The Simple Cross

The Simple Cross is a five-card tarot spread laid in the shape of a cross: the heart of the matter in the centre, its roots below, past influences to the left, aspirations above and the probable outcome to the right. It is versatile enough for most questions, general or specific, and it is the natural step up from a three-card spread when you want to see beneath and above a situation as well as through time.

What is a five-card tarot spread?

A five-card tarot spread gives a question one centre and four directions around it, and the Simple Cross is the clearest example. Its two lines cross at the heart of the matter. The level line, from past influences to probable outcome, runs through time. The upright line, from roots to aspirations, runs through depth: from what the matter grows out of to what it reaches toward. A three-card spread has only the first line; the second is often where the Simple Cross finds its meaning.

Nothing lies across the centre. The Simple Cross does not set out to name an obstacle; it asks what holds the matter up and what draws it on. That suits questions less about a problem than about a situation you want to understand: a friendship, a piece of work, a place you have lived for years.

How do you lay out the Simple Cross?

The Simple Cross is laid from the centre, then below, left, above and right.

• Card 1 goes in the centre: the heart of the matter.
• Card 2 goes below the centre: roots.
• Card 3 goes to the left of the centre: past influences.
• Card 4 goes above the centre: aspirations.
• Card 5 goes to the right of the centre: the probable outcome.

If you also read the Celtic Cross, note that its numbering differs: there, the card below the centre comes third.

The five positions

Each position is named as it appears in TarotSeeker.

Heart of the matter

The heart of the matter is the current state of the situation, and the card the other four surround. Ask of it: where does this stand now, and where do I stand in it?

Roots

Roots are the foundation of the matter: the experiences, events or conditions it grew out of. A root is often older and quieter than a past influence, sometimes something you no longer think about. Ask of it: what is this built on?

Past influences

Past influences describe what has recently shaped the matter and is now moving out of the picture. Where the roots lie underneath, the past lies behind. Ask of it: what has just been pressing on this?

Aspirations

Aspirations hold the objectives, ideals or larger issues bound up in the question. The position stands outside time: it describes what is wished for or what deserves consideration, not something already real. Ask of it: what am I reaching toward, or what larger matter is at stake?

Probable outcome

The probable outcome is the most likely direction if things continue as they are. Ask of it: where is this heading? Read it as a tendency; the other four cards often show where it could change.

A worked example

Here is a Simple Cross for the question “What should I understand about the friends I have drifted away from?”.

• Heart of the matter: the Four of Cups. Discontent turned inward; a pause, a mood of apathy, and an offer that goes unnoticed.
• Roots: the Three of Cups. Celebration and good company; friendship and shared gladness.
• Past influences: the Five of Swords. A hollow victory: a contest won at the cost of goodwill.
• Aspirations: the Sun. Warmth, vitality and joy that is relaxed and shared.
• Probable outcome: the Knight of Cups. Feeling in motion; the courage to make a heartfelt offer.

In the Gilded Garden deck, the Four of Cups shows a figure seated beneath a willow, chin on hand, with three cups on the rock before them and a fourth glowing on a branch just out of view. As the heart of the matter, it suggests a withdrawal grown comfortable: not unhappy enough to move, not looking up far enough to see what is still on offer.

Four of CupsDiscontent turned inward: reevaluation, apathy, and offers ignored.

The past card suggests how the withdrawal began. The Five of Swords, in this deck, shows no figures at all, only swords left on a lakeshore after a struggle, with rain on one side and sun breaking through on the other. As a past influence, it can describe a disagreement won at more cost than it was worth, a storm now passing.

The roots go deeper than that quarrel. The Three of Cups describes what these friendships were built on: people glad for each other. The Sun, above, shows that the aspiration is not new but the same gladness, grown open and unguarded. In this deck the Sun shows a fox trotting through a meadow of sunflowers, as relaxed an image of joy as the deck holds.

The SunSuccess in full daylight: achievement, recognition and joy after the toil.

The Knight of Cups in the outcome is a golden-armoured seahorse rising through breaking waves, a cup held before it. Read beside the Four, the meaning is plain: the cup that went unnoticed is now carried forward. It points toward an approach made with feeling, and since a court card can describe your own manner as easily as another person, it may be you who makes it.

How do you read the Simple Cross as a whole?

The Simple Cross reads as two lines and a centre, and each line asks its own question.

• Roots to aspirations. The upright line shows whether what you want grows from what the matter is built on. In the example it plainly does: the Three of Cups and the Sun describe the same gladness at two depths. When the line agrees, the wish has firm ground. When the roots and the aspiration pull apart, ask whether you are hoping for something the situation was never built to give.
• Past influences to probable outcome. The level line shows the direction of travel. From the Five of Swords to the Knight of Cups runs from argument to feeling, from contest to offer.
• Heart of the matter to probable outcome. This pair shows how far the matter is likely to move. A seated figure becoming a knight in motion, in one suit, suggests a change in your own stance rather than in circumstances.

Then count. Three of the five cards are Cups, so the question is, fittingly, a matter of feeling. The one Major Arcana card sits in the aspirations position, which gives the hope real weight: not idle nostalgia, but the largest theme of the reading. The guide Reading the whole spread, a deeper guide for Adept members in the app’s Library, sets out these overall counts in full.

When should you choose a larger or smaller spread?

The Simple Cross suits a question with depth but no single obstacle.

• Smaller. If you only want to see how a matter is moving, three cards in a line are enough; the guide Three-card tarot spreads covers them.
• With an obstacle. If something clearly stands in the way, The four-card spread names it with a card across the centre.
• Larger. If you want both the obstacle and the depth, The Dyadic Cross adds a crossing card to this layout. For many threads, including the people around you, the ten-card Celtic Cross goes further.

The Simple Cross in TarotSeeker

The Simple Cross is free in the app. Shuffle your own deck and enter the five cards as they fall, or let the app draw for you, and add your first impression before the companion’s reading appears. The companion reads each card in its position and then the lines between them, roots to aspirations, past to outcome, heart to outcome, showing the grounds for each connection so you can test it against the cards on your table.

Questions readers ask

What is a five-card tarot spread?

A five-card tarot spread is a layout of five positions, usually built around a central card. The best known is the Simple Cross: the heart of the matter in the centre, roots below, past influences to the left, aspirations above and the probable outcome to the right. Five cards show both how a matter is moving and what lies beneath it.

Is the Simple Cross good for beginners?

The Simple Cross is a good spread for beginners who are comfortable with three cards. Its positions are easy to remember, because each direction carries its own meaning: below is what grounds the matter, above is what it reaches for, left and right run through time. It is also a gentle way to practise reading lines of cards before the Celtic Cross.

What is the difference between the Simple Cross and the Celtic Cross?

The Simple Cross has five cards and the Celtic Cross has ten. The Simple Cross keeps only the central cross: the heart of the matter with roots, past, aspirations and outcome around it. The Celtic Cross adds a card across the centre for what crosses you, and a column of four for self, environment, hopes and fears, and the final outcome.

What does the aspirations card mean in a tarot spread?

The aspirations card in a tarot spread describes what you are reaching toward: an objective, an ideal, or a larger issue the question touches. It stands outside time, so it shows what is wished for rather than what is already real. Compare it with the roots card beneath it, to see whether the wish grows from the ground the matter stands on.