This is one of my favourite more in-depth tarot spreads, and it’s another one I like to do when I don’t really have a particular question to ask. It helps put a spotlight on areas of my life I might be ignoring because my focus is somewhere else.

How To Do A Spirit Guides Tarot Spread

Okay so here’s how to do a Spirit Guide Tarot Spread and what each card within it mean. I like to follow the spread layout, I’ve left above, so I can see how each card is relating to each other from different angles, but if you’re new you can just do this in a line.

The 7 Cards

1. What energy is guiding me right now

This sets the tone for everything else.

I don’t take this as a literal “who.” I look at the type of guidance instead. Is it calm and steady, or does it feel more direct and corrective? Sometimes it comes through like a patient reminder, other times it feels more like something pushing me to actually do something about my situation.

2. What is it trying to show me

This is usually something I’ve already noticed in the background but haven’t properly dealt with.

It’s that situation where I’ve thought, “I should probably sort that,” but I’ve kept putting it off or distracting myself with other things instead.

3. Where I’m going wrong right now

I like to think of this as a clear look at what I’m doing that isn’t helping. It might be overthinking something, avoiding a conversation, or putting time and energy into something that isn’t really going anywhere.

4. What I need to focus on instead

This is where you can really make sure you’re effort is aimed in the right direction.

If card 3 shows what’s not working, this shows what would actually move things forward. Most of the time, it’s not complicated, it’s just something I haven’t been doing consistently or properly.

5. What I need to let go of

I see this one as whatever you’re holding onto out of habit, you might not even be consciously aware of it anymore.

Staying in a situation that’s already run its course, holding onto an expectation that hasn’t worked out, or sticking to a way of doing things just because it’s familiar.

6. What happens if I follow this guidance

This gives me a realistic sense of direction.

Not some perfect outcome, but where things are likely to head if I actually take this seriously and change what I’m doing.

7. The overall message

This is the card I come back to at the end.

If parts of the reading feel mixed or unclear, this usually pulls everything together and shows what this is really about for me right now.

Spirit Guides Spread – Example Reading

A bit of context before I get into this.

A few years ago, I had a business that was doing really well, and I ended up losing it all. Since then, I’ve been trying to rebuild, testing different things, figuring out what actually works, and what’s worth sticking with.

So this reading wasn’t about asking a perfect question. It was more about stepping back and seeing what I might not be looking at properly right now.

Card 1: What Energy Is Guiding Me Right Now – Ten Of Swords Reversed

Obviously the symbolism in this card is huge

You’ve got someone lying face down with ten swords in their back. It’s not subtle. It’s the kind of ending where everything has already happened. There’s nothing left to salvage. But in the background, the sky is starting to lighten. The worst has passed, even if it doesn’t feel like it yet.

Reversed, that feels even more like coming out the other side of it. And that’s exactly how this feels for me.

Losing the business was that moment. Not a slow decline, but a clear ending. Something I had built, something I trusted, just gone. So the energy guiding me right now feels like it’s coming from that experience.

To me it felt like:

You’ve already been through the worst of it, so stop moving like it’s about to happen again

There’s a difference between being cautious and being held back by something that’s already over.

Card 2: What It’s Trying To Show Me – Nine of Pentacles

This one feels almost too calm compared to the first.

Everything in it is controlled. The garden’s neat, the pentacles are naturally growing, not being chased. Even the bird on her hand is trained, not wild.

Traditionally this is independence, self-sufficiency, enjoying what you’ve built.

But looking at it here, it didn’t feel like “you’ll get this.” and it’s clearly not “you’ve attained this”

It felt more like: this is the level you should be aiming for now.

And this is where it kind of clicked for me.

I think one of my biggest problems is I get caught up in the weeds of everyday life.

When you’ve got bigger goals, but you’re still working day-to-day, it’s really easy for that day-to-day to take over. You start focusing on what’s right in front of you instead of what you’re actually building towards.

And this card just pulls you out of that a bit.

It’s like a reminder of what the end result is supposed to look like, not just what you’re doing this week to get by.

Card 3: Where I’m going wrong right now – King of Pentacles Reversed

And this was another card that hit me when I turned it over Because upright, this is basically the position I used to be in. Or at least what it felt like. Stable, in control, things working.

But of course, that’s not me now, and that’s why the card is reversed. Not completely wrong, and I know I’m trying to recreate that same thing, but it’s not quite working.

And I think that’s where I’ve been going wrong. There’s definitely been a part of me picking things that feel sensible, or safe, or like they should work, instead of actually asking if they’re right for me now.

And if I’m honest, there’s probably a bit of pressure behind that as well.

That thought of:

I’ve done this before, I should be able to do it again

Which sounds reasonable, but it doesn’t actually help.

If anything it just makes me force things or stick with them longer than I should, because I’m trying to get back to something that might not even look the same this time.

Card 4: What I need to lean into – Seven of Pentacles

This one slowed everything down straight away. Nothing’s really happening in the card. He’s just stood there looking at what he’s grown.

And I don’t think I’ve properly done that.

I’ve been doing things, trying things, moving between ideas, but I haven’t really stepped back and looked at it properly as a whole.

Not just “is this working right now?” but “Where is this actually going if I keep doing it?”

Because those are two completely different questions. And I think I’ve been answering the first one, not the second.

This feels like actually forcing myself to really stop and look at things honestly, even if the answer isn’t what I want it to be.

Tieing 3 & 4 Together

So in the spread it’s important to look at these cards together, to get a better understanding of things. And when I look at these two together, it actually makes more sense.

The King of Pentacles reversed feels like me trying to make something work because it should be stable. Like I’m trying to lock something in and turn it into “this is the thing.”

But then the Seven of Pentacles right after it is basically saying… why?

Like, why am I trying to secure something before I’ve even properly looked at whether it’s worth it?

It’s almost backwards.

I’m trying to turn things into something secure, instead of stepping back and asking if they’re even growing into anything in the first place.

Card 5: What I need to let go of – Knight of Pentacles

This one made sense pretty quickly, especially after the last card. It’s that same steady, consistent energy… just taken a step further.

Slow, routine, doing the same thing every day. And normally that’s a good thing. It’s what people aim for. But here it just feels like I’ve settled into it a bit too much.

Like I’ve built something that keeps everything ticking over, but doesn’t really push anything forward. And I think I’ve been calling that discipline, but that discipline hasn’t been moving the needle at the pace I want it too.

This is telling me, I think, that the steady controlled pace isn’t what I need right now. I need to give this 110%.

Card 6: What happens if I follow this guidance – The Fool

This one felt different when I actually sat with it a bit longer.

At first it’s easy to just go “new start, take a risk,” but that didn’t really feel like what this was getting at. It felt more like the opposite of where I’ve been heading.

Because if I carry on how I have been, just staying in that steady, controlled, same routine every day… I can kind of see where that leads. It just burns me out slowly.

Nothing breaks, nothing goes wrong, but nothing really changes either. And I think that’s what this is showing me.

The Fool isn’t just “do something new,” it’s more like stepping out of that whole cycle completely. Not being stuck in that mindset of everything needing to feel controlled and safe all the time.

The Fool is outside the Major Arcana, he’s the beginning and the end. And that’s what I think I’m seeing here.

Like I’ve learned what I needed to from this slower, more cautious period, and if I actually follow that through properly, I move past it. Not back to how things were before, but into something where I’m seeing things a bit differently.

Card 7: The overall message – Two of Wands

This just feels like where I am right now. Not stuck exactly, but not moving either.

He’s standing there, holding the world, looking out, but still inside where it’s familiar. And that’s pretty much it.

I can see there’s something else I could be doing, something bigger or just different to what I’m doing now.

But I haven’t actually made that move yet. And nothing in this spread is forcing it. That’s probably the uncomfortable bit. Because it means staying where I am is still a decision.

What I noticed across the whole spread

So I always say this, but when you’re reading tarot, each card is like a sentence, but to really get the full story, you NEED to be putting the sentences together, and that’s why I try to look for any similarities or recurring themes with in the cards themselves. For example in this spread we had:

A heavy Pentacles focus

Looking at all of these together, the first thing that stands out is just how many Pentacles there are. It’s basically the whole spread apart from The Fool and the Two of Wands.

So everything keeps coming back to the same place:
work, money, routine, building something, stability.

Which makes sense, because that’s exactly what’s been on my mind. But what it really shows is that this isn’t about emotions. There are no Cups here at all. Nothing about relationships, feelings, or anything like that.

It’s all very grounded. Very practical.

Everything is land-based, nothing emotional

Going further, Even when you look at the imagery, it all sits on solid ground.

Fields, gardens, people standing still, nothing moving. There’s no sea, no water, nothing unpredictable. Apart from the Ten of Swords Reversed (The only thing I still feel emotional about).

It all feels controlled. And I think that says a lot on its own. I’ve been focusing on things I can manage, things I can keep steady, rather than anything uncertain.

The sky feels flat, not clear

Another thing I noticed is the sky across most of the cards. It’s that yellow, slightly heavy kind of sky, not bright blue or open. Nothing looks chaotic, but nothing feels especially clear either.

It’s more like everything is just… there. Working, but not really filling me with happiness. Which actually fits how things have felt.

The Fool is the only real shift

Then you’ve got The Fool sitting in there.

The only Major Arcana in the whole spread, and it’s in the position of what happens if I follow this properly. That feels important.

Because it’s the only card that actually breaks away from all that Pentacles energy. Everything else is slow, steady, controlled, building.

And then this just cuts across it. So it almost feels like:
I can stay in that Pentacles cycle and just keep things going…

or I step out of it, and that’s where things actually change.

The Two of Wands sits in between

Even the Two of Wands at the end feels like it’s in the middle of those two directions. It’s not fully in the Pentacles energy, but it’s not fully in The Fool energy either.

It’s just that moment of seeing both options clearly. Standing there, knowing there’s something else, but not having moved yet.

What all of this points to

When you put all of that together, it really does start to make sense. In fact, it actually feels very focused.

Almost everything is pointing at the same thing:
I’ve built something stable, but I’ve also got stuck in it.

And the only real shift comes from stepping outside of that, not trying to improve it from within.