Tarot Glossary
The Significator
A significator is a card chosen deliberately before a tarot reading to stand for the querent or the subject of the question, then placed at the centre of the spread. Traditionally it was picked from the court cards by matching the querent's age, colouring, or temperament. Most modern readers have abandoned the practice, for reasons worth understanding before you adopt or discard it.
How it was traditionally chosen
The classical method matched a court card to the querent's physical appearance and age: rank by age and maturity, suit by colouring: Wands for fair hair and light eyes, Cups for light brown, Swords for darker, Pentacles for the darkest. Some readers used astrological sign instead. Written down plainly, the appearance system is obviously a product of its period and its assumptions, which is a substantial part of why it fell out of use.
Why most modern readers dropped it
Three objections, in ascending order of weight. It removes a card from the deck, so a card that might have carried real information cannot appear. The matching criteria are arbitrary. Nothing connects hair colour to elemental temperament. And it front-loads the reading with a conclusion: you have decided who the querent is before a single card is drawn, which is exactly the kind of assumption a reading is supposed to test.
When it is still genuinely useful
Two cases survive the objections. In a Celtic Cross the significator gives the cross a literal centre, and readers working in that tradition often find the spread reads flatter without one. More usefully, a significator can focus a reading on a specific third party: choosing a card to represent a situation rather than a person, and naming what it stands for out loud before you draw, so the framing is explicit rather than assumed.
A version worth using
If you want the focusing effect without the costs, choose the significator for the situation rather than the querent's appearance, state what it represents before drawing, and leave it in the deck, place a duplicate or a written note at the centre instead of removing a card. You keep the deliberate framing and the full 78 cards. If the significator then turns up naturally in the spread, that is worth noticing rather than an inconvenience.
The Significator in practice
- Decide before the reading, not after: a significator chosen once cards are on the table is just a card you liked.
- Say what it stands for out loud, or write it down. An unstated significator is an assumption; a stated one is a premise the reading can push back on.
- If you use one for a third party, be honest that it represents your view of them, not their inner life.
- Skip it entirely for self-readings. You do not need a card to tell you who the reading is about, and removing one only narrows what can come up.
The common misreading
Often said: You need to pick a significator before you can lay out a proper tarot spread.
More accurately: The significator is one tradition among several, not a requirement: the great majority of readings, including every reading on this site, are laid out without one. Spreads that traditionally include it, such as the Celtic Cross, are routinely and successfully read without it. Treating it as mandatory mostly leads beginners to remove a card from the deck for reasons they cannot articulate.
The Significator: frequently asked questions
What is a significator in tarot?
A significator is a card selected on purpose before a reading to represent the querent or the subject of the question, usually placed at the centre of the spread. Unlike every other card in a reading, it is chosen rather than drawn, which is what makes it a framing device rather than a piece of information.
How do you choose a significator?
Traditionally by matching a court card to the querent's age and colouring, or to their astrological sign. A more defensible modern method is to choose a card for the situation rather than the person, and to state what it represents before drawing, which keeps the focusing effect without the arbitrary matching.
Do you have to use a significator?
No. Most contemporary readers do not use one at all, and spreads that traditionally include it read perfectly well without it. It is a stylistic choice with real trade-offs, not a step you are skipping.
Does removing a card from the deck change the reading?
Mechanically, yes: a removed card cannot be drawn, so if the significator would have carried meaning in the spread, that meaning is now unavailable. This is the strongest practical argument against the traditional method, and the reason some readers mark a significator's place without taking the card out of the deck.
Put it to use
The vocabulary is only worth much once you are reading with it.