Past Life Tarot Spread: 3 Layouts and How to Read Them

A past life tarot spread is a layout of cards used to explore the idea of a previous life as a set of symbols: a role you played, a lesson you carried and something left unfinished. It cannot prove who you were, but it can give you a clear story to reflect on. This guide covers three spreads position by position, how to read the cards, and what a written past life reading can and cannot do.

I’m Meriem, and I prepare every PuraTarot reading by hand. I will be plain about the limits of past life tarot cards, because that honesty is what makes the reflection useful.

At a glance

• What it is: a tarot layout that treats a “past life” as a symbolic story: who you were, what you carried, what to release.
• Who it is for: adults curious about a recurring pattern, a pull toward a place or era, or a person who feels familiar.
• Price from: free with your own deck at home; a written PuraTarot past life reading starts at $9.99.
• Delivery: a 3–6 page PDF with a photo of your spread, sent to your checkout email the same hour or the same day.

What is a past life tarot spread, and can tarot tell you about your past life?

A past life tarot spread gives each card position a question about a previous life: who you were, what you learned, what you left undone. Past life card spreads are popular because they turn a vague feeling (“I’ve been here before”) into something you can look at and write about.

What a spread can honestly show

Tarot works with symbols, not records. A past life tarot reading can show you a theme (solitude, service, loss, leadership), a pattern that repeats in your current life, and a lesson you might be ready to close. Whether that story is a literal earlier life or a picture your mind builds is a matter of belief; either way, you get a fresh angle on something you already feel.

What it cannot show

• It cannot verify names, dates, places or historical facts.
• It cannot tell you how you died, and a spread should not pretend to.
• It is not therapy and cannot treat a fear or trauma; if a reading stirs up real distress, a licensed professional is the right next step.
• It cannot reveal another person’s private thoughts, even in a relationship spread.

How to do a past life tarot spread step by step

If you have searched for how to do a past life reading with tarot cards, here is the whole process. It takes about twenty minutes with any standard 78-card deck.

1. Choose a quiet space. Turn off notifications and sit where you will not be interrupted. Calm matters more than candles or props.
2. Set one clear intention. Say or write what pulled you here: “I want to understand my fear of deep water” or “I want to understand why this person feels familiar.”
3. Shuffle slowly. Hold the question in mind and stop when it feels done.
4. Lay out the spread. Place each card in its numbered position face down, then turn them over one at a time.
5. Read the imagery first. Before you look up any meanings, describe what you see: who is in the picture, what they are doing, what the mood is. That first description is often the most honest part.
6. Journal it. Write the cards, positions and first impressions, then come back in a week and note what still rings true.

Three past life tarot spreads, position by position

Start with the 3-card layout if you are new. Move to the 5-card karmic tarot spread for more detail, and use the 7-card past life relationship tarot spread when your question is about one person.

1. The 3-card beginner spread

Lay three cards in a row, left to right. It answers the simplest version of “who was I in my past life?” without overwhelming you.

• Position 1, who you were: the role or archetype of that life. A Major Arcana card points to a strong identity; a court card to a personality type.
• Position 2, what you carried: the lesson, wound or strength you brought forward, which usually explains your present-day pattern.
• Position 3, what to release: what is ready to be set down, as an invitation rather than a command.

2. The 5-card past life and karma spread

Lay one card in the center, then two on each side. This karmic tarot spread adds a “trigger” position, which is where most of the practical insight lives.

• Position 1, core theme: the main storyline of the past life (duty, love, exile, craft, power).
• Position 2, unresolved karma: what was left undone or unhealed. Here “karma” means unfinished business, not punishment.
• Position 3, gift carried over: a talent, instinct or strength that seems to have come with you.
• Position 4, present-day trigger: the situation, person or feeling that keeps waking this theme now.
• Position 5, integration lesson: how to work with the theme instead of repeating it.

3. The 7-card past life relationship spread

Use this when someone feels familiar within minutes of meeting them. Lay positions 1 and 4 in a center column, 2 and 3 above them, and 5, 6 and 7 in a row below.

• Position 1, the past bond: the symbolic nature of the connection (allies, rivals, family, teacher and student).
• Position 2, their role: the part they played in that story.
• Position 3, your role: the part you played.
• Position 4, what was unfinished: the promise, conflict or goodbye that never got its ending.
• Position 5, how it shows up now: instant trust, instant friction or a pull you cannot explain.
• Position 6, what this connection teaches: the lesson for you, whatever the other person does.
• Position 7, how to move forward: the healthiest next step for you.

One honest note: this spread describes your side of the connection. It cannot read the other person’s mind or promise the relationship will go anywhere. If your question is really about the relationship itself, see my love tarot spread guide.

How to read past life tarot cards symbolically

Past life tarot cards are the same deck as any other reading. What changes is the lens, and this is the one I use.

Major Arcana: the archetype or role

A Major Arcana card in a “who you were” or “core theme” position points to a strong identity. Ten common ones look like this in past life work.

Suits: the flavor of that life

• Wands: a life of movement, ambition, travel or creative fire.
• Cups: a life defined by love, family, loss or devotion.
• Swords: a life of conflict, ideas, law or hard truths.
• Pentacles: a life of land, trade, craft, money or survival.

Court cards: the people

Court cards usually represent people. A Page suggests someone young or learning, a Knight someone on a mission, a Queen someone who nurtured or ruled quietly, and a King someone with open authority. In a relationship spread, the suit often shows how that person related to you.

Reversals: unfinished business

In past life work I read reversals as unfinished business: something started but never completed, or a lesson learned the hard way. A reversal in the “what to release” position is often the most useful card.

Signs of a past life: 10 experiences people report

People often ask, “How do I know if I’ve lived a past life?” There is no test for it. These are the signs of a past life people most often describe when they order a reading, presented as experiences, not proof; each has ordinary explanations too.

1. Déjà vu with places. Arriving somewhere new and feeling you already know the streets.
2. Unexplained fears. A strong fear of deep water, fire, heights or enclosed spaces with no known cause.
3. Talents with no origin. A language, instrument or craft that came easily and nobody taught you.
4. Recurring dreams. The same dream set in a different time, place or body.
5. Instant familiarity with a person. Meeting someone and feeling you have known them for years.
6. A pull toward an era or culture. A lifelong fascination with one period of history or part of the world.
7. Unexplained aversions. A dislike of a food, object or symbol that makes no sense in this life.
8. Feeling older than your years. The “old soul” feeling, often noticed in childhood.
9. Homesickness for nowhere. Missing a place you cannot name.
10. Physical sensations tied to a story. A mark, ache or reaction you have quietly built a narrative around.

If one of these brought you here, write it down; it is the detail that makes a spread specific instead of generic.

Past life regression vs a past life tarot reading

Past life regression and a past life tarot reading are often confused, but they are different practices. Regression is a hypnosis-based session guided by a practitioner, while a tarot reading is a symbolic reflection using cards.

Neither one proves reincarnation. If you are comfortable with hypnosis and want an immersive experience, regression may appeal to you; if you want a low-cost reflection you can keep, a written reading is simpler.

A sample past life reading (example only)

This is a made-up example to show how I interpret a 3-card spread; “Sam” is not a real client. Sam’s note said: “I’ve always been uneasy in crowds and drawn to quiet, disciplined work. I’d like to understand where that comes from.”

The cards

• Position 1, who you were: The Hermit. A solitary role, someone who lived apart from the group: a scholar, a healer, a keeper of something quiet.
• Position 2, what you carried: Five of Pentacles. Two figures out in the cold while warm light shines behind a window: being on the outside, and believing the warmth is not for you.
• Position 3, what to release: Eight of Swords, reversed. The blindfold loosening, the swords no longer a cage; the habit of self-protection is ready to soften.

How I would read them together

As a story, these cards describe solitude that once kept you safe and now keeps you separate. The Hermit and the Five of Pentacles suggest “quiet and disciplined” was a strength born outside the circle. The reversed Eight of Swords says the walls are yours to lower, a little at a time.

In the written PDF I would connect each card to Sam’s context and end with one reflection question. I would not say where or when this life took place, because the cards cannot tell and I will not guess.

What to put in the “Your details for this reading” box

On the product page, you type your details into the “Your details for this reading” box before you add the reading to your cart. This is what makes the reading personal.

A simple template

• Your first name.
• Your main question. One sentence, such as: “What pattern from a past life might explain my fear of deep water?”
• Brief context, up to two related points. The pattern that made you curious: the recurring dream, the familiar place, the talent with no origin.
• For a relationship question: the other person’s first name if the product page asks, and how you know them.

Then choose Same Hour or Same Day and check out. I shuffle, lay out the spread, photograph it, write the interpretation card by card and as a whole, and email the PDF to your checkout address. Read more in how personalized tarot readings by email work, or check the acceptable questions page if unsure what to ask.

FAQ

How to do a past life tarot spread?

Pick a quiet space and set one intention, such as a fear or a person you want to understand. Shuffle with that question in mind, lay out three, five or seven cards in the positions above, and describe the imagery before you check any meanings. Journal your impressions and revisit them in a week.

Can tarot tell you about your past life?

Tarot can offer a symbolic story about a past life: a role, a lesson, a gift and something unfinished. It cannot verify names, dates or historical facts, and it cannot tell you how you died. Treat the reading as a mirror for patterns you already feel, not as a record of what happened.

How do I know if I’ve lived a past life?

There is no reliable test, only experiences people report: déjà vu with places, unexplained fears, talents with no origin, recurring dreams and instant familiarity with certain people. These are not proof, and each has everyday explanations too. If one keeps returning, a past life tarot spread is a gentle way to explore it.

Which tarot spread is best?

For past life work, the best spread is the one that matches your question. The 3-card spread suits a first attempt or a single pattern, the 5-card past life and karma spread shows how a theme plays out today, and the 7-card relationship spread is for a specific person who feels familiar.

Who was I in my past life: can tarot answer that?

Not literally, because the cards will not produce a name, a country or a century. What they can do is describe an archetype (a healer, a leader, an outsider, a teacher) and the flavor of that life through the suits. Most people find the archetype more useful anyway, because it explains a pattern they are living with now.

Is a past life reading the same as regression?

No. Past life regression is a hypnosis-based session led by a practitioner, usually lasting one to three hours, in which you describe images that surface. A past life tarot reading uses cards and gives you a written, symbolic interpretation you can keep; it costs far less and does not involve hypnosis.

Which reading fits you?

If you would rather have a reader lay the spread and write it up, these are the past life readings I offer. Each is a written PDF with a photo of your cards, delivered the same hour (subject to my availability) or the same day.

• Past-Life and Reincarnation Tarot Reflection ($9.99–$11.99): the best fit for one pattern, fear or pull you want to understand.
• Past-Life Identity and Soul-Pattern Tarot Reading ($13.99–$15.99): the deeper option when you want to look at who you were and the pattern you keep repeating.
• Twin Flame Connection Tarot Reading ($9.99–$11.99): if your question is really about a person who feels familiar, start here instead.

You can browse everything in the past life reflection category. A past life reading online is only as good as the detail you give it, so write down the pattern that made you curious and I will take it from there.

Readings are for adults, for personal clarity; they are not medical, mental-health, legal, financial or professional advice, and no outcome is guaranteed. See the full disclaimer.