I have found that deep within each reading is the answer we need at that time.