When I first got my tarot cards, I remember feeling excitement. A whole new world was opening up for me. I carefully shuffled the deck and pulled my first card and… had absolutely no idea what it meant. I quickly picked up the guide book, found the card meaning and… it was in spanish. Welp, sigh, this is what I get for buying my first deck in Costa Rica.

When you’re starting out with tarot, figuring out what questions to ask, and memorizing all of the card meanings, can be overwhelming. To say the least. Learning a new tarot spread is a quick way to deepen your connection to your tarot decks, and create powerful tarot readings for yourself and others. The kind of readings that give you that ‘aha’ moment, where you know exactly what’s coming.

In this article, we will go over the best tarot spreads for beginners looking for guidance in love, career, finances, and your spiritual journey. This is your complete reference guide!

Best Spreads For Self Tarot Readings

The best spreads for self growth on earth have all been complied in this guide, for your convience. Scroll through to find the exactly what you’re looking for. Wether you wish to uncover the secrets of your past, or like the fool, springboard into the success of your future, the absolute best place to start is a celtic cross reading detailed below.

Understanding the Celtic Cross Tarot Spread For Guidance

The Celtic Cross tarot is a great spread for understanding your journey in the present moment, while taking a peek into the outcomes of your future. Initially designed over 100 years ago, the Celtic cross tarot spread can be as deep or as shallow as you like. You can apply it to your general life, or make it specific to love, career, etc. Take a look at the outline below.

Draw Your cards in the order shown in the picture

1: represents your present moment 2: Is the energy crossing you 3: The crowning energy, ideas, 4: Your subconscious Fears 5: The recent past inspiration and the divine the root of the issue 6: The near future 7: Your Self Perception 8: How others perceive you 9: Your biggest Ally & Hopes 10: The Outcome

To interpret your Celtic cross tarot reading, make sure to take into account the position of the cards, up right and reversed, and the overall story they’re telling you. Use your intuition and don’t be afraid to play with the meanings, based on your sense and feelings.

Let’s look a little deeper into the Celtic cross tarot meaning.

2: The energy crossing you, this can represent a challenge you are dealing with, or perhaps a benefit, depending on the card that shows up. For example, if you draw the judgement card in this position, you’re dealing with internal conflict and criticism, you may struggling with your choices. However, if you were to pull the high priestess, you can have complete faith in how you’re seeing things. Intuitively speaking the high priestess shows you are completely on point.

3: This card can represent your spiritual perspective and personal guides, or the inspirations and thoughts that are filling your higher mind at this time. Combine this card with your understanding of 10, for a deeper knowledge of your future.

4: This card could be showing why you feel drawn to doing this reading in the first place, it can relate to your far past, limiting beliefs and even childhood experiences.

9: This card represents hopes! It’s also your biggest ally, use the energy of this card to overcome the challenges you’re facing and create the best outcome for yourself.

10: This card will shed light on your future. If it’s not aligned with your desire, don’t worry, you can take advantage of the knowledge you have and make changes. Remember nothing is set in stone, and tarot exists to help you gain direction, and personal power. You can make new choices and create the outcome you desire.

Simple Two Card Tarot Reading for Quick Decisions

If you’re hoping to tap into the universal energies for a quick decision, a simple two card spread is the perfect choice! Draw two cards, one representing the first option and the other representing the second option. Then interpret the cards based on your intuition and initial feelings.

For example, if I’m deciding if I should go to a certain event, I’d pull one on the left to represent not going, and one on the right to represent going. If the lovers card lands on the left, and the 5 of cups on the right, then I know I will have a more harmonious and happy time if I stay home, and going out may leave me disappointed. If you find your cards aren’t that simple to read, you can always pull another for clarification or an oracle card for deeper understanding.

This can be used for any choice, including jobs, wondering if you should quit /retire vs keep working, love readings, where you should live /travel to etc.

Tarot Spreads For Love

Every tarot reader, beginner or professional, eventually comes to the mystical question of love! There are so many tarot spreads for love, so I will list a few for you to explore and go in depth on my absolute favourite, the love story reading!

• Celtic Cross for love – simply follow the formula and apply the questions specifically to love – changing card 1 to represent you and your love interest, Card 7 to represent your perception of your love life and 8 your romantic interest’s perception
• Two hearts Tarot reading – A two card tarot reading where you draw a card representing each partner’s heart to understand their feelings
• Compatibility Love Reading – Deal 6 cards face up, 1) Physical Compatibility 2) Emotional Compatibility 3) Spiritual Compatibility 4) Your Relationship Needs 5) Their Relationship Needs 6) Overall Love Compatibility – This is a great relationship tarot reading for potential partners
• Twin Flame Love Reading – The best tarot reading for divine union with your twin flame 1) who am I at this moment 2) Who is my twin flame at this moment 3) What is the shadow that keeps us in the dark 4) how can we overcome this shadow and heal 5) what is the path to union in our lives the image below shows the twin flame tarot reading layout

My ultimate favourite tarot spread for love is ‘The Love Story’. This original spread will uncover the special meaning of your relationship, and can be used for healing from a breakup. Begin by drawing 6 cards, two at the start, followed by the other 5 in a row. The first card is who you are in the relationship, the second is who they are. The third card signifies where this relationship takes place, the fourth is the tool or object used, and the last card represents the theme of the relationship.

I highly recommend using the Wild Unknown Archetypes Oracle Deck for this reading, as it creates a stunning visual of your love, and can be organized into archetypes of people, places, objects and themes. However, regular tarot decks work well too.

Tarot Spreads For Career

It’s completely normal to have questions on your path to success and fortune. Is the wheel of luck turning in your favour? Below are some examples of career and finance tarot spreads to help guide your way.

• Shooting Forward – For fast growth in the world of career deal 5 cards, the first card at the top, the second card underneath the first, and the final 3 at the bottom under the second. 1) Dream Job 2) How to get it 3) What you bring to the table 4) Where you can find assistance 5) What needs your attention now
• 3 Card Career Tarot Spread – 1) Career Path 2) Current Position 3) How to progress
• Am I on the Right Path – Money spread to see if your heading into the world of wealth, deal 5 cards in a row 1) Am I Attracting Money Now 2) Am I on the Right Path To Creating the Most Wealth For Myself 3) What’s the Main Obstacle Between Me & More Money 4) What Forces or Allies are Guiding me to Wealth 5) How Can I Make Progress Towards Financial Freedom
• Million Dollar Idea – Use this Career Tarot Spread to understand your purpose in this world and generate the riches you desire (pictured below) 1) My amazing talent I was born with / What’s my life purpose? 2) What is my best idea right now? 3) How will I be challenged? 4) How am I holding myself back out of fear or anxiety? 5) What’s the best approach to monetizing my idea? 6) What should I avoid so I can really let my idea shine? 7) What life lesson should I apply right now to secure my success?

Tarot Spreads For Clarity

When you are looking for guidance for the next stage in your life, there are many tarot spreads for clarity. Here I will list a few powerful tarot spreads for guidance for any point in your life.

• Tarot Spread For New Years – Deal seven cards 1) Biggest Lesson of Last Year 2) Biggest Achievement of Last Year 3) What to Let Go Of 4) What to Look Forward To 5) Biggest Challenge of This Year 6) The theme & Focus of This Year 7) Advice for this Year
• Simple Clarity tarot spread – This can be used in your life as a daily tarot spread, simply Pull 3 cards in a row 1) Your Self 2) Your Situation 3) Current Challenges
• Yes or No Tarot Spread – Ask your question and deal a single tarot card for yes or no. A general rule of thumb is Even cards and Major Arcana signify Yes, Odd Cards and Court Cards signify No. However if you intuitively feel a different response from the tarot card trust your inner voice.
• Tarot Spread for Healing – A simple 6 card spread 1) What is happening in my life right now 2) How can I move through it with ease and grace 3) What am I learning from this cycle in my life 4) What is currently leaving 5) What is on it’s way in 6) What’s my medicine for the moment

I Couldn’t Read Tarot Cards – Here’s How I Learned

The feeling of getting your first deck of tarot cards can be beyond exciting! It feels like a new beginning of connecting to universal energies and honing your intuition. Unfortunately for me, the first deck I picked up was entirely in Spanish (a language I don’t speak, despite my Spanish heritage). I had absolutely no idea how to read tarot cards.

I learned this beautiful art one card at a time, by first connecting to the imagery and guessing what the meanings of each card were. I experimented with so many different spreads, until I started to understand how each card worked. It wasn’t till later that I started actually learning and memorizing the original meanings.

To become excellent at tarot, good enough to give other people readings, you have to learn to trust your inner voice. Drawing cards and running to a guidebook for their meanings is not enough.

Each card is alive, a unique energy that will carry a special meaning to you. Practice with your tarot deck and with as many spreads as you can get your hands on, and focus on connecting to the cards personally. It’s okay to make a mistake, divination is not meant to be perfect and mistakes lead you to mastery.

A Quick Guide to Reading Tarot’s Major Arcana Cards

If you are looking for a guide for understanding the major arcana cards, from the fool to the wheel of fortune, you can check out my article titled ‘Exploring the Symbolism and Meaning of the Major Arcana in Tarot’. This is an in depth look into the archetypes and meaning of the major arcana. For a detailed understanding of The Empress Major Arcana Card, check out ‘A complete guide to upright and reversed meaning of The Empress tarot card’.

Using Only the Major Arcana Cards in Any Tarot Spread

You can use only major arcana cards in any of the above tarot spreads by separating the major arcana from your deck and following the detailed form. This can provide you with powerful and interesting readings. Below are some tarot spreads specifically designed for using only major arcana cards.

Circle of Eight Spread

The circle of eight tarot spread created by Charles San. Begin by shuffling the major arcana and drawing 6 cards face down, and stacked on top of each other. Deal the seventh card face up, this is your significator card – representing you in the present moment. Return the other six cards to the bottom of your tarot deck.

Draw two more arcana cards face down, turn one card up, placing this third card at the 10 o’clock position (relative to the Significator) to begin your circle. Repeat this seven times, placing every third card in a counterclockwise circle around the Significator (centre card). You will finish with a circle of 7 cards, and one in the centre, completing your eight spread.

The circle of eight highlights the currents of your life, there is no specific meaning for each position. It’s simply a combination of major arcana for insight into the current energies present in your life.

Oswald Wirth’s Major Arcana Tarot Spread

This is a simple 5 card spread using only major arcana ( no minor arcana ). Oswald Wirth created this tarot spread to be as if you are in a court of law and your situation is being evaluated by a judge. This spread creates a cross appearance pictured below.

Place the 1st card on the Left, indicating what is in favour for the situation, what is wise to do and who or what you can depend on. The 2nd Card on the right indicates what is ‘against’ what is to be avoided or feared, the fault, enemy or danger.

The 3rd card goes above to indicate the judge, this card helps to clarify the decision or situation and give advice. The 4th card goes below and represents ‘the sentence’ – the solution or result, this card indicates a lesson.

The 5th card in the center is determined by adding the numbers of the first four cards and reducing to 22 or less. (The Fool is considered 0 when adding, and 22 when it is the result of the addition.) The 5th card is a synthesis of what has gone before, and points out what is of prime importance on which everything else in the reading depends.

22 Card Spreads

The 22 card spread is simply shuffling and laying out every major arcana (without the minor arcana) to point out how the archetypes of these cards are playing out in your life. You can use an existing spread and increase the number of cards to 22, or you can intuitively lay out the cards how you see fit.

This is essentially ‘The Major Arcana Spread’ (using the full deck).

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