A spread is simply the way you lay the cards out. The deck is the same seventy-eight cards either way, but the position a card lands in changes what it says. Pick the layout that fits your situation.
How is this different from themed readings?
Themed readings are sorted by what you are asking — a crush, a reunion, money. Spreads are sorted by how the cards are arranged — Celtic Cross, three-card, horseshoe.
The trade-off is straightforward. A themed reading answers one specific question well. A spread does not care what you ask, but it opens the situation from several angles at once. If you are new to tarot, start with a theme. If you want to sit with one situation properly, use a spread.
How many cards should I pull?
More cards do not mean a better reading. A beginner who pulls ten usually gets lost halfway through.
If your question is already narrow, three cards will do — past, present, and direction is enough to see the current. Move to seven or more only when the situation is tangled and you cannot even name the problem yet. Counterintuitively, more positions make things easier, because each position asks a narrow question on your behalf.
The position names do half the work
Tarot feels hard not because the cards are hard, but because the question is vague. That is the moment people stall — cards on the table, and no idea what they are looking at.
A named position removes that. The Three of Swords in the “obstacle” seat reads as the fact that is currently cutting you. The same card in the “hopes and fears” seat reads as a wound you are bracing for that has not arrived. The position asks the question so you do not have to.
That is why every spread here lists what each position is asking. Read those lines before you draw — the result will make far more sense.
After you draw
Every spread page turns your cards into an AI prompt. Copy it into ChatGPT or Gemini and you will get a long reading that takes the position meanings into account. It is free, with no limit on how often you use it.
If you want to dig into a single card, the card meanings dictionary covers all seventy-eight upright and reversed.
Already drew your own cards?
If you pulled from a physical deck, there is no need to draw again here. Enter what you got into the card interpreter and it builds the same prompt. Borrow the position names from any spread above.