Tarot is best used as guidance rather than fortune-telling. The cards draw attention to elements in your life that require focus.

The major arcana, cards 0 to 21, represent the major lessons of life in sequence. The minor arcana split into four suits – cups, pentacles, rods (wands), and swords. Each suit represents, respectively, emotions/relationships, physicality and practical matters, action, and intellect.

The reversal of a card flips its meaning, but no card is inherently negative.  The position of each card in a spread represents what it is directing you in.

Celtic Cross

The Celtic Cross is a common tarot layout, used to get a general sense of your life right now.

The central cross, the core of the spread, is made of the king of swords and the four of cups. The king, representing your present position, is a firm but fair figure, linked to your mind, with the swords representing your intellectual life. He might represent a situation where you need to be sharp (got an important supervision coming up?).

Crossing is the four of cups, your immediate influences: a state of withdrawal, but necessary rest. Term’s exhausting – you need to make space for yourself, which is difficult with this high intellectual demand.

The next four cards represent another cross. Reversed Judgement represents the past, a period of regeneration over which you’ve had little control. You need to grow, but with no guidance – perhaps this represents the start of university, or graduation and the move into adulthood.

"You have to pick a side and stick with it"

The future is the reversed Lovers, representing a union of opposites. In the reversed form, this is about opposing parts within yourself. It can’t be forced, but they are beginning to cooperate, slowly. You will begin to pull it together, be patient.

The two of swords represents your aspirations. The card in isolation represents difficulty, and the need to take the plunge and resolve problems honestly. You are working towards this ability to confront things truthfully.

The two of pentacles indicates your subconscious. Again, it demonstrates you are grappling with a decision – you have to pick a side and stick with it (fifth Sunday Life of term or making it to your lectures? You decide).

Cards seven through ten form the staff: your relationship with the outside world. The queen of cups offers knowledge about you, the querent. Her benevolence and attractiveness could represent someone you know – and may need – or yourself in the future.

The page of pentacles represents your environment – fittingly, the card of the scholar or student. However, beware: the page is overly fixated on the pentacle, suggesting you may be missing what’s going on around you for the sake of work.

The reversed knight of cups represents your innermost emotions. You might be worried that other people are being superficial or uncommitted – if you’re a fresher, don’t worry: friendships take time to settle down – but beware of fickle people.

The reversed five of cups signifies the outcome. This card shows brooding over a painful past, refusing to look forward. You are still unable to make up your mind. If you continue to be negative, you’ll make things worse – so don’t get trapped in a spiral of hating what you’re doing, easy as it can be here.