Free Tarot Card Readings & Tarot Spreads

How to Use an Online Tarot Reading

A tarot spread is a layout in which each card has a particular position. Those positions give you a structure for thinking about a question from more than one angle. You can use the card images and traditional meanings as prompts, whether you approach tarot spiritually or simply as a tool for journaling and self-reflection.

1. Choose a clear, open question. Ask about a situation, choice, or theme you can reflect on, rather than demanding a certain outcome.
2. Select a spread that fits. A one-card tarot reading is quick and focused; three-, five-, and larger-card spreads add context and distinct prompts.
3. Read the position and card together. Notice how the card’s traditional symbolism relates to the question asked in that position.
4. Choose a grounded next step. Keep what feels useful, check important facts, and make decisions using your judgment and reliable information.

What Is in a Tarot Deck?

A standard tarot deck contains 78 cards: 22 Major Arcana cards and 56 Minor Arcana cards. The Major Arcana includes familiar cards such as the Fool, the Lovers, and the World. The Minor Arcana is commonly divided into four suits—Cups, Pentacles, Swords, and Wands—with numbered and court cards in each suit. Deck artwork and some suit names vary by tradition.

Major and Minor Arcana

Readers often use the Major Arcana to explore prominent themes or turning points, while the Minor Arcana can offer detail about everyday situations, relationships, feelings, ideas, and action. These are interpretive conventions, not fixed rules; the question, spread position, and deck tradition all shape a reading.

A Short History of Tarot

Tarot cards appeared in fifteenth-century Europe as a card game. Their use for fortune-telling developed much later, beginning in the late eighteenth century. Claims that tarot originated in ancient Egypt or other distant cultures are not established by the historical evidence. For a museum overview of tarot’s development and surviving early cards, read the Victoria and Albert Museum’s history of tarot cards.