Learning to read Tarot cards in spreads is perhaps the most challenging part of studying Tarot. Memorizing the card meanings is usually not too difficult—it just takes patience and diligence. But reading Tarot cards within a spread and interpreting the layout as a whole? That’s an art form.
So how do different Tarot reading methods compare, and what are the main algorithms for interpreting spreads?
Let’s go back to the beginning… What meaning did the deck’s creator intend, and how can we uncover it?
Pamela Colman Smith is the artist behind the most well-known Tarot deck, commonly referred to as the “Rider-Waite Tarot.” In addition to her remarkable artistic talent, she possessed a unique ability—she could see music as images. This is key to understanding her approach to reading Tarot cards in spreads.
Pamela was a child of the theater. She once said, “The stage taught me nearly everything I know about clothing, action, and dramatic gestures.” She believed that the stage, along with observing everyday life, was the greatest school for an illustrator. As we’ll explore in the section on “Pamela’s Music,” she also noted her ability to see music as visual imagery. In 1908, she wrote:
“There is a closer connection between sound and form than we suspect.”
Pamela knew the theater firsthand, both through her own experiences and her associations with people like Irving, Gillette, Terry, and Edward Gordon Craig—the illegitimate son of Ellen Terry. Craig practically grew up in the theater and became a highly influential and inventive stage designer. He published On the Art of the Theatre in 1904.
If we view Pamela’s advice on artistic perception through the lens of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), we might be able to model her methodology and apply it to Tarot reading.
In fact, what Pamela describes is strikingly similar to an NLP technique called the “Swish Pattern,” or the “Instant Shift Pattern.” This technique uses our mind’s natural tendency to place things in mental “corners.”
To apply this method to Tarot reading—based on how Pamela described her creative process—follow these steps:
Keep it short and clear. We’ll use a one-card reading for simplicity, but with practice, you can expand to multi-card spreads. Shuffle your deck while focusing on your question. Place the deck face-down—you’ll draw the top card soon, but not just yet.
Picture the question written on a large, imaginary screen. It may help to close your eyes. Choose a font and color that feel right. Read it silently a few times. If you’re not a visual person, simply imagine the words exist—or that you’re hearing or sensing them. The key is to form a clear mental impression.
Close your eyes if you haven’t already. Take a deep breath. Imagine compressing that text into the bottom-left corner of your mental screen until it’s just a tiny block—like a cursor-sized dot, unreadable and small.
Open your eyes and turn over the top card.
Imagine the question text returning to full size behind the card, like a watermark. Pamela would say: “Bring it back… and look at your work with it as the background.” Mentally place the image over the text and let the card be interpreted through that lens.
Let emotions rise in response to the card. Answers may not come immediately or consciously. They may arrive later—through thoughts, decisions, dreams. Often, this process unfolds unconsciously, drawing from the same deep well Pamela tapped into for her art.
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Pamela advised: “First, notice the simple forms of joy, fear, sadness; observe the overall posture of the body before the face.”
It’s not just what they wear, but how they wear it:
“Look at the clothing, headgear, cloak, armor, belt, sword, dagger, rings, shoes, jewelry. Notice how the cloak moves when the figure walks, how the hands are used. Ask yourself if the clothes are appropriate and worn correctly. An actor should express the era they portray through their costume, hand gestures, posture, and movement.”
Pamela believed that not just the stage, but also illustrations could become “false or unreal.” The parts she exaggerated often hint at the feelings she wanted to evoke.
Pamela said:
“The most important thing is to feel everything! And to make sure that anyone who sees your drawing feels it too!”
For example, if you apply these observations to the Nine of Cups, you’ll see the figure sits with an exaggerated, wide-legged pose. Try sitting that way yourself—you’ll immediately sense the theatricality and self-importance. His arms are loosely crossed, legs spread apart, with toes pointing in different directions. It almost looks like he’s about to break into a hopak dance!
This character is clearly puffed up and pompous. But he’s also protecting something—his body language gives that away, too.
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