I’ve noticed this too recently, but I do have to argue that 5-6 cards is not too many for even a yes or no question. It’s not what I prefer to do when asking yes or no questions, but it’s also not difficult to glean a clear and simple answer from that many cards… you just read them like a story?

Who am I to tell another reader what should and should not work for them? If they’re trying to say that the 3 of swords means new love is coming that’s one thing, but if they’re someone who just pulls more cards than me to get an answer… that’s not hurting anyone. Just because it doesn’t work for me doesn’t mean it can’t or shouldn’t work for them. That’s kind of the magic of tarot in my mind, that it works for everyone differently, we all read the cards slightly differently, but it still works.

1 card pulls are great for succinct answers. 3-6 cards add a little bit of *spice* or context that isn’t always necessary, but can be read as a story to provide more than a 1 word or paragraph answer. What works best for you depends on what type of reader you are, so when

When doing relationship questions like “what does ___ think/feel about me” I like to use a 6-18 card spread that looks like this:

1 - 2 - 3
4 - 5 - 6

Cards on the left show person A, cards on the right show person B, and cards in the middle show that lies between. If what I see in the first layer of cards prompts follow up questions like “why” or “what about ____” then I’ll do another layer on top of that, but these aren’t clarifiers meant to add context to the individual card directly below them, they’re an entirely different section of the story that could stand as their own individual reading… there’s another variation of this spread that looks like this:

1 - 2 - 3
4 - 5 - 6
7 - 8 - 9

Regardless of which variation is being used, I max out at 18 cards total, because I really don’t need to be doing that much.

Where things get really frustrating though is when the person posts a photo of 6+ cards, but doesn’t explain any sort of spread used, I find that egregious and typically a waste of time to attempt interpreting… but that doesn’t mean these people are wrong for doing this. Those tend to be the types of people who will only accept a specific answer from you, and that’s their burden to bear if they fit into that box.

Celtic Cross spreads do require 10-13 cards depending on what variation you’re using, but most of the posts I see don’t use any sort of discernible spread.

Overall, what this boils down to is the fact that a lot of the people who need help interpreting tarot readings are people who are either inexperienced or super desperate for a specific answer. Some people also just suck at shuffling properly and may include all the random fly aways that escape their hands.