I know for me, tarot was hard to pick up and even today, I will still consult the book that came with my deck to ensure I am reading and interpreting my cards correctly. I would have loved to have had a few tips and tricks when I was just starting off. It certainly would have made learning much easier. These are just a few of the biggest tips that I think would help beginning diviners!
- The major arcana tell you which universal force is surrounding you. The minor arcana tell you what you can do about it
- To learn tarot quickly, draw one card each morning and use it as guidance throughout the day. Keep a journal and write all the cards down. You’ll see your understanding deepen over time. I use a daily drawing worksheet that I found ages ago. No clue where I found it but it is really helpful!
- The best times of the year for a clear, precise tarot reading are Samhain and its exact opposite day, Beltane/ May Day.
- The tarot deck is full of twin cards. The lovers and the two of hearts for example. When these cards both appear in a reading, their energy is doubled. Almost every major arcana card has a twin in the minor arcana. See if you can figure them out.
- When shuffling the deck, pay attention to any cards that pop our or drop to the floor. Sometimes these cards have a special meaning or message for you. Always take a second and look at the card on the bottom of the deck. Often the same card will appear over and over. This card usually has a message for you.
- Bad cards aren’t always bad and good cards aren’t always good. The Two of Hearts next to The Devil isn’t indicative of a healthy relationship. The death card is ultimately positive, but the experience of change and rebirth is rarely easy.
- A 3 card reading can be just as versatile as a larger reading and is much faster and easier to understand. Possible card position meanings in a 3 card reading are: past present future, you them us, winter spring summer, etc.
- Learning general meanings of each major arcana card can be beneficial.
Fool: new beginning
Magician: manifestation
High Priestess: inner knowing
Empress: creativity
Emperor: stability
Hierophant: learning
Lovers: love
Chariot: moving forward
Strength: character
Hermit: meditation
Wheel of Fortune: cycles of luck
Justice: reward and punishment
Hanged Man: Suspension
Death: transformation
Temperance: moderation
Devil: bad habits
Tower: disaster
Star: inspiration
Moon: illusions
Sun: success
Judgment: inner knowing World: completion - When court cards don’t seem to refer to people, interpret them like this:
Pages: messages
Knights: travel, movement
Queens: creation
Kings: focus, management - A simple technique to predict timing:
Wands- fire- burns fast- days- Spring
Swords- air- flows quickly- weeks- Winter
Cups- water- ebbs with the moon- months- Summer
Pentacles- earth- grows slowly- a season to a year- Autumn - It’s completely possible to learn tarot for free. Shuffle and draw. Use websites like biddytarot.com or learntarot.com to figure out the meanings.
- Don’t feel pressure to explain your process or every card’s individual meaning. Focus on answering your client’s question. For the most part, they are looking for an answer, not a lesson in tarot reading.
- Do you really need another tarot deck? New agers tend to be collectors- crystals, incense, essential oils, jewelry- we love it all. But before you buy something new, ask yourself: Am I a collector or a practitioner? Especially if you own more stuff than you can possibly use on a regular basis. I am very guilty of this. I was new to the craft and bought 12 decks because they were pretty. I only have a connection with 3 of those decks. Therefore, that money is as good as wasted because I don’t really use the other decks.
Hopefully some of these tips may become useful to you in your practice! It doesn’t matter if you are brand new to the world of tarot or you have been practicing it for years. Any new tip I come across, I always make sure to write down for future reference while practicing. There are many others, but these are just a few that have really helped me and I wish I had known when I first started using tarot cards. Do you have any tips of your own that you follow? Leave them in the comments! I would love to hear them!
From our altar to yours, with love from the sea,
