Reading Tarot: Mastering the meanings of the cards

Some traditionalists claim you should learn all the meanings of the cards by heart before you ever do a Tarot reading.

But if you’ve been reading my Tarot series, you’ll know that I call Tarot a language. Requiring that a reader know all the meanings before they start would be like insisting that no one should ever speak a language until they know it perfectly. Neither is realistic.

It does seem reasonable to say that you probably shouldn’t be charging for readings until you have mastered all of the cards, but I personally wouldn’t have a problem with a paid reader who consulted a stack of well-written books to clarify a specific point on a particular card.

I wouldn’t want to pay a translator who didn’t know the language at all, but I have nothing against a skilled translator double-checking with a dictionary.

And as for the learner who is doing readings for themselves and their friends and family, I don’t really know any other functional way to learn the cards (or another language, for that matter). One could in theory, simply study the definitions like the multiplication tables and attempt to learn the basics by heart. But it is unlikely that real understanding would accompany this.

Gaian Tarot - photo by Arie Farnam

The fact is that these are archetypal aspects of life, personality types and key concepts. They are a lot more complex than the multiplication tables.

The best way I know of to master the meanings of the Tarot is to read and study enough that you have a general understanding of the types of cards, the numbers and the suits. Then do small readings for yourself with a book until time and experience give you a more intuitive and genuine feel for what those meanings reflect in real life.

For beginners the Major Arcana cards are a challenge. For many years, the concepts all seemed equally huge and vast to me until I discovered the technique of reading them like the Hero’s Journey, in which the Fool is a person traversing a major life struggle and each of the following cards represents issues and challenges that the Fool has to overcome along the way. Then many things fell into place.

However, I am not sure if clarity came at that point precisely because I had found the magic key or because I had already spent a few years dabbling and had enough experience to make the connection. I suspect that it is mostly the latter.

Tarot is a sophisticated art and it takes at least ten years to master. I would never suggest anyone become a professional Tarot reader with less than ten years experience, and ten years would have to mean ten years of actual practice. Formal training isn’t necessary with all the excellent study materials available, though for some it may shorten the period of trial and error.

A program of study

I once found an online Tarot course that offered scholarships for low-income people and I joined it. But the teacher stopped communicating halfway through, so I didn’t get any certification from it, though I learned a lot.

It is difficult to get good Tarot training and it is very rarely affordable for most people. There is no shame in self-study, small group study or apprenticeship with whichever reader is at hand, but the Tarot is complex and requires serious study, if you want to see serious results.

Here is a course of study that you can undertake yourself and which will give you a basic mastery of the cards and their relationships.

You will need:

• A full Tarot deck with no missing cards, preferably a deck that has illustrations on all the cards, including the Minor Arcana pips.

• At least three serious Tarot books, at least one of which uses classic Rider-Waite definitions. (Serious books = not gimmick books such as The Tarot According to Bart Simpson, humor-focused books, little pamphlets that come with decks in lieu of a book or books providing less than a page per card of interpretation. Psst… I just made that up about the Bart Simpson Tarot and then decided I’d better Google it to be safe. Someone has made Simpsons Tarot cards. They are clever and entertaining, but they aren’t on Amazon. There are uses for these things, just not while actually trying to learn the Tarot.)

• A notebook or notepad app to record your notes

Exploring your cards:

• If your deck is new, it should be organized into Minor Arcana, court cards and Major Arcana. If it is not new, organize it yourself, so that you have the Major Arcana numbers 0 to 21, the court cards organized by suit and the Minor Arcana organized by suit from Ace to ten.

• Start a page in your notebook with a title like “Exploring the cards.” Write down your impressions as you continue.

• Look at the four suits. They may or may not be called Wands, Swords, Pentacles and Cups but they are likely to correspond in some way to the four classic elements of fire, air, earth and water. See if you can identify by the color scheme and aesthetic of the cards which suit corresponds to which element. (Note that there is disagreement about the answer to this question even among Tarot masters and your answer may change as you come across other decks.)

• Take a single suit in your hands from ace to ten. Notice how the colors and images change as the numbers get higher.

• Take up the court cards and look at how their colors and personalities match their suit.

• Without looking at the meanings, choose a court card which best represents you at this stage of your life, based on the picture. Then read the meaning in one or more of your books and record your impressions. How well does the card reflect your personality and struggles?

• Pick up the Major Arcana cards in order and fan them out. Notice the progression of colors from beginning to end.

• Hold your hands over the fanned-out Major Arcana cards and move slowly from zero to twenty-one. You may want to close your eyes. Do you sense intensity or tension along the way? Is there a section or a card that draws your attention?

• Add the digits of your birthdate together like this. If your birthday is Jan 21, 1994,, you add 1 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 9 + 9 + 4 = 27 And then if your result is higher than 21, you add again. In our example, 2 + 7 = 9. Look at the Major Arcana card which matches your birthdate sum. Does it relate in any way to the part of the cards where you felt intensity? Read about your birth-date card. I find that this card has an uncanny correspondence to a person’s overall life lesson or struggle. I cannot explain why this should be, but I have never known someone well for whom this was not true.

Card of the Day

• After you have completed the initial exploration of the cards, shuffle your deck well. Focus your mind on the day ahead of you or behind you, depending on if you are drawing in the morning or in the evening. Draw a single card, using either the cut-the-deck method or the fanning method. See this post for detailed instructions on shuffling and drawing.

• This single card is your “card of the day.” Read the description and meaning of your card in one or more of your books and consider how this card relates to your current attitude and situation. The card may address a single event throughout the day which has greater significance than you might initially think. Or it may address the overall atmosphere of the day or give advice on how you should conduct yourself.

• Write your impressions of the card in your notebook with the date.

• Each day thereafter draw a new card of the day, read about it and record your impressions.

• Look back at the cards drawn over the last few days. Do you notice anything interesting? Do you understand how they relate to your current situation? Do you find that you keep drawing the same few cards, despite thorough shuffling? Don’t worry. Shuffle well, but this will happen a lot more than pure chance would imply. It is not a sign that you are doing something wrong. It is a common occurrence and generally indicates a pressing issue that extends over more than one day. I have recently received the same Major Arcana card twelve times over the past forty days. And yes, I got the message.

Understanding different interpretations and approaches

• Read through the introductory information in each of your three chosen Tarot books. Notice that this information usually gives an overview of the philosophy and atmosphere of the Tarot system favored by the author. It isn’t hugely important which system you choose, but it is essential that you try out more than one or two before focusing in on one, if only so that you can understand what your method is not.

• Read through the information at the beginning of the section on the Minor Arcana cards. In many books this will come after the Major Arcana and court cards. However, the concepts in the Minor Arcana are by their very nature simpler, more mundane and more familiar to most people. It is helpful to begin your studies with these. Read what each of your books has to say about the Ace through ten cards, what each book says about the different suits and what it says about the numbers on the cards.

• Many Tarot systems employ numerology or astrology to assist in understanding the Ace through ten cards. These are added tools and if you find them helpful, you may wish to ultimately choose a Tarot system which employs them. Even if you are not smitten with the numbers, it is worth noting the similarities and differences between cards of the same number in different suits. Just as each suit corresponds to an element and a personality type, each number has a kind of theme that is seen through the filter of each particular suit. Aces are about beginnings and the seeds of things. Twos are about equilibrium, even if sometimes uneasy balance. Threes are about passion, the tone of which depends on the suit. And so forth… It is worth understanding the diversity of Tarot on this subject.

• Now turn your attention to the court cards. These belong to the same suits and many books will include a section on the court cards that explains what the four different levels of court cards are. (A very few Tarot systems use only three court levels and are still considered Tarot, rather than Oracle Cards, though this changes the ultimate number of cards in the deck.) Court cards are seen as personality types in almost every Tarot system. They have other meanings as well but their most basic meanings relate to personality types. Some systems insist on a gendered approach to the court cards that dates back centuries to a time when gender was a major dividing line in European society. Others take a different approach. It is interesting to note that classic Tarot decks have sixteen court cards and the Myers-Briggs personality test has sixteen personality types. Consider the approaches taken by your three chosen books.

• Now turn your attention to the section on the Major Arcana. These twenty-two cards represent enormous, universal human concepts. Many books treat them as archetypes. The original thinking behind the Major Arcana was very hierarchical. Each card was considered to be stronger or superior to the one before it. Each concept trumped the one before it, and the cards are still often called trump or triumph cards as a result, a tradition that far predates anything to do with current politics. Other Tarot systems are more cyclical in approach, seeing the progression of the Major Arcana as a cycle of change within the individual and in society at large. Similar to this, some systems relate the Major Arcana to the psychological concepts of the Hero’s Journey and use ancient myths and classic human stories to explain them. Read through your three books and take a look at how each one treats these cards.

• Be patient with yourself. Fully grasping the Major Arcana is a lifelong pursuit. This is the kind of thing mystics have spent their lives contemplating for thousands of. years. The only reason to worry might be if you feel certain you understand everything there is to know about the Major Arcana. You might then spend some time contemplating the dangers of the Tower.

• Finally read through the sections of your three books giving sample readings and layouts. Consider the differences and similarities between them and take notes.

Do a three-card reading

• I highly recommend that you try a few types of three-card reading before moving on to more complex spreads. Three-card readings are not necessarily simplistic, but they are short. They give you a good chance of being both specific enough and being able to hold the entire reading in your mind at once.

• Think of and write down a question with an open-ended answer (not a yes or no question), the more specific the better. Shuffle the cards well and draw three cards, laying them out in front of you from left to right. The first card represents the situation or you in the situation. The second card represents the action called for. The third card represents the likely outcome from the present perspective. Record your reading in your journal with the date and your impressions.

• Think of and write down another question or a situation that changes over time. Shuffle the cards again thoroughly. Lay three cards out from left to right again. This time the first card represents the past, the second card represents the present and the third card represents the future. Depending on the scope of the question, this may be a long time span in terms of years or even generations. Or more commonly it may relate to only a span of a few weeks. Either way, if the past appears to date only a few weeks back, it is likely that the future will only look a few weeks ahead. Record your impressions again.

Do a Yes/No reading

• This is another three-card reading but it is a bit more complex and often requires repeated questions. Think of and record a question that should have a yes or no answer. Shuffle the cards well, making sure in this case that some cards can and will be turned upside down, and draw three cards, laying them out from left to right. In the most basic interpretation, three upright cards means yes. Three reversed cards means no. Two upright cards means mostly or probably yes. Two reversed cards means mostly or probably no. Those are the only possibilities. The cards themselves give context and explanation to the answer. This reading is often uncomfortable and brutally honest.

• Record the reading and your impressions in your notebook, and consider whether or not the reading actually fully answered. your question. A yes or no reading often only leaves you with more questions.

• If you have further questions closely related to this question, leave the three cards where they are and reshuffle the rest. Record your follow-up question and then lay out another three cards below the first. You can continue this with further follow-up questions for as long as you need to.

Learn the cards as a language

• By this time you have hopefully become familiar with the Tarot and have at least a vague idea about the meanings of many cards without having to look at your books for each one. Some people will find that they can read the cards without books fairly quickly by using the images and their own intuition. But there is no superior or inferior way, as long as the results speak for themselves. If you want to know the meanings of the cards by heart and decode the language of the Tarot, it is time to treat it like a language, just like French or Mandarin, which you might sit down and learn.

• This will take time. If you have a spiritual or study time every day, take a card every day to study. It can be very helpful to reorganize your cards into suits and numbers to do this. Pick a suit and start with the Ace. Read the description, put yourself into the card and the concept. Write down your impressions based on your chosen book or books and any previous experiences in readings.

• Then the next day, move on to the two of the same suit. And so on until you pass through all of the Minor Arcana, the court cards and the Major Arcana starting with the Fool. This would take you 78 days of study, if you could do it every day without fail. That would be a tall order for many. Another way is to commit to tackling three cards a week or even just one. This isn’t a race but consistency and persistence is key when learning a language.

• As you study the cards make special note of the keywords that make most sense to you. The card’s concept is more than just the simple keywords, of course, but these keywords can help you a great deal in recalling all that you have learned and they can at times be used just like words in a sentence.

• To get to know the cards better, you can use the keywords to make sentences with the cards. The sentence “Childhood friends celebrate a the birth of a baby,” can be expressed as the Six of Cups, the Three of Wands and the Ace of Cups in that order. Try writing messages using the cards like hieroglyphs. Note that this does not limit you to 78 words. The Six of Cups represents “childhood friends” as well as “nostalgia” and in some cases “memory” or the verb “to remember.” That’s just one example and each card has a set of interrelated meanings.

• You can use this technique in a three-card reading as well. Read three cards, not as separate cards but rather as words in a sentence. This is a fairly advanced technique but you can experiment with it until it gets easier.

Practice

• Reading Tarot—using it for introspection, communication and decision making—is a skill. It may not be “a skill like any other.” There is an element of intuition and understanding beyond the purely intellectual. Up until now this study program has primarily relied on mental skills, but that is far from all there is to learning Tarot. Practice with openness and intuition is just as important, if not more so.

• Just as drawing a card of the day and studying the cards in order takes time, practicing Tarot takes time and patience. However, this is real Tarot reading as well. There is no set, defined point at which you transition from practice reading to “real” reading. Once you do a reading it is real. It is simply worth recognizing early on that your first readings may be unpredictable.

• Do a Path Practice Attitude reading. This is a very illuminating type of reading, it is also particularly helpful in learning the cards. Divide your deck up into three categories 1. Major Arcana and the Aces, 2. all non-court Minor Arcana cards and 3. the court cards. Record a question involving what your best course of action is in any given situation or problem. Shuffle each stack thoroughly and draw a card from each. The card from the first stack is your path, the major life lesson this situation or problem involves. The card from the second stack is the best action you can take to solve a problem or bring about the best in the situation. The card from the third stack represents the attitude you should attempt to emulate. This reading gives excellent advice and is a helpful aid to learning all of the cards if it is repeated many times.

• Do complex readings for. yourself. Use your books or the internet to find readings with multiple card placements. I will eventually post about some of my favorite spreads, but for now it is plenty to simply experiment with the layouts listed in the Tarot book you have chosen. Make sure you do several more complex readings for yourself before moving on to reading for your family and friends. This is simply good practice. If you were painting nails, you’d practice on yourself first.

• Keep notes and do readings over the course of several months. You can certainly do small readings every day, though complex readings may be best reserved for a once-per-week or once-per-month event. in the beginning it is good to do something with the Tarot at least every few weeks. Otherwise it is difficult for you to internalize the language of the Tarot both intellectually and intuitively.

• Do at least three readings for others. It is definitely a good idea to read for other people, even if you don’t plan on making a career of it. It is often far easier to see the messages of the Tarot from a more objective position. It is common for readers to get bogged down and confused in their own readings but find reading for others refreshingly straightforward. The different perspective on card meanings helps a lot.

This course of study is about becoming familiar enough with the meanings of the cards that you can do readings without a book, if you choose. But it is certainly not everything there is to learn about the Tarot. You will have to study further to learn about the history of the Tarot, the deep symbology of the Tarot, the philosophical basis and how it is changing with modern decks, deep numerology and astrology in Tarot and a great many other worthy topics.

Still, if you can stick to a course of study like this and actually do the work, you will learn the Tarot and be able to read and. understand the cards.

While I can’t guarantee that this course of study will change you into a powerful psychic reader, it gives you a chance to begin to open up your intuitive faculties. We can’t control intuition through study. Techniques to increate your intuitive strength include time spent alone in nature, time with animals and small children, art and meditation.

There are many uses for the Tarot. Even if all you do is use the cards in a logical, analytical manner, they will aid you in a great many ways. And you are likely to find that the process of using Tarot is another method to strengthen your intuition.

The anatomy of a Tarot reading

Tarot Basics 6: How to lay out a reading beyond what the books tell you

Tarot books usually come with a section on common layouts in the back. Sometimes this is no more than a few pages with diagrams showing card positions. If you’re lucky, there is some description of what order to lay the cards out in and how to interpret a card in a given position. But this is often pretty rudimentary and/or vague and fluffy.

I’ve spent thirty years decoding the advice in the back of Tarot books, so I will share some of my hard-won insights here. I hope it may be helpful to you, though I am not certain every part of it is universal for all readers.

So far in my series on Tarot, I have covered the choosing of a Tarot deck and book, setting up your reading space, cleansing your deck, and shuffling. Along the way I’ve touched on a few deeper topics, such as how Tarot technically works. But now we’re getting down to the nitty gritty—actually doing a reading, possibly your first reading but most likely not.

Most readers will have laid out at least a few sample readings before progressing this far. But it may still feel awkward and you may have some unanswered technical questions, such as “Which card position comes first?” or “How should I draw from the deck, slide it straight out or flip from the back?” or “What is cutting the deck and do I have to do it?”

Image by Arie Farnam - This is a Tarot reading involving a decision ab out how to accomplish some urgently necessary travel during the Covid-19 pandemic. The situation card at the mid-point shows the difficulty of the situation. The known factors at the upper right, shows that the travel is needed for healing. The unknown factors at the upper left is a reassuring presence of strong guidance. The three possible choices identified by the question are all relatively positive but the first one is the one I chose because in this case The Tower was in the position of what action I should take on this road, rather than an Outcome card.

The general advice of most Tarot scholars is that, as much as you can, you should follow the advice given in the book that comes with your deck. The deck itself has a particular spirit—a philosophy and aesthetic. It is likely that the creator of the deck had firm opinions about most of your technical questions and good reasons for prescribing specific techniques. But there are plenty of decks that don’t have a detailed book or you might not have the original book.

In either case, it is good to know some general guidelines and choose your own standard practices. Probably the most important rule of thumb on the technical questions is that you simply need to choose a method and stick to it. The cards get used to you, as much as you get used to them. And that means they get used to your technique as well.

Thus, if you usually cut the deck before you draw, cut the deck. Don’t suddenly switch to picking from a fan of cards, just because someone told you to. And visa versa. Tarot is—at its most basic level—a communications technology. Switching up techniques too suddenly can be like switching your radio frequency without telling your friends.

You can make a change if you decide you have really been doing it wrong and a different way resonates with you as correct or you start working with a deck which comes with very clear instructions on technical matters that you want to follow. But it will take some focused attention to make the switch and you shouldn’t be switching back and forth randomly.

Here are some considerations for each step of a reading:

Preparation

This stage is probably the most dependent on your tradition, circumstances and personal taste, but it shouldn’t be neglected. I wrote a post on making a good space for reading Tarot here, which may be helpful.

Consider whether your tradition or the deck you are using calls for using a specific type of surface or a cloth. Many do. Make sure you have a clean, relatively uncluttered surface to lay your reading out on. Consider the size of the reading you want to do.

For simple questions or a daily advice reading, one to three cards should suffice and you may not need much of a surface. I often use the edge of my altar during morning meditation. However, if the reading concerns major life changes or complicated interpersonal issues, you are likely to need at least a sizable part of a cleared table.

Do whatever helps you to calm and focus your mind. Many traditions suggest lighting a candle and/or incense or an herb bundle. I like to do both. Aroma therapy defusers with herbal oils that enhance intuition and psychic energy are also quite nice, unless you are sensitive to scents. If you are in a place where an open flame won’t work, you can achieve similar results by dimming lights and noise, putting on meditative or peaceful music and using specific types of stones and crystals.

Clear quartz is among the best for both focusing and opening psychic communication. Amethyst, smokey quartz and selenite are also good choices. However, don’t let the exact type of stone you have stop you. If you have a rock that helps you feel calm and grounded, it will work. Using stones can be as simple as placing the stone at the far side of your cloth as you would a candle. I find using crystals and stones to be particularly helpful if I end up reading in a cafe or at a conference or library, where there is a lot of distracted energy and candles may not be allowed.

All these preparations are helpful for focusing and attuning your mind and spirit. The stereotype of the New Age psychic who gets upset when someone walks too near her crystals or someone touches her Tarot bag is a bit overdone, though some readers do behave this way and possibly even feel a real need to be so defensive.

The bottom line is that the focus ultimately comes from you. Candles and crystals are aids, personal space and physical connection to a deck of cards are aids. But the better you get with focus, the more you will be able to get by without these aids in a pinch.

I have yet to hone my own focus to the point where I feel confident using a cell phone app to draw Tarot cards in the middle of a noisy conference hall. But I can pull out my cards and do a reading on my knee with a rock from my pocket as a focus. It isn’t the best way and it doesn’t make meticulous preparation unnecessary in the long run, but it can be done.

Selecting a layout

There are thousands of Tarot layouts published in books and on the internet. Some have grand old traditions behind them, which may provide extra animus. But the important thing about a layout is that it provides the information you need at the moment.

I recommend using standard layouts from books for awhile before making up your own because this is a skill, not just an instinctive art form. It will help to learn what works for you and what doesn’t on layouts provided by others. But when you feel confident, don’t be afraid to design your own layout. Just be sure you choose it before you shuffle the cards and write it down, including the order in which the cards should be laid and what each position signifies.

When you look at the layouts in the back of most Tarot books, you will usually see card-shaped rectangles with a number in the middle of each card and a word or phrase below it. The numbers tell you which card to layout first. The words tell you what context to interpret the card with.

One of the most classic short-reading layouts is simply three cards laid out from left to right: 1. Situation, 2. Action called for, and 3. Outcome. This is an excellent initial reading for any situation you are uncertain about.

Still, this is a fairly basic reading and it often simply confirms things we already know. Even the general outcome of a situation is usually pretty predictable and that card will either confirm what you already suspected, at least subconsciously, or it will simply be a prediction you can’t do much about.

There are times when you need a significantly more involved reading. A common layout in Tarot books, which has a long tradition, is the Celtic cross spread. This spread includes cards for the person asking the question, the atmosphere around the issue, the obstacle, the root of the problem, the recent past, the recent future, what can be gained through undergoing this challenge, the querent’s self-concept, hopes versus fears, the physical and emotional environment around the querent, and one to three cards on the outcome.

For some complex questions, particularly those involving both an outward struggle and personal development, this is an excellent layout. However, it’s drawbacks are also in its complexity. It can tend to muddy questions that are too simple for it.

On other questions, the card positions in these readings may not give the information most needed. That is why there are readings relating to specific issues. There are relationship readings, which include card positions for two parties in a relationship. There are layouts suited to business or creative endeavors that show steps over a longer process. And if you search, you can likely find a layout that suits your particular question well.

There are also layouts with specific themes for inner exploration, such as chakra layouts, tree of life lay outs, ancestral layouts and astrological layouts. These are mainly helpful if you have a solid understanding of the field the layout is based on and you are fully focused on the inner work they entail.

If you can’t find a layout exactly suited to what you need in the time you have available, there is nothing wrong with simply writing specific sub-questions down in positions that make sense to you and drawing the cards while focusing on those aspects of your issue. Thus the question, “Should I take this job offer?” may be turned into a layout with the question as the overall heading and card positions called, “How would it affect my family?” “What would the job environment be like?” “What would the first days on the job be like?” “What would it be like long term?” “How will it affect my personal and professional development?” and “How will it work out financially?”

In the end the answer to the overall question depends mainly on how you feel about the answers to all those sub-questions. The answer to the job question may well be “Yes” even though the first couple of days are going to be rough and it won’t be great on finances, if the other aspects are more important to you.

Record your intention or question

This goes along with the previous heading. Marking down your layout on a piece of paper should also mean you write your intention or question down as well. Eventually you will know some layouts well enough not to require writing down the layout and that is fine, but don’t neglect to record your question or intention beforehand.

The human mind has a tricksy habit of trying to bargain whenever it doesn’t like something exactly and it is pretty much guaranteed that if you don’t mark down your question or intention for the reading, it will migrate slightly in your memory to make the reading fit more what your ego wants it to be, whether that is positive or negative habits of thinking.

You can observe this happening simply by writing down your intention or question and then trying to interpret a reading without looking at it and then looking at the question or intention once you have a notion of what you think the reading means. You will often find that the question was slightly different or it had a negative where you thought it had a straightforward question or visa versa.

Be as direct and concise as possible with your question or intention. This is simply good communication practice and will help with clarity in the long run. Note that you don’t have to ask a question. You can come to the Tarot with an intention as much as a question, but remember that the Tarot is primarily a communications device between your conscious mind and whatever spiritual or subconscious entities you direct it toward. That is why questions are most common.

A note about Significators

Many layouts will call for something called a Significator. This is an initial card which represents the querent in the reading. I am not sure why this card isn’t simply called “the Querent,” which is why I don’t use the termn. It probably meant something at one time, but it no longer has a coherent meaning in modern English.

In any event, the Significator (or Querent card can either be the first card in the layout, and thus the first card under the cut. Or it can be chosen consciously by the querent before the cards are shuffled. There are several ways to designate your significator card:

1. Just use the Fool card, number 0 of the Higher Arcana.

2. Count up all the digits in your birthday, including the number of the month. For instance March is the third month, so a birthday of March 17, 2001 would be calculated as 3 + 1 + 7 + 2 + 0 + 0 + 1. = 14. As long as the card is less than 22, you can stop. If it is 22 or more, add those digits together as well. Then find the corresponding Higher Arcana Card. Temperance is number 14, so that would be the significator in this example.

3. Go through the court cards and choose a card matching the description of the querent. If you don’t know much about their personality, use their astrological sign to designate the suit. Fire signs will be Wands. Earth signs will be Disks or Pentacles. Air signs will be Swords. Water signs will be Cups. So, if the person in my previous example is a man and he was born in the water sign of Pisces, his significator is the Prince of Cups, because he is young at this writing. If he were older or a father, he might be the King of cups. Gender shouldn’t be strictly followed when assigning court cards. The meanings are more important and a woman may be best interpreted as a King or a Knight, if she fits those attributes. A man may well be a Princess or a Page, if his personality fits the attributes.

4. Let the querent choose from among the court cards using intuition, while looking at the cards face up.

5. Choose a card that seems to typify what you know of the querent’s situation. If the person is overworked it might be the ten of Wands. If the querent is undergoing grief it might be the three of swords. If the question is mostly about the querent’s children and the querent is a woman, it might be The Empress or the Queen of Disks, which symbolize motherhood.

Choosing the Significator at random is also a completely valid option, but many books will direct you to one of the methods above.

Shuffling and cutting

I covered shuffling in more detail in this post. The important points are that you want your cards well mixed but undamaged over the years. It is easiest to achieve this either with gentle hand shuffling in which you don’t bend the cards or swirling the cards around on a flat surface while face down.

It is a good idea to focus on your question or intention while you shuffle.

When your cards are sufficiently mixed, you should stack them and hold them for a moment, focusing your full attention on your question. Cutting the deck is one point in which I have never met a Tarot system that didn’t do it in some form. After shuffling, you place the deck on your reading surface and use your fingers to choose a place in the deck at random to lift the top portion of the cards away.

Some systems do this just once. Often the card on the bottom of the stack you cut away has a special significance. It is called “the cut-away card,” and is supposed to be something that is passing away from the life of the querent or the issue at hand. It isn’t a formal part of the layout but is often recorded along with the reading none-the-less.

Other systems, particularly DruidCraft with a Celtic bent, suggest that you cut the deck twice. First you grasp about two thirds of the deck, then you place that smaller stack to the left of the original deck. Then you grasp about half of the second stack and place it yet further to the left. The number three is very important in Celtic cosmology and mythology, and this creates three stacks. Going to the left implies going inward for introspection. If you are reading for someone else and they sit across from you, you may consider going to the right, so that the movement will be to their left. The same applies to long-distance readings.

In either case you, gather your deck by stacking the cards from right to left again. Whether you divide the cards once or twice, the top card, should be the top of the first cut you made.

Drawing

Most readers and systems I have worked with draw from the top of the shuffled and cut deck and lay out the cards in the order indicated in their layout. However, there are several possible variations. Some readers prefer to spread the shuffled cards into a fan and choose cards face down from the fan.

Furthermore, some readers prefer to shuffle the deck a little between each card drawn—just a quick movement, slipping a few cards back in and out of the deck or cutting the deck again.

From the perspective of Tarot functionality, there shouldn’t be a major difference. I was taught and grew up with the first approach, which is the most common I find in books. So, that is what I use. But I can see advantages to the other two techniques in terms of reducing physical interference in the communication of the cards.

There is also the question of whether you simply slip the card off of the deck and turn it over horizontally or whether you flip the card off of the deck vertically, essentially reversing the card from the way you are holding the deck. As a teenager I did the latter. I thought it looked cool that I flipped the card over. I had a terrible time reading reversed cards though and tended to get the vast majority of my cards reversed (not a statistically likely fifty percent) and eventually I decided that this did not make sense. I’m holding the deck the way that the cards are meant to be, so I now simply turn the card over horizontally. I find readings to be clearer and I no longer have trouble reading reversals.

The important thing here—and it is important—is that you choose a technique and stick to it. This is the basic mechanism by which Tarot communicates and when I have simply experimented with a different technique, I have inevitably ended up with a vague and unclear reading.

How to lay out cards and which to read first

Many readers insist that you should lay out the cards face down at first and then reveal only one at a time in the order of the layout. I was taught to lay them all out face up and then choose where to start based on either a logical beginning point or cards that have intense energy. I often end up reading any Higher Arcana cards first, regardless of what position they fall in. Higher Arcana cards will always have.much broader effect than just the position they are in.

Bottom line: Whether you place the cards initially face down or not is up to you and your tradition. When in doubt start reading the cards in the order you laid them out.

Layouts and positions

Now we have space for a brief rundown on what the common positions in readings are and what they mean beyond the key words:

Significator/Querent: As discussed before, this card indicates the state of being or state of mind of the querent at this moment with respect to the issue involved. If you draw this card with the rest of the layout, consider it to be an indication of where you are now.

Situation: Just as it appears, in readings that use this position, the Situation card indicates the overall situation the querent is in with regard to the question or issue at hand.

Atmosphere: This card tells you about what is going on around the querent. It can be influenced by the querent but often indicates factors beyond the querent’s direct control. As with many other positions, this card may seem confusing if the situation seems pretty negative but you get a very positive card here. Remember that every card has a shadow side. It may also indicate that the situation isn’t as bleak as it looks or that things are about to improve.

When the reverse happens, a mainly negative card appears in a situation that seems fairly positive, it is worth looking at the uses of whatever adversity is indicated. Perhaps the difficulty underlies the situation, even though the result is positive. Just as every card has a shadow, every card has a bright spot.

This is not to say that you should just read into the cards whatever you want to. There are only 78 cards in the deck. If the meaning needed is very specific, it is sometimes necessary for the Tarot to use a secondary meaning of a card to get it across. It is our job to figure out the clues and understand the meaning. The general rule of thumb is that there is a reason for whichever card falls, even if it isn’t immediately obvious.

Crossing card/Obstacle: You will often see a position marked “Crossing Card.” This means the same thing as an obstacle card. Here too, you will sometimes find a positive card in the position of an obstacle. However, this is usually easily understood and logical. If the Obstacle is the Six of Wands (Celebration), it may be that a celebration, party or promotion is interfering with other plans or that it has unforeseen consequences. This is one of my favorite card positions to read, because it is usually very specific and clear.

Root: Some spreads will show a card marked as Root or Roots. This is often conceived of as the “root of the problem.” But it can also mean events in the distant past, childhood or ancestral events that effect the situation or the question now.

Aspiration: This is one of the most difficult positions to read. It is sometimes described as the higher self or higher mind. The best way I have found to interpret it is what soul-level benefit or lesson you can get from this situation or difficulty. All too often, what we want right now and what our long-term development needs may be at odds. This card often gives clues in this area.

Past: Most spreads define this specifically as “recent past.” Depending on the type of question this may be a matter of hours, days or weeks, rarely longer. The past card does not usually tell you about all of your past or the entire development of the situation. There are readings with multiple Past cards and these may do a more thorough job.

Future: The same applies to the future card. It is generally mean to imply the near future in terms of days or a few weeks. It rarely indicates the final outcome, but rather the next step in a situation or process. Most layouts have a card or cards to indicate outcome. It is important to remember that in the philosophical understanding of Tarot, the future card indicates the likely future based on the querent’s current trajectory.

I have never personally met a Tarot system that supported a belief in predetermination. Life is not all written down in a great Tarot book in the sky. We have free will and we can avert disasters, if we can see clearly. Still, the Future card in a reading is often quite difficult to interpret. Because it is still outside our experience, we have fewer clues to rely on.

There are times when the Future Card is utterly clear. A woman struggling with infertility who gets “The Empress” in the Future position may well go out and celebrate… without alcohol. But most Future cards are less clear cut.

Relationship: Many relationship layouts have a Significator card for each person in the relationship or cards for Mind, Heart and Body or other types of comparison cards for each person. But they will generally also have a Relationship card. This card gives the general atmosphere of the relationship, the chemistry or bond between the two, which is not entirely the doing of either one alone.

House/Environment: Many readings will have a position called House or Environment. This is usually either very easy or very hard to read, rarely in the middle. It means the people and physical or emotional environment around the querent. It would be more reasonable to name it the Household than the House, but such is age-old tradition. And it often refers more to a work or social group rather than a household anyway. The type of question should make that clear.

Outcome: Most readings have some form of Outcome card or cards. We often read Tarot in hopes of finding out things we don’t yet know. We want to know how a relationship will turn out or what the prospects are for a new business venture. The Outcome cards do tend to provide an overall, long-term assessment of outcome.

I was troubled and confused for years that the Outcome cards on my readings about adopting my two children were less than joyful. The process was going pretty well. The Near Future cards were all positive too.

Life ended up confirming the difficult Outcome cards though. The long-term Outcome has been very rough, given the neurological problems that my adopted children developed. The fact that you get a warning in an Outcome position doesn’t always spell doom. As with the Future cards, it is possible to change Outcomes but it is often quite difficult. A lot of factors may be pushing things toward a certain outcome and we may not always be able to see which route will lead to a certain Outcome.

When doubts and problems like this creep in, it is often time for a follow up reading with more specific questions about what outcome can be expected if the querent pursues a specific course of action.

Tarot basics 5: How and why to shuffle your Tarot cards

There are few joys I relish so much as holding a new Tarot deck in my hands. It’s like with a new book—the crisp feel of unblemished paper and the lovely smell. Only this is a “book” with infinite possibilities (and really nice pictures).

If you’re following along with my posts on Tarot and you have a new or new-to-you deck of Tarot cards and you have cleansed it (see this post for that step), you now have in your hands a unified language to access your inner voice, your gods, your ancestors and other wisdom besides.

But as long as it just sits there, it is just another nice book. Shuffling is the way we breathe life into it and allow it to speak with a dynamic and living voice.

Before you shuffle

But there is one thing you should do BEFORE you shuffle a new deck of Tarot cards.

If you bought or received a brand new deck from a store, you will find that the cards are organized in a specific manner. All the Higher Arcana cards will be together and in order. Each suit will be in order from Ace to King (or whatever your deck calls these roles).

If you aren’t yet experienced with the cards, it might be good to look through them in this order You will, for instance, likely notice that different colors dominate in each suit, unless the deck your have chosen has a color scheme that covers the entire deck. You will notice that the visual aesthetic of the Higher Arcana is more grand, lavish and detailed than that of the Lower Arcana. You may find that the lower numbered cards in each suit have a lighter, simpler feel to them, while the higher numbered cards tend to get more complicated.

Take a moment, while the cards are so handily organized for you to look through the suits and observe how your deck feels and what aesthetic sense the various parts convey. If your deck is used and not in this order, it is well worth your time to organize it and make these observations as well.

However, when you are ready to do a reading, the deck needs to be shuffled. Even if you have been given a used deck, you will need to shuffle the deck well before using it. This is also an extension of the energetic cleansing.

Forging the connection

The animist and universalist theories of energy say that Tarot cards work because they have their own inherent energy (i.e. vibration or soul, depending on how you look at it), which interacts with the reader’s energy and with that of anyone the reader asks about specifically. Many readers visualize energy, usually imagined as light, going from themselves and into the cards as they shuffle. This is because while the cards provide a language for communication, its nuance comes from connection to the specific individual reader.

There are two types of shuffling in my view: 1. Deep, thorough shuffling for new decks or for times when your cards have been handled by others or for periodic reordering, usually after a cleansing, and 2. Standard daily shuffling before each reading.

You can shuffle by holding the deck in one hand and taking out a few cards from the middle to move to one end or the other of the deck. Do this over and over again. For every day readings that is usually how I shuffle.

Image by Arie Farnam

I don’t recommend bending the cards as you do when shuffling playing cards. Tarot cards are made with slicker, usually more rigid material. In order to bend them sufficiently, you would have to damage the deck.

But it is a good idea to give your cards a more thorough shuffle the first time you use them or before a major reading or significant holiday, such as the Winter Solstice. The best method for a deep, complete shuffle is to place a cloth on a clean flat surface and scatter the cards on it face down. Then run your hands through the cards in circles, making sure to move every card around thoroughly.

The motion is like that of a toddler finger painting and it can make some people uneasy because it seems unsophisticated and childlike. There is actually something to be said for that though. The Fool is the classic symbol of the querent, the person who is seeking answers from the Tarot.

While the figure is called “the Fool” as if they are silly or frivolous, that isn’t really the core meaning of this historical term. The meaning is much more about playful openness, like that of a child. So, this childlike form of shuffling is well suited to the Tarot.

Beyond that, this is simply the best method to thoroughly mix the cards and reverse some of them randomly with a minimum of wear and tear to the deck. I have decks I have done this with for twenty years, and they are still in fine shape.

The swirling of the cards on a flat surface allows your intuitive energy to be the main influence on the cards, rather than the physical constraints of the shuffling process or random static electricity.

I always have a tendency to close my eyes for part of the shuffling process. You may also call upon (either out loud or in your mind, depending on circumstances) any powers or spirits that may aid you in your search for answers. Some people will call on a deity or deities, which is perfectly appropriate with Tarot. Others will call on ancestors, angels, elements, nature spirits or the energy of the solar or lunar phase of the moment.

All of these energies are present regardless and will almost certainly have an influence on the reading, whether or not they are explicitly called. For best communication, it seems advisable to acknowledge them and welcome their influence positively.

The method can be simplified like this:

1. Write down or record your question or intension.

2. Place the cards face down on a cloth over a clean, flat surface.

3. Mix the cards thoroughly by pushing them around the cloth with spiraling motions of your hands. Allow every card to be separated from its neighbor and turned around multiple times.

4. Visualize the light of your energy entering the cards and swirling around with them through your hands.

5. Call on your spiritual allies, gods, ancestors, guardians and the like to aid in your search for answers.

6. State your intention or question out loud.

While this method ends with a question or intention, it also works as an initial shuffle to familiarize your new cards with your energy. The intention then might well be simply to open communication with these new cards and ask them to become your allies.

The importance of recording your intention at the outset

Notice that the first step is actually writing down your intention or question. When you do a reading it is essential that you write down your question in advance. There are very few rules that I will say you must abide by in Tarot, but this is one. I will discuss it and the layout of basic readings in the next post.

This rule will save you endless confusion, doubts, arguments and mistakes. Write your question down in your journal, datebook or on a scrap of napkin. It doesn’t really matter where. Even if you don’t want to or can’t stop to take notes on this reading, write down the question at least.

It is astounding how your memory will trick you and bargain with hard truths by subtly changing your question if you don’t do this. If you want the Tarot to do more than tell you soft, fuzzy affirmations of what you want to hear, then this is an essential step.

How does it work?

Once you have thoroughly shuffled the cards, you can do simple readings by shuffling the cards gently in your hands. They are already connected to your energy.

I shuffle more intensely if I’m reading for someone else. I either have to focus my mind entirely on the other person during the shuffling (such as when doing a long-distance reading) or allow the other person to shuffle using the thorough method above.

Why shuffle once the cards are mixed up? And how can a randomly drawn card have any specific message for you anyway?

I’ll cover these topics in depth next time, but for now remember that Tarot comes out of an animist or universalist view of nature with the assumption that there is an energetic level of reality in which everything is interconnected and thus there are energetic connections to everything and everyone else living now and even at different points throughout time.

It is through these connections, as unseen as radio waves or gravity and yet no less real, that Tarot works by reflecting things you know in your subconscious, things other people know, things the land and other entities know and possibly things known in other times and places. How much knowledge the Tarot can access for you, is likely to correspond with the permission you give it. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you must believe firmly that the Tarot will work for it to work, but a hard disbelief would tend to create a hard barrier against knowledge.

Tarot basics: Setting up your reading space

This could be a post on setting up any kind of spiritual and contemplative space. That’s what Tarot is at its best—spiritual contemplation.

That doesn’t mean that your space has to be an altar with incense, candles and no other distractions,, although it might well be. People—like yours truly—whose monkey brains are always going a mile a minute throughout the day, multitasking and absorbing some sort of media a good deal of the time, might well need such a space to settle down enough to focus on the Tarot.

But if you can focus at your kitchen table or on your bed, so much the better. There are some spiritual practices, I don’t recommend doing on your bed. I wouldn’t encourage you to do readings dealing with ancestors or highly distressing topics there because, whether you believe in energy residue or not, just the memory of the reading on your bed might interfere with your sleep.

I do encourage you to clean and wash off you table before laying out your cards. There is nothing worse than sticky or dirty Tarot cards. They can be quickly ruined and the language of the deck becomes incomplete even if only one is missing or damaged. Once a card has been warped by water, it will never shuffle equally with other cards again.

Beyond that, the clutter on a table may well exert a distracting energy on your reading, resulting in an answer that is more vague than it needed to be.

So clear off and wash at least a section of your table or smooth out a part of your bed. I have always lit a candle when I do Tarot, but that is a matter of personal taste. The candle flame provides me with focus. I also generally lay out some tokens representing the four cardinal directions.

Image by Arie Farnam

That is because I call in the energies of the four directions and the elements they correspond to as aids for me in a reading. I will generally also call a deity, either my matron goddess or a goddess who deals specifically with divination, like the Morrigan or Hekate. But that is specific to my tradition. I do recommend that you call in whatever entities you work with spiritually before beginning a reading and have a token to represent them if that is part of your tradition.

I usually smudge with white sage because of its cleansing, clarifying and spiritually enhancing properties and because I can get as much of it as I need from my mother’s backyard. But in many other places white sage is endangered, and you may well not have access to it. There are many other herbs you can use. Among the best are lavender, mugwort, wormwood, kitchen sage and sweetgrass. All of these have cleansing and spiritually enhancing properties.

But you can do without a smudge and I have on many occasions. Incense is also good for settling and calming an atmosphere although most stick incense doesn’t have the mildly mind-altering qualities of herbal smudges. Essential oil diffusers may be an even better option, especially for those who have allergies or respiratory problems with smoke. Be aware that synthetic oils may also be problematic for many people and try to find good-quality, natural essential oils.

Still, you may be in a place where no smoke of any kind is allowed or simply need to do a reading quickly. In that case, don’t let the lack of something smoking or steaming stop you from doing Tarot.

One other thing I suggest is a cup of something to drink that is calming and centering. This generally does not mean coffee. Coffee or other caffeinated drinks are fine right after the reading, but will tend to interfere with the contemplation, unless you have ADHD or a similar neurological imbalance—in which case, do whatever your experience tells you will allow you a contemplative moment or two.

I prefer tea, even in the summer. It’s just a thing. I won’t generally drink my favorite chai tea during a reading though. I’m much more likely to drink herbal tea. Thyme, mint and wild oregono are particularly good for readings.

As you can see, setting up a Tarot space has a lot of elements of calming each of our senses in turn. Clearing up clutter and lighting a candle, settles and comforts our visual and kinesthetic senses. Smudges, incense and diffusers both calm and focus our olfactory sense. Tea takes care of our sense of taste in a soothing way.

For that reason, a lot of people will put on some soothing, meditative music to do readings, covering the auditory sense as well. I usually skip that step, but it depends on what helps you to be fully focused and relaxed. Certainly, it is good to try to be at a temperature that isn’t distracting, if at all possible.

And speaking of distractions, there is the question of other people who may be in your space. Tarot, in my experience, is best done alone. I do it with a single friend sometimes, but it isn’t easy. Then again, I’m a certified introvert. It may be different for you.

The thing is that Tarot is a spiritual contemplative practice. I’m not saying that you can’t do it while someone is drumming and a room full of people are dancing as the spirit moves them right next to you. Particularly, if the gathering is spiritual in nature, it may work fine and the energy may be wonderful for the Tarot

However, if the energy is not focused. If other people are watching TV and just hanging out, it is likely that their energy will interfere with the Tarot. Like I said before, this can simply make the reading more vague than in needs to be. I have never met a public Tarot reader who did anything but vague readings at those booths you see at fairs and other events, though there may be someone somewhere with the focus to withstand any external energy.

So it makes sense that if someone is laying out a reading while several friends lean over the table and joke and make derogatory remarks about the Tarot, whether the reader is participating in the hilarity or not, the reading won’t work. This is why “testing” the Tarot in a social setting also tends to get readings so vague as to be useless.

In the end, a space to read Tarot should be a space were you can calm your mind and heart, focus clearly on a question and be receptive to other-than-logical connections. As herbalists say about herbal tea, part of the medicine is in the actual tea (or the Tarot, in this case) and part of the benefit is in the fact that you get to sit down in comfort for a moment. Don’t underestimate the power of these quiet moments and make the space as relaxing and pleasant as possible.

Tarot boot camp: Where and how to get a Tarot deck

A lot of people will tell you that your first Tarot deck has to be given to you as a gift. It does often happen that way, so it’s “traditional.”

A friend, family member or mentor may decide you are ready to discover the Tarot or you may ask for a deck as a holiday gift. If so, you are one of the lucky ones. Even if that deck isn’t exactly the one you would have chosen, there is a specific magic to the first deck and it is bound up with the gift and with the giver.

In the days before the internet, it probably almost always happened that way. How else would a new initiate hear about Tarot, learn that they could use it effectively or gain access to a deck. Sure, there was the rare store where you could buy a deck, but without at least a little mentoring, it was unlikely that someone just curious enough to buy a deck would ever learn to use it well.

Today things are different. The internet is full of information about Tarot and a myriad of similar tools. A person interested in Tarot today has a completely different—though no less serious—problem. There is so much information and so many decks to choose from that it is bewildering.

And plenty of new Tarot readers hear about the old tradition requiring that one’s first deck should be a gift, and feel mildly guilty about buying one.

I have a solution if that bothers you. My initial posts on Tarot will be called “Tarot boot camp” partly because, if you do it right, the initial learning phase of Tarot can be grueling and because spiritual people and healers of all stripes are increasingly being called to take on the role of cultural warrior—either protecting the earth, fellow creatures, natural environments or those socially marginalized. Tarot is part of that.

I’m inviting you to this boot camp and it’s free. It’s a gift to you. It doesn’t necessarily include the deck of cards, but here is how you obtain one. The next time you have money that isn’t marked for bare survival—rent, food, heat, water, getting to work, childcare and the like—take a fourth of it and put it someplace separate. Mark it as a gift to yourself or the self-care fund.

Creative Commons image by Alan Morgan

Then use that money to buy things that nurture your soul—be that non-sensible shoes or a massage or a deck of Tarot cards. This is your gift. Whenever you spend it, remember that it is a gift. That will help remind you to be conscious of what you’re doing with it and will also make you feel less guilty about spending it on things that keep body and soul together.

For most people reading this blog, that will mean you’ll have money for a $20 Tarot deck in no time. But for some it may take months. There is some advantage to be found in this particular hardship. The time, focus and self-discipline required to get to Tarot will be directly proportionate to its power.

If getting several decks and books comes easy to you and you have plenty of time to peruse them and play with the cards, I am glad for you because it will be a lovely experience and I encourage you to undertake it with joy. However, be aware that it will likely take some time and work and study for you to discover the mysterious power of the Tarot. Fortunately, having all those shiny, new, good-smelling books to read will probably console you.

If on the other hand, all you can get is the smallest old-style deck of cards and a dusty, second-hand book from 1973 and the only time you can get to touch them is after a long day of work and chasing kids in the precious moments before you collapse into sleep, you will likely find that if you are open to it, the mystery will be burning through the thin wrapper and reading the Tarot will be like having a conversation with a long-lost friend.

Need and effort really do matter here. They matter more than the “gift” tradition, but even so the gift has been given. I give you permission to care for yourself. I give you this boot camp study guide, and as you will learn in the study of Tarot, you can give yourself a gift of knowledge and comfort.

After all, reading the Tarot is a conversation with a long-lost friend. That friend is your authentic self.

And that is likely the reason for the tradition of a gift of a Tarot deck anyway. Teachers, mentors and friends recognize that many of us need the Tarot in order to find this true friend. So they step in as a surrogate and give us that first deck. But they are merely a stand in.

So once you have filled your self-care jar with dimes and nickels or whatever the equivalent is, where do you actually find a good Tarot deck? Every major city in the world these days has a metaphysical shop with a shelf or an entire bookcase (or three depending on the city) devoted to Tarot.

If this is your first foray into Tarot, I highly recommend visiting such a shop in person and looking at the books and boxes of cards. The better shops will have posters showing what the cards look like in each deck, even if you can’t unwrap them, and you can choose according to your own aesthetic.

I will cover choosing a deck and a book in a future post in greater detail. But at this point, all you really need to know is that there is vast variety in Tarot decks today and they all have merit. It is important to choose a deck in which the colors, themes and aesthetic appeal to you, and even give you a feeling of calm and joy.

If you study Tarot in depth or if you want to spend the years it takes to become a Tarot master, you will need to look at these images for a long time. Make it as pleasant an experience as possible. There are Tarot decks for every taste—from spooky gothic, death-obsessed decks to Star Wars themes to Celtic druids to esoteric, astrological symbology. While I recommend taking it seriously and choosing something that will have lasting meaning to you, rather than a momentary silly whim, there is nothing inherently wrong with a superhero-inspired Tarot deck, if you are either a kid, a kid-at-heart, a graphic artist or someone otherwise deeply inspired by superhero imagery.

The one caveat that I—and most Tarot teachers—will add is that, for a first deck at least, I recommend sticking to something that generally reflects the traditional Rider-Waite format. What does that mean to a beginner exactly?

Check the book that comes with the cards or the description. Most importantly the deck should have 78 cards. There may be reasons eventually to use decks with fewer (or possibly even more) cards but in the beginning using the 78-card deck will connect you to others who practice Tarot and give you access to a lot more free and inexpensive information in much greater depth.

Secondly, the description should say that the deck is divided between higher and lower classes of cards, often called the Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana. “Arcana” just means “mysteries.” Twenty-two cards make up the Major Archana. The rest are divided into four suits—kind of like playing cards. These suits were traditionally disks, cups, swords and staves, but today they can be called just about anything.

Each suit may be associated with an object, a type of animal, an element or even an ethnicity. But in a standard deck there should be four of them with numbers from Ace to Ten and four “court cards.” These were traditionally page, knight, queen and king. But today, just like the suits themselves, they can be just about anything and sometimes they aren’t even people at all.

The closer your deck is to traditional, the easier access you’ll probably have to both Tarot books and community, but as long as the general format of the deck is standard you should be able to use my boot camp posts and similar free information on-line to get started.

If you really can’t get to a physical shop because you live outside western countries, like I do, or in some very remote place, ordering your first deck online is acceptable. There’s no mystical prohibition against it—at least not one I would put any stock in. But before buying, I recommend googling the name of the deck you think you might want to order along with the word “images.”

This will generally give you a lot more images of the various cards than the advertisement where you are purchasing. Look through the images and get to know them before you choose. It is worth some care and thought. You may eventually have a dozen or more decks, but you will always remember which one was your first. And it may even have a special kind of intensity long after you have adopted others as your favorites.

Next I will cover the specifics of choosing a Tarot book, since many decks you may choose either don’t have a specific book, have only a tiny booklet that is inadequate or have a book that is less wonderful than the artwork on the cards. After that, we’ll get into the really fun parts.

Until next time then…

Coming out as a Tarot reader and a reading for a new year

It might seem strange that I consider Tarot reading something I’d have to “come out” about when I’ve been blogging about being a practicing spiritual Pagan for years. But that’s my honest reaction to the idea of talking publicly about Tarot.

It may have something to do with the fact that when I was a child I had no solid concept of Pagan spirituality—beyond the idea that my family didn’t attend the churches everyone else did—while at the same time Tarot was concrete and explicitly secret. I knew that Tarot was something one NEVER discussed with anyone who didn’t already know my mother and I did it.

I don’t remember a time before I knew what Tarot was. I do remember when my mother gave me my first deck of cards. I was thirteen and it was a simple black-and-white version of the Rider Waite deck meant to be colored in. I studiously read about each card and colored it with corresponding colors. The deck is well-travelled, but I still have it.

Photo by Arie Farnam

Clearly, I took Tarot seriously even as a young teen, but it was something I shared with a very select group of people who already knew I knew. The first time I let a stranger know I knew about Tarot was when I was 22 and traveling as an independent film maker in Kazakhstan. I met a professional Tarot reader and confided about my practices.

That meeting had a strong influence on me, and for ten years after that, I carried a tattered blue school notebook filled with hastily recorded notes about the Kazakh reader’s insights in my pack, even though some of her teachings were very different from my mother’s. To this day, I can’t get her admonition not to cross my feet while I do a reading out of my head, as superstitious as it sounded.

Superstitious? If you are reading this only because you enjoy my other writing and you think of me as practical, rational and down-to-earth, you may be confused. Isn’t everything about Tarot superstitious?

That is another reason I feel it is something to “come out” about. Not only did I have secrecy around Tarot engrained in me due to the isolated and traditionally religious nature of the community around where I grew up, Tarot also remains one of the least socially acceptable aspects of modern Pagan traditions.

On the surface of it, Tarot shares its roots with playing cards used in gambling, dating back to around the fifteenth century in northern Italy as best historians can guess. There were no doubt divination systems long before that in Italy and other parts of Europe. Every culture tends to come up with something. But Tarot likely began largely as a parlor game for the upper classes, perhaps combining the influences of mystical Christianity with “quaint” folk divination of the day.

Why would I place any stock in it then?

The simple answer and the one that matters most is that it helps. It is a structure for investigating complex problems, both emotional and practical. It gives comfort. It calms me and helps me think through difficulties rationally and deeply. If there were no other reason, this would be enough. The world today is chaotic and disturbing and therapy is really expensive.

A tongue-in-cheek adage has it that Tarot is “the poor woman’s therapist,” and there is something to that. However, I’ve seen some good (or at least high-priced and well-recommended) therapists in my day, and if forced to choose whether to never see Tarot again or never see a therapist again, there would be no contest.

Tarot works. Therapists are definitely a mixed bag. In this case, the poor people’s version isn’t necessarily inferior.

Why does Tarot work if it was developed from a parlor game?

I have done readings for friends over the years and recently I’ve taken a few paid clients on the same terms under which I tutor professionals in English as a second language. And here is what I and most other authentic Tarot readers tell people who ask how it works:

1. The interpretation books I use are well-written with a lot of spiritual and emotional wisdom. If you take any book written with spiritual and emotional wisdom and flip randomly to a page and read a passage for guidance, you will usually calm down, feel more centered and gain some insight. People do this all the time with the Bible and other religious texts The best Tarot books are on a similar level of sophistication today, though it has taken several hundred years to get there.

2. The images in Tarot cards are rich in symbolism, as are the texts. These symbols, through our subconscious associations with them, have powerful effects on our thinking. Looking at the images and reading or hearing a description of those symbols affects us on a subconscious level, providing spiritual connection and psychological benefits.

3. While Tarot may have initially come from something frivolous, several centuries of serious development has turned it into a kind of universal language for every part of human experience. One way or another it covers every eventuality and speaks to the universal needs and struggles we all face. There is real wisdom in the structure of the cards.

So, essentially those three points add up to a sort of pseudo-psychological, utterly non-mystical explanation that may or may not satisfy all psychological doctors, although it does satisfy quite a few. The bottom line is that the benefits are observable.

But astute friends and clients will still tend to ask, “Yes, but does it really work?” When pressed they reveal that what they mean by this is, “Does Tarot tell you things you don’t already know? Does it predict the future?”

The answer to that question is far more individual. My answer to those I do readings with is that it provides psychological and spiritual benefits, wise counsel and comfort. That is indisputable. It doesn’t really matter if you believe it predicts the future or mysteriously provides information you don’t already know. It will still be helpful.

My personal belief is that I have on occasion gained insight and information, which I can’t explain, from the Tarot. But I have also often been confused. Personally I think sometimes Tarot can give information in ways that the pseudo-scientific explanation doesn’t cover, but that is, at least for me, an unpredictable aspect.

I can usually tell if profound and unexpected information is there and if it is trustworthy, but that is a rare outcome. Most of the time, the cards reflect things we do already know at least subconsciously. Our conscious minds recognize the true parts of what the explanations of the cards say and because the structure allows for healthy and calm consideration, we come away more clear-headed.

And when we don’t recognize the truth there, which also happens, usually it is just not a great reading and we don’t understand. Only occasionally do I get the sense that something important and previously unknown has been revealed.

My Kazakh mentor claimed that the only time Tarot should actually be used to predict the future is on the winter solstice. I have always done predictive readings on the solstice ever since, but it is more for the tradition than anything else. The predictions aren’t really anything one could act on anyway, just a vague sense of the year ahead.

And although for awhile I followed her stricture and did not do predictive readings at other times of the year, I no longer follow that religiously. The rule I do adhere to is that I never make decisions based solely on predictive Tarot readings and I advise clients and friends not to either.

I have certainly used a predictive reading to help me make a difficult decision. If the reading indicates a positive outcome associated with a direction I am already intuitively inclined to go, it gives me some peace of mind and it is then easier to bite the bullet and make a decision when I have to take a shot in the dark.

On the other hand, I revisit my reasoning and check and recheck my decision-making on those occasions when the reading does not support the direction I intuitively feel like going. Sometimes that does change my eventual decision, not directly due to the reading, but rather due to that cautious reappraisal.

Most often I think Tarot affects my decision making for the better on those occasions when my intuitive sense of the best decision conflicts with what I selfishly or lazily want to do. The Tarot overwhelmingly tends to support my intuitive sense of right and wrong over my personal desires and it has a way of talking me (and my friends and clients) into healthier decisions that require self-regulation.

I do personally find that the Tarot gives good predictive advice. But I am not set in a fixed belief about it’s predictive or mystical powers. I could be convinced by evidence to change my stance on that aspect of the Tarot, and it wouldn’t have a significant impact on my use of it, since most of the Tarot work I do isn’t predictive, but much more self-reflective and analytical.

Whether that satisfies skeptics and ridiculers is debatable, but this is my declaration as a Tarot reader. I plan on posting about Tarot, including useful readings for various full or new moons, in 2020, so if you do enjoy this type of self-care, stay tuned.

To get started here is a reading for the new year, which I developed and found particularly helpful. It can be adapted to any topic or area of your life that you have concerns about and it is well suited to tomorrow’s first full moon of the new year.

Reading for setting hopes and goals

A lot of New Year’s readings either attempt to predict what is going to happen in the new year or encourage you to set whatever goal you want. This one is a healthy compromise between the two. The philosophy of the Tarot is not predetermination. Even those who believe Tarot does literally predict the future insist that the prediction is valid only “if you persist on the same path.”

In short, we have free will and Tarot only reflects the consequences of our choices. This reading frees us a little to consider possible positive outcomes, results that we could gain this year, if we are willing to change paths or persist as the case may be. The goal here is to help us find possible and achievable hopes for the new year.

To begin, identify one or more areas of your life in which you would like to see improvement. This can be general or specific. For instance, I tried out the categories of “physical health and well-being,” “emotional well-being and healing,” “my writing profession,” “my family,” and “my social and community relationships.”

Write these down in your journal or other record book in a numbered list, leaving a few inches of space in which to record your results.

Next, it is good to set up your Tarot spot in a way that is supportive of calm and reflection. For most of us that means a place where you won’t be disturbed, possibly with a candle or a special cloth to lay your cards out on.

Many readers have very strict rules about how and where and when Tarot may be done. I have my own, which I will write about in other posts, but the bottom line is that what matters is your frame of mind, and if laying out your cards at a night club or among the tea things on your kitchen table or on a log in the woods or on your messy bed gives you a sense of being grounded and centered, then that’s fine for now.

For each topic you want to set goals for, you will have three cards. Shuffle the deck well, cut the deck (i.e. divide it into two or three piles, depending on your tradition, and restack it) and draw three cards off the top.

This is a sample reading about a young person’s aspiration to develop as an actress. Reading from the left, card one indicates some conservatism or stinginess in the situation. Possibly the young person is overly reticent or she encounters stinginess in opportunities to practice acting. Card 2 indicates that the young person could gain intellectual understanding or make a firm decision about her path during this year. Card 3 indicates that something regarding attraction or passion is the main challenge, possibly meaning either over-enthusiasm or balancing this aspiration with a romantic relationship. Image by Arie Farnam

Card 1 (placed to the left) represents the status quo or your current situation with that topic.

Card 2 (placed to the right) represents what is the most favorable outcome you can achieve during the year. In some readings this is called “the aspiration.” It is something you can work toward.

Card 3 (placed perpendicular to Card 2 further to the right) represents the challlenge or what will cross your path as you try to reach your aspiration.

This is a quick, clear reading that can be done separately for a number of topics. The only tricky part comes when you may A. receive a card in the first position that seems opposed to what you think your current situation is, B. receive a somewhat negative card in the second position, or C. receive a positive card in the third position.

People sometimes claim that Tarot is intentionally vague so that you can read just about anything into any card. But that is far from true. In fact, the cards can be very specific. However, there are multiple meanings to each card in order to cover all of the myriad archetypal aspects of human existence. That means you always have a positive or a negative aspect to choose from in each card.

And given the positions of the cards here, it is clear which interpretation of the card you are meant to choose. Card 1 may be mystifying to you if your situation is very difficult and you get a very cheerful card. Consider that the good cheer may be what is going on around you, while you suffer, or it may be pointing to a silver lining to your situation that you are not paying enough attention to.

Card 2 will have some positive aspect that you should focus on. Classically, Death can be read as an ending but it also necessitates a deep transformation and a new beginning. The Hermit may mean loneliness and isolation in some contexts but it also may mean simply standing out from the crowd and carrying a light for others to follow. The Five of Swords may look grim and unpleasant but it can mean that you’ll simply win a hard fought battle one way or another.

Card 3 on the other hand has to be read for it’s difficult sides. Just as every card has a positive aspect, there is always an inherent difficulty. The Ten of Disks may be lovely to look at but it’s focus on family legacy and togetherness can imply that family, as positive as it may be at the time, is somehow limiting or complicating your development in another area. This is natural and does not mean we should abandon our families. It simply points to what will give challenge to that aspiration in the year ahead.

Experiment, keep a record of this reading and look back at it in a few months to see if anything that didn’t make sense initially makes more sense later on. Good luck!

There is certainly more to write about Tarot and I will be posting on a number of connected topics, including how I set up a Tarot space, how to shuffle, whether and how to read reversals and more. For now, explore, pay attention to your intuition and be well.