Career Tarot Spread: What the Cards Can Tell You About Your Work

Work takes up a big part of our lives, so it’s no surprise that this is where so many questions and doubts come up.

Should you stay where you are or look for something new? Should you take the offer? Why does it feel like you’ve hit a ceiling? Which way should you grow next? Sometimes change is long overdue, but it’s still hard to make the move.

A career spread helps you see the bigger picture: what’s going on right now, where things could go, the hidden factors, and what deserves your attention.

If you’re thinking about changing jobs

You can explore:

• what’s going on at my current job?
• why did the thought of quitting come up?
• what do I gain and what do I lose by staying?
• what could a new job give me?
• what difficulties could come up during the transition?
• what should I pay attention to when looking for a new job?

If you’ve received a new offer

When you have several options, it can be hard to hear your own answer through the fears, doubts, and expectations.

We can look at each option separately: what opportunities it opens up, what it might bring with it, and what to keep in mind before you decide.

A case from my readings: a client had signed a contract to work abroad. Her visa had been ready for a week, but the tickets still hadn’t been booked, and the employer hadn’t answered her messages for four days. She asked: Will I actually go and work under this contract?

The cards were The Empress, The Chariot, and the Ten of Swords. The Empress showed that she had done everything perfectly on her side: resources, documents, visa. She was ready to work. The Chariot, the card of movement and travel, spoke of her wish to go. And the Ten of Swords spoke of the deal falling through: the contract would be canceled. Even though everything was ready and her bags were basically packed, the Ten of Swords put an end to this contract.

I advised her to accept this unpleasant fact, stop wasting time waiting, and look for other options. The client replied: “Yes, that’s exactly it. The whole thing has been so strange.”

If you don’t know where to go next

Sometimes it’s not about a specific job. The old way of working just doesn’t fit anymore, and you can’t see the new direction yet.

In that case, the spread can be about your professional growth:

• what is my professional potential?
• what strengths can I use?
• what’s holding back my growth right now?
• where should I focus my attention?
• what opportunities could open up in the near future?
• what could help me reach the next level in my career?

A client came to me with this question: why did so many of my projects shut down, and why did my collaborations end? What does it mean, and what comes next?

The Ace of Wands showed that these projects once really lit her up. There was a lot of energy and spark in them. The Eight of Pentacles: a long, monotonous road. She worked hard, did everything well, and sharpened her skills day after day. But the inspiration was gone, only routine was left, and routine won’t take you far. Or she was simply underpaid for her work. This soil had nothing left to give: she had already taken all the experience it could give, and doing more of the same would mean running in place.

The Ten of Swords is a complete ending. Things won’t be the way they were, and there’s no point trying to bring these projects back to life. But it’s also a reset point: a cycle that was draining her has ended. The old is gone to make room for the new.

I told her: give yourself time to let go and think it over. You don’t need to rush to glue it back together or look for something similar. The experience you built stays with you. Wait for a new spark, something you really respond to, but build it on different terms, so routine doesn’t kill the inspiration. That means asking for the money you actually need for your work.

“Right on the mark. You captured what I went through and how it felt inside so well,” the client wrote.

If you want to know what’s ahead in your career

This kind of spread can focus on the near future: which way things are heading in your work life, what changes may come, and where new opportunities could appear.

A client asked what was ahead for her at work in the near future. The cards were The Chariot, The Moon, and the Nine of Pentacles. This is a strong leap forward. It will ask her to work on her state of mind and her dark thoughts, and in the end it will lead to financial independence and a good income.

One more card came up: The Star. The period of doubt is coming to an end, and she will get through it. But she needs to help herself along: go to therapy or art therapy, start a journal, get all those thoughts out on paper. And with The Star, it really matters that she lifts her head and aims high, at what she truly wants.

Still, I don’t see the cards as a fixed script for the future. A spread shows how things could unfold based on your current circumstances, and your decisions and actions can change a lot.

If you’re facing an important choice

For example: stay or leave, take the offer or turn it down, build your own business or keep working for someone else.

In that case, we can look at several options and how each might play out, so you have more information for your own decision.

A client wanted to know if she could launch her own project in a new country. The cards were the Queen of Swords, the Nine of Wands, and the Ace of Cups.

The Queen of Swords called for a cool head: study the market in detail, write a clear business plan, and get all the legal paperwork right. No illusions and no inflated expectations. The Nine of Wands warned about pressure and pushback from people around her: she would have to defend her ideas, her investment, and her work. But since she’d be starting out the Queen of Swords’ way, this defense would be planned, not chaotic. And the Ace of Cups showed the outcome: after a tough start and hard work would come satisfaction, recognition, and the feeling that she was where she belonged.

The project is worth launching. But she needs to start with cold, hard numbers and save all the emotions for the finish line. “Wow, that’s spot on,” the client replied.

The main thing in a spread like this isn’t just getting a “yes” or “no.” It’s understanding where you actually stand in this situation and what possibilities are opening up for you next.