Tarot acts as a divination tool. Seeking wisdom from the unknown, in order to gain guidance and insight to ease our lives. From this tool, we can shed light into who we are, where we are in our life’s journey, and even learn more about those we know and love.
Due to the powerful nature of tarot, we also must face the complexity of this tool. With 78 cards and the plethora of meanings each card has, it can be confusing deciding which meaning to use for a given reading. This is where spreads and layouts come in.
What is a spread or layout?
A spread or layout is the structure we use to decide how to lay-out our cards. Each spread has a specific design that supplies a given meaning for each card. The placement of each card helps the reader, you, to narrow down which meaning of the card is relevant to the question you have asked.
For example: In a basic Daily Spread, the position of the card will shed light onto what context you will read it in.
A card in the Friends & Family position will have a different focus as opposed to the Finances position. The same can be said, for How to Get The Best Out of Your Day as opposed to, What to Avoid.
If The Fool was in the How to Get The Best Out of Your Day position, the meaning would most likely revolve around new beginnings or approaching life from that internal place of wonder. However, if the same card was in the What to Avoid position, the meaning would be different.
In this instance it would most likely mention the less favorable attributes of the card, and warn to not approach your day with ignorance. That you will need to look before you leap.
The benefit of a spread, is that it can help you navigate the deep meanings of tarot and hone in on the wisdom you are seeking.
How To Do a Spread or Layout:
Each tarot card reader has their own unique process for doing a reading. They craft their style to help make tarot a tool that works for them (demonstrating that self-love). For this reason, while it follows a few common points, tarot reading is unique to the reader.
These common points are what create the format for a reading, while the intricacies within a reading reveal the personality and style of the reader.
Here are the steps to doing a tarot reading…
Step One: Your Tools.
The first step to any reading is having the materials you will need on hand.
This includes:
- A deck.
- Your notes or reference book, so you can look up the various card’s meanings.
- A notebook to write down your spread if you wish.
(You can also pull in other tools to create a ritual. While rituals can be for spiritual purposes, it can also be a way for you to get into the proper mindset to do a tarot reading. Tools can include, but are not limited to crystals, incense, a prayer, etc.)
Step Two: Your Question & Your Spread.
After you have all you need, it is time to select a question and a spread.
The Question:
In tarot, the wording of your question plays a very important role in your reading. Since this tool utilizes energy to access information you desire, a spread will answer the question you ask. Which means that how you ask it, will influence what type of response you get back.
As a general rule, it is important to mention a person’s first and last name while doing a reading. That way the correct “Joe” is referenced in your reading. Another general rule is to include the date when doing a monthly spread or even a daily spread. Lastly, it is important to not use the word, “should.” There are a lot of things, we “should” be doing, but this word doesn’t ground you in reality.
While the word choice of a question impacts what reading you have, the question isn’t a do or die situation. There have been times when I have sought advice from my spirit guides and not known how to word what I needed. In the end, my question became a jumbled mess of many attempts to ask, so I ended up say, “spirit guides help me.”
What I found, was that while the words guide a reading, it is the sentiment and emotion being felt that truly determine what the cards have to say.
The Spread:
Once you know what answers you are seeking, it is time to pick a layout. Spreads act as a guide during a tarot reading, helping the reader to narrow in on the answers they are seeking. For that reason there are many different types of spreads.
There are spreads designed for every question imaginable. Some are broad, providing insight into people and situations (like a Grand Cross Spread). While other spreads can be used for time periods (an overview of your coming month or year), insight into people, for your chakras, for relationships, past lives, and more.
As a result, you can choose any type of spread you’d like to match what your question is. This way you can tailor your reading to provide you with the answers and insight you seek. If you can’t find a spread that fits the bill, you can create your own. Because that’s how all spreads started.
Here are some spreads I use. While they are not my own creation, I find that they provide me with the information I seek. Here are some PDF files I create…
Making your own spread:
Spreads range in size, shape, and purpose. If you are unable to find a spread that works for you, you can create your own. All you need is a piece of paper and a pen. Then you can create a design and assign each card a specific meaning.
It is important to write the spread down and have a clear idea of what it looks like before you start your reading, in order to get the most accurate reading you can.
You can start simply, with just three cards.
From there, you can assign any meaning you want to just these three cards. Then build from there.
Step Three: Shuffling in your question & Cutting the deck.
After you have your question and spread selected, it’s time to start the reading. You will begin by shuffling the question into your deck. All this means, is that you will ask your question (within your mind or aloud) and shuffle your deck. Through the act of shuffling, you are imbuing the deck with energy relevant to your reading.
If you are choosing to record your reading, you would write down your question, what spread you are using, and the date. (You can also write down which deck you are using, if you have more than one favorite.)
As you shuffle, let your mind wonder. My tarot teacher once told me that while she shuffled the cards for a reading with a client, she would create her shopping list within her mind. Once you feel that the cards are ready, you will stop shuffling.
Now I just said feel, and that’s exactly what I meant. There is where your intuition comes into play. For each reader, they will know to stop shuffling based on their own style.
Ways you might know to stop shuffling:
- Your hands tingle.
- Your hands get warm.
- Your intuition/a voice says, “one more shuffle.”
Following you shuffling, the last step is to cut the cards. Cutting the cards is an important process because it helps the reader to indicate who’s point of view the reading is about. For a professional tarot reader, this is the time when they indicate that the reading is not about them, but for someone else (the Seeker or Querant.)
When cutting the cards, you will cut towards yourself when the reading is about you and your point of view. But you will cut away from yourself when the reading is for another person or about someone else’s point of view.
Step Four: Dealing the Cards.
Once your deck is ready, it is time to deal the cards and read what story is being shared. The way you will deal the cards is dependent upon the type of spread. Not only will the layout/design dictate how to lay the cards, but also whether you need to lay them out face-up or face-down.
Most often, a spread will lay the cards out face-up. The only times when you might lay them face-down is when it is a massive spread, and this allows you to remain focused on the card you are reading, rather than getting overwhelmed. You can also deal the cards face-down in “gypsy” style to create a level of suspense to your reading.
Step Five: Reading the Spread.
After you have laid out your spread, it’s time to read it. Now, the level of depth found in a reading will be the result of the spread (small or large) as well as your own abilities.
As you look at each card, their placement will influence which meaning of the card is being communicated in your spread. Since each card has a plethora of meanings, it is nice to have your notes or reference book nearby to look up the cards that puzzle you.
Since tarot is a visual divination tool, a tarot reader utilizes their intuition and spiritual gifts to guide them in unveiling which meaning is relevant to a reading. When looking at the cards, which component pulls your eye?
For example:
In the Six of Pentacles, the scene depicts a wealthy man and two beggars. In a reading, let your eyes and intuition guide you. Which pulls your eyes more, the wealthy man or the two beggars?
If the wealthy man drew your eye, it can mean that in this reading, you are being called on to be generous and maybe even donate your time or money to a good cause. Conversely, if the two beggars draw your eye, it can mean that in this reading, you are the one needing aid. Or maybe your balance of energy is off, and you need to advocate for your own needs more.
Based on the cards dealt, the position they are in, and what your intuition tells you, these factors pull together to create a tarot reading.
More Clarification:
Following your initial perusal of your spread, you might desire more insight into a card or position. Whether the card makes no sense, you can’t tell which meaning to pick, or if you just want a deeper answer, pulling clarification cards can provide you added guidance.
Clarification cards come from the deck. Dealt from the top of the stack, these cards add insight into your spread. As a beginner you can pull one or two cards. But as your skill grows, most readers pull six cards. In this way, they can gain another piece of the puzzle without overwhelming themselves.
Another common reason to pull clarifying cards is when the card itself speaks of a decision or option to be made. These cards, while sharing the information that a decision needs to be made or that a new beginning is coming, don’t tell the reader what that decision or new beginning is. That’s when you pull clarifying cards.
Common Cards to Clarify.
- The Fool- new beginnings.
- The Lovers- turning point.
- The Hanged Man- crossroads. (Symbolized by the Hanged Man’s crossed legs.)
- Page of Wands- a message or messenger.
- 2 of Swords- each sword references an option. Six cards for each sword helps shed light on your options.
- 5 of Pentacles- when the depression/dark night of the soul is passing, the window becomes a doorway. Six more cards lets you know whats on the other side of the door.
While you can pull clarifying cards on any of the 78 in the deck, these are the most common ones that may need more in a spread.
Shadow Card:
The last component to a spread is the bottom card of the deck. This card is referenced as your Shadow Card, and it sheds light onto the overall tone or theme of the reading/person/current environment. While some people read this card first it can also be read last, in order to shed light on the environment of the reading.
This is important because tarot readings are not exact or fool proof. A tarot reading always reflects the truth of things, in the moment the reading takes place. While oftentimes a reading will be accurate, it can become inaccurate through time.
If the Seeker changes his/her mind or new information comes to light, these changes can influence the accuracy of a reading. Due to this fact, a tarot reading should always be taken with a small grain of salt.
Truth has been shared, but the truth might change for various reasons. This is why if you asked the same question right after a reading, the cards would be different. You are not in the exact same place as you were during the first reading.
An example comes to mind with my book. When I first started writing my book, the cards had said that within six months I would be looking at publishing. I then added many components to the book and while I still wrote for 6-10 hours a day, the book itself had changed.
Based on the current environment that surrounded my reading, I would be published within six months according to my tarot teacher. But while that reading remained stuck in the past, I changed. What I wanted from my book changed, and in the end it has become a series of books.
All of these changing factors changed the truth of things. Which is why in any tarot reading, we need to still use our own minds to gauge the truth of the matter.
Final Thoughts:
Each tarot reader connects with the cards in their own way. Their understanding of life, the human experience, and the cards create a unique recipe. What pulls my eye in a reading, is not the same thing that will pull your eyes.
Which is why this is such a wonderful tool to utilize. While the process of a reading remains the same, the decks and spreads offer an opportunity to customize this tool. All so you can gain deeper clarity about your own life and the world itself.
*Check out this post, where I walk you through a reading step-by-step. Tarot 204: An Example of a Reading