Relationship Spread #1
Difficulty: Easy
This tarot spread is easy to read, like a convenient chart. In this spread, court cards generally indicate actual people with the same characteristics. Knights (or corresponding princes, but not kings) and queens are meant to represent actual men and women in this tarot spread. Look for patterns in the cards as always.
Card #1 is the overall significator of the relationship. The two columns on either side of the significator characterise each individual's role in the relationship. The relationship does not have to be romantic. In fact, it could be a relationship between a person and a group, or even how two groups relate.
The top row, cards #7 & #2, is about the conscious thoughts of each person, or what they think about the relationship and likewise how they view their partner.
The middle row, cards #6 & #3, reveals the way each individual feels about the other. Emotional awareness corresponds to a person's unconscious thoughts that run deep, affecting a person in ways he or she is not fully aware of.
The bottom row, cards #5 & #4, represents the way each person behaves, in other words the stance taken regarding the relationship. The way a person acts may be genuine, but sometimes people are phony and manipulative, so it is best to weigh this card against the other person's cards to determine how they match up.
Your Relationship #1 Reading
You |
Other Person |
||
Thought |
![]() Princess of Wands |
![]() Five of Swords (Defeat) |
|
Emotion |
![]() Five of Disks (Worry) |
The Significator ![]() Queen of Cups |
![]() Ace of Disks |
External Stance |
![]() Three of Wands (Virtue) |
![]() Nine of Cups (Happiness) |

The Significator
Queen of Cups
Element: Water of Water
Astrological Correspondence: Cancer
The Queen of Cups embodies the purest expression of emotional depth, intuition, and nurturing energy. As Water of Water, she symbolises the harmonious flow of feelings, offering profound emotional wisdom and understanding. She is depicted as a serene and graceful figure in a waterfall, holding a cup that symbolises her ability to channel the depths of her emotional and intuitive nature with calm and poise.
Her Cancerian influence enhances her sensitivity, compassion, and protective instincts, making her a nurturing guide through emotional landscapes. She is deeply attuned to her inner world and the needs of others, offering care, understanding, and support with unshakable grace.
The Queen of Cups invites you to embrace emotional intelligence and connect with intuition. Her presence suggests a time to nurture yourself or others, trust intuitive insights, and approach emotional challenges with empathy and wisdom. She encourages you to cultivate inner harmony and use your emotional depth as a source of strength and guidance.
In Relationships: The Queen of Cups signifies a partner who is emotionally mature, loving, and intuitive. She represents someone who offers emotional support and can nurture a relationship with wisdom and care. The Queen suggests a time of emotional balance when love flows freely and comfortably. She can also indicate a time when you need to cultivate emotional security in relationships.
In Work: The Queen of Cups is a card of emotional intelligence. She suggests a career in which compassion, counselling, or care-taking is emphasised. The Queen represents the ability to lead with emotional insight, bringing empathy and understanding to professional environments. Her presence can also indicate that you need to approach your work with greater emotional intelligence or personal care.
Spiritually: The Queen of Cups suggests a time of emotional healing when you can tap into your emotional wisdom to guide your spiritual growth. The card indicates intuition and inner knowledge, pointing towards a time when your connection to your emotional self will provide you with clarity and spiritual insight.
When ill-dignified: The Queen of Cups may indicate emotional instability, a tendency to over-empathise at the expense of self-care, or the possibility of emotional manipulation. You may become overly dependent on others for emotional support or struggle with emotional boundaries. There may also be a danger of neglecting personal emotional needs in the service of others.

The Querent's Thoughts
Princess of Wands
Element: Earth of Fire
The Princess of Wands represents the fusion of the fiery creative impulse with the grounded, material energy of Earth. The Princess embodies the potential for creative energy to manifest in tangible, lasting form. As Earth of Fire, she symbolises the ability to bring fiery inspiration and passion into the physical realm, making it real and enduring.
This card speaks to the beginning of a creative or spiritual journey, where passion, enthusiasm, and bold ideas are taking shape and solidifying. The Princess is not just a dreamer but a doer, turning inspiration into something with substance and practical value. Her energy is earthy and stable, allowing for the manifestation of creative projects or ventures to thrive in the material world. The Princess of Wands encourages you to embrace your inner creativity and channel it into something concrete, reminding that significant transformations begin with focused action.
In Relationships: When the Princess of Wands appears in a romantic context, it suggests the early stages of passion—exciting and full of potential, but not yet fully formed. The relationship is in its foundation stage, with room for growth and expansion. It represents a time of exploration and discovery in the realm of love, where energy is building but has not yet taken shape into long-term commitment.
In Work: This card indicates the birth of a new venture or project that will manifest in the material world. The Princess of Wands often heralds the arrival of new opportunities, but she also brings with her the potential for those ideas to be grounded and practical. She urges you to focus on laying solid foundations for future growth.
Spiritually: The Princess of Wands points to spiritual awakening or an initial foray into a new spiritual practice. There is a spark of creative potential, but it is still in the early, earthly stages of development. This card is about planting the seeds for spiritual growth that will flourish over time.
When ill-dignified: The Princess of Wands can signal a lack of direction or focus, where the initial excitement and energy are scattered, leaving you stuck in a cycle of false starts. There may also be an element of stagnation or inertia, as ideas fail to manifest into reality. It is a call for more grounded effort and the need to overcome obstacles to bring creative desires into the physical world.

The Other Person's Thoughts
Five of Swords (Defeat)
Astrological Correspondence: Venus in Aquarius
The Five of Swords represents the complexities of conflict, often showing the aftermath of a battle where the victor is left with a hollow triumph. The card features five swords arranged in a dynamic, chaotic pattern, with broken blades and a sense of turbulence. This design symbolises the intellectual or mental anguish that follows a destructive confrontation.
The Venus in Aquarius influence adds a layer of detachment and the coldness of rationality, as victory here may come at the cost of relationships or the integrity of one's ideals. The imagery implies that the battle was fought without true understanding or empathy, and any success gained feels unfulfilling.
This card is a cautionary message about the nature of conflict and the price of victory. It encourages reflection on whether the victory is worth the emotional toll and whether the ego-driven approach has led to isolation. It warns of the potential for self-deception, where the illusion of winning overshadows the deeper consequences of discord. The Five of Swords highlights the danger of intellectual arrogance, encouraging a re-evaluation of motivations and the long-term effects of strife.
In Relationships: In a romantic context, the Five of Swords can indicate conflict, betrayal, or disagreements that may lead to emotional hurt. The card suggests that intellectual or verbal battles have damaged the relationship or one person has 'won' at the expense of another. It can signify a need for resolution and forgiveness, or the decision to exit a toxic situation.
In Work: The Five of Swords may represent a loss or failure because of conflict in the workplace. It could indicate a competitive atmosphere where you win but feel morally compromised or defeated, even if you technically 'won'. This card warns of the mental toll of rivalry and deceit.
Spiritually: The Five of Swords indicates inner conflict, where your mind is in turmoil. It suggests a time when your intellectual pursuits may have become disconnected from your higher purpose, and ego-driven struggles interfere with spiritual peace.
When ill-dignified: The Five of Swords represents destructive conflict, where your thoughts and actions are driven by ego, and victory is hollow or short-lived. It may suggest manipulation, deceit, or a situation where you have 'lost' even if you technically won. The mental energy is consumed in futile struggles, leaving you with no actual sense of fulfilment.

The Querent's Emotions
Five of Disks (Worry)
Astrological Correspondence: Mercury in Taurus
This card symbolises material challenges, hardship, and feelings of insecurity. The image of five disks scattered and disconnected represents financial or material instability, often accompanied by feelings of worry, anxiety, or fear about the loss of wealth or resources. This card reflects the difficulties that arise when material circumstances are not in alignment, and it points to struggles that may leave one feeling deprived or vulnerable.
Despite the sense of hardship, the Five of Disks also suggests change and recovery are possible, especially if one faces these difficulties with perseverance and determination. The influence of Mercury in Taurus stresses the need for clear communication, careful thought, and practical action in navigating through this period of instability. The card reminds you that, although the situation may seem bleak, persistence and adaptability can pave the way for renewal and recovery in the material realm.
In Relationships: The Five of Disks can signal feelings of neglect, isolation, or worry. There may be concerns about security, whether emotional or financial, leading to strain within a partnership. The card advises you to face challenges together and not allow fear or insecurity to dominate the relationship.
In Work: The Five of Disks suggests financial difficulties or setbacks. It may point to job loss, debt, or economic downturns that can create insecurity. The card encourages you to persevere and seek new opportunities, as material stability can be restored with the right effort and mindset.
Spiritually: The Five of Disks may indicate spiritual poverty or disconnection from one's higher self. It can suggest a lack of faith in the face of adversity or material struggle. The card encourages you to find strength within and trust that spiritual renewal is possible, even during challenging times.
When ill-dignified: The Five of Disks can point to extreme loss, greed, or a fixation on material concerns at the expense of everything else. There may be a tendency to wallow in despair or make rash decisions based on fear or panic. You may be facing unnecessary difficulties due to poor choices or neglect.

The Other Person's Emotions
Ace of Disks
(Root of Earth)
The Ace of Disks represents the raw, unmanifested potential of the physical world. At the centre of the card lies a single disk, surrounded by a swirling energy that symbolises the seed of all material manifestation. This image reflects the potential for creating wealth, stability, and physical well-being. The Ace of Disks marks the initiation of a new cycle in the realm of material affairs, a beginning full of possibility and grounded in the Earth element.
This card embodies the promise of prosperity and abundance, signifying the fertile ground from which tangible results will grow. It suggests you are on the brink of a new opportunity that has the potential for lasting growth and concrete success. The Ace of Disks is a symbol of manifestation, inviting the energy of physical reality to align with your intentions, and pointing to the importance of patience, effort, and practical action in bringing desires into the material world.
In Relationships: The Ace of Disks represents a new, stable foundation for a relationship. It suggests a relationship could be grounded in the material realm, such as sharing resources, practical concerns, and tangible commitments. It is a positive sign for the long-term potential of a relationship if both partners are willing to invest in it practically and thoughtfully.
In Work: The Ace of Disks signifies the beginning of a new venture or enterprise with the potential for incredible material success. It suggests a strong foundation is being laid, and this card heralds new opportunities to make money or build a business. It encourages focusing on long-term goals and being practical in your approach to success.
Spiritually: This card represents grounding one's spiritual practice into the physical realm. It suggests a connection between the material and spiritual worlds, where the material world reflects the spiritual, and vice versa. The Ace of Disks invites you to manifest your spiritual insights in the physical world and recognise the divine in all things material.
When ill-dignified: The Ace of Disks can indicate missed opportunities in material matters or the failure to capitalise on available resources. There may be a reluctance to invest time and energy into practical affairs, or an inability to manifest your desires in the physical realm. It could also represent greed or an overemphasis on materialism at the expense of spiritual growth.

The Querent's External Stance
Three of Wands (Virtue)
Astrological Correspondence: Sun in Aries
The Three of Wands represents the harmonious alignment of will, action, and purpose. It symbolises confidence, leadership, and the strength to act with integrity. The card depicts three wands crossed in balance, radiating stability and mutual support. Flames emanate from the centre, representing the creative and dynamic energy of fire that has been focused and directed constructively.
This card is about the manifestation of one's will through effort and coordination. It marks the point where initial efforts have taken root and a solid foundation has been established, allowing for continued growth and success. Unlike the chaos of unbridled ambition, the Three of Wands reflects a disciplined and virtuous use of power, ensuring that actions align with one's higher principles. It is a card of optimism, self-assurance, and the momentum to build upon early achievements.
In Relationships: The Three of Wands indicates growth and development. The connection has reached a point where both parties can begin to see the potential for a shared future and greater commitment.
In Work: This card suggests you are beginning to see the first signs of success from previous efforts. It encourages you to continue building on their foundations and look forward to even greater accomplishments.
Spiritually: The Three of Wands represents the expansion of spiritual knowledge and understanding. It signifies progress and the beginning of a deeper connection with the divine.
When ill-dignified: The Three of Wands may suggest overconfidence, impatience, or a lack of focus. You could be spreading yourself too thin or expecting results too quickly. It advises careful planning and the need to be patient as the process unfolds.

The Other Person's External Stance
Nine of Cups (Happiness)
Astrological Correspondence: Jupiter in Pisces
The Nine of Cups represents joy, emotional abundance, and the fulfilment of heartfelt desires. This card depicts nine cups arranged symmetrically, overflowing with clear, pure water, symbolising the harmonious flow of emotional energy. The imagery exudes completeness and satisfaction, reflecting the culmination of efforts that lead to genuine happiness.
Jupiter in Pisces combines the expansive, benevolent energy of Jupiter with Pisces' intuitive and empathetic nature, creating a powerful alignment of emotional depth and generosity. This pairing amplifies the sense of boundless joy, compassion, and the effortless manifestation of desires.
The Nine of Cups signifies a time of emotional contentment and the realisation of aspirations. It encourages you to revel in your achievements, appreciate the beauty of life's blessings, and share your joy with others. While it is a card of celebration and abundance, it also reminds us to remain open to the continuous flow of emotional energy, ensuring that happiness is not stagnant but ever-renewing.
In Relationships: The Nine of Cups signifies the satisfaction of emotional desires. It can indicate the fulfilment of a romantic wish, such as finding true love, an emotionally harmonious relationship, or strengthening an existing bond. There is contentment and emotional satisfaction in the romantic sphere.
In Work: The Nine of Cups represents emotional fulfilment through one's work. It suggests you are on the path towards achieving your professional goals and are experiencing success and satisfaction. This is a card of recognition, where you can bask in the joy of your accomplishments.
Spiritually: The Nine of Cups is a card of emotional and spiritual fulfilment. It suggests a time of peace, harmony, and the realisation of spiritual desires. You may feel aligned with your higher self and at peace with your spiritual journey.
When ill-dignified: The Nine of Cups can indicate emotional overindulgence, satisfaction derived from shallow or materialistic pursuits, or complacency. It can point to a temporary sense of fulfilment that does not last, leading to emotional emptiness after the initial joy fades.