13 cards · advanced
The Twelve Houses Spread spread
The twelve houses spread lays a card on each of the twelve houses of the astrological chart, the traditional divisions of a horoscope into areas of life: self, resources, communication, home, creativity, daily work, partnership, shared resources, belief, vocation, community and the hidden life. A thirteenth card in the centre gives the theme that ties them together. The result is a panoramic reading, useful at a birthday, at the new year or at any point where you want a broad survey of your life rather than an answer to one question.
This page uses the houses rather than the months of the year. A popular variant, often called the year-ahead spread, uses the same circle of twelve cards for the twelve coming months; we chose the houses because each one gives the card a distinct area to speak about. The house meanings come from Western astrology, where the twelvefold division goes back to the Hellenistic astrologers of the ancient Mediterranean. Card layouts based on the houses have long been used in cartomancy, but who first applied them to tarot is not known.
The positions
- 1
First house: self
You as you meet the world: your presence, outlook, sense of self and how you are approaching life now.
- 2
Second house: resources
What you have and value: possessions, earnings, talents, and your attitude to security and self-worth.
- 3
Third house: communication
Everyday thinking, speaking and learning; siblings and neighbours; short journeys and the life of your local area.
- 4
Fourth house: home
Home, family and roots: where you come from, where you live and what makes you feel safe.
- 5
Fifth house: creativity and pleasure
Play, romance, creativity, children and whatever you do simply for the joy of it.
- 6
Sixth house: daily work and care
Routines, daily duties and service; the habits that keep life running and how you look after yourself.
- 7
Seventh house: partnership
Close one-to-one relationships: partners, close collaborators, and open rivals.
- 8
Eighth house: shared resources and change
What you share or owe to others, intimacy, endings and deep change: the parts of life you cannot control alone.
- 9
Ninth house: belief and horizons
Beliefs, study, philosophy and long journeys: whatever widens your view of the world.
- 10
Tenth house: vocation
Career, reputation and public role: what you are working towards and how you are seen.
- 11
Eleventh house: community
Friends, groups and causes; your hopes for the future and the people who share them.
- 12
Twelfth house: the hidden life
Solitude, rest, the unconscious and what you keep from view; what you need to let go of or face privately.
- 13
The centre
The theme that runs through the whole wheel: the quality or lesson that connects the twelve houses at this time.
How to lay and read it
Lay the first card at the left of the circle, the place of the ascendant on an astrological chart, and continue anticlockwise, so that cards 1 to 6 run along the bottom of the wheel and cards 7 to 12 along the top. Place the thirteenth card in the centre. Read the centre card first, then go round the houses. You do not need to know astrology to use the spread; the house names are enough. Look for clusters: several cards of one suit, or several Major Arcana cards, show which areas of life are carrying the most weight. For a year-ahead reading, read each house as an area to watch over the coming year.
Tips
- Do not try to read all thirteen cards in depth at once: pick the three that strike you most and start there.
- Opposite houses form natural pairs (1 and 7, self and partnership; 4 and 10, home and vocation): read them across the circle.
- Photograph or write down the layout and return to it in a few months.
- If you prefer the month-by-month version, keep the same circle and read card 1 as the coming month.
Questions that suit this spread
- What does each area of my life need from me this year?
- Where is my energy going, and where is it missing?
- What is the overall theme of this chapter of my life?
A note on its history
The meanings of the houses differ somewhat between astrological traditions; the ones given here are the broad modern Western readings. The anticlockwise order follows the way houses are drawn on a conventional horoscope, with the first house just below the ascendant on the left.
Other spreads
Celtic CrossThree-Card Spread (Past, Present, Future)Situation, Action, OutcomeMind, Body, SpiritOne-Card Daily DrawYes or NoRelationship SpreadHorseshoe SpreadCareer Path SpreadTwo Paths (Decision Spread)New Moon IntentionsShadow Self Spread