The Love Triangle Spread
Difficulty: Complicated
Casually referred to as the Love Triangle, this spread can be used to determine the dynamics of the relationship between three people, regardless of whether romance is involved. This spread is arranged in the form of a hexagram, consisting of several large and small triangles. This tarot spread may seem somewhat complicated, but it is not entirely that difficult.
The first step is to interpret the card for each individual position in the spread. Generally, one might ask about a relationship they are involved in, but this does not have to be the case. Ordinarily, the reader's representative card is #1, their main person of interest is #2, and the other person would be #3.
The second step fills in the downward triangle and involves further examination of the individuals through their views of the other people. Each person has two more cards showing the way they see and relate to the other members of the triangle. For example, Card #6 indicates how Person #3 relates to Person #1, while Card #9 stands for Person #1's attitude toward Person #3.
The next step completes the upward triangle and the hexagram, focusing on cards #10–13. It also completes the many smaller triangles and hints at the potential for each relationship. The final card, #13 can be considered the significator of the reading, which suggests the overall potential for this three-way relationship.
Your Love Triangle Reading
| P#3 | 3to2 | 2+3 |
2to3 | P#2 | ||
 |
3to1 |  |
Overall |  |
2to1 |  |
| 1+3 |  |
1to3 |  |
1to2 |  |
1+2 |
 |
 |
P#1 |  |
 |
||
 |
1: Person #1
Venus in Aquarius
The pale blue background of this card symbolises airy weakness. A chipped sword attempts to battle four bent swords in the shape of a pentagram. A hopeless struggle, this solitary sword is the weakest of the five.
Meaning:
Weakness, loss, spite, malice, trouble, dishonour, degradation, infamy, revocation, loss, humiliation, anxiety. A driver of wedges.
2: Person #2
2:00 – 4:00 Female
Libra
The Queen of Swords sits on the throne of heaven. The moon has eclipsed the sun, making for a strange overcast. The eclipse is a symbol of two that are one, a reference to the dual nature of Libra. The eclipse also represents her as a dominant female, overshadowing the male, and this is also apparent in her left hand. She represents clear perception and the pinnacle of thought. However, superficial attractiveness coupled with a lack of empathy makes her the most dangerous female in the deck.
Meaning:
A confident, gracious, just, perceptive, graceful, elegant woman.
When ill-dignified: A cruel, sly, deceitful, unreliable woman who uses charm as a weapon.
3: Person #3
Jupiter in Leo
This card represents energy in its most balanced and powerful state. Six snake-rods are crossed with nine flames burning at the joints. This represents the male energy being reflected by the female in a state of perfect harmony and balance.
Meaning:
Triumph after strife. Success and gain, good news, expectations fulfilled.
When ill-dignified: excessive pride and insolence.
4: Person #1's view of #2
8:00 – 10:00 Female
Capricorn
The Queen of Disks sits on her throne between two rivers. She holds in her right hand the symbol of the sign of Capricorn crystalised. Her horns encase the full moon, her crown. The sun emerges from her loins. Her body shape is like the Willendorf Venus. This woman is an ancient fertility goddess in human form.
Meaning:
A practical, kind, domesticated, affectionate, charming woman. Prosperity, abundance, fertility, generosity, security.
When ill-dignified: a dull, servile, capricious fool, prone to debauchery and mood swings.
5: Person #2's view of #3
A voluptuous young woman steps from the water onto land. Crystals form at her feet, symbolising ideas taking shape. Her crown is a swan. In her right hand she carries a bronze cup with a tortoise inside it, and in her left hand she has a lotus. She is gentle, kind, and caring. This is a card of creation and formative energy.
Meaning:
A voluptuous, kind, romantic, dreamy young woman.
When ill-dignified: indolent, selfish woman.
6: Person #3's view of #1
Sagittarius
The Knight of Wands rides a white horse charging forward. The white horse symbolises the conscious side of awareness. It also symbolises the purity of fire, the vital energy and passion that boldly drives the organism. The Knight has his torch in his right hand and arrows on his back; bow and arrow being the weapon of Sagittarius.
Meaning:
A man of action, generosity, pride, and impetuousness.
When ill-dignified: A cruel, bigoted man without mercy.
7: Person #2's view of #1
Mercury in Cancer
Two cups combine their essence into a third cup, their offspring. This card is about creation, fertility, and pregnancy. A collaborative effort. The process of reproduction.
Meaning:
Fulfilment, conclusion, plenty, fertility, hospitality, bounty, kindness, creation.
8: Person #3's view of #2
Gemini
Lovers are eternally bound in Soul. A nude family holding hands in the form of a lemniscate represents natural purity.
Meaning:
Attraction, childishness, openness to inspiration, love, beauty.
When ill-dignified: shallow, superficial union. Instability, insecurity, indecision.
9: Person #1's view of #3
Moon in Sagittarius
Great Strength. Eight arrows have been collected and are now under the authority of a headmaster arrow. They have been completed by this arrangement and the addition of the moon-heads. The driving force that empowers them is the sun.
Meaning:
Great strength, tremendous force, power, competition, warrior spirit, focused rage. Change is stability.
10: Overall relationship between persons #1 and #2
Sun in Aries
This card represents the pioneer motivated by the spirit of goodwill. You do what is right in your eyes. There is also a tendency toward egotism in this card.
Meaning:
Realisation of hope. Noble cause. Pride and arrogance.
When ill-dignified: conceit.
11: Overall relationship between persons #2 and #3
Mars
This is the dark side of The Magus; the lower self. The Demiurge has come out to play. Many are struck down on their quest to the top. Only the chosen one can climb the stairway to heaven. He must first acquire the proper understandings and tools or his climb will certainly be disastrous. Now is the time to use what you've been building up inside. Often a card of war.
Meaning:
Danger, destruction, quarrel, combat, ambition. Escape from prison. Rise to the top at the expense of others.
12: Overall relationship between persons #1 and #3
18-Moon.jpg|Pisces
The Moon reflects the overbearing light of the sun. Sunlight is a hot commodity at night. Where does the long, dark road lead? Let your inner light guide your path through the unconscious dreamscape.
Meaning:
Illusion, dreaminess, voluntary change, bewilderment, hysteria. An important change that is difficult to foresee.
When ill-dignified: egotism, self-deception, delusions of grandeur, counter-productive pride, demiurgos, ignorance, denial of the master.
13: Overall 3-way Relationship
Venus in Aries
The process has now taken shape. Four opposite deities have come together to establish order in the form of a new understanding of the universe.
Meaning:
Solidification of a work. Conclusions drawn from previous knowledge. Harmony. Rest after completion of a work. A goal fulfilled.
When ill-dignified: haste makes waste
