When giving a tarot reading, the tarot reader will use a spread of cards from the tarot deck. There are many spreads a reader can choose from, some are specific for different purposes, whilst others are for general readings. Spreads can involve drawing as many cards as the whole deck of 78, while a spread can also be just two, or even just one card.

The most common spread is probably the 10 card Celtic Cross Spread.

Together with the general and usually random selection of cards from the deck, a card might also be chosen prior to the reading as a representation of the person receiving the reading. This card is called the Significator.

The Significator card has its own position in some spreads, and in others it has no position at all and can simply be drawn or chosen from the deck before the reading.

The purpose of the Significator card is to help the reader focus on the person receiving the reading. The chosen card can be an indication to the reader of the person's character, or aspects of character and personality that are hidden. Such a card can also be chosen as a representation of the particular or specific issue relevant to the subject of the reading at this time.

As the Significator is normally used by a tarot reader to signify the character of the person receiving the tarot reading, it is not normally a randomly drawn card, although it can be. The court cards lend themselves well as representations of the human character and personality, because they are pictorially and symbolically human. An example is the Queen of Cups.

This Queen embodies feminine mystery, and exemplifies fragility and a keen intuition. Such a person will have a strange watery seductive power, and one not necessarily associated with great beauty. She will like the attention of others, while not attracting it overtly. The Queen of Cups is easily hurt, and will be inclined to seek solitude for protection.

However, it is not essential that a court card be used, as any card in the deck can represent a person.

As is true with many aspects of the tarot, there are no hard and fast rules concerning the use or otherwise of Significators in a tarot reading, and the tarot reader can decide whether to incorporate it.

If a tarot reader uses a spread that has a position for a Significator, the reader can choose to ignore this position, if they do not want to incorporate this element in the reading. If they do want to incorporate the Significator, they must select the card.

There are many ways to select the significant card, including matching a court card's physical characteristics to the subject of the reading, to selecting a card randomly from the deck.

How a Significator is chosen, or whether one is used at all, is up to the tarot reader.