A worked reading: a three-card spread from start to finish

(Intermediate · about 6 minutes to read)

In the lessons so far you’ve learned the meanings of the cards and positions, reversals, and how to combine cards. Yet once three real cards are in front of you, it is easy to freeze, unsure where to begin. In this lesson we work through one example in order, from receiving the question to the last word of advice. Look not only at the conclusion but at what the reader thinks along the way, where they hesitate and what they choose.

1.Step 1: Receive the question

The question is “Will the distance between him and me close?” It comes from someone with an unspoken crush, and it is a yes-or-no question. As we saw in the lesson on framing questions, keeping it as a two-way choice makes the reading thin. So without dismissing the question, the reader quietly widens it to: “Is there a current that brings us closer? And what can I do to help it along?” The spread is a three-card past, present and future. The past is the background that created the present situation, the present is what is happening right now, and the future is the tendency if things carry on as they are.

2.The three cards drawn

Past: the Star (upright). Present: the Lovers (reversed). Future: the Sun (upright).

3.Step 2: Take in the whole spread

Before reading each card, look at all three together. All three are Major Arcana. That suggests a big theme moving deep in the feelings, rather than small everyday events. The Star and the Sun are both cards of light in the sky, so the flow as a whole is bright. And caught between them is the Lovers, reversed. The reader’s first guess is that this “one snag in a bright current” will be the focus of the reading.

4.Step 3: The past position, the Star

The Star is the card of hope shining in the night sky after a storm. In this site’s artwork, a woman standing by the water holds a great star up high. (In the Waite deck, a naked woman pours out water.) The clear water and the starlight stand for unadorned honesty and the heart recovering. Because it sits in the past, it can be read as: “This feeling began as a quiet hope, a simple longing.” Perhaps he became a source of support at a time when you were worn out by something. The point here is not to relax because the past is a “good card”, but to see what lay at the start of this relationship. The starting point was an honest feeling, with no pretending.

5.Step 4: The present position, the Lovers reversed

Upright, the Lovers mean hearts meeting, and choosing in line with your own values. So how to read it reversed? Try the four patterns from the lesson on reversals in turn. Weakened: “the feeling is there, but it isn’t fully shared yet.” Delayed: “the time when hearts meet is still a little way off.” Turned inward: “you haven’t quite grasped your own true feelings.” Excessive: “you are fitting in with him so much that you lose sight of yourself.” The person asking has a crush, and the relationship hasn’t started yet. An extreme reading such as “the relationship will break” fits none of the patterns, and doesn’t match the brightness of the other two cards. So this time the reader combines weakened and turned inward: “Your feelings and your timing don’t quite mesh yet. You can’t find the words for what you want to say.” The delayed reading can be added as a footnote: “there is no need to rush.”

6.Step 5: The future position, the Sun

The Sun is the card of brightness, frankness and carefree joy. In this site’s artwork, a winged child stands above the clouds holding the sun up in both hands. (In the Waite deck, a naked child rides a white horse.) That unguarded figure stands for an open heart with nothing to hide. The future position is not a fixed ending but the tendency if things go on as they are. So it reads: “If you keep finding your way back to honesty, the relationship tends to move towards something warm, with a clear view ahead.” The Sun is also a card of “bringing things into the light”, so rather than staying vague, feelings are likely to come out into the open.

7.Step 6: Link the three cards

Now use linking words to turn the three cards into one story: “This feeling, which began as a quiet hope, is a little out of step right now. But if you face it openly and frankly, there is a current towards a bright, open relationship.” Linked this way, the reversed card in the middle is not “bad news” but a small step to climb on the road from the Star to the Sun. In terms of elements too, the Star (Aquarius, air), the Lovers (Gemini, air) and the Sun (fire) support one another, backing up the brightness of the flow.

8.Step 7: Answer the question

Go back to the first question, “Will the distance close?” From these three cards you can answer: “There is plenty of current bringing you closer. The key is to untangle the present mismatch.” You don’t say “you will definitely get together”, because the future is a tendency, and his feelings belong to him. Nor do you say “it’s reversed now, so there’s no hope.” What the cards show is not a verdict on whether it will work, but clues for moving in the direction where it can.

9.Step 8: Sum it up as advice

• Don’t try to say everything at once; start with something small and frank (untangling the reversed Lovers).
• Don’t bend too far to fit him; put into words the kind of relationship you really want (getting back the Lovers’ power to choose).
• Spend time together in the daytime, or in easy moments where you can laugh (the open air of the Sun).
• Remember the honest feeling you started with. The unaffected spirit of the Star will help you more than playing games.

10.If the cards had been different

As practice, try swapping one card. If the present were the Three of Swords, the focus would be not a mismatch but “feelings that are already hurt”, and the advice would change to “first, let your heart rest.” If the future were the Knight of Pentacles, the flow would be not a bright Sun-like turn but “it takes time, but you get steadily closer.” With the same question, one different card changes the plot. Checking this helps you understand card meanings within a flow, rather than by rote.

11.What this reading avoided

• Deciding the reversed Lovers mean “a break-up” or “a bad match”.
• Presenting the Sun in the future as a promise that “you will definitely get together”.
• Pronouncing on his feelings from the cards alone.
• Listing the three meanings and stopping there, without answering the question or giving advice.

12.Practice

Do a three-card draw with a question of your own and write out steps 1 to 8 of this lesson, in order, in a notebook. It is especially important not to skip step 2 (take in the whole spread) and step 7 (answer the question). You’re done when you can write your advice as three concrete actions.

13.Quick quiz

Q1. What do you do first, before reading the three cards one by one?

• Look over the whole spread, checking how many Major Arcana there are and how bright the flow is
• Read only the card that catches your eye most
• Turn the reversed cards upright

Answer: Look over the whole spread, checking how many Major Arcana there are and how bright the flow is. Taking in the whole spread gives you a guess at the focus of the reading. In this example it was “one snag in a bright current”.

Q2. In a question about a crush, the Lovers came up reversed in the present. How was it read in this example?

• The relationship will break
• Feelings and timing don’t mesh yet
• The match is terrible

Answer: Feelings and timing don’t mesh yet. The reader tried the four patterns and chose “weakened” and “turned inward”, which fit the situation and the brightness of the other two cards.

Q3. With the Sun in the future position, what is a good way to put it to the person asking?

• You will definitely get together
• Cards can’t tell you anything about the future
• If you find your way back to frankness as things go on, you are likely to move towards a bright relationship

Answer: If you find your way back to frankness as things go on, you are likely to move towards a bright relationship. The future position is a tendency. Don’t present it as a promise; give it together with actions that make the most of that current.

14.Draw a card

Yorozu Goyomi’s tarot reading lets you do a one-card draw, a three-card spread, an either-or reading and the Celtic Cross. Look up the meanings of all 78 cards in the tarot card encyclopedia.