The Complete Guide to Tarot Spreads: The Star of Solomon Spread

The Solomon Star spread is one of the more complex methods in Tarot. Although the interpretation itself isn’t especially difficult, it uses all twenty-two Major Arcana cards and requires a fairly elaborate setup, so it can be time-consuming. Patience and careful attention are essential!

This spread is best for open-ended inquiries rather than a single, specific question. For example, if you’re currently single and want to gauge your recent romantic prospects, or if you’d like an overview of your recent work situation, the Solomon Star will provide more detailed insights.

I. Applicable Areas

Suitable for questions about love, friendship, academics, and career.

II. Layout

• First, shuffle and cut the deck as usual to create a face-down stack. Then flip the entire stack so the cards are face up.
• Next, locate The World card. If the top card isn’t The World, turn it face down and place it to your right. Continue searching one by one until you find The World. Note: Keep the cards you’ve checked stacked face down, in order.
• Once you find The World, place it face down on top of the checked stack. Then take the seven cards that follow The World and place them, in order, from “1” to “7” as shown in the diagram. This layout does not involve flipping cards, so place them face up directly.
• If there aren’t enough cards after The World to make seven, turn the checked stack face up and start taking cards from the top to complete the seven.
• After placing the first seven cards, continue with the next card and stack cards eight to fourteen at the lower-right corner of the first seven (as shown). As before, if you run out of cards, pick up the checked stack, face up, and add from the top. If you’ve already picked up that stack to continue, keep going from there.
• By the time you reach the fourteenth card, you’ll typically have switched to the checked stack. For the third layer, add cards fifteen to twenty-one the same way, stacking them at the lower-right corner of the second layer.
• Once all the cards are placed, you should see a three-layer, star-shaped pattern, all face up. Only one card should remain—The World—which represents the querent. Place this card in front of the querent, facing them (if you are reading for yourself, place the card facing you).

III. Card Position Meanings

The Solomon Star has seven positions, each containing three cards. Their meanings are as follows:

• The current state of the matter.
• Near-future developments.
• The querent’s hopes and expectations regarding the issue.
• Overall luck or favorable/unfavorable trends related to the matter.
• Potential surprises or unforeseen events.
• Hidden adversaries or opposition the querent may not be aware of.
• The querent’s true underlying motivations regarding the issue.

When interpreting the layout, synthesize the position’s meaning from the three cards in that position.