What a reading is

A tarot reading is a conversation with yourself, using pictures. You bring a question, shuffle the deck while you think about it, and draw cards into a pattern called a spread. Each place in the spread asks something (what's behind you, what's in your way, where things are heading), and the card that lands there answers in symbols. The reader's job is to tell the story those symbols make together.

Tarot doesn't lock in a future. It shows the forces around a question as they stand today, so you can see your situation more clearly and choose well.

The deck

A tarot deck has 78 cards. The Major Arcana (22 cards, from the Fool to the World) are life's big themes and turning points. The Minor Arcana (56 cards) are everyday life in four suits: Wands (fire: drive and creativity), Cups (water: feelings and relationships), Swords (air: thoughts and conflict) and Pentacles (earth: work, money and the body). Each suit runs Ace to Ten, then four court cards: Page, Knight, Queen and King.

This deck follows the symbolism of the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot (1909), the deck most modern readers learn on, newly painted. See all 78 cards.

How a reading plays out here

You shuffle. Hold the deck while you think of your question; the cards are shuffled for real, by a cryptographic random shuffle, for as long as you like. You cut. The deck is split into three piles and the one you choose goes on top, just as at a reader's table. You choose. The deck is fanned out face down and you pick your cards from it. You turn them over, one at a time, in the spread's order. Then the reader reads them for you.

About a third of the cards come out reversed (upside down), as they would from a real shuffle. A reversed card's energy is blocked, delayed or turned inward; you can turn reversals off before you begin.

Asking a good question

Open questions get the richest readings: "What do I need to understand about…", "How can I…", "What is blocking…". Yes-or-no questions and questions about other people's private choices tend to get muddy answers. You can also leave the question blank for an open reading.

The spreads

One Card (1 card). A single card: one clear message. A quick answer, a theme for the day, or your first time. Positions: The message.

Past · Present · Future (3 cards). Three cards: where this came from, where it stands, where it is heading. Most questions. The classic beginner spread. Positions: Past, Present, Future.

The Relationship (5 cards). Five cards: you, them, the bond between you, its challenge, and where it leads. Love, family, friendship, or any connection with one particular person. Positions: You, Them, The bond, The challenge, Where it leads.

The Celtic Cross (10 cards). Ten cards: the traditional full reading, looking at a situation from every side. A big question or a turning point, when you want the whole picture. Positions: The present, What crosses you, Foundation, Recent past, What crowns you, Near future, Yourself, Your surroundings, Hopes and fears, Outcome.

Who reads the cards

The cards, their positions and their traditional meanings are fixed. The reader who weaves them into one story for your question is an AI (Anthropic's Claude), guided to read the way a thoughtful human reader would. Your name, question and cards are saved with your reading so you can return to it from its link.

For reflection and entertainment. For matters of health, law or money, please talk to a qualified professional too.