Tarot Reading What lies in my future?
Reading Performed 11/27/2025 at 3:38 PM
Click or scroll down for the meaning of each position and the interpretation of its card.
Querent
The querent is the card that this user felt represented them or their situation best.
Death
Card Meaning When Upright
End, mortality, destruction, corruption; also, for a man, the loss of a benefactor; for a woman, many inconsistencies; for a maiden, failure of marriage prospects.
Card Description
Death appears here as one of the apocalyptic visions rather than a grim reaper—to show change, transformation, and a passage from lower to higher. In the background lies the whole world of ascent in the spirit. In the foreground, the mysterious horseman moves slowly, bearing a black banner emblazoned with the Mystic Rose, which signifies life. Between two pillars on the horizon shines the sun of immortality. The horseman carries no visible weapon, but king and child and maiden fall before him, while a bishop with clasped hands awaits his end. The natural transition of man to the next stage of his being is one form of his progress. While still in this life, the exotic and almost unknown entrance into the state of mystical death is a change in the form of consciousness. It is the passage into a state to which ordinary death is neither the path nor the gate.
Visual Layout
Card One
Knight of Pentacles from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Utility, usability, interest, responsibility, decency—all on the surface.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings
A young, fair man. A stranger. An arrival.
Card Description
A knight rides a slow, heavy horse, similar in appearance to himself. He displays his symbol, but does not look at it.
Card Two
Five of Pentacles from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Material trouble; destitution.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings
Success coming that will balance loss.
Card Description
Two beggars in a snowstorm pass a lit stained-glass window.
Card Three
Six of Wands from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
A victor triumphing; also great news, such as might be carried by the King's courier; expectation crowned with its own desire, crowned with hope—in other words, expectation that is its own reward.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings
Failure.
Card Description
A horseman wearing a laurel crown holds a staff adorned with another laurel crown. Footmen with more staves are at his side.
Card Four
Ace of Wands from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
Fall, decay, ruin, condemnation, demise; also a certain clouded joy.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings (When Upright)
Commencement of an enterprise.
Card Description
A hand extending from a cloud grasps a stout wand or club.
Card Five
Three of Pentacles from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Occupation, trade, skilled labor; also nobility, aristocracy, renown, glory.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings
A small sum of money.
Card Description
This card shows a sculptor working in a monastery. Compare with the Eight of Pentacles: the apprentice or amateur in that card has received his reward and is now at work in earnest.
Card Six
The Hanged Man from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Wisdom, prudence, discernment, trials, sacrifice, intuition, divination, prophecy.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings
Trials. Sacrifice.
Card Description
The figure of a man hangs head down from a gallows, to which he is attached by a rope around one of his ankles. His arms are bound behind him, and one leg is crossed over the other. The gallows from which he hangs forms a Tau cross, while the figure—from the position of the legs--forms a cross. There is a halo around the head of the apparent martyr. It should be noted (1) that the tree of sacrifice is living wood, with leaves on it; (2) that the face expresses deep entrancement, not suffering; (3) that the figure, as a whole, suggests life in suspension, not death.
Card Seven
Knight of Wands from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Departure, absence, fleeing, emigration; a dark, friendly young man; change of residence.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings
A dark young man. A friend.
Card Description
A knight rides on a journey, armed with a short wand. Although wearing armor, he is not on a warlike errand. He passes pyramids on the horizon. The rearing of the horse is a hint at the character of its rider, and suggests an expectant mood or things connected with expectation.
Card Eight
Eight of Swords from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
Anxiety, difficulty, opposition, accident, treachery; surprises; fatality.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings (When Upright)
Enemy only partially successful.
Card Description
A woman stands bound and blindfolded, with the swords of the card around her. It is a card of temporary imprisonment rather than permanent bondage.
Card Nine
Two of Cups from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
Passion.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings (When Upright)
Opposition. Unimportant obstacles raised by one of the lovers.
Card Description
A young man and woman pledge themselves to one another. Above their cups rises the Caduceus of Hermes, with a lion's head between its spread wings. It represents our desire to find a soul mate, by which desire Nature is sanctified.
Card Ten
Three of Wands from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Established strength, enterprise, effort, trade, commerce, discovery: those are his ships, bearing his merchandise, at sail.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings
Realization of the commencement of an enterprise. The basis of the work is now definitely established, and the undertaking can be fearlessly continued.
Card Description
A calm, stately figure looks from a cliff's edge at ships passing over the sea. His back is turned. Three staves are planted in the ground, and he leans slightly on one of them.
Card Eleven
Six of Cups from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
The future, renewal, events soon to come.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings (When Upright)
Obstacles insuperable. Widowhood. Separation.
Card Description
Children play in an old garden, their cups filled with flowers. A card of the past and of memories, as if looking back on childhood.
Card Twelve
The Fool from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
Negligence, absence, carelessness, apathy, triviality, vanity.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings (When Upright)
Inconsiderate Actions. Madness.
Card Description
With light step, as if earth and its obstacles had little power to restrain him, a young man in gorgeous clothing pauses at the brink of a precipice among the great heights of the world; he surveys the blue distance before him—its expanse of sky rather than the landscape below. He seems to still be walking, though he is stationary at the given moment; his dog is still bounding. The edge that opens on the depth holds no terror for him, as if angels were waiting to uphold him, should he leap from that height. His face is full of intelligence and expectant wonder. He has a rose in one hand and in the other an expensive cane, which hangs over his right shoulder, dangling a curiously embroidered pouch. He is a prince of the other world, traveling through this one—all in the glory of the crisp morning air. The sun, which shines behind him, knows where he came from, where he is going, and how he will return: by another path, after many days. He is the Spirit in search of experience.
Card Thirteen
Judgement from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Change of position, renewal, the outcome.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings
Change of Position.
Card Description
A great angel is surrounded by clouds. He blows a trumpet with a banner displaying and a cross. Beneath, the dead are rising from their tombs—a woman on the right, a man on the left, and between them their child, whose back is turned. In the background are more dead who are restored. All the figures stand as one in the wonder, adoration, and ecstasy expressed by their postures. This card represents the accomplishment of the great work of transformation, in answer to the summons of the Celestial, heard and answered from within.
Card Fourteen
The Sun from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
The same, in a lesser sense.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings (When Upright)
Material Happiness. Lucky Marriage.
Card Description
A naked child mounted on a white horse displays a red banner. The sun shining above represents consciousness in the Spirit—with direct, as opposed to reflected, light. The archetype of humanity has become a little child beneath its rays—a child in the sense of simplicity, with innocence in the sense of wisdom. In that simplicity, he bears the seal of Nature and Art; in that innocence, he signifies the restored world. When the self-knowing spirit has dawned in the consciousness above the natural mind, that mind is renewed and directs the animal nature in a state of perfect conformity.
Card Fifteen
Knight of Swords from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
Recklessness, disability, wastefulness.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings (When Upright)
Young dark man. An enemy. A spy.
Card Description
A knight rides at full speed, as if scattering his enemies. He is the prototypical hero of romantic chivalry. He might almost be Galahad, whose sword is swift and sure because he is clean of heart.
Card Sixteen
Nine of Wands from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
Obstacles, adversity, disasters.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings (When Upright)
Great success.
Card Description
A man leans upon his staff with an expectant look, as if awaiting an enemy. His build indicates that he may prove a formidable opponent. Behind are eight other staves—upright, in orderly arrangement, like a fence.
Card Seventeen
King of Swords from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Judgement and its associations; power, command, authority, military intelligence, law, offices of the state.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings
Dark bad man. A soldier, an enemy, or one to be mistrusted.
Card Description
He sits in judgement, holding the sign of his suit. He recalls the Justice card from the Major Arcana, and he may represent this virtue, but he possesses earthly power over life and death, because he is King.
Card Eighteen
Temperance from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Thrift, moderation, frugality, management, settlement.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings
Temperance. Economy.
Card Description
A winged angel, with the sign of the sun on its forehead, and on its breast the square and triangle of the septenary (symbolism of the number seven). The androgynous figure pours the essences of life from chalice to chalice. It has one foot on the earth and one on water, illustrating the nature of the essences being poured. A direct path leads to heights on the horizon, and above shines a great light, through which a crown can be vaguely seen. Here is some part of the Secret of Eternal Life, as available to man in this existence.
Card Nineteen
Page of Pentacles from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Application, study, scholarship, reflection; also command, management.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings
A fair child. A messenger. A letter.
Card Description
A youthful figure looks intently at the pentacle that hovers over his raised hands. He moves slowly, ignoring what is around him.
Related Posts
Card Twenty
Wheel of Fortune from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Destiny, fortune, success, advancement, luck, delight.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings
Fortune. Destiny.
Card Description
The four Living Creatures of Ezekiel occupy the corners of the card. The symbols on the disc in the center stand for the perpetual motion of an ever-changing universe and for the flux of human life. The Sphinx is equilibrium within that state of change. The letters of Taro or Rota are inscribed on the wheel, interspersed with the Hebrew letters of the Divine Name—to show that Providence is implied through all existence. However, this is the Divine intention within, and the similar intention on the surface is represented by the four Living Creatures.
Card Twenty One
The Tower from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Misery, distress, extreme poverty, adversity, disasters, disgrace, deception, ruin. It is a card in particular of unforeseen catastrophe.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings
Ruin. Deception.
Card Description
A Tower struck by Lightning. It is definitely a card of confusion, and the design can correspond to any well-known catastrophe. It may also depict the House of God, abandoned, and the Veil of the Temple, rent.
Related Posts
The Meanings of these Tarot Cards
Card One
Knight of Pentacles from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Utility, usability, interest, responsibility, decency—all on the surface.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings
A young, fair man. A stranger. An arrival.
Card Description
A knight rides a slow, heavy horse, similar in appearance to himself. He displays his symbol, but does not look at it.
Card Two
Five of Pentacles from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Material trouble; destitution.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings
Success coming that will balance loss.
Card Description
Two beggars in a snowstorm pass a lit stained-glass window.
Card Three
Six of Wands from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
A victor triumphing; also great news, such as might be carried by the King's courier; expectation crowned with its own desire, crowned with hope—in other words, expectation that is its own reward.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings
Failure.
Card Description
A horseman wearing a laurel crown holds a staff adorned with another laurel crown. Footmen with more staves are at his side.
Card Four
Ace of Wands from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
Fall, decay, ruin, condemnation, demise; also a certain clouded joy.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings (When Upright)
Commencement of an enterprise.
Card Description
A hand extending from a cloud grasps a stout wand or club.
Card Five
Three of Pentacles from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Occupation, trade, skilled labor; also nobility, aristocracy, renown, glory.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings
A small sum of money.
Card Description
This card shows a sculptor working in a monastery. Compare with the Eight of Pentacles: the apprentice or amateur in that card has received his reward and is now at work in earnest.
Card Six
The Hanged Man from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Wisdom, prudence, discernment, trials, sacrifice, intuition, divination, prophecy.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings
Trials. Sacrifice.
Card Description
The figure of a man hangs head down from a gallows, to which he is attached by a rope around one of his ankles. His arms are bound behind him, and one leg is crossed over the other. The gallows from which he hangs forms a Tau cross, while the figure—from the position of the legs--forms a cross. There is a halo around the head of the apparent martyr. It should be noted (1) that the tree of sacrifice is living wood, with leaves on it; (2) that the face expresses deep entrancement, not suffering; (3) that the figure, as a whole, suggests life in suspension, not death.
Card Seven
Knight of Wands from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Departure, absence, fleeing, emigration; a dark, friendly young man; change of residence.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings
A dark young man. A friend.
Card Description
A knight rides on a journey, armed with a short wand. Although wearing armor, he is not on a warlike errand. He passes pyramids on the horizon. The rearing of the horse is a hint at the character of its rider, and suggests an expectant mood or things connected with expectation.
Card Eight
Eight of Swords from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
Anxiety, difficulty, opposition, accident, treachery; surprises; fatality.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings (When Upright)
Enemy only partially successful.
Card Description
A woman stands bound and blindfolded, with the swords of the card around her. It is a card of temporary imprisonment rather than permanent bondage.
Card Nine
Two of Cups from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
Passion.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings (When Upright)
Opposition. Unimportant obstacles raised by one of the lovers.
Card Description
A young man and woman pledge themselves to one another. Above their cups rises the Caduceus of Hermes, with a lion's head between its spread wings. It represents our desire to find a soul mate, by which desire Nature is sanctified.
Card Ten
Three of Wands from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Established strength, enterprise, effort, trade, commerce, discovery: those are his ships, bearing his merchandise, at sail.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings
Realization of the commencement of an enterprise. The basis of the work is now definitely established, and the undertaking can be fearlessly continued.
Card Description
A calm, stately figure looks from a cliff's edge at ships passing over the sea. His back is turned. Three staves are planted in the ground, and he leans slightly on one of them.
Card Eleven
Six of Cups from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
The future, renewal, events soon to come.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings (When Upright)
Obstacles insuperable. Widowhood. Separation.
Card Description
Children play in an old garden, their cups filled with flowers. A card of the past and of memories, as if looking back on childhood.
Card Twelve
The Fool from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
Negligence, absence, carelessness, apathy, triviality, vanity.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings (When Upright)
Inconsiderate Actions. Madness.
Card Description
With light step, as if earth and its obstacles had little power to restrain him, a young man in gorgeous clothing pauses at the brink of a precipice among the great heights of the world; he surveys the blue distance before him—its expanse of sky rather than the landscape below. He seems to still be walking, though he is stationary at the given moment; his dog is still bounding. The edge that opens on the depth holds no terror for him, as if angels were waiting to uphold him, should he leap from that height. His face is full of intelligence and expectant wonder. He has a rose in one hand and in the other an expensive cane, which hangs over his right shoulder, dangling a curiously embroidered pouch. He is a prince of the other world, traveling through this one—all in the glory of the crisp morning air. The sun, which shines behind him, knows where he came from, where he is going, and how he will return: by another path, after many days. He is the Spirit in search of experience.
Card Thirteen
Judgement from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Change of position, renewal, the outcome.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings
Change of Position.
Card Description
A great angel is surrounded by clouds. He blows a trumpet with a banner displaying and a cross. Beneath, the dead are rising from their tombs—a woman on the right, a man on the left, and between them their child, whose back is turned. In the background are more dead who are restored. All the figures stand as one in the wonder, adoration, and ecstasy expressed by their postures. This card represents the accomplishment of the great work of transformation, in answer to the summons of the Celestial, heard and answered from within.
Card Fourteen
The Sun from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
The same, in a lesser sense.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings (When Upright)
Material Happiness. Lucky Marriage.
Card Description
A naked child mounted on a white horse displays a red banner. The sun shining above represents consciousness in the Spirit—with direct, as opposed to reflected, light. The archetype of humanity has become a little child beneath its rays—a child in the sense of simplicity, with innocence in the sense of wisdom. In that simplicity, he bears the seal of Nature and Art; in that innocence, he signifies the restored world. When the self-knowing spirit has dawned in the consciousness above the natural mind, that mind is renewed and directs the animal nature in a state of perfect conformity.
Card Fifteen
Knight of Swords from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
Recklessness, disability, wastefulness.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings (When Upright)
Young dark man. An enemy. A spy.
Card Description
A knight rides at full speed, as if scattering his enemies. He is the prototypical hero of romantic chivalry. He might almost be Galahad, whose sword is swift and sure because he is clean of heart.
Card Sixteen
Nine of Wands from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
Obstacles, adversity, disasters.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings (When Upright)
Great success.
Card Description
A man leans upon his staff with an expectant look, as if awaiting an enemy. His build indicates that he may prove a formidable opponent. Behind are eight other staves—upright, in orderly arrangement, like a fence.
Card Seventeen
King of Swords from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Judgement and its associations; power, command, authority, military intelligence, law, offices of the state.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings
Dark bad man. A soldier, an enemy, or one to be mistrusted.
Card Description
He sits in judgement, holding the sign of his suit. He recalls the Justice card from the Major Arcana, and he may represent this virtue, but he possesses earthly power over life and death, because he is King.
Card Eighteen
Temperance from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Thrift, moderation, frugality, management, settlement.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings
Temperance. Economy.
Card Description
A winged angel, with the sign of the sun on its forehead, and on its breast the square and triangle of the septenary (symbolism of the number seven). The androgynous figure pours the essences of life from chalice to chalice. It has one foot on the earth and one on water, illustrating the nature of the essences being poured. A direct path leads to heights on the horizon, and above shines a great light, through which a crown can be vaguely seen. Here is some part of the Secret of Eternal Life, as available to man in this existence.
Card Nineteen
Page of Pentacles from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Application, study, scholarship, reflection; also command, management.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings
A fair child. A messenger. A letter.
Card Description
A youthful figure looks intently at the pentacle that hovers over his raised hands. He moves slowly, ignoring what is around him.
Related Posts
Card Twenty
Wheel of Fortune from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Destiny, fortune, success, advancement, luck, delight.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings
Fortune. Destiny.
Card Description
The four Living Creatures of Ezekiel occupy the corners of the card. The symbols on the disc in the center stand for the perpetual motion of an ever-changing universe and for the flux of human life. The Sphinx is equilibrium within that state of change. The letters of Taro or Rota are inscribed on the wheel, interspersed with the Hebrew letters of the Divine Name—to show that Providence is implied through all existence. However, this is the Divine intention within, and the similar intention on the surface is represented by the four Living Creatures.
Card Twenty One
The Tower from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Misery, distress, extreme poverty, adversity, disasters, disgrace, deception, ruin. It is a card in particular of unforeseen catastrophe.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings
Ruin. Deception.
Card Description
A Tower struck by Lightning. It is definitely a card of confusion, and the design can correspond to any well-known catastrophe. It may also depict the House of God, abandoned, and the Veil of the Temple, rent.
