May 2026 offers a rare and sacred month-long container for profound personal transformation—a complete journey from depth to vision, from release to renewal.

The Scorpio Gateway (May 1-5)

This first full moon invites you into the underworld of your own psyche. It asks: What truth have you been avoiding? What needs to be seen, felt, and released? This is shadow work in its most potent form—not as punishment, but as reclamation. When you descend willingly into what’s been hidden or denied, you discover that what you feared holds power you can now integrate.

Spiritually, this phase is about emotional alchemy—transforming old wounds into wisdom, fear into fuel, shame into sovereignty. It’s the death that precedes rebirth.

The Sacred Container (May 1-31)

The entire month becomes your initiatory passage. You’re held between two luminous gateways, given time to metabolize what surfaces, to practice new ways of being, to let the old skin fully shed before stepping into new form. This isn’t rushed healing—it’s organic transformation given proper space to unfold.

The container itself is the teaching: you learn that you can hold complexity, paradox, discomfort without collapsing. You discover your own capacity to transform.

The Sagittarius Gateway (May 28 - 31)

The second full moon completes the arc. After descending into truth and releasing what no longer serves, you emerge with expanded vision and renewed purpose. You can now see farther, dream bigger, trust more. What was once threatening becomes adventure. What felt like loss becomes freedom.

Spiritually, this phase is about integration and meaning-making. You take the raw truth revealed in Scorpio and weave it into a larger story—one where your wounds become your wisdom, your fears become your teachers, and your vulnerability becomes your greatest strength.

The Gift

This rare double-moon month offers you permission to transform completely within a defined timeframe. You enter as one version of yourself and exit as another—more honest, more whole, more aligned with your soul’s true direction. The bookends create safety: you know when the intensive begins and when it completes. Inside that container, anything can be faced, felt, and freed.

https://www.learntarot.com/quickinsight.htm

1____2___________3

From the CC Spread....

Card 1 = Position 1 - Heart of the Matter

Card 2 = Position 2 - Opposing Factor (this is the middle cross of the spread)

Card 3 = Position 9 - Guidance

The Quick Insight spread is a quick and easy way to explore a situation or question and receive guidance about it. This spread consists of three positions:

 Card 1 = the essential energy of a situation or question
 Card 2 = a factor impacting whatever is shown in card 1
 Card 3 = guidance and perspective on the other two cards

Positions 1 and 2 together capture the core dynamic of a subject and Position 3 provides commentary.

The cards should be placed in a line with Cards 1 and 2 near each other to the left and card 3 further apart to the right. 

I know some people do readings with just the central cross but I think this is a nice variant. You could also add other CC positions, like 10. Outcome if needed.

The usual approach is a sun-like structure: the main idea in the middle, the different aspects branching out from it, and each of them again divided into more detail. 

(Image source)

Of course, you don't have to follow the radial structure of the typical mind map - you can put two concepts next to each other in order to compare them or invent whatever structure you want. In a way, every tarot reading is a mind map, and maybe that's why I like both tarot and mind mapping so much. 

So there are different ways of combining mind mapping with tarot. 

1. You make a mind map of a problem, challenge or use it to explore a question, and then draw cards. In this case, the mind map is your spread, and it's as tailor-made as a spread can be. 

2. For a more solution-focused approach, you don't draw the cards but choose them from the deck, using your intuition and knowledge of the cards. 

3. You start directly with the cards, which you either draw or pick from the deck, and lay out on a big table. I recommend using Post-it notes for the evolving positions. This is a very free-form way of brainstorming with the tarot, and if you're not careful, you'll use up half the deck! 

An example. 

I'm currently on a health journey, and after I found out in December that I have very high blood pressure, I started intermittent fasting, which has been a great success so far. However, it's not always easy, and I want to take a closer look at my challenges. 

I'll use the Divine Deco Tarot because it's beautiful and I just feel that it will give me encouraging answers. 

Obviously, Temperance is the card that stands for OMAD (one meal a day), the protocol that I have been following since December. I pick it from the deck without thinking too much, but while putting it on the table, I understand how beautifully it depicts the balance between eating and fasting, doing both mindfully and lovingly. Temperance stands for health, moderation and avoiding the extremes - so looking at it, I understand that it also tells me not to stretch my fasts for too long just because it feels easy now, and not to stuff myself when I eat. Great fit. 

So what do I find challenging about OMAD? 

I don't move enough - that's the Eight of Wands (top left card). I don't drink enough water - that's the Page of Cups in the top right corner. 

There is sometimes a social difficulty when I can't eat while my family does, and I feel awkward telling people that I'm fasting because they may judge me (bottom left - Ten of Cups). And then I feel discouraged at times because the weight loss is slow (however, the blood pressure normalised itself very quickly, which is more important) and there is so much more weight to lose. I also don't feel comfortable with the attention on my body from others. I picked the Six of Swords for a difficult transition, bottom right. 

Now I can explore each of these challenges. I don't want to go too much into details, just show how I work. 

Let's explore the movement challenge. 

The Queen of Wands comes to mind - energetic, in control, highly motivated. As I look for the card, I'm wowed - the whole deck is a dance deck but wouldn't I like to dance like the Queen of Wands! I'll need a more dance-like exercise routine. 

What about the drinking? A no-brainer - I have to drink more and learn to like the taste of plain water. Nine of Cups. 

By now, I have found solutions to make drinking plain water more enjoyable (when it's cold: hot water, when it's hot: carbonated water) and use an app to track my water intake. However, I still have to push myself to get enough water. 

And the social aspect? The Six of Cups stands for acceptance that I have to give but also expect from others. The Empress for self-confidence and nurturing myself. Both cards also represent my two most important social contexts - my partner and my children. I need my husband's support (and I have it, a moment of gratefulness!) and I must also give an example to my children (who are all slender and healthy - as I was at their age). 

And the moments of feeling it's not worth it anyway? 

Strength for my inner resources and resilience - and the Emperor for following through on something that I started. 

Obviously, there is so much more to each card that I outlined here. 

So here is my complete OMAD mind map. I can continue to finetune and explore whatever has not been satisfactorily answered, and I can also try and draw a card instead of picking it if I want more advice from my unconscious. This is completely free-form. 

As a last step, I condense the reading. 

What do I need to continue successfully on my journey to better health? I need the joyful movement of the Queen of Wands, the water intake of the Nine of Cups, the self-confidence of the Empress and the resilience of Strength. 

I can now use this summary as affirmation and encouragement when I have a difficult day, use it as wallpaper for my smartphone or simply put up the cards on my fridge door with magnets to remind me that I have sources of strength. 

Of course, this was only an example reading, but this is how I combine the mind mapping principle with tarot. I hope it's right to post it in the spread section, because it's a way of developing a free-form spread. 

How about you?  Are spreads established by others your typical go-to, or do you prefer relying on your own creative Tarot spreads? 

The spread can be found here: https://labyrinthos.co/blogs/learn-tarot-with-labyrinthos-academy/maslow-s-hierarchy-of-needs-a-5-card-tarot-spread

From that page:

A 5 Card Tarot Spread on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

The spread itself is simple enough. Each card represents one of the levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and can represent all of the following. Allow your intuition to make the connections between the card and the position.

• The particular nature of the need (a pentacle card in the safety position can indicate your feelings of security around money).
• How you feel about the need
• How the need is or is not being met
• Whether you are expressing the need.

If you’d rather have individual questions, we included these within the spread details below.

1. Physiological - What is the state of my health? What must I take care of in order to unlock my potential elsewhere?
2. Safety - How do I feel about my sense of security and stability? What is my relationship to finances like?
3. Love and Belonging - With whom or where can I find love and care? How can I create the love and belonging that I need?
4. Esteem - Why am I deserving of admiration? What is my best quality and skill? 
5. Self-Actualization - What is my true purpose? What will help me find or achieve my true purpose?

But I developed a series of 5 card readings that really do the trick. I charge $10 for them, which is the price of a single drink at one of these festivals. I actually scared myself (as well as the clients) with some of these readings, so I know they work.

5cardRDG.pdf

The green is an open area, what I know about myself and others know about me, e.g. What are my strenghts that others often recognise in me?

The pink is a blind spot, what is unknown to you but others know about yourself, e.g. What do others feel when they are around me?

The blue is what you know about yourself but hise from others, e.g. What are my deepest feers I haven't shared with others?

The purple is unknown to you and others, could be a shadow aspects, and often is better not to explore throughly if you are not prepared, e.g. What are some aspects of myself I have never explored? or My dreams I have never acknowledged?

This could be converted into a spread that allow to self-development and to find true self, and that is how I personally use and see tarot as a tool to become more aware.

If anyone finds it useful I can post more things like that:)

This is a very neat spread to get a good overview of your current situation and how it might develop. 

Two elements are internal factors: the strength and the weakness of your position. 

There are two external factors: the opportunities and the threats you have to deal with. 

The strengths and opportunities are factors in your favour, whereas the weaknesses and threats can work against you. 

All cards interact with each other. 

In my experience, this spread works best when you have a concrete question in mind. Either focus on a relationship, your professional situation, or any other problem you're struggling with. Of course, you can also use it to get a general overview of your situation in life. 

It's a quick and simple spread, and I use it regularly. 

You can give it a twist by using Mary K. Greer's permutation technique. In general, I never use clarification cards; instead, I use the cards on the table and move them around to get more insight. 

So, move the cards (I usually do it clockwise) to another position and interpret them again. This is also a good learning technique because you'll have to take into consideration all aspects of each card, positive and negative.

You can do that four times if you really want to squeeze the lemon. 

That means each card appears on each position. 

However, you don't have to do that. You will get a lot of insight from just reading the cards as they appear. 

ETA: The deck I used is the wonderful Tarot of the Abyss. 

Purpose: This spread is ideal for times of significant change, whether it's the end of a relationship, a career transition, personal transformation, or any situation where you feel like you need to rise from the ashes and start anew.

Card Positions:

1. The Ashes (What You’re Leaving Behind)
2. The Spark (The Catalyst for Change)
3. The Flames (Challenges to Overcome)
4. The Wings (Strengths to Harness)
5. The Rising (Steps for Rebirth)
6. The Soaring (Future Potential)
7. The New Dawn (Message from the Universe)

Card Descriptions:

1. The Ashes (What You’re Leaving Behind):

   • Purpose: This card represents what must be left in the past. It can be an aspect of your life, a habit, or a mindset that is no longer serving you.
   • Question: What part of my past needs to be released for my transformation?

2. The Spark (The Catalyst for Change):

   • Purpose: This card signifies the spark that ignites your transformation. It’s the event, person, or realization that starts your journey of renewal.
   • Question: What is the catalyst that is driving my change?

3. The Flames (Challenges to Overcome):

   • Purpose: This card highlights the obstacles and challenges you will face as you undergo your transformation.
   • Question: What challenges will I encounter during my transformation?

4. The Wings (Strengths to Harness):

   • Purpose: This card reveals the strengths and resources you possess that will aid you in your journey.
   • Question: What strengths can I rely on to help me through this transformation?

5. The Rising (Steps for Rebirth):

   • Purpose: This card outlines the steps you need to take to successfully transform and rise anew.
   • Question: What steps should I take to embrace my rebirth?

6. The Soaring (Future Potential):

   • Purpose: This card represents the potential and possibilities that await you once you have transformed.
   • Question: What is the future potential that awaits me?

7. The New Dawn (Message from the Universe):

   • Purpose: This card offers guidance and wisdom from the universe, providing insight or advice for your journey.
   • Question: What message does the universe have for me as I undergo this transformation?

Sample Reading:

1. The Ashes - Ten of Swords:

   • Interpretation: You need to leave behind past betrayals and the feeling of being overwhelmed. Let go of the pain and allow yourself to heal.

2. The Spark - Ace of Cups:

   • Interpretation: A new emotional beginning or a fresh start in a relationship is sparking your transformation. Embrace the love and openness coming your way.

3. The Flames - Five of Pentacles:

   • Interpretation: Financial difficulties or feelings of isolation may challenge your transformation. Stay resilient and seek support.

4. The Wings - Strength:

   • Interpretation: Your inner strength, courage, and ability to endure hardships are your greatest assets. Trust in your resilience.

5. The Rising - The Fool:

   • Interpretation: Take a leap of faith and embrace new beginnings with an open heart and mind. Be willing to take risks and explore new opportunities.

6. The Soaring - The Star:

   • Interpretation: A future filled with hope, inspiration, and renewed faith awaits you. Your dreams and aspirations are within reach.

7. The New Dawn - Temperance:

   • Interpretation: Balance and harmony are key to your journey. Practice patience and moderation as you navigate your transformation.

Conclusion: The Phoenix Rising Tarot Spread offers a comprehensive guide through times of change and transformation. By understanding what needs to be left behind, identifying the catalysts and challenges, and embracing your strengths and future potential, you can rise from the ashes and embark on a journey of renewal and growth. Use this spread whenever you find yourself at a crossroads, and let the wisdom of the tarot guide you towards your new dawn.

This came from Shamans Market:

For me, it's 14, Temperance, which I can reduce further and get 5, the Hierophant. Now that's very nice since I'm a Taurus with a rising Sagittarius, so two of my strong astrological influences show up for me this year. 

Does anybody else do that? I'm not big into numbers, but a Card of the Year is good to know. It can give you a first whiff of what the year's about to bring. Temperance is always a good card for me, it means that things are moving at the right pace: festina lente, walk, don't rush. And Hierophant slows this movement down - I hope I won't have any more stagnation, thank you very much, I had enough of that over the last few years. But Hierophant can also mean: learning, going back to roots, getting comfortable with tradition. What do I choose for myself, what do I leave behind? 

I like decks where the Hierophant is depicted as a wise old tree. For me, this card means deep roots and wisdom that has grown over the years, not dogma and inflexibility. 

So what about your cards of the year? What do they mean to you? (I hope that I opened this topic in the right place, if not, my apologies to the moderators.)

https://www.tarotforum.net/threads/glass-owls-spreads.153391/

I didn't create these but GlassOwl posted them on AT back in the day. I especially love the 2 & 3 card spreads. Great for learning new decks.

My fave spread for self-reading is the quick & dirty "Mary Poppins Spread".

Quote

The Mary Poppins Spread by Glass Owl
1. The Medicine
2. The Sugar

 

https://www.tarotforum.net/threads/the-mary-poppins-spread-by-glass-owl-2.157959/#post-2741691

Shared by Joanna Powell Colbert

Seven-card layouts are great when you want to explore a situation in depth without getting lost in too many cards or details. Although I often prefer four-card readings, these compact little boxes of yes/yes, yes/no, no/yes and no/no, they can be too watertight and lack dynamism. Three-card spreads are great as well, thesis, antithesis and synthesis, but sometimes, you need more information.

Just combine the two, and you have a seven-card spread. 

Now the wonderful thing about laying out the cards in the shape of a heptagram, seven-pointed star or elven star is the dynamism of the spread. 

You lay out the cards from position 1 to 7, and that's how you read them. 

This is an example from a reading I did this morning, using the wonderful Tarot of the Abyss. 

Now you start moving from one card to the next, but this time, you don't follow the perimeter but the arrows that connect them. You move from 1 to 4, from 4 to 7, from 7 to 3, from 3 to 6, from 6 to 2, from 2 to 5 and from 5 back to 1.

This element of movement can give you great new insights. 

You can now group the cards in a triangle shape - every card is connected to two other cards. 

Here, we have 1, 4 and 5. You can now turn them into a three-card reading. 

You get seven three-card readings out of this one spread. The card that is connected to the two other cards is your central card, while the other two cards show the aspects of this one card. If the central card is the question, the others tell you about its past and future, or negative and positive potential. The cards themselves will tell you which role they play. 

You can also look for the three cards that are not connected in any way, neither neighbours nor connected by the lines of their sequence. 

They can tell you things that you overlooked before, unexpected developments, hidden problems or solutions that you haven't considered before. 

Not each and every three-card reading will give you new insights, but a surprising number of them might give you important clues that you missed before. You play with the cards by you're using a system, and keeping the balance between freedom and rules is often the secret of success. 

In short, this way of laying out the cards has so many built-in opportunities for combining and reading them, and since they're circular, you always land back on the spot where you started. And that can be really satisfying. 

I have often said that I prefer to squeeze everything from the cards I have on the table, and never draw additional "clarifiers" anymore (after having them turn into muddifiers too often...).

This beautiful elven star is a good solution, especially since this is how the days of the week work. Just to remind you: put the seven visible planets in the sequence of their distance (which is also the speed of their movement - the farther away, the more slowly they move), and you get Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury and Moon. Write them in that sequence onto your seven-pointed star. 

Now all you have to do is follow the connecting line, and you get the sequence of the day of the week: Saturday, Sunday, Monday etc. (Source for the graphic and more information about that magical Elven Star here). 

By using the seven-pointed star, you bind your reading back to the magic of counting time, of eternal cycles and rhythms. And that can only be a good thing. 

,

Then I took out my Gold Foil deck and sat down to riffle the Gold Foil a few times, but when I did that the first riffle, the 10 second randomizer was born. My first thought was that I wished it would have been the one that got wet. But I wasn't very energetic for picking up the slippery plastic cards so here's what I named it:

Riffleohdammit---guaranteed 10 second deck randomizer for the Gold Foil deck. 

Overhand is more manageable with this deck even though it's easy to riffle.

.........5

.............4

.....3

.........1

.........2

1) The Seed - What you need to know about the idea.

2) The Root - What will nourish the idea.

3) The First Leaf - The immediate future.

4) The Second Leaf - What is needed to keep the idea or project growing.

5) The Newest Bud - What will maintain the idea or project in the longer term.

Note: This is not meant to cover the entire life of a project or new idea for years to come. But rather, how to get things started and moving in the direction which you have envisioned.

If anyone tries this, please post to let me know how it worked. It doesn't really fit the reading I needed to do ...  ;D

AUTHOR'S NOTE: When it comes to designing line spreads for tarot reading, about the only time I employ an even number of cards is in situations that require a choice between two options, or when invoking the four classical elements represented by the suits.

One thing I learned from Lenormand reading is that an odd-numbered line will always have a "hinge card" or turning-point in the middle that can serve as a motivator pointing toward the outcome. Three-card and five-card lines both serve the purpose quite well.

I think of the five-card line in terms of a wave: the matter begins, surges, crests, subsides and ends. The "crest" is where it is most amenable to being "ridden" toward a self-directed solution. Reversed orientation or the sobering nature of the "hinge" card can "flatten" the curve and make the "turn-around" less dramatic. Here is a new spread to illustrate my point, followed by an example reading. (All images are from the Chrysalis Tarot, copyright of US Games Systems Inc, Stamford, CT.)

The question involves a situation that has been dormant for some time, and every so often I do another reading to see whether (and how) it might progress in the future. (Note that in this deck the suit of Scrolls equates to Swords, Stones to Pentacles, Mirrors to Cups and Spirals to Wands.)

The reversed 8 of Scrolls suggests that communication on the matter has been at a standstill, due mainly to inertia and not willful avoidance.

The Acrobat (Page of Stones) implies "stepping out" in a purposeful way.

The Page of Scrolls expresses an openness to conversation. It may be time to broach the subject when the Page of Stones finally bestirs himself and shows up. These cards are elementally uncongenial, so there could be some miscommunication or misapprehension of intent with which to contend.

The 7 of Mirrors in this deck conveys "discernment, false reality and free will; the time draws neigh to weigh options and make your choice." Hesitancy looms large in this scenario along with the risk of some deception.

As decisive Fire welcoming tentative Water into his lair, the King of Spirals is a boon companion who "turns positive intentions into reality" He is well-suited to cut through the confusion and indecision of the 7 of Mirrors with a steady (if slightly heavy) hand.

Because there is no "flattening" effect here except for the neutral beginning and the slightly off-putting 7 of Mirrors, the conclusion I reached about this reading is that "opportunity knocks" but there is uncertainty that must be overcome without exerting too much force.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Whenever I see a post that purports to fact-check some controversial occurrence, I immediately become suspicious that the supposedly impartial investigator has a private agenda that is being served by facts specifically "groomed" to support the objective, a hunch that is usually borne out by the demonstrated bias of the platform on which the reporting appears. Here is an experimental spread that intends to sniff out the truth of the matter.

The premise behind it is that there is: 1) a popular perception of the truth; 2) an "overt" spin presenting what the "fact-checkers" want us to believe; 3) a "covert" spin conveying what they are really after; 4) an objective version of what is actually going on. I'm not yet satisfied that the tarot will lend itself to this analysis, but I'm amenable to tinkering with the notion.

The "reality" card that closes the reading is derived from the "essence" calculation that blends the numerical values of the other three cards to come up with a summary assessment in the form of a single "trump" card. I'm applying reversal to show whether the evidence being presented is transparent or more occluded in nature, suggesting that not all facts or falsehoods are created equal. My normal practice is to subtract the face value of any reversed cards when I calculate the "essence," which allows the Fool to remain as zero and can also produce a reversed essence card.

Here is an example reading that looks at the current political turmoil in Washington, DC. I'm using the Thoth deck due to its ability to transcend the prosaic narrative offered by RWS-based decks (although in this case I think there is reasonable consistency between the two).

Two of Disks ("Change") reversed: The common view is that the practical outlook is uncertain, although something is sure to change for better or worse.

Eight of Cups ("Indolence"): The "overt" spin is an alarmist prediction of "doom-and-gloom." The inferred risk is for an economic slowdown precipitated by the shaky 2 of Disks.

Five of Wands ("Strife") reversed: The "covert" spin suggests that the real goal is accelerated destabilization.

Magus: The reality of the matter is that "finesse" will carry the day in the form of nimble maneuvering that will stay one step ahead of the naysayers. (The calculation was "8-7=1.") It looks like the conjurer will "find his footing" after the imbalance implied by the reversed 2 of Disks.

Conclusion: It appears that this method of deduction holds promise, but I will have to test it on more personal matters.