How to Read Tarot
A tarot deck is a deck of cards that follows a particular order and structure, and has its origins in the 15th century Italian card game, Tarrocchi. Source material before the 1400s is unclear and controversial amongst historians. Historical records are limited, but it appears that divinatory use of tarot did not become common until the 18th century, well after the cards were introduced.
There are many different adaptations and interpretations, but a standard tarot deck consists of 78 cards, which comprise four 14-card suits (the Minor Arcana) plus 22 trump cards (the Major Arcana). The word ‘arcanum’ means ‘secret knowledge.’ This deck and guidebook are based on a popular deck written by Arthur Edward Waite, drawn by Pamela Colman Smith, and published by Rider in 1910.
The Rider-Waite-Smith deck was strikingly different from decks that came before it, notably including illustrated scenes for each numbered card of the Minor Arcana. Earlier decks illustrated the numbered Minor Arcana cards with simple geometric designs. I chose to draw my deck as a reinterpretation of the Rider-Waite-Smith because I adore the depth of meaning provided by Pamela Smith’s illustrations. Also, because the Rider-Waite-Smith is so popular, many guidebooks have been written about it—which means that any deck based on the Rider-Waite-Smith format will be instantly accessible, as new readers could pick up any tarot guide and understand the cards.
That being said, below you’ll find a quick guide that will help you read tarot without spending a lot of time studying. The most rewarding way to learn tarot is, in my opinion, to learn its language. Sure, you could simply memorize each card, but you would be missing out on deeper levels of understanding and the beautiful way symbols and meanings intersect. So, consider the following chapter your personal tarot cheat sheet.
Reading The Tarot
Readings are about forming stories in connection with the subject’s life or question, with each card representing a situation, archetype, or energy. Remember that no card is entirely good or bad. A happy card may also mean boredom. A miserable card usually means a chance to start again. Every card is complex and context dependent. The same card can mean different things to different people, depending on their own relationship to the topic that the card is exploring.
There is no set-in-stone method to reading tarot. There is nothing you absolutely need to do or avoid doing to ‘make the cards work.’ I advise you to be wary of anyone who says you can only read tarot one way. There are many methods of reading, and over time you will discover which one feels right to you. For now, here are some suggestions to get you started…
1 - Make Space: Take a moment to breathe and relax. If you are doing a reading for yourself, reflect on your motives. If you are doing a reading for someone else, use this time to connect to that person. Some people have rituals that go along with this, such as lighting a candle or laying down a tarot cloth.
2 - Shuffle and Ask Your Question: You can ask the cards a specific question if you want. You can also just ask them about everything and find out what they want to say to you. If you are reading for yourself, shuffle the deck while thinking about the topic you want to discuss. If I am reading for someone else, I usually have that person shuffle. Some readers don’t like other people touching their decks, though, so that’s up to you.
But What Question Do I Ask?
I find it most helpful to ask the cards for advice. Yes or no questions usually don’t work. Tarot is better at telling you about a situation than giving a black-and-white answer. Sometimes the cards ignore your question entirely and just say what they want anyway. The best readings can happen when you don’t set a query at all, but rather shuffle and lay the cards, and see what they have to say.
3 - Select Your Cards: There are many ways to select cards after shuffling. Some readers take the cards off the top. Some have the subject cut the deck and select those cards. I like to fan the deck out and move my hands over it until one of my fingers tingles over a card. Do whatever feels right.
4 - Pull Your Cards and Place Them Into a Spread: A spread is a template for laying cards down in a certain pattern, in which the position of the card within the pattern gives context to the meaning. There are many spreads you can use to answer different questions. There are many books and websites full of spreads, so I encourage you to look over options. You can find some spreads to try out in the next section.
5 - Interpret The Cards:. When reading a spread, consider the following three elements in conjunction with each other: the meaning of the card, the meaning of its position in the spread, and the subject of the reading. Link the cards together in a story. If you are reading for someone else, I encourage you to make this reading a conversation between the two of you. Most of my tarot readings for other people look a lot like talk therapy.
6 - Closing: Take a moment to think over the reading as a whole. Some people journal about it, some take a photo of how the cards are laid out so they can come back to it later. Some people cleanse their tarot deck with a ritual of their choice. End the reading however feels good to you.
Tarot Spreads
Feel free to make up your own spreads, find spreads in books, and look them up online!
Use different spreads for different situations or just pull a set number of cards and see if they tell a story together.
My favorite way to read tarot is a simple three-card spread. Pull three cards in a line, as below, and interpret them according to the meaning you have chosen to associate with each position. I find with the following spreads it’s best not to ask a question, but to let the cards tell you what the reading is going to be about.
Past
Present
Future
This is a common spread which gives you a snapshot of a timeline of events. Let the past and present cards inform the context of the reading. The future card shows the potential outcome if you continue on your current path. It is important to ask yourself how you feel about this outcome, and if your path should be adjusted.
Current Situation
Obstacle
Advice
This is an excellent spread for understanding a difficult situation and potentially resolving it. The first card will set the context for the reading. The second card gives you insight into what is making the issue difficult to resolve, and the final card gives advice on how to make the most of the circumstances.
Intuitive tree-card reading
My favorite way to read three cards is to pull the cards with no associated meaning for the card positions, then link them together intuitively to form a free-form story. You may be surprised how easily cards come together to speak to you when they are not placed into specific roles.
Reversed Card Meanings
When a card appears upside down, this can be interpreted to alter its meaning—and many guidebooks offer a specific reversal meaning for each card. Everyone has their own opinion on what reversals signify: some readers say that reversed cards mean the opposite of the card’s usual meaning, while others take a more nuanced approach. What you do is up to you. My only suggestion is that you decide before you start a reading if you are choosing to read card reversals or not. I have not given reversed meanings in this book, so you can interpret them any way you choose.
My own personal interpretation of reversals, however, is that when a card appears upside down, that indicates that the qualities of the card have become blocked. When a card appears, the event in the card must come to pass—but if the card is reversed, something is preventing what needs to happen from happening. You, the reader, must identify why and how the card’s meaning is being blocked in your life and remove that blockage however you can. This is still true for cards like the Tower, which can be difficult to work through. If the Tower appears reversed, it still must come down, whatever that means for you in your life: this might hurt, but you can’t move on until it does.
I find this method helpful, because I only need to know the upright meaning in order to interpret its reversal. You may choose to use this method, or any other method for reversed meanings. You may also choose to just shuffle your deck so that cards always appear right-side-up: many tarot aficionados don’t read reversals at all. It’s up to you.