About the Three Options spread
The Three Options spread is for a decision with three possible courses. You name each option, then the cards show what the choice is really about, what each road holds, and some advice on how to choose. The three option cards sit side by side so you can compare them at a glance.
Use it when a simple either-or does not fit: three job offers, three places to live, or staying, changing and leaving. It is good at showing which option carries the most energy and which may be a distraction, and the top card often shows what matters more than any single option.
The positions
- 1Where You Stand. What is the real question underneath the choice?
- 2Option A. What happens if you take the first option?
- 3Option B. What happens if you take the second option?
- 4Option C. What happens if you take the third option?
- 5Advice. How should you choose?
How to lay it out with your own deck
- Name your three options before you shuffle. On this site you can type a name for each one so the reading uses your words.
- Lay one card at the top: Where You Stand.
- Below it, lay three cards in a row from left to right: Option A, Option B and Option C.
- Lay the last card at the bottom, under Option B: Advice. Read the three options against each other first, then the top and bottom cards.
Drew the cards at home? Choose “Enter my own cards” above and get the written reading for the cards you drew.
How to read it
- Compare the three option cards before reading any in depth. One may stand out at once as brighter, heavier or simply different in kind.
- Where You Stand often names what you most need from the decision. Check each option against it: which one gives you that?
- If two options look alike, the choice between them may matter less than whether to take the third. Let the odd one out have a closer look.
- Advice is about how to choose, not which to choose. It may suggest waiting, asking someone, or trusting your first instinct.
Questions
- Can tarot choose between three options for me?
- The decision stays yours. What the reading can do is set the three options side by side and show what each one asks of you, which often makes your own preference clearer than weighing them in your head.
- What if I have more than three options?
- Narrow them to the three that matter most, or compare them in groups. With more cards in one spread the comparison tends to blur, and choosing the three that matter is often a useful step in itself.
- What if none of the option cards look good?
- It may mean the real issue sits underneath the choice. Read Where You Stand and Advice closely: they may point to a need none of the three options meets, or to a better moment to decide.