Hello from the Other Side: Deity Tarot Spread Guide

Every religion has a deity; in mine, there are several. In fact, there are so many I stopped trying to learn about all of them. Instead, I focus on the ones I have a close spiritual bond with. Mainly the twins Artemis and Apollo. We’ve been working together far longer than I even realized. The universe is funny like that.

If you aren’t aware of the deities on your spirit team or haven’t started forming relationships with any, a Tarot spread is a great way to get started. Even when you have done extensive work with deities, A Tarot spread aimed at communicating with the deities on your spirit team can give you a lot of insight into what messages they are sending you. It can even open doors to working with new deities and furthering your spiritual knowledge.

Bottom Line Up Front

A deity is basically a god or goddess, and depending on your religion, you may worship one or multiple. I personally worship a few, most notably the twins Artemis and Apollo. When you worship various deities, it can be hard to keep track, and most only work with a few chosen ones that are on their personal spirit team. I think of deities similar to guardian angels, beacons of hope and purpose.

A deity spread can help you connect to various deities in your life, regardless of what stage you are at in your spiritual path. You can also use them for monotheistic religions by omitting the representation card or changing the question to something else.

My favorite spread is the Getting To Know Yourself Through Your Deity Spread and the 3 cards spread for a message from a deity you’ve already worked with.

Deities: The What, The Who, and The Huh?

The definition of deity means different things to different people, mostly because religion means different things to different people. In general, it means the god(s) or goddess(es) you worship in a religion. There are two ways to approach the idea of Deities. Polytheistic and Monotheistic.

• Polytheism means you worship more than one type of deity or have the ability to.
• Monotheism means you worship a single deity, typically an overarching god. 

Monotheism is a bit easier as there is only one creator or source, only their rules to life matter. The elephant in the room here would be Christianity and its many variations. It’s probably one of the most well-known Monotheistic forms of religion. Judaism and Islam are other largely followed monotheistic religions.

However, Polytheism, while potentially confusing, allows for a lot of freedom in how you practice. I consider myself a form of chaotic Pagan. I don’t really follow any rules closely and only work with Artemis as closely as I do because she won’t leave me alone. I make it up as I go.

I’ve practiced with deities from Norse Paganism and Hellenism, aka Greek Mythology. A lot of the time, I find the Gods/Goddesses to be incredibly similar but have different backstories. For example, Artemis and Skadi are similar to both Goddesses of the hunt but have significant variations in their backstories overall.

I worship both as different forms of Artemis; Skadi has always felt like an older, slightly more apathetic version of the firey Artemis. Neither version should be crossed. This is just one example of the freedom Polytheism allows and the ability to form your own beliefs and theories on life. It’s a fun exercise in both creativity and mysticism.

The Who

There are hundreds of gods and goddesses from various religions, so creating a list of all of them would be time-consuming. Instead, here are some of the most notable from Greek and Norse Mythology.

12 Major Greek Deities

• Hera
• Poseidon
• Demeter
• Athena
• Ares
• Aphrodite
• Apollo
• Artemis
• Hephaestus
• Hermes
• Hestia (Dionysus)

and, of course, the big man himself

Norse Mythology has 7 Important Deities:

• Frigg
• Freya
• Thor
• Loki
• Balder
• Hel

and, of course, their big man

The Huh or Why?

It’s pretty clear that we are steering toward polytheistic religions when it comes to Tarot Spreads for Deities; there isn’t really a point in pulling an identifying card when there’s only one deity you are communicating with. However, you can just skip that part and call to God or Source. However, you wish to name your diety.

So why communicate with deities at all? Well, first, you are probably on a spiritual path if you have made it here. So naturally, you may feel a certain pull towards a specific deity only to find the signs have pointed you there the entire time. You will want to figure out what these signs and messages mean and how they can help you on your own journey.

Which well creates a rabbit hole, and Tarot cards can be a bit like Alice’s journey through it. Answering questions of the unknown in a puzzling and often weird way.

Signs can be simple; Loki likes to send a lot of spiders or hide important items from you, only to have them turn up in weird areas. He still owes me a shirt from 2012.

They can also be complicated, interconnected, and funny once you figure them out. Artemis reaches out to me through music and my love of the moon, forests, and archery. After all, she is the Goddess of The Hunt and The Moon. At the same time, her twin brother is the God of The Sun and Music.

I considered myself a child of the moon long before I even knew who Artemis was. She has been interwoven into the music I love since I was a teenager without my knowing. My top favorite artists are also children of the moon, or Moonchildren, if you will. Lindsey Stirling is perhaps the most notable, with an entire album, stage show, and comic book series centered on her Artemis story. It’s an absolute dream that connected far too many pieces for me.

Kerli Kiov from Estonia would be the artist that popularized the name Moonchildren, as that is what she calls her fans. You may know her as the writer behind Skyscraper by Demi Lovato.

That is just one of many weird patterns in my life regarding these two, and I love using these three Tarot spreads to get answers about them.