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Learning to Read Tarot Cards
Here are some tips about familarising yourself
with the cards in the Tarot deck.
Also see our pages about the individual Tarot
Cards.
Studying
Tarot in a Class or with a Teacher |
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It may not be necessary to study the Tarot
alone.
Some Tarot Readers offer tuition, either individually or
in classes as well as personal readings.
Advantages of learning the Tarot in person (individually
or as part of a small group) include the personal guidance
of the
tutor and possibly also
meeting
the other
students - learning from them, and also everyone being able
to do practise readings on relative
strangers,
and also to receive mini-reading themselves as part of the
class.
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Selecting
a Tarot Deck
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Most Tarot Readers have one Tarot Deck, or at least one
preferred Tarot Deck. However, beginners may enjoy trying
a range of different decks to experiement with which one
feels right for him/herself personally. We have heard one
recommendation that is is good luck to receive your Tarot
Deck as an unconditional gift. Nevertheless, the decks can
vary considerably and it is important to use one whose images
and energies are not only comfortable, but also attractive
to the reader.
If you receive a reading from someone whose Tarot Deck appeals
to you then ask him/her about it. IvyRose
Holistics does not sell Tarot Decks - but we do feature a
range of popular decks in the Tarot
Decks Section. You might also enjoy browsing this list (several
pages long but the most popular decks appear at the top of the
list).
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Familiarisation
with the cards
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There are 78 Cards in a Standard Tarot Deck: 22 Cards
of the Major Arcana (Picture Cards)
plus 4 Suits of 14 Cards each.
Memorising the meanings of the cards can be simplified in many
ways:
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- In the correct (numerical)
order, the 22 cards of the Major Arcana tell a story.
This
is called "The Fool's Journey", and by remembering
the story, it is much easier to recall the order and significance
of each of the cards involved.
- Each of the suits has some characteristics common to all
of the cards in the suit, for example each suit has a theme
(Emotions, Material/Physical, Mental Capabilities/Intellect,
Personal Growth/Career), is associated with an element
(Earth, Air, Fire or Water), and
with a Season
(Spring,
Summer,
Autumn,
or
Winter).
- Each of the numbers and Court Cards (Page, Knight, Queen
and King) in the Minor Arcana have some characteristics in
common.
- Many Tarot Decks, and certainly the most popular modern
decks are highly illustrated so that after first learning
the symbolism incorporated into a card, the information is
simply there to see when the card is encountered in the future.
- Where there is ambiguity about the meaning of a card, the
meaning in a particular situation may be clarified by the
position of the card in the spread, and by the cards that
appear around it.
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There are also a range of games and techniques for increasing
one's familiarity with the cards of the tarot deck - for
example, by taking out a card at random each day and studying
at reflecting on that one card during that day. |
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Reading
Books about the Tarot
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There are many varied and interesting books about the
Tarot.
Reading around a subject is usually a great way to support
other forms of learning - but do remember that reading
the Tarot is a practical skill:
It's possible to become an
expert on, for example, the known history of the Tarot, yet
lack sufficient familiarity with the cards and sensitivity
to
their subtle
meanings to read a spread.
IvyRose Holistics does not sell books about the Tarot but
we do feature a range of texts in the Tarot
Books Section.
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Practise
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As with many learning tasks, practise brings further learning,
insight, improvement, and confidence. Anyone who is really motivated
to learn a particular skill will also be keen to practise and
use it.
However, in the case of learning the Tarot, some forms of
practise are better than others. For example, it is not recommended
to attempt reading after reading - especially if you are
both the sitter (seeker) and the reader, and are using
the same spread and/or focusing on the same situation. It
is far better to gain more varied experience by doing regular
readings for other people. The less well you know the sitter
- or at least the situation or issue he/she chooses to focus
on, the better. There are several reasons for this - with
obvious benefits. For example, working with other unfamiliar
sitters is more challenging, more objective, and may result
in the learner Tarot Reader gaining more confidence than
when reading for him/herself.
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