Tarot reading online: how the free spread works and how to read it
Our tarot reading online deals cards at random from a shuffled 78-card deck into the spread you choose, upright or reversed. The meaning texts are general wording from the tradition, for reflection, not a forecast.
What it is
Tarot is a deck of 78 illustrated cards. People use it as a prompt for thinking: you look at a card, read what it is traditionally linked with, and ask what that says to you.
The deck here has 22 Major Arcana cards and 56 Minor Arcana cards. The minor ones come in four suits (wands, cups, swords and pentacles) of 14 cards each. The pictures are the original 1909 Rider–Waite–Smith illustrations.
A spread is a layout. Each place in it has a name, and each place receives one card. There are four spreads: one card; three cards, named past, present and future; five cards for a relationship; and the ten-card Celtic Cross. Those names are the places of a layout, not a timetable of events.
A card can fall upright or reversed, with an even chance for each. Every card has a separate text for each of the two.
Our server does the shuffling, with a cryptographic random-number generator, and it shuffles the whole deck again for every draw. Your browser sends only the name of the spread, so a request cannot ask for particular cards.
The text under each card is general wording from the tradition, prepared in advance for every card and every place. It is the same for everyone who draws that card in that place, it is not written about you, and it cannot know your question. The tool itself calls it text for reflection and entertainment.
So there are two parts, and this page keeps them apart. The draw is chance, and it can be described exactly. The meanings are wording from a tradition, to think with.
How it works, step by step
- Choose a spread: one card, three cards, five cards for a relationship, or the ten-card Celtic Cross.
- Press “Shuffle and draw”. Our server shuffles the deck, takes one card for each place in the spread and decides at random whether each card is upright or reversed.
- The cards lie face down. Turn them over one by one, or press “Reveal all”.
- Read each card together with the name of its place. The text is general, the same for everyone who draws that card in that place: keep what helps you think and leave the rest.
- If you are signed in and every card is turned over, you can save the reading and open it later. You can delete a saved reading at any time.
- When the free draws are used up, the tool says so and shows when the next one unlocks.
How to read a spread
Start with the place, then the card. The place tells you which part of the question the card speaks to, for example “Challenge” or “Outcome” in the Celtic Cross.
Then look at the card’s picture and name, and at whether it is upright or reversed. Read the text as one possible angle, not as an answer.
Ask what you notice. If a sentence fits nothing in your life, leave it. If it makes you stop and think, that is all the tool is for.
What it can do
- Draw a spread of 1, 3, 5 or 10 cards from a 78-card deck.
- Show every card face down first, then upright or reversed once you turn it over.
- Show a general text for each card in its place, in Ukrainian, Russian or English. The text is the same for everyone who draws that card in that place.
- Save a finished reading to your account, if you are signed in, and delete it later.
What it cannot do
- It does not predict events. The cards fall by chance, and the draw knows nothing about you, your question or the date.
- It is not a personal reading. For a reading that works with your own question, you can book a live reader on Astrolio.
- It offers one deck and four spreads. You cannot choose a card, bring your own spread or ask a question that changes the draw.
- It keeps no history of draws. A reading exists only if you save it, and only a signed-in visitor can save.
- The number of free draws per day is limited, and it is smaller for a visitor without an account than for a signed-in one.
Who it is for
People who have never tried tarot and want to see how a spread looks. People who like a card as a prompt to think about a day or a question. It is not a tool for decisions about health, law or money.
Questions and answers
Does the tarot predict the future?
No. The cards fall by chance, and the texts are general wording prepared in advance. Use them to think about your own question, not to learn what will happen.
Are the card meanings about me?
No. They are general wording from the tradition, prepared in advance for every card, both ways up, and every place in a spread. They are the same for everyone who draws the same card in the same place, and they are not written about you personally.
Is the shuffle really random?
Our server shuffles with a cryptographic random-number generator, and nothing in the request can steer it: the browser sends only the name of the spread. Random here means only that the draw is chance. It does not mean the cards know anything.
What does a reversed card mean?
It is a card that fell upside down. Each card has an even chance of falling either way, and a separate text for each. How to take it is up to you.
Is it free, and is there a limit?
It is free. The number of free draws per day is limited: a signed-in account gets more than a visitor without an account. For a visitor the count is kept in the browser, for an account on our server. The tool shows how many are left and when the next one unlocks.
Is my reading saved?
Not unless you save it yourself. A draw leaves no copy of the cards on our server; for a signed-in account we keep only a counter of the day’s draws. If you press Save, the reading is stored in your account and you can delete it. An astrologer you have booked can see saved readings only while you allow it, and you can switch that off.
Why is there no Save button?
Saving is for signed-in visitors only, and the button appears after every card in the spread has been turned over.
A note
The draw is chance, and the card meanings are general wording from a tradition. Use them for reflection and entertainment. This is not science and not a prediction, it is not a personal reading, and it does not replace medical, legal or financial advice.