The "One Card" Tarot Reading

How to Do A
"One Card"
Tarot Reading

While tarot spreads come in all different sizes and formats, sometimes a one card tarot reading is all you need. Surprisingly, reading one single tarot card can be more complicated than it first appears.

NOTE: If your tarot question is a simple "Yes or No" question, try iFate's specialized Yes or No" Tarot Reading page. Another option is to use a single-card tarot reading with reversed cards, where the upright card posiiton means "yes", and the inverted position means "no".

The important part of a one card reading is to carefully phrase one's question — and be open to the many ways in which the Tarot answers your question.

To correctly read a one-card tarot answer, you'll need to pay attention to the specific symbolism of your tarot deck, the orientation of the card, the suit of the tarot card and the associations of the card. (Associations may include: Astrological associations, seasonal associations, male / female associations and elemental associations).

Which facets of any tarot card in a single card reading are important will depend largely on the type of question you ask.

Some examples:

• If you're asking a "when" tarot question, pay extra attention to numerical and seasonal associations.
• If you're asking a "who" tarot question, pay extra attention to astrological associations or any actual people represented on the card.
• If you're asking a "why" tarot question, stick to the philosophical basis of the card meaning itself: What forces are at play within the tarot card?

Reading Tips for the "One Card" Tarot Spread

One thing to be mindful of when doing single-card tarot readings is to resist the temptation to keep asking the same question over and over again. This is generally considered poor form.

If you're not satisfied with a tarot answer because it's unclear, try rephrasing your question, or taking a different approach to the matter at hand.

If you're not satisfied with a tarot answer because it's negative, or simply not the answer you wanted — try to ask a constructive follow-up question, like "How can that outcome be avoided?" or "What should I focus on to achieve a different outcome?"

Don't simply ask the same tarot question again and again.

Try this and other free tarot readings on iFate's main free tarot page. All iFate online tarot readings are 100% free.

For more reading options, see iFate's complete list of tarot spreads..