Do you have a deck of Tarot cards but are tired of flipping through the tiny book that came with them? You can read cards easily by following a few simple steps. Use this method to give great readings and learn the cards more quickly!
Step 1
Be sure you relate to your deck. If it holds your attention, others may find it interesting too. If the deck doesn't appeal to you visually, look at as many others as possible. Go to several stores. Look online. Choose the one that really grabs you at first sight. The more the cards appeal to you, the more quickly you will remember their associations and meanings. See if there is supplementary reading for the deck you choose. You might try used book stores.
Step 2
Separate the Major Arcana from the Minor.
Step 3
Shuffle each set of cards, cut them and lay them out in rows of three across, seven down with one card to the side. This will use all of the Major Arcana but leave some excess Minor Arcana cards. Set these aside in a pile.
Step 4
Make a list of the cards you've laid out. Pick a word that best describes each and write it down beside them.
Step 5
Look at the pictures on the cards. What do they suggest to you? Identify a narrative pattern, as though you are looking at a book of illustrations and trying to find the story. The patterns can go across, down, diagonally or first to last. The card to the side signifies the most important element of the situation.
Step 6
Ask yourself which situations in your life, or in the life of the person whose cards you are reading, the cards seem to be alluding to.
Step 7
Next, look for narrative patterns that offer alternatives to the end first perceived; things that could make the situation better or worse.
Step 8
Consider the words you've assigned to each of the cards. How do these apply to the stories you've identified?
Step 9
Put it all together and combine your perceptions from the above steps into one reading. You might be amazed at how much more accurate the reading is than when you use the deck's guide.
Step 10
Remember that if at some point a card feels like it has a different meaning to you than what the book says, go with that meaning! That is perfectly okay since that is really how you are supposed to read tarot cards as you become more experienced. Just let the cards speak to you.
Tips
- Use the stack of 'extra' Minor Arcana cards to elaborate on particularly tricky card interpretations. Select one or more cards from the stack and lay them on top of the difficult card. Read these as a narrative set.
- Light incense and candles to create a relaxed environment for your reading. A glass of wine and soft music can enhance it as well.
- Use crystals to add energy and ambiance.
- Use your card-shuffling time to clear your mind. Choose cards with backs that appeal to you so that you can use them as a meditative point of focus.
- Consider the Major Arcana spread as illustrating the deeper, spiritual aspects of life situations and the Minor as reflecting day to day matters.
- Turn all cards right side up if you wish to avoid reversals. These can add additional insight but are not necessary and can make learning more complicated for beginners.
- When you feel ready to handle reversals, there are a couple of ways to approach them. Some readers read reversals as merely opposite to a card's upright meaning, but this can reduce your reading to a level so basic as to be of little value. It can be more thought-provoking to ask if the reversed card has become less straightforward in some way. For example, in a 10 of Cups reversed, is its joyous energy blocked, delayed, apparent but not real, real but not apparent, hidden, promised, or in some other way not fully present? Context will usually make it clear which is the case.
- Sometimes a tarot reading's meaning can seem unclear or ambiguous. To sharpen your readings, practice "reverse-reading": think of a meaning first (e.g., "speedy resolution"), then try to think which card which might represent it (e.g., 8 of Wands). When you ask a question of a tarot reading, imagine some of the answers you might get and what cards would represent them--*before* you start to draw.
Warnings
- Some decks can give you nasty paper cuts. Take care!
- If you believe strongly in free will, that does not mean you cannot benefit from tarot's descriptive power. Rather than a prediction, think of a tarot reading as a road map which helps you choose where you want to go rather than steering you in a particular direction.
- Remember to take this with a grain of salt.
Things You'll Need
- A deck of tarot cards
- pencil
- Paper
