A Magick Working Tarot Spread for Conscious Craft

Before any spell is cast, there is a more fundamental act of magic available: attention.

Long before I came to think in terms of Conscious Craft, I was already doing this instinctively — checking in with the Tarot before acting, not to predict success, but to understand the quality of consciousness behind a proposed working.

The Magick Working Tarot Spread is not about forcing outcomes or seeking permission from an external authority. It is about pausing long enough to ask a better question:

What am I actually doing here — and from which level of self?

Used well, the Tarot becomes a mirror that reveals whether a working is aligned, premature, ego-driven, or quietly supported by deeper currents.

This article revisits an older Angelorum favourite — the Magick Working Tarot Spread — updated to reflect a more conscious, grounded, and ethically precise approach to magical practice.

Preparation

Before laying the cards, take a moment to ground yourself. This reading works best when you are calm, present, and inwardly quiet.

Light a candle if that helps you focus. Recite the chant slowly three times, allowing your body to relax more deeply with each repetition. If shuffling the cards supports this process, shuffle as you chant.

You are not trying to raise power yet; you are grounding and centring yourself.

The Magick Working Tarot Spread

Deck prep: Separate the Major Arcana from the Minor Arcana.

• Position 1 uses a Major Arcana card only
• Position 2 uses a Minor Arcana card only
• For positions 3, 4, and 5, shuffle the full deck of 78 cards together

The Spread Positions

1. Guidance on whether to proceed
2. The most appropriate medium
3. Your current energy state
4. How to adjust or raise energy
5. The most likely outcome

Position 1: Major Arcana — Orientation

The Major Arcana card in position one does not predict success or failure. It reveals the state of consciousness from which the working would be undertaken.

• The Fool — yes; act in trust, without over-controlling the outcome
• The Magician — yes; conscious skill and responsibility are required
• The Popess/High Priestess — yes; be aware of lunar phase and gestation
• The Empress — yes; working in nature or with embodied creativity is favoured
• The Emperor — no; this requires a pragmatic, structural solution
• The Pope/Hierophant — no; seek counsel, tradition, or an established framework
• The Lovers — yes; words, intention, and ethical clarity matter
• The Chariot — proceed with care; the ego must not drive the working
• Strength — yes; energy increases through embodied presence and self-mastery
• The Hermit — no; further reflection or withdrawal is needed first
• The Wheel of Fortune — yes; timing supports movement
• Justice — yes; provided there are no ethical or legal repercussions
• The Hanged Man — no; a new perspective is required
• XIII Death/The Arcanum without a Name — yes; genuine transformation is possible
• Temperance — yes; but precision and moderation are essential
• The Devil — no; motivation is reactive or ego-bound
• The Tower — no; external forces are likely to disrupt the working
• The Star — yes; the working aligns with the Highest Good of All
• The Moon — only with care; fear or projection must be addressed first
• The Sun — yes; vitality and clarity are available
• Judgement — yes; but something from the past must be released
• The World — yes; this reflects deep alignment and completion

Position 2: Minor Arcana — Medium

The Minor Arcana card in position two suggests the most suitable medium or method for the working:

• Pentacles — crystal magick or material anchoring
• Cups — potions, elixirs, or devotional work
• Wands — candle magick or focused will
• Swords — chanted spell or verbal enchantment

If your chosen medium is the Tarot itself, select a card from the indicated suit and consciously charge it. Equally, if your chosen medium is Psalm Magic, you can make any of the mediums suggested above optional extras.

Advanced option: choose a Major Arcana card that corresponds both to the element and the intention of the working.

Positions 3 and 4: Energy Assessment and Adjustment

The third card reflects your current energetic condition. The fourth shows what would best support recalibration.

This may point toward rest, movement, conversation, solitude, grounding, or energetic hygiene. These cards often describe very ordinary actions — and that is part of their honesty.

Raising energy does not always mean intensifying. Sometimes it means simplifying.

Position 5: Outcome

The fifth card describes the most likely trajectory if the working proceeds as currently conceived.

If position one indicates alignment but the outcome feels undesirable, you may pull a single adjustment card followed by a revised outcome card.

One further round is permitted, for a maximum of nine cards in total.

If clarity does not emerge, the answer is not persistence — it is pause.

Wait a day or two. Return when urgency has softened.

A Closing Note

This article is a 2026 rewrite of an Angelorum favourite first written in 2014, now refined to reflect a more conscious, grounded, and ethically precise approach to magical practice.

Working with this spread is not about seeking approval from the cards. It is about taking responsibility for how, why, and from where you act.

When the Tarot is used this way, it does not replace discernment — it trains it.

That, in itself, is a form of magic…

Check out the world’s largest FREE Tarot Spreads collection with 500+ FREE Tarot Spreads for personal & spiritual development!