A tarot spread is the blueprint to whatever answer you hope to get from your tarot deck. The more precise your spread is, the clearer your answer will be. Because relationships are typically quite layered and complex (especially romantic ones), it can be challenging to read tarot cards about relationships.
This in-depth relationship spread is designed to take the big, important themes in a relationship and bring them to the surface. It acts as a mirror, and ensures that you see the things within your relationship that may be hard to look at, but especially the things that most need to be addressed.
Though I originally created it to look into romantic relationships, this spread works for most any type of relationship between two people.
Respecting Privacy
Probably the most important aspect of this tarot spread is that it is designed to respect the privacy of all people involved. Asking tarot cards (or any other divination tool) a question about a relationship runs the risk of prying into the private thoughts or feelings of a third party that has not given their consent to such an intrusion. It essentially adds up to spying.
In order to respect privacy, the question for this spread prompts you to listen to what your intuition has already been telling you about the relationship in question. While the cards will not give you any private or secret information about the relationship in question, you likely will be surprised at what comes into focus through this spread.
If you are creating the spread for yourself, then ask the cards, "What do I need to know about this/my relationship?" If you are reading the cards on someone else's behalf, then ask, "What does (person's name) need to know about this/their relationship?"
How to Use the Spread
To use this spread, all you have to do is:
focus on your question while you shuffle your cards, and then, when it feels right,
stop shuffling,
cut your deck (optional),
draw cards from the top of the pile, and
lay them out as pictured below.
Some people like to draw all their cards face-down, and turn them over one by one as they read them. I prefer to lay them face-up from the beginning, because the way the cards look all together impacts the way I read the cards individually.
Card Meanings Within the Spread
1:You / Person A in the relationship right now
2: Person B in the relationship right now
3: The relationship right now
4: The biggest issue in the relationship right now
5: How to overcome that issue
6: Your / Person A's intention for the future of the relationship
7: Person B's intention for the future of the relationship
8: The most likely outcome of the relationship
Special Notes
Cards 1 & 2: When these cards come up reversed, it often indicates a conscious, but blocked, effort.
For instance, if I pull The Sun reversed in one of these spots, then it will probably tell me that the person represented is actively trying to bring positivity, warmth, healing, and clarity into the relationship, but they are struggling to do so.
The other cards in the spread almost always tell the story of why this effort seems to be blocked. However, blockages always provide great opportunities for additional tarot readings!
Continuing with my example, I could follow up with the question, "Why is this person's energy of positivity in the relationship blocked?" or perhaps "How can this person unblock their energy of positivity in the relationship?"
Card 3: For extra information, you can pull another card here to represent the Past of the relationship.
Card 5: If this card comes up reversed, it most likely indicates that there are some blockages to tackle before the issue can be overcome. Often, these blockages boil down to a fear of some sort (perhaps letting go of the past or committing to the future).
Again, blockages provide great opportunities for further investigation through additional tarot readings!
Cards 6 & 7: When these cards come up reversed, it tells me that there is worry that this intended future won't actually come true, or perhaps doubt that it is possible.
It does not represent a blockage to the actual outcome. Instead, it reflects the psyche of the person represented, their deepest hopes and fears about the future of the relationship.
Card 8: This card is not meant to give a future prediction
about the relationship. The thoughts, feelings, choices, and behaviours of both parties involved in the relationship have a direct impact on the future of the relationship.
If you don't like what you see in Card 8, ask yourself (or maybe ask your cards), "What can I do to change the outcome?" Often, Card 8 appears reversed, almost to emphasize the notion that the future outcome can be "flipped around" if both parties are willing to make the necessary changes.
Sometimes, after years of sweeping issues under the rug, relationships get stuck in such a toxic or gloomy state that it requires huge changes and efforts to bring them back to a healthy state. Just because it is possible to fix the relationship, it doesn't mean that you have to sacrifice the time and energy needed to make it so.
Remember, this spread acts as a mirror -- if you don't like what you see, perhaps it is time to ask yourself whether this relationship is taking more from you than it is giving.
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