14 Valentine’s Day Tarot Spreads
Millions of cards with messages of love will reach their destination on Valentine’s Day. V-day is the second largest Hallmark Holiday after Christmas. We buy a staggering 198,000,000 roses for Valentine’s Day alone. But why do we celebrate romance on a day named after a Christian saint. And why do we refer to February as the ‘month of love’?
Vday History
According to one legend, Saint Valentine became a saint because his martyrdom tied in with love and romance. The Roman Emperor Claudius II had decreed that soldiers were not to marry since he believed this would make them better fighters. St Valentine saw that this was unfair, so he continued to perform marriages for young men and their lovers before they left to join the army. Once St Valentine’s ‘crime’ was discovered around AD 270, he was put to death.
Before Valentine was executed, he cared for his fellow prisoners, and also for the blind daughter of the jailer. According to one legend, he healed her blindness and fell in love with her. His final note to her before the execution was signed ‘from your Valentine.’
The Lupercala Connection
However, for all we know, the St Valentine’s Day celebration on the 14th of February may just have been an attempt to Christianise the Roman festival of Lupercalia, celebrated on the 15th of February. This was a fertility festival which involved a blood sacrifice to the agricultural deity Faunus but also honoured the twin gods Romulus and Remus. During the sacrificial rite, they cut the hide of the sacrificed animals into thin strips and dipped them in the blood. During a procession through the streets of Rome, the Luperci priests would then slap women with the strips of hide. Though this may sound disgusting, the women welcomed it as they believed it would make them fertile in the year ahead. The names of unmarried women would be placed in an urn and bachelors would draw lots so that everyone was paired up for the rest of the year.
Lupercalia was outlawed toward the end of the 5th century and it wasn’t until the Middle Ages that St Valentine’s day became a day associated with romance. Here in the UK, Valentine’s day became popular around the 17th century and in the 18th century it was common for people to exchange small tokens of affection.
As a Tarot reader, around Valentine’s Day, almost all the readings I do are about love and romance… It’s in the air!
Tarot is a wonderful divinatory tool for love because it can mirror every aspect of the relationship by the cards. I have put together my top favourite love and relationship Tarot spreads below, for those of you who prefer to read for yourselves or who would like to practise love Tarot readings for friends and family.
TOP 14 LOVE TAROT SPREADS FOR VALENTINE’S DAY
Flowers for the Beloved Tarot Spread – As we all know, true love isn’t based on what’s in it for you but on what you can share from the heart. This spread helps you but the needs of your partner in focus and shows you ways to meet those needs.
The Full Spectrum Bliss Tarot Spread – A love Tarot spread to help you bond more deeply with your partner, on all chakra levels.
The Moon Sign Significator Tarot Spread – A relationship Tarot spread to help you understand yourself and your partner’s emotional needs and to show you how to improve the emotional connection.
The ‘Oh L’Amour’ Tarot Spread – A spread for singles… When the sap is rising and you want to see what’s available.
Cupid’s Arrow Tarot Spread – You’ve got your eye on them and they don’t know it yet… Find out what you need to do to steal their heart!
Should I Stay or Should I Go? – A Tarot spread with pendulum dowsing, for when the love relationship is rocky and you need a bit of help deciding which direction to take.
The Karmic Relationship Tarot Spread – A mixed oracles spread for learning about your past life connection and how to resolve any lingering karma.
The Quickie – A simple relationship Tarot spread, suitable for beginners and/or a quick overview of the relationships.
The Heart of the Relationship – My most in-depth relationship Tarot spread to help you understand your current dynamics as well as what trajectory you are on.
Heart Healing with the Angels Tarot Spread – Not everyone is in a relationship and not everyone is even ready to start afresh, just because it happens to be V-day. This is for you if you have just broken up and your feelings are still raw!
Don’t go on that date without consulting the tarot cards first!
Internet Dating Vetting Tarot Spread – First dates can make you full of nerves… A gentle heads-up from the Tarot can help prevent the butterflies from turning into tornadoes.
The Emotional Compatibility Tarot Spread – See how you connect and communicate, as well as what you can do to improve your emotional compatibility.
Aphrodite’s Mirror – A Tarot spread to help you heal from love addiction.
How to Meet the Right One – A Tarot spread to help you avoid Mr/Ms Right Now (yet again!) and to hone in on Mr/Ms Right.
Check out the Angelorum Love and Relationship Tarot Spreads!
Enjoy and Happy Valentine’s Day!