A "What is He Thinking" Tarot Spread

Tarot Spreads
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A “what is he thinking?” Tarot spread can help get you some insight into what he’s thinking and some glimpses into the hidden thoughts and emotions, usually this is related to love interests, but the cards can surprise us sometimes.

This spread is particularly useful when you’re trying to gain insight into someone’s thoughts or motivations, especially in romantic or interpersonal situations where communication may be unclear. This spread can provide a glimpse into the other person’s perspective, helping you understand their current mindset, concerns, and feelings towards you or a specific situation. It’s especially helpful when you’re feeling confused about someone’s behavior or when you want to approach a conversation or interaction with more empathy and understanding.

The Spread

  1. Mirror of His Mind - Reflects his current thoughts and mental state
  2. Veil of Secrets - Reveals hidden motivations or unspoken feelings
  3. Whisper of Desire - Indicates what he truly wants or hopes for
  4. Shadow of Doubt - Shows his fears, concerns, or hesitations
  5. Beacon of Action - Suggests his likely next move or intended course of action

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Significant Cards

The Moon - This card reveals illusions, hidden emotions, and subconscious thoughts, making it essential for uncovering what lies beneath the surface of his conscious mind and any confusion or uncertainty he may be experiencing.

Two of Swords - Represents mental conflict and indecision, perfectly capturing when someone is torn between choices or struggling to reconcile their thoughts with their feelings, which is often why their behavior seems unclear.

King of Cups - Signifies emotional maturity and control over feelings, indicating whether he’s processing his emotions healthily or potentially suppressing them, which directly impacts how he communicates (or doesn’t communicate) his true thoughts.

Timing & Preparation: The spread is best performed during a waning moon phase, when energies are conducive to revealing hidden thoughts and intentions. This spread can be particularly insightful when done on a Monday, which is associated with emotions and intuition. Before starting, take a few moments to clear your mind and focus on the person in question. You may find it helpful to hold an object that reminds you of them to strengthen the connection.

Deck Suggestions: The classic Rider-Waite Smith deck is an excellent choice due to its rich symbolism and detailed imagery, which can provide insightful perspectives into someone’s thoughts and emotions. The Morgan-Greer Tarot is another great option, as its lively colors and expressive characters can help readers tap into the emotional undercurrents of the situation. For those seeking a less conventional approach, the Osho Zen Tarot offers a unique perspective, focusing on self-reflection and inner wisdom, which can be good when trying to understand another person’s mindset.

Pay close attention to how the cards interact and tell a story together, rather than interpreting each one in isolation (good practice for any type of reading).

Look for recurring symbols, elements, or numbers across the cards, as these often point to key themes in his thoughts and feelings. A variation to what is he thinking is doing a reading to see if he is thinking about you.

After the reading, take time to journal about your insights, noting any intuitive hits or personal associations that came up during the process. These can be just as valuable as traditional card meanings. When it comes to reversals in this spread, maybe they are internal or hidden aspects of his thinking rather than purely negative influences; they may represent thoughts he’s not yet ready to express or areas where he feels conflicted.

Please share your experience with this reading or your variations :heart:

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When you’re deeply invested in someone, the cards have a sneaky way of reflecting YOUR inner world back at you instead of tapping into their actual headspace. I’ve seen it happen countless times (the more you want a specific answer, the more likely you’ll pull cards that mirror your own desires or anxieties rather than their genuine thoughts.

Maybe this your inside scoop before you dive too deep into reading someone else’s mind through the deck.

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Okay, but why does Mr. Mysterious Knight of Cups ALWAYS gallop into position 3 (the desires spot) whenever I’m reading about emotionally unavailable dudes?!

Like seriously, this dreamy boy on his white horse keeps showing up to tell me they want romance, but then position 4 is usually occupied by grumpy old King of Swords or that drama queen Ten of Swords being all ‘but I’m too scared to feel feelings!’ I’ve started calling it the ‘Knight of Cups Curse’, when someone wants the fairy tale but their brain keeps cockblocking their heart

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These ‘what is he thinking’ spreads work incredibly well because they tap into centuries-old wisdom of reading hidden thoughts (last month I did one for a friend and the Shadow of Doubt position perfectly revealed her partner’s fear of commitment that he later confessed to having.

The accuracy comes from how tarot naturally mirrors those unspoken feelings we all carry, especially in matters of the heart where communication gets tricky.

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Thank you for sharing :heart:

My grandmother always taught me that when the same court card keeps showing up but the traditional meanings don’t click, it’s time to trust your gut, I had this happen with the Queen of Wands popping up constantly in ‘what is he thinking’ spreads until I realized it was reflecting how he saw my confident, fiery energy rather than describing him.

Sometimes the cards show us how we appear in someone else’s thoughts rather than their actual feelings, which totally changed how I approach these relationship spreads. It’s like the deck is saying ‘hey, this is the version of you living rent-free in their head!’

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When I started adding my crush’s zodiac vibes and energy patterns (like whether they’re a morning lark or night owl) into my ‘what’s brewing in his brain-pan’ readings, the cards suddenly started singing way clearer stories about their hidden thought-bubbles!

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These readings can be great but you need to be careful if you’re doing them yourself that you don’t allow bias into your interpretation. You might find yourself holding more wonderings than wisdom, like trying to read a love letter that’s been folded too many times to make out the words.

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When the Queen of Swords appears as someone’s ‘goal’ in relationship readings, it often represents their desire to connect with the querent’s intellectual or independent qualities rather than indicating coldness, it’s like Jung’s concept of the anima/animus where we’re drawn to qualities in others that reflect underdeveloped aspects of our own psyche.

The recurring appearance of changing cards like Strength and Judgement in your spreads about this person suggests they may be projecting their own need for inner growth onto the connection with you, which actually aligns beautifully with The Sun as the outcome representing authentic self-realization through relationship.

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For a reading on someone’s thoughts, make sure you 100000% ground yourself and cleanse the deck before starting. A sign of respect for yourself, the cards and their privacy.

When you’re even the tiniest bit anxious or your mind is jumping around like a little bunny, those magical cards will pick up on EVERY single vibration! Instead of those crystal-clear insights about what he’s thinking (which is what we’re desperately after!), you’ll get this jumbled mess of your own scattered energy. That’s sensitive the cards are!

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I find readings like this are not always clear right away, sometimes you need to sit with a spread like this to really get meaningful messages. I really like your layout though :heart: :pray:

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Curious, has anyone noticed the distinction between reading fleeting thoughts versus touching someone’s deeper self? You don’t want to know what he had for lunch when you’re looking for something… deeper.

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Pro tip: cleanse your deck with selenite between ‘his thoughts’ readings or you’ll carry their energy into your next pull

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I have to confess something. doing these ‘what is he thinking’ spreads always leaves me with this strange hollow feeling afterward, like I’ve peeked through a window I wasn’t meant to look through.

Last week I pulled cards for someone I haven’t spoken to in months, and the intensity of what came through, all those pentacles showing his material worries, the Hermit revealing his isolation, made me realize I was using tarot to avoid the harder work of actually reaching out. Now I wonder if sometimes these spreads are more about what WE need to process about the relationship than what they’re actually thinking.

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When I do ‘what is he thinking’ spreads, the cards often shift dramatically if I wait a few weeks and pull again (which honestly drives me a little crazy because I want THE definitive answer NOW, not some wishy-washy ‘well, energies change’ response!

Like last month, I pulled all swords (mental chaos much?) for this guy I was curious about, but when I checked again three weeks later, suddenly cups everywhere, turns out he’d just been stressed about work deadlines the first time. It’s actually taught me that these readings capture a snapshot of someone’s current mental state rather than some fixed, eternal truth about how they feel. Now I always tell myself to wait at least 2-3 weeks before pulling again on the same person, even though the temptation to shuffle every day is REAL!

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Oh sweetie, I notice no one’s mentioned what to actually DO once you glimpse his thoughts through the cards. Please be gentle with whatever insights emerge - they’re meant to guide your own healing path, not to confront or manipulate. Sometimes the kindest thing is simply understanding why someone acts distant, then choosing your own path with compassion.

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More than any other kind of reading, learning to read the energy between cards rather than just their individual meanings is important here, like when I pulled the Two of Cups next to the Five of Swords, it suddenly made sense that he was torn between wanting connection and protecting himself from past hurt.

These spreads can feel so revealing; they show us the internal conflicts someone might not even realize they’re carrying.

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When you open pathways to another’s mental space, weave a protective boundary around your own consciousness first. I learned this the hard way (spent three days carrying someone else’s anxiety after forgetting to shield. Before laying cards, visualize roots growing from your feet deep into earth while golden light forms a protective sphere around you. This isn’t just metaphysical courtesy; it’s energetic hygiene that keeps their thought-forms from nesting in your aura.