10-card spread
Tree of Life
Ten cards on the ten sephiroth of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, laid in three pillars. It is the most contemplative of the large spreads: less a story in time than a portrait of a whole life or situation, from its highest aspiration at the crown to its material result at the base.
Hover a card to see what its position means.
The positions
- 1CrownKether, the Crown: the highest ideal or spiritual purpose behind the question.
- 2WisdomChokmah, Wisdom: the creative force, initiative and drive at work.
- 3UnderstandingBinah, Understanding: the form things take, limits, and what has been learned.
- 4MercyChesed, Mercy: generosity, growth, and what is being given or received.
- 5SeverityGeburah, Severity: discipline, conflict, and what must be cut away.
- 6BeautyTiphareth, Beauty: the heart of the matter, and the self at its centre.
- 7VictoryNetzach, Victory: feelings, desire, instinct and what is loved.
- 8SplendourHod, Splendour: thought, communication, plans and reasoning.
- 9FoundationYesod, Foundation: the unconscious, dreams, and the pattern underneath.
- 10KingdomMalkuth, Kingdom: the outcome in the material world.
Reading it well
Read the pillars
The right pillar (2, 4, 7) is force and expansion; the left (3, 5, 8) is form and restraint. The middle pillar (1, 6, 9, 10) is the path of the self between them.
Then the triangles
Cards 1–3 are the idea, 4–6 the moral and emotional life, 7–9 the everyday mind. Card 10 is what all of it produces.
An example reading
“What is my creative work asking of me?”
The Sun at the crown is the purpose: joy, and work made in the open. Wisdom is the Ace of Wands, the raw spark, and Understanding the Eight of Pentacles, the craft that gives it form. Mercy is the Six of Pentacles, sharing and being paid fairly; Severity is Justice, being honest about what is good enough. At the centre stands the Queen of Wands, confident in her own fire. Victory is the Nine of Cups, satisfaction; Splendour the Page of Swords, the restless researcher. The Moon at the foundation is the dream-work underneath it all, and the Ten of Pentacles in the kingdom is a body of work that lasts.
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