How to Read Tarot for Beginners
Learning to read the tarot is a long and absorbing practice, but the basics can be learned in a single afternoon, and the art develops over years. This article is a step-by-step introduction to the practical art of the tarot for the beginner, whether you are reading for yourself or for others. For the history and theory of the tarot, see Tarot as a Tool of Divination; for the broader context of divinatory practice; and for the place of the tarot in the Western esoteric tradition, see Divination Practices and the history of the occult. Two practical companions for the working reader are Mary K. Greer, Tarot for Your Self (1984), and Rachel Pollack, Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom (1980); Waite’s own The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910) is still the standard reference for the Rider-Waite.
Choosing a Deck
The first decision is the deck. The two most popular modern decks are the Rider-Waite-Smith, published in 1909 and still in print, and the Thoth deck, designed by Aleister Crowley and Lady Frieda Harris and published in 1969. The Rider-Waite-Smith is the better choice for the absolute beginner: the cards are illustrated with full pictorial scenes on all 78 cards, including the 56 Minor Arcana, and the scenes give a strong visual prompt to the meaning. The Thoth is more abstract and demands more from the reader. Other good beginner decks include the Morgan-Greer (1970), the Hanson-Roberts (1970), the Robin Wood (1983), and the Radiant Rider-Waite (2003). Whatever deck you choose, work with it for at least a year before trying another; switching decks too early is a common beginner’s mistake.
The Structure of the Deck
The 78 cards of the standard tarot are divided into 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana. The Major Arcana are the larger arcana of the soul’s journey: the Fool, the Magician, the High Priestess, the Empress, the Emperor, the Hierophant, the Lovers, the Chariot, Strength, the Hermit, the Wheel of Fortune, Justice, the Hanged Man, Death, Temperance, the Devil, the Tower, the Star, the Moon, the Sun, Judgement, and the World.
The Minor Arcana are the 56 cards of everyday experience, divided into four suits of 14: wands (fire), cups (water), swords (air), and pentacles (earth). Each suit has an ace, the numbers 2 through 10, and four court cards: the Page, the Knight, the Queen, and the King. The four suits are read as the four elements and the four functions of personality. The court cards are read as persons, as aspects of the self, or as qualities of the situation.
Upright and Reversed
A card drawn in the standard position is read upright; a card drawn upside down is read reversed. Some readers (notably most French cartomancers) work extensively with reversals; others (notably most Golden Dawn and Thelemic readers) do not. The choice is yours, but be consistent.
A reversed card is read as a complication, an interiorization, a shadow aspect, or a blockage of the upright meaning. The Magician upright is active skill; the Magician reversed is manipulation or unused talent. The Tower upright is sudden collapse; the Tower reversed is a narrow escape or a delayed collapse. Reversed cards should not be read as “bad” but as the same meaning in a different mode.
Phrasing the Question
The most important step in a tarot reading is the question. A good question is open, specific, and answerable. “What is happening in my love life?” is too broad; “What is happening between X and me in the next three months?” is better. “Will I get the job?” is too narrow; “What do I most need to know about the job decision?” is better. A useful practice is to write the question down before the reading.
The Three-Card Spread
The most useful beginner spread is the three-card spread. The three cards can be read in several ways:
- Past, present, future. A story moving from past through present into future.
- Situation, obstacle, advice. What you are facing, what is in the way, and what to do.
- Mind, body, spirit. A holistic snapshot of the querent’s condition.
The three-card spread is excellent for daily reading and for any situation in which the querent needs a quick snapshot. The Celtic Cross is the standard ten-card spread, and many other spreads are used in the modern tradition, but the three-card spread is the one to learn first.
Reading the Cards
When you have laid out the spread, look at each card. The first thing is to notice the image. The image is a prompt to the meaning; if you are new to the deck, simply look at the image and let it speak. The second thing is to notice the position of the card in the spread. The same card means different things in different positions. The third thing is to notice the relation of the card to the other cards. The Tower next to the Star means sudden collapse followed by healing; the Tower next to the Devil means sudden collapse caused by self-imposed bondage. The cards do not give general statements; they give a specific reading for the specific question.
A Worked Example
To make the process concrete, consider a querent who has drawn the Three of Wands, the Six of Cups, and the Ten of Pentacles in a “Situation, Obstacle, Advice” reading. The Three of Wands shows a figure on a cliff looking out to sea, ships already departed: the situation is that plans are in motion. The Six of Cups shows an older figure offering a cup to a younger one, an image of memory: the obstacle is that the querent is looking back rather than forward. The Ten of Pentacles shows an old man in an archway surrounded by generations and material abundance: the advice is to commit to the long game. The same three cards in a “Past, Present, Future” layout would say something different. The most useful beginner skill beyond the single-card interpretation is the reading of card pairs: the Ace of Cups beside the Two of Swords suggests an offer of love that has been met with indecision; the second card answers the first.
Journaling the Reading
The single most effective way to develop as a tarot reader is to keep a tarot journal. The record should include the date, the question, the cards drawn, the position of the cards, the immediate interpretation, and the notes you take a few days or weeks later on how the reading played out. The journal is the working memory of the reader.
Common Mistakes
A few common beginner mistakes, and how to avoid them. The first is to read for oneself about the same question too often: the repeated reading is a repetition of the same anxiety, not a more accurate reading. The second is to read for others without their consent; the uninvited reading is a violation, the invited reading is a service. The third is to read the cards as fixed sentences rather than as prompts. The fourth is to forget the question. The fifth is to be afraid of the “negative” cards — the Tower, the Devil, Death, the Moon, the Hanged Man — which often point to real difficulties. The reader who flinches from them does the querent a disservice.
Ethical Considerations
The reading is a service. The reader is responsible for the reading given, and the reading given should be the best reading the reader can produce. The reader should not promise a particular outcome, should not use the reading to frighten or to control the querent, and should not use it as a substitute for medical, legal, or financial advice. The reader who reads well refers the querent to the appropriate professional when the question goes beyond the scope of the reading.