Editor’s Note: If you want to experiment with tarot cards and don’t have any, we provide a free tarot spread generator using the Celtic Wings spread, which is based on the traditional Celtic Cross spread. This article explains how to use the spread. You can visit Sarah’s website here. –efc
By Sarah Taylor
Three-card readings are like the short stories of the tarot world: they might be more condensed than some of the other popular spreads (such as the Celtic Cross or the Tree of Life layout), but they often demand a more active awareness of structure, and they can pack a punch. They are potent wee things, and I love and respect them for it.
When I work with clients, I tend to use the Celtic Cross layout (an example of which you can find here), simply because there is often a fair amount of ground to cover in a reading, and the narrative offered by the Celtic Cross is a good way of ordering multiple threads of information. However, when I need to crystallise a particular issue — to find its vital ingredients and to get to the crux of what is going on — then a three-card spread is invaluable.
A three-card spread is most effective, therefore, as a focuser, a definer. It’s what I use for my Weekend Tarot Readings because of this. It can draw to our attention that which wants to be seen, but not necessarily with any fixed protocol: the three cards can be interpreted in many different ways depending on what information you’re working with, what you want to achieve, and what feels right in the moment.
Having said that, just like a short story, the format of a three-card reading can look deceptively simple, but it needs discipline to shape and to work with. To this end, here are some observations and pointers I have about three-card readings, and how you can work with them. They are by no means gospel, but they are things that I have found helpful in my own work with tarot.
First, and perhaps most important of all:
Set a clear intention
This holds true for any tarot reading, but it is always worth mentioning. A clear intention (i.e. asking the right question) is the framework for your reading, and if you are going to squeeze every valuable drop that you can from three cards, then setting one before you begin goes a long way to achieving this.
I was hesitating about writing that a clear intention is really half the work done, but, really, I believe that it is: defining what it is that you or a client wants to know from a reading can be as challenging as it is ultimately rewarding. Setting an intention can be a form of counselling all by itself (as I’ve mentioned before on these pages), because often we are in a state of not-knowing when we ask for a reading — and that lack of clarity can extend to our own needs and desires in the moment. By approaching what it is that you want from a reading with a spirit of openness, inquiry, and incisiveness, you can cut away the dead wood and get to what lies at the heart of the matter. When you do, what you find can be a thing of profound beauty.
So set your intention … even if your intention is to have no particular question in mind and to let the cards lead you in their dance. If this is the case, be clear that being led in a dance is really what you want, and that you are grounded enough to find direction when it presents itself to you.
Use more structure …
In addition to knowing what it is that you want to know before you go into the reading, you can add another layer to your reading’s foundation — thus giving it more structure — by making each card represent an object or a quality. One of the most common three-card readings of this kind is a ‘Past, Present, Future’ layout — typically (but not always) read from left to right.