The Irish Spirit Wheel Tarot Spread

Inspired by sacred circles in every culture.

I love medicine wheel spreads. They are great for expanding and deepening inner wisdom using Tarot cards.

Spirit wheels, sometimes called medicine wheels, are archetypal sacred symbols depicted in art or even physical constructions on the earth that represent cosmological energies inherent in each of the four directions.

In addition to East, South, West, and North, Spirit Wheels often include Center, Above, and Below.

I learned about the Irish Spirit Wheel in Frank MacEowen’s book The Celtic Way of Seeing. In the book, MacEowen refers to an Irish story-myth called The Settling of the Manor of Tara, in which an old shaman-poet named Fintan aids the nobles of Ireland in remembering the proper order of things concerning the land, but also about the inner landscape of the people and the common spirit.

It was thought that the well-being of the land was dependent on this proper order of things, and the land had been suffering. Through Fintan’s poetic recital of the history of the land, the nobles relearned the sacred directions that make up the Irish Spirit Wheel.

MacEowen expands on the story-myth to explain a cosmology of seeing with the purpose of living a centered life, pulling from the energies inherent in each of the directions.

I decided to draw Tarot cards for these energies in my life, and I am excited to share the spread I designed with you. I will briefly explain each of the directions before sharing the layout. Then, I will show you a personal reading as an example and inspiration. I use the Witches’ Wisdom Tarot for this spread.

The Irish Spirit Wheel Directions

Center — Sovereignty (The Goddess)

The center is the “axis of the world” (axis mundi), often represented as a great tree. Another layer of meaning to the center is the whole Self, or what I call vidaxis — the axis of life. If you’ve ever been on a merry-go-round, you may remember feeling less dizzy the closer you were to the center of the spinning wheel.

Medicine wheels, while seemingly focused on the four directions exclusively, all have a center. We can venture out to the edges, but the more we return to the center to integrate our experiences, the more balanced we will be. Each of the sacred directions of any medicine wheel calls us to step outside ourselves, but the center calls even louder for our return.

“Sovereignty is the core, the heart of our life.” ~ Frank MacEowen

Q. Do I apply the lessons gained from experience to convert knowledge to wisdom? What do I need to do to regain my balance?

East — Prosperity (The Hearthkeeper)

In the Irish cosmology, the East is the place of abundance, prosperity, and householding. The home is the beginning of abundance and prosperity, for it is there that we learn how to value things and tend to them to make them grow. It is also where we meet the world and therefore, hospitality is a focus here as well.

The East is the place of nurturing — body, mind, and soul, and also self and others. It is the healthy hearthkeeper that cultivates prosperity through the material and the immaterial, inside and out.

The East could very well be called the direction of self-love. And incidentally the direction of love for others at the same time. This is one of those chicken-and-egg-type situations. We can go round and round asking which one comes first, and there simply is no easy answer. We need both self-love and love of others congruently and synchronously.

We need each other. We can nurture the spirit of kinship between us by sharing our experiences with one another. ~Frank MacEowen

Q. Is my inner and outer space an oasis of good energy? How does my treatment of my Self and home match the treatment of others and other spaces?

South — Inspiration (The Bard)

Here is the direction of the energy of the music of life. Waterfalls, for the Irish, were sacred places of Divine Flow, representing the vitality and power of the cosmos around us and within us. The word muse, from which music is derived, is a word that denotes inspiration through a connection with the rhythms of nature.

Music, as one representation of inspiration, has long been a source of creativity (creation through sound), healing, and transformation. In the Irish view, the music carries us into greater connection with our emotional, passionate, and sensual Self, as well as with the spirit world.

This music can be “heard” in dreams, in nature, in psychotropic or entheogenic experiences, in our relationships with other people, and of course through actual music.

It is important to note that any discussion of music must also include mention of silence, or in a manner of speaking, the space between the notes. We have to allow for our own moments of space and silence so we can hear the music of our own lives.

Rather than a fixed resolution, sometimes we simply need a new rhythm, as if new music has come into our life. ~Runa Heilung

Q. What is the Great Song of my life wanting me to hear? Am I aligned?

West — Knowledge/Wisdom (The Seer)

In the Celtic tradition, the West is associated with the Spirit World, including the Ancestors. The knowledge referred to here is that of gnosis or “knowing” which is experiential. One does not get gnosis from a book alone. It comes through personal experience, and sometimes that experience is from beyond our five physical senses.

The West is truly about wisdom and knowing through the invisible world. This wisdom is of the heart and spirit, and when combined with the intellect can enrich our lives far beyond the mundane, even often banal aspects of our lives. We can gain deeper wisdom when we use the heart, body, and spirit to go beneath the surface of the physical world.

You might say that the West is the direction of Inner Wisdom, one of my favorite topics! I believe that we all experience an archetypal yearning for the Divine, and yet the paths that each of us takes to quell this yearning are often so different as to seem contradictory. But the Wisdom in all these paths is also archetypal in that the energy is of love and oneness, not superiority, exclusivity, or division.

There is an ineffable power and energy in receiving your own guidance, being a witness to yourself. ~Runa Heilung

Q. What do I need to know regarding my own quest for knowledge and/or desire for divine experience? What is the vision I yearn for to guide my life?

North — Testing (Warrior)

The North is the direction of testing and trials, not to make us suffer but to stretch us and cause us to grow and mature. This direction breaks the spell of entitlement and shows us authentic freedom and power. In every circumstance, we have a choice about how we respond.

The true warrior is a paradox of characteristics. Strong and tender, humble and noble, bold but also tempered. A balanced warrior has conquered the ego and is an expression of peace, discipline, and personal refinement, not a violent, war-mongering soldier.

The North is possibly where we truly meet ourselves. It is the place of our shadow selves, all we have repressed or disavowed in ourselves. It is the forge of refinement, where we purge ourselves of the base to become the finest metal. This is where true alchemy happens.

We need to make a shift in our ability to deal with the many conflicts in our lives, to make our conflicts into opportunities…to grow, to learn, and to create. ~Thomas Crum

Q. What do I need to learn in the areas of my suffering? How can I mediate conflictive energy within myself?

The Irish Spirit Wheel Spread

Let us draw five cards and see what insights are to be gained. I share my own personal “reading” of the cards. I encourage you not only to consider if there is any wisdom there for you (and leave what doesn’t serve you) but also to “read” the energy of the imagery for yourself. Incidentally, I am not using the book interpretations to “read” for me. This is about using my intuition and life experience to inform me.

Center: 8 of Fire — This card speaks to me of community. There is something profound about this particular community, however. They are joined together, looking out across the earth to the horizon where the sun is setting.

Meaning: Center yourself in a community that shares your appreciation of the deep and the profound. When you are centered, you are sovereign. Your tribe is out there. (worship, awe)

East: 4 of Earth — What a beautiful card to represent hearthkeeping. Four large stones delineate an area of focus. Rock monuments like this are considered sacred spaces, as are the hearth and home. True prosperity is realizing that you already have all you need and the Universe provides.

Meaning: Focus on what comes to you naturally, not through forcing or struggle. Find this energy within yourself as you go about your day, getting things done. Find this energy in your home and also in your dealings with others. (blessings, grace)

South: 7 of Water — Animals move across the landscape to share a water hole. In an arid land, the animals, although different in type, share a common need and longing — quenching their thirst. There seems to be an indication of each group going in turn.

Meaning: We all have needs. The music of life is created from all the ways we fill those needs, sometimes harmonious, sometimes discordant. If we allow space for others to meet their needs, we also find our own needs filled. (drink from the well of life)

West: Wheel of Life — It is interesting that the card drawn for the West — representing knowledge and understanding— would be the Tarot card that best represents our overall theme with this layout, the circle with its edges and directions. The spider in the middle weaves her web to capture from each of the eight sections (in this card), representing the experiences that will serve her life.

Meaning: Explore your edges (in the physical and the spiritual) without recrimination from yourself or others. Bring all you have learned back to the center and integrate the energies into your whole sense of Self. (do no harm, greatest and highest good, many paths, life lessons)

North: Moon — The moon has long been considered far inferior to the sun and sometimes as a bringer of madness and evil. Lunar energies are far different from the sun, but there is much to be learned from both darkness (new moon) and reflection/projection (full moon) and all the phases in between.

Meaning: The moon is currently in Cancer (the date of this reading is 11/3/23), and we have just come through a partial lunar eclipse in Aries, both of which have us experiencing powerful and strange, even painful and confusing energies. Look for support in others who can ground you and give you perspective on your conflicts and for whom you can do the same. (moonology, light in dark places)

Again, this is my personal reading and is influenced by my current energies, so your reading/interpretation will likely differ with these same cards. Of course, drawing your own cards from the deck of your choice might be preferable. Try a variety of Tarot decks!

Here is the layout for your reference.

I drew one last card (apart from the cards indicated in the spread) as I contemplated how to return to center and integrate the energies of the five cards already drawn. I drew the Ace of Water. It indicates a need to feel all of my feelings in each of these areas and not bypass the emotional solely for the intellectual side of this reading. I may try to do some “Focusing,” a technique developed by Eugene Gendlin for tapping into my body’s “felt sense” for each card and its lesson. Another option would be to use each card’s image as a point of departure for a shamanic or “inner journey.”

What were your thoughts as each card was explored? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the spread and, if you use it, hear about your experience and the deck you used!

♥ Runa

Runa Heilung is the founder of Old Soul Alchemy. She uses imagery and imagination in meditative formats for healing, illumination, and transformation.