5 Card Tarot Spread: Top 10 Spreads for Beginners & Advanced

A tarot spread tells you how many cards to draw, where to lay them, and in what order. It’s worth noting that the more cards you use, the more complex the reading. Therefore, it’s better to use spreads that require fewer cards if you wish to receive more straightforward answers to your questions.

Some beginner-friendly five-card spreads are the Belief spread, Direction spread, Magic Star spread, and Mirror spread. The Money spread, Monthly spread, New Relationship spread, and Wheel spread are also suitable for novice tarot readers. Meanwhile, spreads like the Sunrise spread and Jungian Archetypes spread are best read by advanced practitioners.

All tarot spreads have designs and layouts that adhere to a specific principle. The most significant feature of a tarot spread is its positioning because each holds a unique meaning. Hence, one must choose a tarot spread that best fits their circumstances to ensure a successful reading.

Five-Card Tarot Spreads for Beginners

1. The Belief Spread

People tend to hold on to self-limiting beliefs that hinder them from reaching their full potential. Many don’t even realize that such self-limiting beliefs have a considerable impact on their lives. The Belief spread is an excellent spread you can use to recognize and change your false notions.

Guide Questions

• Position 1 – What are my current beliefs that prevent me from reaching enlightenment?
• Position 2 – What led me to harbor such self-limiting beliefs?
• Position 3 – What new ideas, notions, or beliefs should I focus on to attain enlightenment?
• Position 4 – What are the similarities and differences between [answer to Question 2] and [answer to Question 3]?
• Position 5 – What will be the result or consequence if I start changing my false beliefs to positive ones?

2. The Direction Spread

An engineer needs a blueprint to build a house, just like how people need a map to reach their dreams, goals, and aspirations in life. It’s inevitable to stumble or lose your way, however. This five-card spread can help you if you need a little nudge in the right direction.

Guide Questions

• Position 1 – What life path am I currently traversing?
• Position 2 – What lessons am I learning?
• Position 3 – What’s waiting for me at the end of the road?
• Position 4 – What are my long-term goals?
• Position 5 – What will help me accomplish these goals?

3. The Magic Star Spread

Many seek the help of the Tarot when they need solutions to their problems. The Magic Star spread is a five-card spread suitable for those who wish to assess their current situation, explore options, and find answers.

Guide Questions

• Position 1 – Describe the situation or problem I’m currently facing.
• Position 2 – What led me to be in this position? What caused this problem?
• Position 3 – What internal or external factors should I consider?
• Position 4 – What advice can my spirit guides tell me? What’s the solution to the problem?
• Position 5 – What will be the outcome?

4. The Mirror Spread

It’s natural for humans to judge other people based on their standards. More often than not, the things we dislike about other people are reflections of our own.

The Mirror spread can help you work on your projections on other people by knowing more about yourself. This spread is best used if you wish to explore your Shadow Self, the part of you hidden in your unconscious.

Guide Questions

• Position 1 – How do I see [name of the person concerned]?
• Position 2 – How do I perceive myself?
• Position 3 – What negative traits, characteristics, or feelings am I projecting on [name of the person concerned]?
• Position 4 – What’s the correlation between [answer to Question 3] and my Shadow Self?
• Position 5 – What should I do next?

5. The Money Spread

The Money spread is commonly used by those who want to learn more about their financial status and the opportunities coming their way. When using this spread, you might want to watch out for the cards from the Suit of Pentacles. Other cards that you should keep an eye on are the Empress, the Sun, and the Nine of Cups.

Guide Questions

• Position 1 – What’s my current financial status?
• Position 2 – Where should I focus my energy to gain more wealth?
• Position 3 – What opportunities shouldn’t I miss?
• Position 4 – What are the financial challenges coming my way?
• Position 5 – What will be the result?

6. The Monthly Spread

The Monthly spread is an easy-to-use spread that allows you to picture how your month would look. This spread is suitable for tarot readers who keep a monthly journal.

Guide Questions

• Position 1 – Describe the general mood of the upcoming month.
• Position 2 – How would the first week of the month look?
• Position 3 – What should I expect in the second week of the month?
• Position 4 – How will the third week of the month be for me?
• Position 5 – What’s waiting for me in the fourth week of the month?

7. The New Relationship Spread

There are numerous spreads you can choose from if you want to do a relationship tarot reading. This five-card spread is a spread suitable for novice tarot readers who want to get a general picture of how their new relationship would go.

Guide Questions

• Position 1 – What am I contributing to my new relationship?
• Position 2 – What does [name of the person concerned] bring to our relationship?
• Position 3 – What are my genuine feelings about this new relationship?
• Position 4 – Describe [name of the person concerned]’s feelings about our relationship.
• Position 5 – What should I expect in this relationship?

8. The Wheel Spread

The Wheel spread is a general spread that beginners can use to determine the energies or influences surrounding a specific situation. The more you practice using this spread, the more insightful information you can obtain.

Guide Questions

• Position 1 – Describe my current circumstance.
• Position 2 – What influences are gradually decreasing?
• Position 3 – What hidden force consciously or unconsciously influences the situation?
• Position 4 – What are the emerging energies?
• Position 5 – How can I combine all these factors to get the most out of my current predicament?

Five-Card Tarot Spreads for Advanced Tarot Readers

9. The Sunrise Spread

The Sunrise spread is best used before starting your day (preferably during sunrise, as the name suggests). This spread is also called the Fifth Element spread, the fifth element being you, the querent.

The Sunrise spread is similar to a five-card daily tarot draw. However, this spread has elemental associations which require advanced knowledge.

Keywords

• Position 1 (Querent) – the self
• Position 2 (Fire) – passion, instinct, energy, persistence
• Position 3 (Water) – emotions, receptivity, love
• Position 4 (Air) – thoughts, intellect, analysis
• Position 5 (Earth) – materiality, abundance, manifestation

10. The Jungian Archetypes Spread

The Jungian Archetypes spread is based on Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung’s work about the main human archetypes. This 5 card tarot spread only uses five of the twelve main archetypes: the Persona, Shadow, Anima, Animus, and Self archetypes (in that order).

Guide Questions

• Position 1 (Persona) – How do other people perceive me?
• Position 2 (Shadow) – What am I afraid of that I hide in my unconscious mind?
• Position 3 (Anima) – What would I do without hesitation if my divine feminine empowers me?
• Position 4 (Animus) – What does my divine masculine want me to know, consider, and learn?
• Position 5 (Self) – What do I truly desire?

Final Thoughts

There are many things you need to consider and remember when working with 5 card tarot spreads. One of them is that the cards you draw and the tarot spread you use merely reflect that reality you create.