Entropic Tarot

Channeling sacred randomness...

Learn Tarot · Spreads and Methods, Step by Step · Lesson 23 of 25

The Tree of Life spread, step by step

Ten cards, one on each sephirah, read card by card, then down the pillars and through the triads, with a full worked example.

A spread in the shape of the Tree

The Tree of Life spread lays one card on each of the ten sephiroth, in the shape of the Tree itself: three columns, Kether at the top and Malkuth at the foot. Each position borrows its meaning from its sephirah, so if you have taken the lesson on the Tree you already know the spread. It suits big, open questions about a direction, a calling or a long-running problem, where you want to see the whole person and not just the next step.

Read it in three passes

First, card by card. Read each card in its position, from Kether down the Lightning Flash to Malkuth, and write a phrase for each. Do not try to make a story yet.

Second, the pillars. Read down each column. The right-hand Pillar of Mercy (Chokmah, Chesed, Netzach) shows what is pushing and expanding in the matter. The left-hand Pillar of Severity (Binah, Geburah, Hod) shows what is limiting, judging and shaping it. The middle pillar (Kether, Tiphareth, Yesod, Malkuth) is the spine of the reading: aim, heart, foundation, outcome. Read those four in a row and you often have the whole answer in one sentence.

Third, the pairs and triads. Set the facing positions against each other: Chokmah and Binah are force against form, Chesed and Geburah what to grow against what to cut, Netzach and Hod feeling against thinking. When a pair pulls in opposite directions, that tension is usually the real subject of the reading. Then read across the levels: the top triad is the spiritual purpose, the middle triad the moral choices, the lower triad the personality, and Malkuth the result.

Small details that help

A numbered card that lands on its own sephirah speaks with extra force, as when a Six falls in Tiphareth or a Ten in Malkuth. Majors are paths on the Tree, so a Major in this spread is a bridge arriving at a station; the Tree chart in the app shows which two sephiroth it joins, and that often says where its energy is coming from.

Count the suits on each pillar. Many Swords down the Pillar of Severity say the limits are mental; Pentacles there say they are practical. Many Majors in the top triad mean the reading is about purpose more than circumstance.

A worked example

The question: "I keep starting my novel and abandoning it. What is going on?" The cards, from Kether down: The Star; Ace of Wands; Four of Wands reversed; The Empress; Seven of Pentacles; Page of Swords; Ten of Wands; Eight of Swords; The Devil reversed; Three of Pentacles.

Card by card. The aim is The Star: writing as hope and renewal, not as a career move. The driving force is the Ace of Wands, plenty of raw spark. What gives it form is the Four of Wands reversed: no settled structure, no milestones to celebrate. The Empress is what helps it grow: patience and nurture, letting the book gestate. The Seven of Pentacles is what to cut: the constant checking of whether the effort is paying off. The heart is the Page of Swords, a curious student mind, eager but easily scattered. Desire is the Ten of Wands: the book has started to feel like a burden. Thought is the Eight of Swords, trapped by beliefs about being a "real" writer. The foundation is The Devil reversed: an old compulsion, perhaps perfectionism, already loosening. The outcome is the Three of Pentacles: craft done alongside others.

The pillars. Mercy holds the Ace of Wands, The Empress and the Ten of Wands: plenty of creative force, to the point of overload. Severity holds the Four of Wands reversed, the Seven of Pentacles and the Eight of Swords: every limit is a missing structure or a judgment the writer passes on themselves. The middle pillar reads as one sentence: a hopeful aim, a curious heart, an old compulsion letting go, and a book finished in company.

The answer. The novel is not failing for lack of inspiration. It stalls because there is no form to hold it and too much self-judgment around it. Cut the scorekeeping, build a simple routine with small celebrations, and find a writing group, a class or an editor.

Try it

Ask the Tree of Life spread about something you have been working toward for a long time. Do the three passes in order and write the middle-pillar sentence last, then save the reading to your journal so you can look back at it in a month.

Next lesson: The moon spreads