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The idea of past lives has become increasingly popular with the resurgence of spirituality, Tarot cards, and crystals. Admittedly, it’s started to creep up in my life as well. There is no denying that some situations, events, and people just seem all too familiar. My best friend and I often talk about how we’ve shared past lives, what we did in them, and what the purpose of our relationship is now.
All questions that are often found in past life Tarot spreads. We’re no closer to the answer now than we were a decade ago, but at least we’ve admitted that there is an uncanny familiarity surrounding our friendship that we don’t experience with just anyone. It’s a level of knowing each other that’s been there since the start, even before we knew each other’s names.
Past life spreads aren’t just for unusually familiar relationships; they can give some insight into different obstacles, lessons, and areas of reflection in your current life as well. That is, of course, if you believe in that stuff. For those who steer clear of the mystical aspects of Tarot cards, past life spreads can be a great way to add some fun to the reading process. They can also be a fun way to apply card meanings to more creative situations and dive a bit deeper into different card meanings or a fun way to impress friends.
Let me take you through some of my favorite Past Life spreads and dive a bit deeper into my personal brand of weird. Some things of note, I don’t generally read reversals. Instead, I keep in mind each card’s positive and negative meanings and apply them as necessary to the situation. I’m using The Wild Unknown Deck by Kim Krans.
Bottom Line Up Front
Sometimes deja vu is strong enough to make you start exploring past lives and looking for clarification. These 4 spreads will help you dive into your personal past lives and past lives you may share with people who you know or have known in your present life. My favorite is the 6-card spread and the 7-card past life soul connection spread. They provide an in-depth look into past lives while not overwhelming you with cards.
3 Card Past Life Spread
Three card tarot spreads are one of the easiest and most used. You can use them for various questions from a general daily read, a relationship read, or of course, a past life read. This spread asks three questions:
- What is the central theme of your past life?
- How does this show up in your present life?
- What is the most important lesson you need to learn?
The eight of wands for the first question suggest that my past life was full of rapid change. Change can be good or bad; it depends on the situation. This card indicates that the change was overall for the better, but then again, most change is usually for the better in the long run. That doesn’t mean it won’t take its toll when there isn’t time to rest in between.
The two of pentacles for the second question suggest that this theme shows up in my current life through how I prioritize, manage my time and adapt to changes in life. This card focuses on balancing your time, energy, and spirituality. It’s a difficult task to keep one’s life balanced, and all of their needs met.
Admittedly it’s one of my more difficult struggles in life; my brain works differently than many. It’s a superpower in some ways but an annoyance in others. At the same time, I’m highly adaptable to changes in life and can roll with the punches, even when it stresses me out. I just need to cry, and then I can get on with it, usually.
The three of pentacles for the last question clearly tells me, “Ma’am you can’t do it all, so quit trying.” I’m notoriously hyper-independent and struggle to lean on others when needed. The exceptions are few and far between; if I rely on you, I trust you.
This card focuses on teamwork, collaboration, and learning together. It’s telling me that I need to allow myself to lean on others, ask for help, and surrender to the fact that I can’t do everything alone. On a deeper level, it’s reminding me that humans are social creatures by nature, we thrive in a community, and it’s okay to need help.
Reading Summary: The overall message of this reading says in my past life, rapid change was a major theme, and it took its toll over time. In my present life, it has caused issues with my ability to keep my life balanced as my focus is often pulled in many different directions, and I struggle to compartmentalize. It urges me to lean on others and ask for help; dreams are built through collaboration. Eventually, we all need someone to lean on.
6 Card Past Life Spread
A six-card tarot spread is a popular way to expand on a three-card tarot spread. I’ll be reading on my best friend for this one. For a past life reading this spread ask the questions:
- What kind of person was I in a past life?
- What did I do throughout my life?
- What were my strengths?
- What were my weaknesses?
- What was my role in life?
- What kind of person was I when I passed on?
For the first question, I pulled The Fool, the first major arcana card that symbolizes new beginnings, new journeys, and often the naivety that comes with little to no experience. This card tells me that my friend was a free spirit in their past life; they may have been quite naive, innocent, and spontaneous. They also enjoyed new adventures and experiences. They’ve retained their free spirit nature, but I wouldn’t call them naive or innocent.
The second card I pulled was the 7 of pentacles. This card tells me that my friend worked hard throughout their life, building wealth, happiness, and abundance. They went on many adventures to do so, but they rarely took a step back to see the results of their hard work and view the bigger picture. This often left them feeling that all of their hard work was for nothing.
The third card pulled was the 9 of pentacles. I found this card interesting, considering the 7 of pentacles pointed to my friend feeling somewhat out in the cold, so to speak, regarding their work and payoff. The 9 of pentacles is about material luxury, self-sufficiency, and financial independence.
This card suggests that my friends’ strengths lie in their ability to create abundance for themselves and being incredibly self-sufficient. I can certainly say self-sufficiency is a quality they have mastered quite well in this life as well.
The fourth card pulled was the Father or King of Cups as a weakness. The King of Cups is about staying emotionally balanced, even during rough times. He’s a good leader with the ability to be logical and compassionate. At the same time, he can be held back by his insecurities and fears. If you’ve ever known the dark side of a Father of Cups, it can lead to painful situations. This card suggests my friend could be a compassionate leader, but their insecurities often got the better of them.Â
The fifth card pulled was eight of cups, a card about walking away from the things that no longer serve us, or at least that’s how we perceive them. This suggests my friend had often walked away from relationships or ventures because they found them unfulfilling or draining. They choose to wander aimlessly and repeatedly found themselves back in similar situations. They needed to take time to step back and align themselves with what really makes them happy and their ultimate life goals.
The last card pulled was the Son or Knight of Cups. I found it interesting that the King of Cups was also pulled in this spread as a weakness. The Knight of Cups describes someone who is creative, romantic, and passionate. At the same time, he can be jealous, moody, and unrealistic, often up all up in the clouds, imagining a life with expectations that are hard to meet. This suggests that my friend may have died as a more creative and passionate person than they originally lived.
Perhaps they found something or someone to spark that fire later on in life. It could also show that my friend regressed and allowed their insecurities to take over in their past life. I like to think on the positive side. Regardless in this life, my friend has definitely taken to tackling their insecurities head-on and living as a more passionate person.
They are a true romantic at heart; after all, they shouldn’t suppress that or allow society’s expectations to dictate how they act or live life. A lesson learned from a past life, perhaps.
Reading Summary: This reading suggests that my friend lived their life as The Fool, naive, spontaneous, and prone to starting new adventures and beginnings. Throughout life, they attempted many things but often felt unfilled by them, whether that was a job, hobby, friendship, or romance. In the end, they had a habit of walking away from things without taking a step back and seeing the whole picture or seeing it through to the end, where their ultimate fulfillment lies.
They were a compassionate leader who could balance a situation’s logical and emotional side even when things were incredibly rocky. At the same time, they battled insecurities that could creep in and destroy relationships and life progress. When my friend’s life came to an end, they had grown into the King of Cups, a creative person with a passionate and romantic side. They loved hard but could be jealous and moody, prone to falling into insecurities if they aren’t careful.
Past Life Soul Connection Spreads
Past lives aren’t just for our singular soul but also some of the connections we make in our present-day life. As I stated above, my best friend and I have always felt like we’ve known each other forever. We have an effortless dynamic that allows us to be our most authentic selves with each other. I’m always at my weirdest with them.Â
I’ve only done past life soul connection readings on three people in my life. While I’ve met other soul people, as I like to call them, my best friend, current girlfriend, and an ex of sorts who has become an omen of change in my life are the only ones I’ve felt the need to do a reading on.
I find past life spreads to be rather long and complicated. I’m not a fan of spreads that are larger than 8 cards. So I created a small 4-card spread and included my favorite 7-card spread for a more in-depth look. I’ve used the 7-card spread for all three people, but I included one of the more interesting readings.Â
4 Card Spread
A 4 card spread is a pretty basic way of getting a feel for a past life connection with someone in your life. This spread keeps it simple and asks:
- Important lesson from past life connection?
- Person one’s role in the connection?
- Person two’s role in the connection?
- Purpose of current life connection?
For this spread, I’m focusing on my current girlfriend and our past life. Our connection is very similar to my connection with my best friend. Familiar and comfortable right from the start.Â
For the first card, I got the King of Pentacles. This guy is all about business, leadership, and building wealth. He’s a stable dude, but if he doesn’t keep himself balanced and remember that life is more than money and shiny things, he can get in his own way. Nobody likes an arrogant jerk with a stubborn streak. I take this card to mean that we built a business or perhaps some form of stability together in a past life. It could be a family or home as well. Pentacles often deal with money and wealth.
For the second card, I pulled the High Priestess. One of three major arcana cards in the reading. The High Priestess is a card about tapping into your inner intuition and knowledge. It can also be a card that signifies the Divine Feminine energy. I take this card as suggesting my girlfriend in a past life was very intuitive and in tune with her inner voice. It’s a powerful card to receive.
For the third card, I received the Star. This is one of my favorite cards; it represents having hope and finding happiness through your inner purpose. Along with renewal and spirituality. I take this card to mean that I represented hope and vitality in our connection. These two cards together represent two very intuitive and spiritual beings.
The last card I pulled was The World. The final Major Arcana card in most decks. It represents completion, accomplishment, and the end of a cycle with the beginning of a new. I can see how this fits us; the ending of one cycle and one batch of lessons came right before we met. Quite unexpectedly, might I add. There is also quite a bit of travel to be done here.
Reading Summary: This reading tells me that in the past, we built some sort of stability together, whether it be a family and home or a business. There was a lot of wealth found within the connection. Together we were very spiritual; I imagine it was an exciting pairing. In the present day, The World which hits home on both sides. Not only have we had to complete cycles and learn lessons before meeting each other, but travel is also heavily involved in our relationship.
7 Card Spread
This spread pulls cards for each person’s role in the past life connection, what they learned individually, along with the purpose and lesson of past and present life connection. This particular reading focuses on someone from the past that tends to symbolize change when they show up.Â
This spread asks these questions:
- What is the essence of this past-life connection?
- What is the first person’s role in the past life connection?
- What is the second person’s role in the past life connection?
- What is the spiritual lesson and purpose of the past life connection?
- What did person one learn from the past life connection?
- What did person two learn from the past life connection?
- What is the spiritual lesson and purpose of their present life connection?
Change is interesting, and with their presence being somewhat of an omen, I decided to look into our past life connections to see if there were clues. Â
The first card I pulled was the two of wands, a card focused on planning, forward movement, and decisions that are focused on the long term. This card suggests that in a past life, our connection was about planning for the journey ahead and preparing for the obstacles in our way. However, this can also symbolize disorganization. I think we may have struggled to get our connection off the ground in a past life. While we wanted to, it simply never happened.Â
The second card I pulled was the five of swords. The five of swords represents conflicts, disagreement, and fighting to win at all costs. It’s the epitome of “now we got bad blood, baby.” This card suggests he’s willing to fight to get his way no matter what it costs in the end; it can also represent failure. Despite fighting your hardest, you won’t win. This card suggests that he was often the source of conflict in our past life.Â
The third card I pulled is Justice. This was an interesting major arcana card to draw for this position; it symbolizes cause and effect, truth, justice, and fairness. On the dark side, it represents injustice, dishonesty, and unfairness. This card implies finding the grey for me, and drawing it for a person often shows that they are a fair and honest person. They see both sides of the story and try to find the middle ground. This says my role in our past life was to bring truth and honesty of sorts.Â
The fourth card I pulled was the 5 of pentacles; the core lesson of our connection in the past life was loss, isolation, and worry. The event between us in a past life taught us about the importance of loss perhaps, or maybe it just created worry and sadness.Â
The fifth card I pulled was the 2 of cups. Interestingly, the cups suit is all about emotions and learning to balance them. Two of cups represent love, partnership, and mutual attraction. So apparently, in the past, he learned about love and mutual partnership, an equal balance in a relationship. Perhaps the lesson he learned in the past was about unconditional love.Â
The sixth card I pulled was the 9 of wands. Oh boy, a card of perseverance, courage, and boundaries. I take this to mean that I learned how to be resilient and set boundaries through this connection in a past life.Â
The final card I pulled was the Knight of Wands. I have a special meaning for this card; I call him the Koolaid Man. He’s incredibly spontaneous, passionate, impulsive, and adventurous. He often just shows up like, “Bamn, here I am, babe.” This has always made me think of the kool-aid man commercials where he just crashes through the wall.
However, he’s also prone to acting without thinking things through and taking on too much at one time. In relationships, he can be intense and fall fast, but it can be hard to keep his attention once you get it. He plays the field, so to speak.
I take this to mean that our connection was meant to inspire passion and adventure and push us out of our comfort zones. It was also primarily built on impulsivity and temporary emotions. While the connection initially created loss, in the end, it certainly made for a fantastic muse.Â
Reading Summary: This reading told me that in the past, our relationship was propelled by forward movement and planning for what could have been long-term. The main lesson we learned was about loss and isolation. While the lesson we learned during our present life connection focused on impulsivity, adventure, and passion.
His role was the creation of conflict and disagreements, but in the end, he learned a bit about unconditional love. While I marked justice or reaping what you sow and learned how to preserve through hard times. Now, if I only could I be a fly on the wall.
FAQ
Question: How do you Know You’ve Met Someone From a Past Life?
Answer: Generally speaking, you will feel a sense of familiarity between and ease between each other. In the case of my best friend, she thought she knew me from somewhere. I thought the same.
We’d never met, but it’s always been easy to talk and hang out with each other. There seems to be this inner knowing that we’ve been in each other’s lives before we met actually met. I also experience quite a bit of deja vu with people from past lives.
Question: Where can I Find Tarot Spreads?
Answer: I usually just do a google image search and look through the results. Pinterest, Facebook groups, and Labryinthos can be an excellent resource for different spreads. You can also create your own. Think of a series of questions and pull cards for them; make sure the questions help you see the overall picture of the topic.
Question: What is a Good Deck for Beginners?
Answer: Traditionally you should probably use a Rider Waite tarot deck so you can learn the meanings and artwork as they were initially presented. Or you can be a rebel and use whatever deck strikes your fancy the most. I chose a hand-drawn deck on Etsy. But I did quickly get a traditional deck to use as well. I also enjoy The Wild Unknown Deck quite a bit.
A Window into the Past
Past life spreads can give us a clue into different obstacles and lessons we face in our present life. They can also be a great source of fun and entertainment and perhaps even help us understand a relationship in our current life. I personally love the 7-card past-life soul connection spread when I want an in-depth reading on someone in my life that has that deja vu feeling to them.
When reading about a single person’s past life, I’m a fan of the six-card spread. I like some details, but I don’t want too many. These spreads keep that balance well. Shorter spreads are great for quicker readings.
Continue reading:
Ancestor Tarot Spread Guide: 3 Spreads To Connect with the Souls of Your Ancestors