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 | ||
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3to1 |  |
Overall |  |
2to1 |  |
| 1+3 |  |
1to3 |  |
1to2 |  |
1+2 |
 |
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P#1 |  |
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||
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1: Person #1
Aries
The king of the world represents power, authority, and male vitality. The ruler sitting on his throne bears the male symbols of earthly authority. The lamb at his feet represents not only the sheepishness of his servants, but the self-sacrifice required of a great leader.
Meaning:
Ambition, conquest, originality, leadership, stability, realisation, power, fortitude, powerful man, authority, conviction.
Ill-dignified: bad temper, counterproductive pride, rashness, even megalomania.
2: Person #2
Jupiter in Pisces
The water level here is the highest in the suit. The perfection of water in Yesod makes this the happiest card in the whole deck. In an ocean of paradise two dolphins playfully leap between floating cups.
Meaning:
A feeling of perfect happiness and well-being.
3: Person #3
Cancer
Your soul is like the driver and your body is the vehicle for your personal exploration of the universe.
Meaning:
The charioteer is a link in a chain of command. Exploration of the universe, obedience, hope, triumph.
When ill-dignified: status-quo maintenance muscle.
4: Person #1's view of #2
Sun in Scorpio
Two hearts come together forming a unicursal hexagram. Four bunches of grapes symbolise that balance has been achieved.
Meaning:
Natural harmony, satisfaction, beginnings of steady increase, fond memories.
When ill-dignified: presumptuousness, vanity, lack of gratitude and respect.
5: Person #2's view of #3
Saturn in Libra
Two swords are crossed with a short sword connecting them into the form of a triangle. The upside-down pyramid symbolises a creation gone wrong. A deep storm is brewing in the background.
Meaning:
Melancholy, disruption, discord, delay, separation, trouble, remorse, rupture, dispersion, removal, division.
When well-dignified: faithfulness and honesty in love and commerce.
6: Person #3's view of #1
Mercury in Sagittarius
A sudden burst of energy causes eight arrows to explode into action. This card indicates that something is about to happen fast.
Meaning:
Action, explosive energy, electricity, fast communication, gain of rapid speed, light, quickness.
When ill-dignified: Too much too fast, a flash in the pan.
7: Person #2's view of #1
Saturn in Sagittarius
The wands have now become bars. We live in prisons of flesh. We are each our own warden and we all do our own time.
Meaning:
Brute force with no apparent spiritual source. Lies, repression, cruelty, malice. The element of fire in its most destructive form.
8: Person #3's view of #2
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.
9: Person #1's view of #3
Gemini
The Knight of Swords rides a red horse, symbolising the fiery passion that drives his intellectual pursuits. The birds that fly beneath him symbolise quick-wittedness. He bears a great sword in his right hand while he stashes a dagger in his left, symbolising the witty two-sided personality of a Gemini.
Meaning:
An active, skilful, witty, clever, fierce man.
When ill-dignified: An indecisive, cunning, deceitful man.
10: Overall relationship between persons #1 and #2
Moon in Aquarius
Six swords descend upon one large sword. The six moons have mutinously ganged up on their master. The battle seems hopeless. Even with the strongest blade, the numbers may be overwhelming.
Meaning:
Fighting a hopeless battle in vain, with no prospect of victory. Partial success by stalling through lack of energy when victory is achieved.
11: Overall relationship between persons #2 and #3
The Root of Air
The initial embodiment of the spirit of air is the bearer of light. The sword penetrates the crown of Kether. In the background ten rays pour out of the spiritual sun, indicating the full potential contained within the seed of the Ace. The beginning of a new way of thinking.
Meaning:
Invoked force, conquest, strength through tribulation, triumph of force. A spiritual understanding with heaven.
12: Overall relationship between persons #1 and #3
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.
13: Overall 3-way Relationship
Sagittarius
Temperance or Alchemy. Creation by way of the marriage of opposites. You are what you create. An androgenous figure stirs the pot. The unity of opposite alchemical symbols (lion + eagle) has produced alchemical GOLD.
Meaning:
Realisation of objectives and goals. Successful combination of energies. A string of successful magickal manoeuvres culminating in solidification. Calculated action. Management.
