The cards will not tell you if he is coming back. But they might help you figure out why you want him to, and whether that is really what you want.
That is not a small thing.
Why tarot helps after a breakup
Not because it predicts the future. Because grief and confusion are hard to look at directly.
When you are in the middle of a breakup, your thoughts tend to move in tight circles: what happened, what you said, what they said, what you could have done differently. The same scenes, replaying. The same questions, unanswered.
The cards give you something to look at sideways. A different shape for what you are holding. Sometimes that is enough to stop the loop.
A simple spread for this moment
You do not need anything elaborate. Three cards is enough.
Card 1: What this relationship showed me about myself
Not what was wrong with them. Not what went wrong between you. What did this bring up in you, about you, specifically? This card tends to surface something real.
Card 2: What I am still holding onto
This is the honest card. It might name something you are not quite ready to look at. The hope that has not fully landed yet. The identity that was wrapped up in being with that person. The fear underneath the sadness.
Card 3: What I am moving toward
Not a prediction. A direction. What is trying to become possible now that this space has opened?
What to do with the reading
Sit with it for a bit before you try to interpret everything. Your first reaction is usually the right one, even if it is uncomfortable.
Write down what each card brought up. Not what the card "means" in general, but what it made you think or feel, for this specific question, right now.
Come back to it in a few days. Readings after a breakup often shift as the dust settles. Something that felt harsh in the first reading can feel clarifying a week later.
One honest caveat
Tarot is a starting point. It is not a substitute for time, for talking to people who know you, for taking care of yourself in the ways that actually work for you.
But it is a good place to begin the conversation with yourself. Especially when the conversation in your head has been going in circles.
If you have a question sitting with you right now, the cards are ready.