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Repeating cards in a Tarot card reading are quite an interesting and common occurrence. During the course of a single Tarot card reading, the Tarot reader often ends up doing several spreads to answer the different questions that the client might have. And a card or two (or sometimes three) can often pop up repeatedly across those spreads.

Today, lets find out about the significance and meaning of these repeating cards in a Tarot card reading.

Doing a Tarot card reading is not a simple scenario. Clients often have a number of questions that span a variety of areas of their life. Naturally, it makes sense to do a different spread that will guide the client for each of his / her questions.

While doing these spreads, many Tarot readers might have observed the occurrence of repeating cards. Sometimes, these cards pop up in questions that relate to the same scenario, but many a times, they pop up even in spreads done for unrelated scenarios. This can seem a bit overwhelming and confusing for several Tarot readers.

Even in my own experience, I have seen the phenomenon of repeating cards happen in many of the readings I do for clients. As usual, I rely a lot on my intuition to guide me when this occurs. More often than not, I have seen that the first interpretation pretty much applies to each of the appearances made by that card.

Repeating Cards in a Tarot Reading: What Do They Mean?

Here are some of the things that I have seen with respect to repeating cards in a Tarot reading:

  • The presence of repeating cards in a Tarot reading pretty much implies that the meaning / interpretation specified by that card is being emphasized over and over again.
  • The cards are trying to tell the client that this situation / scenario is going to have a lot of weight in the events that are being described in the spreads.
  • If the card describes a situation, then the repeating card might signify that this situation will be a major turning point, or central scenario and the other situations described by the reading will be influenced by it.
  • The repeating card’s scenario might also help identify the time frame when other related or non-related events described in the spread will occur.

Repeating Cards in a Tarot Reading: Examples and Explanations

Let me explain these above mentioned thoughts with examples.

  • JusticeIn one of the readings that I was doing for a client of mine, the Justice card (↓) popped up repeatedly across the different spreads. Most of the questions that he was asking were about his relationship and his career. Now, the Justice card often talks about taking decisions, and acting upon the decisions that were taken. But when the card is reversed, it implies either that the decision was not being taken, or in this case, the client was not acting upon the decision that he had taken. As the card kept coming up (and in the same reversed position) over and over again, I ended up addressing the issue with him face-to-face. He admitted that the interpretation that was being emphasized was true. I ended up explaining to him, how his inaction was leading to the other events that were coming up across the various spreads I did for him. Of course, I left the eventual action taking to him – it was, after all, a personal choice for him. But to me, it seemed as if the cards were screaming out and telling me that most of his troubles and hurdles in life were primarily caused by his inaction with regard to his decision. And if he didn’t take the action, his life would be caught up in a loop of repeated cycles, till he learnt the karmic lesson that he was supposed to learn: acting upon a decision that he had already taken.
  • 4 of WandsSometimes, as I have mentioned above, the repeating cards can tell you that a particular situation in your life is going to bear a lot of weight over the next few months. In this reading, the 4 of Wands card was coming up repeatedly for a client of mine. And of course, she told me that she was all set for a visit out of town, where she was to attend the wedding celebrations of an old school friend. Over the course of the reading, I did a couple of spreads for her, mostly to do with her career. And the 4 of Wands kept popping up. I just said to her that something very interesting, especially with regards to her career, would occur during that time. A few weeks later, my client called me up. She sounded pretty excited as she told me about a very interesting job offer that she had received after she had met someone at that wedding!
  • The EmperorRepeating cards can also be indicators of time – especially when they are Major Arcana cards that are associated with a particular Sun Sign. Of course, this aspect of their interpretation might not work for everyone, but sometimes, my intuition is my best guide in such scenarios. Well, we all know that the Emperor card is associated with the Sun Sign Aries. And Aries time is between the 20th of March to the 20th of April. During a reading for my client, the Emperor card popped up in his General Reading. And when I looked at it, all I heard inside my head was ‘Aries Time’. It didn’t say anything else, so I just let it go and talked about the other cards surrounding it, and told my client that all those events described by those surrounding cards were most likely going to occur in Aries time. Then, the client asked me his other questions, and I went on to do a couple of more spreads, where, of course, the Emperor card popped up again. Thus, as far as time frames went, I pretty much stuck to Aries time! 🙂 Well, after Aries time had come and gone, my client called me up one day, just to tell me about all the interesting things that had happened to him in the month of April (which was Aries time!).

All these interesting anecdotes will, hopefully, help you to judge for yourself how repeating cards can stress upon the situation / time that they are showing. Of course, you might have had other experiences – which is absolutely perfect! That’s how the cards work! 🙂 They speak to each one of us in a language that we understand!

Your Turn

Did you also have similar experiences in your readings? Do you often have repeating cards pop up in your spreads? What have they ended up signifying for you? What do you do when you see a card come up repeatedly in your reading?

Please, do share your thoughts and experiences in the comments section below.