A lot of the personal development meditations, visualizations, and intention setting techniques I’d grown accustomed to were all very similar to spells used in witchcraft. It wasn’t long before practicing magic became my main tool for personal growth. Not only was it fun, it worked.

Goal setting is inherently witchy, in my opinion. It’s a way to step into your full power, make big improvements in your life, and create positive change in your world. There are many magical tools you can use to help you with setting goals, but tarot cards are one of the most versatile. Your tarot deck can help you through every aspect of the goal-setting process including getting clarity, creating a plan of action, evaluating outcomes, and asking advice from your higher power.

Here’s a step-by-step look at how to create tarot spreads that will streamline your goals, and guide you towards your desires efficiently and confidently.

Step One: Get Clarity

Getting clarity around your goals before you take action can save you a lot of time and frustration down the road. Your tarot cards can tap into your subconscious so you can clear about what you really want.

Here are some questions that can help you get the clarity:

• What do I want to feel?
• What do I want my life to look like?
• What is my greatest desire?
• What do I think I want?
• What would I do if I knew I couldn’t fail?
• What do I want that is out of my comfort zone?
• What area of my life needs the most improvement now?
• Where do I need to focus my energy?
• What is my wildest, biggest wish?
• What can I achieve in one moon cycle, one season, or one year?
• What would make me happy?
• What am I passionate about?
• What needs to change in my life?
• What is happening in my life that needs to stop?
• What is not happening in my life that I need to call in?
• What can I not imagine my life without?
• What do I value?
• How do I tend to measure my success?
• How do I feel about my current life situation?
• What do I want my life to look like in one year, five years, and ten years? (Pull one card for each time frame.)
• What do I desire in the short term and what do I desire in the long term?
• What does success feel like?
• What does failure feel like?

Once you have an idea of what you want, it’s time to go deeper. Here are questions that get into what is motivating this desire:

• Why do I want to feel like this?
• What do I expect to feel once I’ve achieved this desire?
• Why haven’t I achieved this desire yet?
• What do others expect of me?
• How does this goal support my values?
• What do I think about this goal, and what do I feel about this goal?
• How would it feel to have this goal right now?
• What would I have to give up or release to get this goal?
• Does this desire fit in with my current lifestyle?
• What would need to change to make room for this new goal?

Step Two: Get Specific

After you’ve identified what you want and why you want it, select a card from your tarot deck that represents your goal. You can go by the traditional meanings of the cards, or by whatever your intuition picks up from the images or energy of the card.

Then write out your goal using one to three sentences. Look back at your tarot card for inspiration. Your goal should challenge you, excite you, and give you an instant visual in your mind’s eye of what your life will look like once you’ve achieved it.

Step Three: Pick A Time Frame

Do this step only if it makes sense for your individual goal. Think about when you’d like to achieve your goal by. Give yourself a window of a few months. Then draw one card for each month to narrow down the ideal deadline for this specific goal. For example, if you decide you’d like to achieve your goal between the months of January and April, pull four cards—one for January, February, etc. Look over your cards and see which month offers the most favorable energy for achieving your goal. Set that month as the deadline for your goal.

Step Four: Identify The Energy You Need

Here are questions to use in your tarot spread to identify the energy you’ll need to achieve your goal. You can integrate this step into your full tarot spread, or draw cards from the Major Arcana as an individual ritual.

• What is my current energy?
• What is the energy I need to achieve this goal?
• What is my highest potential?
• Who must I emulate to move towards this goal?
• What aspects of my personality should I rely on to achieve this goal?
• What are my strengths?
• What are my weaknesses?

Step Five: Create A Plan Of Action

Add a few of these questions to your tarot spread so you know where to start and what action to take.

• What is my next step?
• What are my next three steps? (Draw one card for each step.)
• What are three milestones I can celebrate on the way to this goal? (Draw one card for each milestone.)
• What path should I take?
• How do I get to where I want to go?
• Who can help me achieve my goal?
• What actions will take me further away from my goal?

Step Six: Check For Blocks

Including these questions in your tarot spread will minimize the potential for self-sabotage. It’s totally normal to feel scared or to realize you have some issues around the success you desire. Transformation can feel difficult! If you see some “negative” cards showing up in this part of your spread, don’t worry. Simply use this as information and ask a follow-up question of, “How do I change that?”

• Where am I blocked?
• How can I move past my blocks?
• What do I need to release?
• What do I need to heal to achieve my goal?
• What am I afraid of?
• How do I conquer my fear around this goal?
• How can I get in the mindset of someone who has already achieved what I desire?
• What is holding me back?
• What is distracting me?
• What do I need to call into my life to succeed?

Step Seven: Look To The Past For Guidance

Chances are, you’ve had experiences in the past that can help you as you pursue this new goal. These questions can help you glean wisdom from everything that you’ve already gone through.

• How did I get here?
• What energy led me to my current situation?
• What actions brought me to my current situation?
• What mistakes have I made that have held me back in the past?
• What energy do I need to keep from repeating my mistakes?

Step Eight: Come Up With A Troubleshooting Plan

No matter how good your plan is, you’re likely to bump up against some obstacles. These questions can guide you when things get difficult.

• How will I move past obstacles as I work towards this goal?
• Who can help me when I get discouraged?
• What will keep me motivated throughout my journey?

Step Nine: Evaluate The Outcome

The tarot cards you draw for these questions can give you more insight into whether or not you’ve chosen the right goal to go after. If any of the more “conflict-related” tarot cards show up here, you may want to reassess your goal. Is it really what you want? If the answer is still a resounding “yes!”, stick with it. Know that these “outcome” cards may be conveying a more intuitive, unconventional truth. Also, keep in mind they are just a snapshot of the current moment. You can re-draw outcome cards every few weeks to see if there are any changes based on your energy or actions. Never doubt yourself or your desires because of any perceived negative messages from a tarot card. All tarot cards carry both positive and negative meanings. Always look at the big picture. Tarot cards are magical tools to support your power, not diminish it.

• How will I view myself once I achieve my goal?
• How will others view me once I achieve my goal?
• How will I know I’ve achieved my goal?
• What can I expect to experience once I achieve my goal?
• What can I expect to feel once I achieve my goal?

Step Ten: Talk To Your Intuition

When in doubt, ask your inner wisdom, or wherever your spiritual guidance comes from. There is wisdom and power all around you, and you can access it anytime you want with your tarot cards.

• What card should I meditate on this week (or month) to move closer to my goal?
• What message does my intuition (or higher power, spirit guides or the universe) have for me regarding this goal?
• What message do I need to hear right now?
• What message have I been resistant to in the past?

Mix & Match Your Tarot Spreads

Feel free to use some, all, or none of these steps when crafting your own goal-setting tarot spread. You may enjoy creating a twenty or thirty card spread to get crystal clear on your goals. You might feel that your tarot spread is complete after only two or three cards. Your inner wisdom will be your greatest asset in this situation. Some witches create spreads “on-the-fly”, drawing cards as different questions around a specific goal occur to them. Other witches like to create a full tarot spread first before they begin pulling tarot cards. No way is better than another. You might enjoy a mixture of the two approaches—planning out a tarot spread while leaving room for a few extra tarot cards if you need further guidance. Tarot is an art, not a science, so don’t be afraid to make up your own rules.

3 Goal-Setting Tarot Spreads For Ambitious Witches

Quick & Easy Goal Spread

Card #1: What do I think I want?

Card #2: What do I actually want?

Card #3: What is my next step?

Five-Card Clarity Spread

Card #1: What is my current situation?

Card #2: What is my highest potential?

Card #3: What is my strength?

Card #4: What should I avoid doing as I move towards my goal?

Card #5: How will I feel when I achieve my goal?

Ten-Card Action Spread

Card #1: Where am I now?

Card #2: Where do I want to go?

Card #3: What is the best way for me to get there?

Card #4: What should I focus on for this month?

Card #5: What should I focus on next month?

Card #6: What should I focus on for the third month?  

Card #7: What will be the most difficult thing I face while pursuing this goal?

Card #8: How do I move past that obstacle?

Card #9: What will success look like?

Card #10: What message does the universe have for me regarding this goal?

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Updated on August 20, 2023 by Avery Hart