Three Card · 3 cards
The workhorse spread. Fast, readable, and hard to over-interpret.
Use it for almost anything. Also works as Situation / Action / Outcome.
Tarot spreads
Where the cards go, what each position means, and when to use which.
Celtic Cross · 10 cards
Ten cards, the most detailed traditional spread. Rewards a specific question and punishes a vague one.
Use it when a situation has several moving parts and you want them separated.
Yes or No · 1 cards
A single card read for direction rather than detail.
Use it sparingly. A yes-or-no question usually hides a better question underneath.
Relationship · 5 cards
Five cards separating your side, their side and the thing between you.
Use it when you are tempted to read the whole deck as being about one person.
Career · 5 cards
Five cards on work, aimed at a decision rather than a fantasy.
Use it at a crossroads — leaving, applying, negotiating.
Choosing a spread
More cards is not more insight. A ten-card Celtic Cross laid over a vague question produces ten vague answers, and the reader ends up assembling a story from noise. Three cards on a specific question beats ten on a fuzzy one every time.
The most useful discipline in tarot is writing the question down before shuffling. It stops the question quietly changing to fit the cards that turn up.