Three card spread
From Tarotpedia
The Three Card spread is one of the most simple and versatile Tarot spreads around (unless you count its close cousins, the Two Card spread and One Card spread!) It can be adapted to most questions, and its simplicity allows the reader to interpret each card in depth. The basic format for this spread is:
However, the spread positions themselves are variable depending on the reader's needs. The traditional version of this spread is (1) Past - (2) Present - (3) Future. In this case, the first card details the past events that have had an influence on the situation - as represented by the second card - and the final card indicates a possible outcome if things continue as they are. This version of the Three Card spread allows the reader to see patterns in a current event and assess it in more detail.
Other variations of this spread include:
- Mind - Body - Spirit (different realms of one's life)
- Thesis - Antithesis - Synthesis (for assessing an idea)
- Background/the situation - Problem - Advice (when facing a problem or challenge)
- Choice One - Considerations about the decision - Choice Two (when faced with more than one choice)
- Choice One - Choice Two - Choice Three (when faced with more than one choice)
- One Option - Another Option - A Balance Between Both (how to see the Middle Way)
- Present - Future - Advice (similar to Past - Present - Future)
- Idea - Manifestation - Process - Outcome (for the artists and inventors!)
- Beginning - Middle - End (for writing a story, maybe?)
Often, a Three Card spread can be used without any assigned card positions at all: three cards laid out randomly from the deck and read together in a general sense as applies to the question can tell the reader a lot about an issue. In a spread like this the cards often interlink and their interpretations support, confirm, or flow from each other. Sometimes they'll do the opposite and show differing sides of the question.
Whichever variation of this spread the reader chooses, it will prove a simple (especially recommended for beginners), surprisingly in-depth, and flexible method of gaining insight into one's life.
[edit] Further Reading
The three card spread in one variation or another is discussed in most introductory books on the tarot in English.
Tarot Tells the Tale by James Ricklef. An excellent insight into the uses of the Three Card spread. The author does twenty-two readings for fictional and historical characters using a variety of three-card spreads, demonstrating the versatility and depth of this spread.
Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination by Robert Place. This book contains an excellent discussion of how to use three cards as one unit for readings. (See Chapter 6, Hieroglyphs from the Soul)
