Learning to read tarot requires a combination of knowledge and intuition that anyone can develop. Follow these steps to hone your interpretation skills to offer guidance to those seeking advice, or to help you in your personal growth.
Steps
Part 1 of 5: Familiarize yourself with the Tarot
Step 1. Choose a deck of cards
The different tarot decks use different symbologies. One of the most used types are the Rider-Waite tarot or one of its clones - the Morgan-Greer, for example. However, it is important that a tarot deck speaks to you, so try several and read reviews to understand what their weaknesses and strengths are.
- Classic and popular decks are always around, but new ones are released every year, so there's always something to choose from in an ever-changing inventory.
- The five most commonly used tarot decks of all time are: Deviant Moon, Rider-Waite, Aleister Crowley Thoth, DruidCraft, and Shadowscapes.
Step 2. Set a goal
Defining exactly what you hope to achieve in your tarot relationship can help you on your fortune telling journey. Once your final result is clear, you will be able to objectively determine what your current situation is and what steps to take to get to your "destination". Ask yourself what your intentions are and how you plan to use tarot cards to help others. Your goal can be to develop your intuition, enhance your creativity, or connect with your spiritual strength. These goals will be different and personal.
Step 3. Transfer your energy to the deck
The best way to do this is by handling the cards. Keep mixing them. Put them in order (from the Fool to the World, followed by each of the suits, from the Ace to the Ten, then Page, Jack, Queen and King). Handling cards helps you make them an extension of you.
Step 4. Understand how the deck works
A tarot deck consists of 78 cards: 22 major arcana and 56 minor arcana. You must memorize and be able to identify each card as well as give two divinatory meanings for each of them.
- Major Arcana. The archetypes of tarot cards represented in the major arcana are images that recall life and the stages and experiences that we all live. They tell the story of the path experienced by each of us, starting with the Fool (young, pure energy in the spiritual form), passing through all events and cycles, until reaching completion in the World (the end of our life cycle).
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Minor Arcana. The minor arcana describe people, events, feelings and circumstances that we encounter in our personal "Journey of the Fool". They represent events that are under our control and indicate how to do something. The minor arcana is very similar to a traditional playing card deck. They consist of four suits, and each of these suits is associated with one of the elements: Wands (Fire), Cups (Water), Coins (Earth) and Swords (Air). There are also Kings, Queens and Jacks, with the addition of Pages or Princesses.
Memorizing all 78 cards will take time. Try to work with a partner who can ask you questions using the deck as a reference
Step 5. Get a good book
A well written tarot book will help you understand the basics and will be of great help to you to start reading them. Some guides you through the process in a way that emphasizes memorization while others encourage engagement. Choose a book that is suitable for your learning method.
- Don't think about relying too much on your book. It will help you to start learning, but you will need to integrate the information contained with your intuition to fully develop your interpretative skills of the tarot.
- Try this method to integrate your intuition with learning. Look at each card and try to establish their meaning instinctively. Don't worry about being right - follow your gut. Then consult your book and check the answer. By doing this you will avoid simply learning by heart, you will overcome the fear of making mistakes. and it will also allow you to read tarot cards in a fluid way thanks to the personal connection you develop with the cards.
Part 2 of 5: The Basics
Step 1. Choose a card of the day
You can choose a card simply to learn about the deck, or, to receive information on the day ahead.
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To know the deck.
Pick a card at random and stare at it for a while. Write down your first impressions and your gut thoughts. Write them in a particular color ink in a diary or notebook. With a second ink of a different color, write the information you can find on the paper from other sources (books, forums, friends). After a few days, re-read what you wrote and add comments with a third color.
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To predict the day.
Start your day by choosing a card. Spend time looking at it. Pay attention to its colors and how you react to them. Notice the general mood of the card and the emotions it arouses in you. Look at the figures on the card - what they do, whether they are sitting or standing, who they remind you of and how they make you feel. Focus on the symbols and what they remind you of. Write your thoughts in a journal - you can use them as a reference to learn and track your progress.
Step 2. Study card combinations
It is important for beginners not to see tarot cards as 78 separate cards, but as a system of patterns and interactions. Studying the combinations can help you understand this concept. Draw two cards from the deck and place them face up, side by side. Now, search for images, places or events within the combination of the two cards. You can work with multiple cards or use the entire deck. The idea is to learn the cards in combinations to develop a deeper understanding of their meaning and gain more confidence when reading.
Step 3. Create the constellations
The tarot constellations are made up of all the cards bearing the same prime number (from one to nine). For example, the tarot constellation for the number 4 is made up of the 4 of each suit, the Emperor (which has the number four), Death (which carries the number 13, which is reduced to 4 = 1 + 3).
- Line up all the cards of a constellation in front of you and ask questions about the feelings each card arouses in you, what attracts you, repels you, annoys you or creates anxiety about the cards, what they look like, what they differ in, and what symbols they seem to share. Repeat this exercise for each of the nine prime numbers and record your impressions in a journal.
- Understanding the energy of each of these cards will make it easier for you to read when multiple iterations of the same number are presented. Instead of focusing on the meaning of the individual cards, you will be able to focus on the energy they have as a group.
Step 4. Play the card solution game
Scroll through the deck and take out the cards you think are the most difficult. Spend time observing them to try to get to the root of your feelings. Then go through the deck again and take out the cards that solve the difficult ones.
This game helps you develop a skill that you can use while reading. When a difficult card appears and you want to help the Traveler solve that problem, you can suggest a card that contrasts the complex card
Part 3 of 5: Doing a Simple Read
Step 1. Tell a story
A tarot reading is a narrative, a story you tell those who seek your advice. It is an attempt to highlight past influences, understand current circumstances, and predict the most likely future. The future you speak of is not a fixed or definitive result; it is important to remember that there are no final or absolute endings.
Step 2. Familiarize yourself with the layout
Tarot arrangement is a pattern or pattern followed by the cards. These schemes provide the basis for their interpretation. Furthermore, each position of the cards in the diagram has a specific meaning. Your reading will use the position of the cards within a specific theme. For example, many provisions include positions for the past, present and future. They can also include positions for inner feelings, specific challenges, external factors, and so on. There are hundreds of arrangements for you to try, and more experienced readers can come up with their own. Experiment with different arrangements, especially trying those that stimulate your imagination and intuition. Understanding which one works best for you is important; many fortune tellers rely on specific arrangements that are suitable for them.
Step 3. Start with a three card layout
A three-card layout is great for dividing answers to simple questions, and for beginners just starting out. Assign positions in advance, lay out your layout, and use what you've learned about card meanings and combinations to tell a story.
- Some possible positions for a reading aimed at understanding a situation are: past / present / future, current situation / obstacles / advice, current situation / aspirations / how to reach your goals and what will help you / what will hinder you / what is your potential unspoken.
- Some possible positions for a reading aimed at understanding a relationship are: you / the other person / the relationship, opportunities / challenges / outcomes, what unites you / what distances you / what you need to pay attention to and what you want from the relationship / what she want from the relationship / where the relationship is headed.
- Some possible positions for a reading aimed at understanding a person are: mind / body / spirit, material state / emotional state / spiritual state, you / your current path / your potential and stop / start / continue.
Part 4 of 5: Doing a More Complex Reading
Step 1. Separate the cards
To start this 21-card arrangement, separate the Major Arcana from the Minor Arcana.
Step 2. Create the arrangement
Shuffle each deck, cut it and distribute it in seven rows of three, with one card aside. In this way you will use all the major arcana, but not all the minor arcana. Set them aside in a bunch.
Step 3. Write your impressions
Make a list of the cards you have discovered. Choose a word that best describes them and write it next to them.
Step 4. Look at the pictures on the cards
What do they suggest to you? Identify a narrative pattern, as if you were reading an illustration book and trying to understand its story. Patterns can go vertically, horizontally, diagonally or from first to last. The card on the side symbolizes the most important element of the situation.
Step 5. Ask questions
Ask yourself what situations in your life or the life of the person you are playing the cards seem to allude to.
Step 6. Consider the alternatives
Look for narrative patterns that offer alternatives to the first solution you perceived, things that make the situation better or worse.
Step 7. Review your words
Consider the words you assigned to each of the cards. How do they apply to the stories you have identified?
Step 8. Put it all together
Combine your perceptions of the previous steps into one reading. You may be amazed at how accurate your readings are compared to using a guide.
Remember that if at times it seems to you that a card has a different meaning than what the book says, follow your instincts. Following your intuition is the real way to read tarot cards and in some cases it will come naturally to you when you have more experience. Let the cards speak to you
Part 5 of 5: Protecting Your Deck
Step 1. Store your deck properly
Tarot cards can gather negative energy which will interfere with your readings. It is recommended to store your cards in a black bag or wooden tarot box. You can add gems or herbs that stimulate your psychic abilities.
Step 2. Decide who can touch your cards
You will have to decide whether or not to allow the Traveler (who receives the reading) to touch your cards. Some fortune tellers encourage Travelers to do this - they shuffle the deck as a way to transfer their energy to the cards. Others prefer not to contaminate the cards with someone else's energy.
Step 3. Purify your deck
There will be times when you will need to purify your deck to rid it of negative energy. There are many ways to do this, but a simple one involves using one of the four elements. When you use this method, start fanning the deck; if a complete purification is required, you will need to purify the cards one at a time.
- Land. Bury your protected deck in sand, salt, or earth for 24 hours. Alternatively, fan your deck on a handkerchief and sprinkle the cards with salt or sand for a minute or two, or with a combination of basil, lavender, rosemary, sage, or thyme.
- Waterfall. Lightly wet your cards with water, herbal tea, or a vegetable infusion and dry them immediately, or expose your deck to moonlight in a protected area for half the night.
- Fire. Taking care not to burn yourself, quickly pass your deck into a candle flame. You can also expose the deck to sunlight for half a day in a protected area.
- Air. Swipe your deck five to seven times over the incense. Or take a deep breath and slowly exhale over the deck three times.
Advice
- Consider the arrangement of the Major Arcana as an illustration of the spiritual and deeper aspects of life situations and the Minor as a mirror of daily events.
- Use the time you spend shuffling the deck to clear your mind. Choose cards with backs you like so you can use them as a meditative focus.
- Use crystals to add energy and setting.
- Turn all the cards to the right side if you want to avoid overturned cards. They can add information, but it is not necessary and can make learning more difficult.
- When you feel ready to face upside down cards, there are a couple of ways to interpret them. Some fortune tellers simply associate the opposite of the meaning of straight paper, but this can reduce the reading to such a low level that it is of little value. It may be more interesting to ask whether the upside-down card has become less direct in some way. For example, in an inverted 10 of cups, is his joyful energy blocked, delayed, apparent but not real, real but not apparent, hidden, promised, or not present in some other way? The context will often clarify the situation.
- Use the remaining Minor Arcana deck to work out particularly complex card interpretations. Choose one or more cards from the deck and flip them over the more difficult cards. Read them like a short story.
- Light candles and incense to create a relaxed setting for your readings. You can also use a glass of wine and soft music.
- In some cases a tarot reading may seem confusing or ambiguous. To refine it, practice "reverse readings": think first of a meaning, then try to think about which cards can represent it. When you ask a tarot reading a question, imagine the answers you might get and what cards they might represent - before you start drawing.
Warnings
- Remember to give proper weight to tarot reading.
- If you firmly believe in free will, that doesn't mean you can't benefit from the descriptive power of tarot cards. Think of tarot reading as a road map, helping you choose which direction to go, rather than a prediction.
- Some decks can cut you. be careful!
