I have gathered a number of tarot spreads over the years, but my favorite that I come back to time and again is the following. It’s actually my personal take on a different spread that a friend taught me a couple decades ago. I altered it to fit my own needs, and I find it is one of the best to look into the upcoming months. And it also works when reading on a specific situation.
The eleven cards are laid out as shown above in the picture.
Starting on the bottom row, lay out three cards from left to right.
On the second row, lay out another three cards, again from left to right.
On the top row, lay out five cards, again from left to right.
To read this spread: Begin with the left card on the bottom row. Read the cards straight across the row, then move up to the left card on the second row. Once again, read across from left to right, and move up to the left card on the top row. The last card will be the rightmost card on the top row.
The cards represent the following:
Bottom row:
Card 1: the lessons/nature of the energy that you have learned so far from this time or situation. The lessons you’re moving out of.
Card 2: the energy surrounding this time period or situation that is coming into your life at the current point.
Card 3: the lesson you are to learn over the next few months from this situation or this time in your life. The timeframe will vary from a few weeks to six months.
Second row:
Card 4: what you are doing right at this time period, or in this situation.
Card 5: what you are overlooking at this time period, or in this situation.
Card 6: the next step you should take regarding this time period, or this situation.
Third row:
Card 7: the next big event that will happen during this time period, or related to this situation.
Card 8: how to handle the event from card seven. What to do, or not to do, depending on the nature of this card.
Card 9: the general outcome of this time period or situation.
Card 10: general advice
Card 11: general advice
I used to spread consistently, probably about 70% of the time for most of my readings. I find it works extremely well, and I have great results with it. I hope you do too!
I can tell from my gut reaction that the #5 card is the one that’s going to give me the most to chew on. It’s the one that I immediately shy away from–oh, I don’t WANT to know what I’ve been trying not to know!
And, as I’m seeing time and time again, I need to stare down what I fear.
I have a brand-new deck (Meraki Tarot. Kickstarter is a horrible, horrible place where you go buying decks you don’t need, but they are unique and gorgeous). So I shall give myself time to try a brand-new spread!)
This spread is really nice! Thank you for sharing. <3
My go to spread uses 14 cards and is laid out in 3 layers.
The base layer has 9, with the central card (drawn by the querent) depicting the core of the situation/ where the querent is at in their life. The 8 cards laid around it are factors that play into and affect that central card.
The second layer of 4 speaks to next steps the querent can take.
The final card (also drawn by the querent), and third layer, is mutable and can refer to the ultimate goal that the querent is working toward, or it can be a lesson about what to avoid when working toward this goal, among other things.
I've been using this spread for years and it has always served me well.