The Five Card Spread

As you go through your Tarot journey, you’ll find there are certain spreads that you refer to over and over. While I highly recommend you try out different spreads as each one has it’s own uniqueness and suitability for differing questions, nevertheless, I’ve found that when it comes to personal readings for myself, there are a couple that I tend to refer to more than others.

Perhaps, it’s just ease of reading, but I do tend to do a 3 card spread on a daily basis, a five card spread whenever I feel the need to readjust my life in some ways, or seek advice of a general nature, and more complex readings such as the Celtic Cross, I use only when I have a need for something very specific and /or important.

I thought it might prove useful to you to see an example of a real life spread that I recently did for myself. By providing my own interpretation of this reading, you can compare it to how you might have read the cards.

And do remember, that your reading and interpretation of these cards would be just as valid as mine or someone else’s. I didn’t have a specific question in mind when shuffling the cards. I simply wanted to know where I was going wrong as I felt my life wasn’t moving in the direction I wanted it to.

Justice

The first card (which relates to the past) was Justice. There’s not a great deal you can do about the past. It’s gone and you can’t change it. But often what we believe has caused or influenced our present situation isn’t necessarily so.

The Justice card relates to matters of fairness, not necessarily of a legal nature. Perhaps you have wronged someone or have been wronged and the fallout is what is influencing your present situation.

Queen of Pentacles

The second card relates to the present and how you see your situation as of this moment in time. In my case, the second card in the spread was the Queen of Pentacles. The family ‘manager’, is certainly fitting for me, as she probably is for a lot of women. But remember, this card relates to your viewpoint, not necessarily the actuality of the present situation.

Eight of Swords

The third card relates to aspects of the situation of which you may not be aware. Often it’s what is lying beneath the surface that is the key to unlocking the answers we seek. Unfortunately, if you don’t know what it is, your chances of rectifying it are pretty slim to say the least.

For me, this is the card that I take most time over. It’s the root of the problem and in order to fully take advantage of the messages from the advice card, I need to know I’m dealing with the real problem, and not what I think is the problem.

Temperance

The fourth card offers the advice you need to deal with your current situation effectively. If you follow the advice of this card, the outcome card is more likely to be realised.

Nine of Cups

The final card in the spread reveals the likely outcome of your question. If this is a positive card, then (assuming you’ve followed the ‘advice’ card) all is good. However, even if this is a negative card, then by following the advice of the fourth card you can limit any negative aspects of this card.

Putting Them Together

The first surprise for me was how far back my current situation has been influenced. I felt that recent events had played the most important role in my current situation. But the presence of the Justice card, shows that my current situation has come about as a result of certain events that took place over 5 years ago.

While I won’t bore you with the details, it was a very complex, very traumatic period in my life. However, I believed I had resolved all the issues in my life surrounding this period and therefore it had no bearing on my current position.

As already stated, the Queen of Pentacles is an accurate reflection of my current viewpoint of the situation. As a single parent, I have total responsibility for all aspects of running my life and taking care of my grandaughter who lives with me. As such I need to be capable in all aspects of runnning a household. Everything from sorting out the finances to repairing the plumbing comes down to me.

The Eight of Swords tells me that I am bound by my own limits, and not by anything external to my life. I may like to think that I am tied by the responsibilities I have, but in actual fact, it’s my own fears and prejudices that are at the root of my problem.

I confess this wasn’t the card I would have like to have seen here. It’s not easy to admit that you are your own worst enemy. It’s so much easier to blame someone or something else! The card forces me to acknowledge that any decisions made now would most likely be wrong as they’d be based on fears of my own making and not of any real possibilities.

Thankfully, the advice of Temperance reminds me to slow down and reconsider my position. Admittedly, this is something else which I find hard to accept. I do tend to think through matters carefully but I don’t often do ‘reconsiderations’.

Usually, I’m prone to go with the first solution I come up with, without giving myself time to consider other options. Temperance is telling me I need to curb this side of my nature and certainly need to look at all possible scenarios before I commit to any particular one.

Luckily, for me at least, the final outcome is a happy one. Assuming that I do take the advice and don’t just dive in head first, then the decisions I make will result in a much happier and more fulfilled life.

The Nine of Cups is often referred to as the ‘Wish’ card so as a final outcome there really isn’t a better card that could replace it.

As you can see, the five card spread can provide a lot of information. Personally, I don’t like to use the more complex spreads when there’s no real need for them. That’s a personal preference and for you it may be different.

Do choose a spread that is suited to the questions you are asking and that way you’re more likely to get the right answers.