{"id":2632,"date":"2019-05-16T20:05:25","date_gmt":"2019-05-16T20:05:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.keen.com\/articles\/?p=2632"},"modified":"2021-05-24T19:58:45","modified_gmt":"2021-05-24T19:58:45","slug":"meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/tarot\/meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions","title":{"rendered":"Meaning of Tarot Cards in Different Positions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t\n

Spreads\nas Templates<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The tarot spread you use is a template. When\nyou place each card down, you’re plugging those meanings into each spot to form\na timeline or story. The meaning of the card is made more precise when viewed\nthrough the lens of the meaning of the position in the spread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, take a past-present-future spread<\/a>. That’s three\ncards, with the left card meaning past influence, the middle card meaning\npresent influences or the present situation, and the right-hand card meaning\nfuture influences or circumstances. Your question has to do with what’s causing\na prickly relationship between you and a relative, and you pull the Empress reversed<\/a> for the past card, the Six of Cups\nreversed<\/a>[1]<\/a> \nfor the present card, and the Six of Swords<\/a> upright for the future card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Empress reversed, in isolation, can mean\nover-mothering and smothering, a troublesome pregnancy or inability to get\npregnant, and blocked creativity, among other interpretations. So in a spread\nwhere this card is in the past position, there was some influence involving one\nof these factors in the past for one or both of you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now take a look at the present card, the Six\nof Cups reversed. In isolation, this card is about children and memories of\nchildhood that might not be the happiest (remember, this is the reversed\nversion). In a position indicating present situations, this card could indicate\nthat you or your relative is dealing with bad memories. But, when you look at\nthe card along with the Empress reversed in the past position, it looks more\nlike there is something in the relationship between you two that involved one\nof you possibly smothering the other. Maybe one of you crushed the other’s\nartistic dreams years ago, and the resentment is coming to the surface now. Or,\none of you has been treating the other like a child for much too long, and the\n“child” is about ready to rebel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the third card, the Six of Swords\nupright indicates journeys and recovery, and moving on. In a future position,\nit indicates a potential resolution where the disputes are over, so the\nrelationship moves ahead into calmer waters (many decks show a boat heading\nfrom choppy to peaceful waters on this card). When combined with the other two\ncards, you can see that the relationship — if you continue on your current\npath — has a chance of reaching a peaceful resolution, either because you both\nsat down and hashed out your differences, or you decided to cut your losses and\ncut off the relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, you see how each card’s individual\nmeanings were refined when linked to the other cards through the spread, and\nhow each card’s meanings applied to a particular time or situation as denoted\nby the position in the spread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note that the spread position is not the\nbe-all-end-all of meanings. You still have to apply the meaning of the card and\nposition to the overall story you’re getting from the full spread and from your\nknowledge of the situation behind the question, if any. For example, the\nsecond-to-last card of the Celtic Cross is usually about your hopes or fears\nregarding the question. If you’ve asked about the outcome of a job interview\nand see the Three of Swords, or “Sorrow,” that could be a straight-up\nfear, either that you won’t get the job, or, if you’re not enthusiastic about\nthat job, that you’ll actually pass and get an offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Versions Attack<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

All that seems simple enough, assuming you\npractice and memorize all the meanings. It becomes more complicated, though,\nwhen you’re faced with different versions of the same basic spread. Like\ndialects of languages, these versions are essentially the same spread, but with\ndistinct variations in some of the position meanings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Celtic Cross<\/a> is a classic case. In the cross\nportion, you have two cards in the middle, ringed by four cards. One version of\nthe spread has these as (starting at the bottom, going clockwise) reason for\nasking the question, past influences, present situation, and short-term\noutcome. Another version has these as present situation, past influences,\npresent influences, and future influences. And to make things even more\nconfusing, some readers look at the bottom, left, top, and right, while others\nlook at the bottom, then top, then left, and right. That can change the\ninterpretation somewhat, depending on the card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re just learning to read tarot cards\nand find different versions of the same spread, it’s OK to play around with\nboth and see which version resonates with you. However, if you have a spread\nread by another person, you need to be aware of which version that person uses\nso that you don’t end up confused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Designs and New Meanings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A step that many tarot readers take as they\ngain confidence in their knowledge of the cards is to create their own spreads.\nSo as you learn more and investigate more websites and books, you’ll find more\nspreads with increasingly diverse card-position readings. You’ll see\ninterpretations that appear in many spreads, like past influences, while other\nposition interpretations may be unique to that spread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dual Options<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One more issue is that the position meaning\ncan be maddeningly vague. Take that “other people’s involvement” card\nin the Celtic Cross (second up from the bottom in the “staff” portion\nof the spread). This position refers to other people’s thoughts about the\nsituation, their actions, and their involvement with you. It’s often used to\nindicate whether other people will support or oppose you, but it can also\nindicate how people are reacting to your actions, meaning that a card that\nlooks very unsupportive could really mean that you’re not being very supportive\nof others. Or your behavior is so uncalled-for that they are not going to be\nsupportive of you. So the position is really about more than just whether\nothers like your side of the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look at the whole spread to see how each\nposition works with the others. When you’ve place each card down, look at the\nmeaning of the card, then the meaning through the lens of the position, and\nthen the meaning through the lens of the entire spread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flexibility of the position meanings can\ntake getting used to, but in a way, it’s a blessing. It allows you to discover\nadditional possibilities that could be more in tune with what you’ve noticed in\nthe situation so far. If you want to see more variation regarding spreads and\ninterpretations, a professional online tarot reading<\/a> is a great place to\nstart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spreads as Templates The tarot spread you use is a template. When you place each card down, you’re plugging those meanings into each spot to form a timeline or story. The meaning of the card is made more precise when viewed through the lens of the meaning of the position in the spread. For example, …<\/p>\n

Meaning of Tarot Cards in Different Positions<\/span> Read More \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":3040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[343,470,551,558],"class_list":["post-2632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tarot","tag-meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions","tag-reversed-tarot-cards","tag-tarot-card","tag-tarot-insight"],"yoast_head":"\nMeaning of Tarot Cards in Different Positions | Keen<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn the meaning of each tarot card through the different positons of the card spread and meaning. It will fall into place- literally!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/tarot\/meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Keen Editorial Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/tarot\/meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"\/articles\/tarot\/meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Keen Editorial Staff\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/28dd5a9acbd7334178ff47f404955a71\"},\"headline\":\"Meaning of Tarot Cards in Different Positions\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-05-16T20:05:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-05-24T19:58:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"\/articles\/tarot\/meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions\"},\"wordCount\":1133,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/tarot\/meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/tarot-card-positions.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Meaning of Tarot Cards in Different Positions\",\"reversed tarot cards\",\"tarot card\",\"Tarot insight\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Tarot\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/tarot\/meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"\/articles\/tarot\/meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/tarot\/meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions\",\"name\":\"Meaning of Tarot Cards in Different Positions | Keen\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/tarot\/meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/tarot\/meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/tarot-card-positions.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-05-16T20:05:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-05-24T19:58:45+00:00\",\"description\":\"Learn the meaning of each tarot card through the different positons of the card spread and meaning. It will fall into place- literally!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/tarot\/meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/tarot\/meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/tarot\/meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/tarot-card-positions.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/tarot-card-positions.png\",\"width\":2502,\"height\":1728,\"caption\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/tarot\/meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Meaning of Tarot Cards in Different Positions\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/\",\"name\":\"Keen Articles\",\"description\":\"Articles\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Keen\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/keen-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/keen-logo.png\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":664,\"caption\":\"Keen\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KeenPsychics\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/KeenPsychic\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/keenpsychics\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/28dd5a9acbd7334178ff47f404955a71\",\"name\":\"Keen Editorial Staff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3d01dd6a1a0e39069f7f7bf8812d8e04?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3d01dd6a1a0e39069f7f7bf8812d8e04?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Keen Editorial Staff\"},\"description\":\"Keen's Editorial Staff is made up of world-class writers, astrologers, psychics, and advisors with diverse experience and spiritual sensitivity.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/author\/keeneditorialstaff\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Meaning of Tarot Cards in Different Positions | Keen","description":"Learn the meaning of each tarot card through the different positons of the card spread and meaning. It will fall into place- literally!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/tarot\/meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Keen Editorial Staff","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/tarot\/meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"\/articles\/tarot\/meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions"},"author":{"name":"Keen Editorial Staff","@id":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/28dd5a9acbd7334178ff47f404955a71"},"headline":"Meaning of Tarot Cards in Different Positions","datePublished":"2019-05-16T20:05:25+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-24T19:58:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"\/articles\/tarot\/meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions"},"wordCount":1133,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/tarot\/meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/tarot-card-positions.png","keywords":["Meaning of Tarot Cards in Different Positions","reversed tarot cards","tarot card","Tarot insight"],"articleSection":["Tarot"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/tarot\/meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"\/articles\/tarot\/meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions","url":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/tarot\/meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions","name":"Meaning of Tarot Cards in Different Positions | Keen","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/tarot\/meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/tarot\/meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/tarot-card-positions.png","datePublished":"2019-05-16T20:05:25+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-24T19:58:45+00:00","description":"Learn the meaning of each tarot card through the different positons of the card spread and meaning. It will fall into place- literally!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/tarot\/meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/tarot\/meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/tarot\/meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions#primaryimage","url":"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/tarot-card-positions.png","contentUrl":"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/tarot-card-positions.png","width":2502,"height":1728,"caption":""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/tarot\/meaning-of-tarot-cards-in-different-positions#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Meaning of Tarot Cards in Different Positions"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/#website","url":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/","name":"Keen Articles","description":"Articles","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/#organization","name":"Keen","url":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/keen-logo.png","contentUrl":"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/keen-logo.png","width":2560,"height":664,"caption":"Keen"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KeenPsychics\/","https:\/\/x.com\/KeenPsychic","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/keenpsychics\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/28dd5a9acbd7334178ff47f404955a71","name":"Keen Editorial Staff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3d01dd6a1a0e39069f7f7bf8812d8e04?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3d01dd6a1a0e39069f7f7bf8812d8e04?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Keen Editorial Staff"},"description":"Keen's Editorial Staff is made up of world-class writers, astrologers, psychics, and advisors with diverse experience and spiritual sensitivity.","url":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/author\/keeneditorialstaff"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2632"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7194,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2632\/revisions\/7194"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.keen.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}