Accepting Uncertainty Tarot spread

some things can't be known

It’s ironic that tarot’s main association in pop culture is receiving direct answers about the future, because in my experience tarot’s truest strength is in helping us sit with uncertainty. As I put it on social media a couple years ago:

We bring tarot our tender inquiries. Sometimes tarot connects us to crystalline answers. More often tarot expands questions, sifts through their layers, explores their amorphous edges. Tarot creates a space for us to contemplate what is knowable... and accept what is not.

And as I said in a blog post five years ago, as the pandemic began:

Certainty is, and always has been, a myth. Things may seem more uncertain now than they were a year ago or even a couple of months ago. But certainty has never been real.

Even back in 2016 I expressed a similar sentiment:

If you don’t know…if you feel like you’ve long been stumbling towards the truth only to find more and more diversions and dead-ends and labyrinths…know that this is okay. There is no race. The truth moves at it’s own pace. Sometimes the wandering is necessary. Sometimes the deeply frustrating moments of unknowing are exactly what you need before setting into the truth. And of course, even once you’ve settled into the truth, you’ll likely find the truth shifting yet again, sooner or later.

Now here we are in 2025 and surprise, surprise; the world is full of uncertainty yet again. This manifests both on a global scale (trade wars, political upheaval, the list goes on) and a personal scale. Tarot can’t always fully dissolve the pain and discomfort of uncertainty, but it can be a powerful ally.

To use this spread, identify some element of uncertainty that’s been weighing on your mind. Again, this could be something personal (relationship changes, career or work issues, personal identity shifts, etc). Or you can use this spread to explore collective uncertainty.

To begin, take a few quiet moments to center yourself. A couple deep breaths can help calm your nervous system as you settle in with your cards. Start by asking yourself “which tarot card represents the highest and best way I want to show up amongst this uncertainty?” For this inquiry you’ll go through your deck face up and consciously select a card. It’s okay if you feel far away from the energy of this card right now. You’re looking for the ideal way you want to show up amongst this uncertainty, and the rest of the spread can help you move closer to this.

You might intuitively know which card to select before you even look through the images. As an example, I’m doing this spread for myself around uncertainty in my business and I knew right away the card I’d pick here is the Queen of Pentacles.

deck: Pastel Waite-Smith

Place this initial card in front of you to serve as your significator. Before you proceed spend a moment clarifying for yourself why you chose this card. You may want to journal, or just think it through. How would aligning with this card’s energy support you at this time? In what ways do you already feel the energy of this card coming forward within you? How specifically would this version of you navigate uncertainty?

I chose the Queen of Pentacles as this card harkens back to a reading I did when I started my business over eleven years ago. There have been times where I felt very aligned with her energy. Most notably when Annie and I launched the Spacious Tarot in 2019. The times when I’ve felt connected with my inner Queen of Pentacles were not only the most prosperous but the most fulfilling.

However, I’m also accepting that the way I align with her now won’t look identical to the way it did in years past. But there are some common themes she brings me: staying diligent and consistent. Being productive but also of service. Examining results but knowing results don’t define my worth.

This version of me navigates uncertainty by staying grounded in the present moment. By taking the next small step even if the outcome cannot be known. She finds a small bit of stable ground to sit with even as the earth shifts.

The rest of the spread positions look like this:

What prevents me from embodying the energy of the Queen of Pentacles? I drew the Four of Cups reversed. This was the first of two times I lol’d as I drew my cards. My friend and I used to call this “the wah baby titty mouse card.” I can’t align with the best version of myself when I’m just wallowing in all the shittiness of uncertainty, and I have been doing a lot of that lately. Poor me, we sold out of the Spacious Tarot and I don’t know what to do next. Poor me, tariffs. Poor me, I don’t wanna do social media anymore. Wah wah wah.

The reversal of the card in this instance feels like a reminder to just observe myself when I get into this pity party mode. To start by noticing when this happens. That’s the first way to soften this energy so that I can more fully step into the Queen of Pentacles.

What supports me in embodying this energy? Five of Swords. Wow, this is an interesting one. At first I had no clue what to make of it but then it reminded me of a conversation I recently had with a loved one about each of our mental health struggles. I told her that lately I’ve attempted to notice when I have an unhelpful thought and immediately shut it down instead of even beginning to entertain it. I think the Five of Swords could be representative of that concept.

It’s easier said than done, of course, but there are certain thoughts I really want to just nip in the bud. I need to draw upon my tools to help with this. Therapy helps. Consciously interrupting my neural pathways helps. Sometimes I do this by saying out loud to myself “NOPE, we aren’t doing that,” when an destructive thought arises. This card affirms that this is an important process to continue.

To represent what I can’t know in this situation I have the Moon, marking the second time I laughed out loud as the cards came forward. How on the nose is that? The Moon representing something that can’t be known? As groundbreaking as florals for spring.

As I sit with this card further, it reminds me that I’ve never known what would happen next in my business. Sometimes the projects I spent months planning and executing amounted to nothing and the things I just threw together got reactions and made an impact. So maybe the Moon here is a reminder that I’ve never really been able to know anything in my business, so this new phase I’m in is really just more of the same. Think of it not as a paralyzing terror but as an ongoing, intriguing mystery.

The Ace of Cups speaks to what I can know. This is a counterbalance to the practicality of the Queen of Pentacles, and it’s another element that has always been present in my business: following my feelings. I may not know exactly what to do next. I may not know how it will work out, if I will fail or succeed or go broke. But I can always know what feels right, and I can follow those feelings. This is what I’ve always done, and apparently the cards want to remind me I need to continue with that intention.

How to sit with the discomfort of uncertainty? Seven of Wands. I see a contrast in this card and the Four of Cups. With the prior, I see my tendency to withdraw, retreat and shut down when challenges arise. With the latter, I see my ability to stand up and face whatever life throws my way. It might be exhausting and at times I need to choose my battles. But this card shows me that a big part of handling the discomfort of uncertainty is believing you can handle it. Just showing up and doing what needs to be done from moment to moment.

I have the Six of Wands reversed as some closing advice. This card tells me that any time in the past when I’ve experienced difficulty in my business, it was transitory. And yet the same goes for success. There are times when I feel on top of my game, supported, confident. And there are times when I feel like a craptastic failure. Both have cycled in and out in the past, and both will continue to cycle in and out in the future. That’s just how it is.

So there’s my ramblings out of the way. I hope if the spread speaks to you that you’ll try it for yourself. And if you do, let me know how it goes.

Solidarity,

Carrie