Three card tarot reading: past, present, next

Three cards that read like a short story: what's behind you, what you're living now, and where it's heading.

What's on your mind?

Read my cards for

The question is optional. Holding it in mind while you choose is what matters.

Past · Present · Next positions

1
Past
The card on the left. Events, choices or feelings that led to the present, and that still color how you see it.
2
Present
The center card and the heart of the reading. It describes the situation as it is today.
3
Next
The card on the right. The likely next chapter if the current pattern holds. Because it follows from the present, changing the present changes this card.

How to do a Past · Present · Next reading

IWrite a question, or simply focus on your situation, and choose a theme.
IIShuffle and choose three cards, one at a time.
IIIRead each card in its position, then the summary of the story they tell together.

How the Past · Present · Next reading works

The three-card spread is the workhorse of tarot. It's quick enough for everyday questions and deep enough to show a direction.

The 'next' card isn't fixed fate. It shows where the current pattern leads, which means you can change it.

Past · Present · Next questions

Is the reading free?

Yes, all of it: each card read in its position and for your theme, a summary of what the three cards say together, and a deep reading of how each pair of cards interacts, advice from every card and journal prompts.

Can I keep my reading?

Take a screenshot, or save it in the Solacely: Tarot Journal app, which keeps every reading and lets you mark what came true.

Learn the cards in this spread

Every card in your reading links to its full meaning, upright and reversed. To read a Past · Present · Next spread on your own, start with the Major Arcana, the four suits and how to read tarot cards, or browse all 78 card meanings.