Tarot Cross Spread

The tarot cross spread is a five-card layout in the shape of a plus sign: the heart of the matter in the centre, the conscious influence above it, the hidden influence below, what is behind you on the left and what is ahead on the right. You can draw one for free with the reading above, then use this page to read your five cards together in about five minutes.

It’s a good spread for one open question that feels stuck or muddled. Three cards give you a timeline; the cross adds the gap between what you think is going on and what is quietly driving it. This page is the quick, practical companion to the reading. If you want the full guide to laying the same five places with your own deck, the five-card cross covers it in depth.

Jump to a section:

• The five positions at a glance
• How the free reading works
• Each position as it reads in the cross
• Reading your result in five minutes
• This spread, the five-card cross and the Celtic Cross
• Good and poor questions
• Two example readings
• Cross spread, three cards or Celtic Cross?
• What to expect: Majors and reversals
• Common mistakes
• Frequently asked questions

The five cross spread positions at a glance

The cards are dealt in this order, and each one lands in a fixed place on the cross:

Position	Where it sits	What it asks
1. Heart of the matter	Centre	What is this really about, right now?
2. Conscious influence	Above the centre	What are you aware of, aiming for or telling yourself?
3. Hidden influence	Below the centre	What is at work underneath that you haven’t named?
4. What is behind you	Left	What has led here, and is now passing?
5. What is ahead	Right	Where is this heading if nothing changes?

Two lines run through the centre card. The vertical line (2, 1, 3) is depth: what’s on your mind against what sits beneath it. The horizontal line (4, 1, 5) is time. Every card is read in relation to the one in the middle.

How the free cross reading works

The reading at the top of this page shuffles a full 78-card deck and deals five different cards.

1. Type your question if you like. It’s optional, but writing it down keeps you honest later. Open questions work best.
2. Press “Shuffle and draw 5 cards”. The cards turn over one by one, in position order: centre, above, below, left, right.
3. Read each card’s label: its position, the card’s name, a “Reversed” tag if it came out upside down, and four keywords (hidden on phones to save space).
4. Open the cards you need. Each card name links to its full meaning. A reversed card links straight to its reversed section.
5. Read the cards together using the five-minute method below, before you think about drawing again.

Each card has a one in three chance of coming out reversed, so most readings contain at least one reversal (see the odds). If you don’t read reversals, read every card upright; decide before you draw.

Each position as it reads in the cross

Short notes for each place: what it asks, what a Major Arcana or Minor Arcana card there tends to mean, and how to take a reversal. The example cards are starting points, not verdicts.

1. Heart of the matter (centre)

The situation as it really stands, which isn’t always the topic you asked about. Say the Wheel of Fortune lands here: the heart of it is change and a turning point.

• Major or Minor: a Major marks a bigger chapter; a Minor puts it in everyday life, where you can act directly.
• Reversed: the card’s energy is blocked, delayed or turned inwards. The Wheel reversed, for example, points to resisting a change or repeating an old pattern.

2. Conscious influence (above)

What’s at the front of your mind: the goal, the plan, the story you tell yourself. A hard card here can be a worry you keep returning to. The Ace of Wands above says you’re fired up by a new idea and keen to start.

• Major or Minor: a Major ties your aim to a value or life direction; a Minor to a practical goal.
• Reversed: an aim that’s unclear, half-hearted or borrowed. The Ace of Wands reversed suggests a fear of starting.

3. Hidden influence (below)

What’s working underneath: a feeling you haven’t put into words, or a belief you take for granted. Assume it’s about you before you assume anyone is hiding something. The Moon here suggests hidden fears shaping things more than you realise.

• Major or Minor: a Major points to a deep pattern; a Minor to a feeling that’s easy to name once you see it.
• Reversed: something buried twice over, or a pattern you’re ready to release. The Moon reversed leans towards clarity returning and fear easing.

4. What is behind you (left)

The recent past that explains the centre card: something that is passing but still has an effect. The Three of Swords here names a heartbreak or painful truth that set the scene.

• Major or Minor: a Major suggests a turning point still unfolding; a Minor something smaller and more recent.
• Reversed: unfinished business, or the past loosening its grip. The Three of Swords reversed can show healing under way, or pain pushed down rather than dealt with.

5. What is ahead (right)

The next stage if things carry on as they are: a direction of travel, not a fixed result. The Ace of Cups ahead points to an emotional fresh start.

• Major or Minor: a Major suggests a development you may not fully control; a Minor a next step you can shape.
• Reversed: usually delayed, incomplete or still up for grabs rather than a flat no.

Reading your cross spread result in five minutes

This order starts with the anchor, then reads the two lines as pairs, which is where the spread earns its keep.

1. Take a ten-second overview. Count the Majors and the reversals, and notice if one suit dominates: Wands for drive and projects, Cups for feelings and relationships, Swords for thoughts and conflict, Pentacles for money, work and the body.
2. Read the heart first (card 1). Say in one sentence what it says the situation is really about. Everything else will be read against that sentence.
3. Read conscious against hidden (cards 2 and 3) as a pair. Do they agree? If the card above is ambition and the card below is exhaustion, that clash is very often the answer to your question. If they agree, you’re pulling in one direction, and progress tends to come more easily.
4. Read behind against ahead (cards 4 and 5) as a pair. Put them in one sentence: “that happened, and this is where it’s heading.” Is the mood rising or sinking? A shared suit or number suggests a pattern.
5. Connect the pairs. Ask whether card 5 moves towards card 2 (the aim) or away from it. If it moves away, card 3 usually shows why.
6. Come back to the centre and write two sentences. One for what’s going on, one for what you’ll do about it. Note the date and the five cards.

If one card still makes no sense, open its full meaning and its “as advice” section. Honestly, that beats drawing a new spread. For how two cards change each other, see tarot card combinations.

The cross spread, the five-card cross and the Celtic Cross

This spread and the five-card cross use the same five places, with much the same meanings. Only the numbering differs: this reading deals the vertical line first, while the five-card cross guide lays centre, above, left, right, below.

Cross spread reading (this page)	Five-card cross guide
1. Heart of the matter (centre)	1. Centre: the heart of the matter
2. Conscious influence (above)	2. Above: higher perspective or goal
3. Hidden influence (below)	5. Below: foundation or subconscious
4. What is behind you (left)	3. Left: the past
5. What is ahead (right)	4. Right: the future

Use this page to draw the spread and read your result quickly. Use the five-card cross guide to lay it with your own deck and go deeper; its section on reading the positions together goes further than the method here.

How it relates to the Celtic Cross

The first six cards of the Celtic Cross also form a cross: card 1 in the centre, card 2 laid sideways across it as the challenge, and cards 3 to 6 to the left, right, above and below. Take away the crossing card and you have this spread’s five places:

Cross spread reading (this page)	Celtic Cross (this site’s numbering)
1. Heart of the matter	1. The present
No equivalent	2. The challenge (the crossing card)
2. Conscious influence	5. Above: conscious
3. Hidden influence	6. Below: subconscious
4. What is behind you	3. The past
5. What is ahead	4. The near future
No equivalent	7 to 10. The staff: advice or self, external influences, hopes and fears, outcome

In effect, the cross spread is the core of the Celtic Cross without the challenge card and the staff. You lose a named obstacle and a separate outcome; you gain a reading you can take in at a glance. Waite’s original numbering in The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910) differs again, and the Celtic Cross guide sets out the variations.

Good and poor questions for the cross spread

The cross shows what’s going on and why. It struggles with questions that want a yes or no, a date, or someone else’s thoughts.

Poor fit	Better for the cross
Will I get the job?	What do I need to understand about my job search right now?
Does he love me?	What is really going on between us, and what’s my part in it?
When will I meet someone?	What is shaping my love life at the moment, above and below the surface?
Should I move, change jobs or both?	What is keeping me unsettled at home? (Ask about the job separately.)
Why does this always happen to me?	What pattern keeps me stuck, and where did it start?
Is my illness serious?	Not a tarot question. See a doctor; tarot can help you reflect on how you’re coping, not diagnose.

For more on wording, see how to ask the right questions in a tarot reading. If you really do want a direct answer, the one-card yes or no tarot reading is the right tool.

Two example cross spread readings

Both readings are hypothetical: illustrations of the method, not real people.

Example 1: feeling stuck at work

Imagine someone called Jordan, two years into a job they’re good at, who feels they’ve stopped moving. Jordan asks: “What do I need to understand about my progress at work?” All five cards come out upright.

Position	Card	In brief
1. Heart of the matter	Seven of Pentacles	A pause to assess progress; results still growing
2. Conscious influence	Three of Wands	Looking ahead, wanting to expand
3. Hidden influence	Four of Pentacles	Holding on to security; fear of losing it
4. What is behind you	Eight of Pentacles	Steady, skilled work
5. What is ahead	Six of Wands	Recognition and visible success

The heart. The Seven of Pentacles is a card of taking stock: the results of hard work are growing, but the harvest needs more time. Jordan isn’t failing, just at the point of judging whether the effort is paying off.

Conscious against hidden. Above, the Three of Wands: Jordan wants to expand. Below, the Four of Pentacles: a wish for security, and a grip that may be too tight. The Four’s career reading warns about missing out on growth because change feels frightening. That’s the clash: Jordan wants the bigger role but is quietly avoiding the risk of asking for it.

Behind against ahead. The Eight of Pentacles behind is two years of focused work that built real skill. The Six of Wands ahead is recognition: praise, a promotion or growing respect. The line runs from quiet effort to being seen, and the Six’s advice is to own your success rather than brush it off.

Putting it together. Three Pentacles and two Wands make this about work and ambition, and with no Major it’s an everyday matter Jordan can act on. The progress is real and recognition is within reach, but it’s unlikely to arrive while the Four of Pentacles is making the decisions. A practical next step: list what the last two years produced and ask for a conversation about the next role.

Example 2: a relationship after moving in, with a reversal

Now imagine someone called Leah, who moved in with her partner six months ago. They bicker about small things and she feels further apart. She asks: “What is really going on between us since we moved in together?” One card comes out reversed.

Position	Card	In brief
1. Heart of the matter	Two of Cups, reversed	Imbalance, distance, communication breaking down
2. Conscious influence	Ten of Cups	The ideal of a happy home
3. Hidden influence	Nine of Wands	Guardedness and old hurts
4. What is behind you	Knight of Cups	Romance, invitations, being swept off your feet
5. What is ahead	Temperance	Balance, compromise, finding a rhythm

The heart. Upright, the Two of Cups is two people meeting as equals. Reversed, that exchange has tipped out of balance, and it can describe a relationship that looks fine on the surface but has become polite or routine.

Conscious against hidden. Above, the Ten of Cups: Leah is holding the picture of a happy home. Below, the Nine of Wands: guardedness and old hurts, holding back for fear of being hurt again. Its love reading also describes a couple in a testing stretch. So Leah wants the Ten of Cups, but something underneath is defending rather than opening up. The Ten’s advice helps: let go of the picture-perfect version.

Behind against ahead. The Knight of Cups behind is the romance of the early days. Temperance ahead is steadier: its love reading describes two people merging very different lives through thoughtful compromise. The bickering in between sounds like two routines learning to fit.

Putting it together. Three Cups make this a question about feelings. Temperance, the only Major, sits ahead, so the bigger chapter is about balance. The single reversal is in the centre, marking the imbalance as the core issue. Nothing here says the relationship is failing. The guard of the Nine is stopping the honest conversation the reversed Two needs, and the Nine’s love reading names it: talk about what each of you needs to feel secure. For both sides in detail, try the relationship spread.

Cross spread, three cards or Celtic Cross?

I’d reach for the cross when three cards feel too thin but ten feel like homework.

Your situation	Best spread
A quick check-in, or a simple story from past to future	Three-card spread
One question that feels stuck, where you suspect the reason isn’t obvious	Cross spread (this page)
What you want and how you feel seem to pull in different directions	Cross spread (this page)
You already know the obstacle and mainly want advice	Interactive five-card spread
A big, tangled question with several people or layers	Celtic Cross
Choosing between two paths	Two options spread
A direct yes or no	Yes or no tarot
One card to reflect on for the day	Card of the day

All the free readings are side by side on the free tarot reading page.

What to expect in five cards: Majors and reversals

Know what’s normal before you read into a count. These figures are for five cards from a full 78-card deck (22 Majors, 56 Minors), dealt without replacement, each reversed one time in three.

In a five-card cross	How often
At least one Major Arcana card	About 82% (roughly 4 readings in 5)
No Majors at all	About 18%
Three or more Majors	About 13% (roughly 1 in 8)
At least one reversed card	About 87%
No reversals at all	About 13%
Three or more reversals	About 21%

The arithmetic. There are C(78,5) = 21,111,090 ways to deal five cards, and C(56,5) = 3,819,816 of them contain only Minors. So the chance of no Major is 3,819,816 ÷ 21,111,090, about 0.181, and at least one Major is about 0.819. On average you’ll see 5 × 22/78, about 1.4 Majors. For reversals, each card stays upright with probability 2/3, so all five upright is (2/3)⁵ = 32/243, about 0.132, and at least one reversal is 211/243, about 0.868.

In practice: one or two Majors is ordinary, so don’t treat a single Major as fate. Three or more is unusual and suggests a bigger chapter; none suggests an everyday matter largely in your hands. One or two reversals is simply what this reading usually deals. Three or more is worth a look, especially on the same line of the cross.

Common cross spread mistakes

• Reading it as a straight line. If you only read left to right, you’ve done a three-card reading with two spare cards. The vertical pair is what the cross adds.
• Treating “what is ahead” as fate. It’s where things are heading if nothing changes. The conscious and hidden cards usually show what could change it.
• Turning the hidden influence into suspicion. Card 3 is usually your own unspoken feeling, not someone’s secret.
• Mixing up the numbering. If you’ve read the five-card cross guide, remember that its card 5 is below, while here card 5 is on the right. Go by the place on the table, not the number.
• Drawing again because you disliked the answer. A new draw is a new reading, not a correction. Come back when something has changed.
• Asking about someone else’s mind. The cross works best when you’re in the story. If the real question is how someone feels, try the How do they feel about me? reading.

Tarot cross spread: frequently asked questions

Ready? Deal your cross with the free reading at the top of the page. When you want more room, try the full Celtic Cross or browse the other tarot spreads.