How To Learn Tarot Card Meanings

rituals

How to Get Started With Tarot

Half-dozen — OK, seven — easy steps to ease your way into deeper introspection.

Credit... Jesse Untracht-Oakner for The New York Times

Apr ane, 2021

People have been finding pregnant in tarot cards for centuries, and though at that place is a lot of ritual to the do, there is no prove that tarot cards really … tell your future.

Simply for many who love to consult them, that's abreast the point. Tarot is less near predicting the time to come than information technology is about reflecting on your life. Also? "Having fun is more serious to the exercise than you can imagine," said Ariana Lenarsky, 34, a author, musician and tarot reader.

Getting into tarot tin exist overwhelming at kickoff. Here's an easy guide.

Paradigm

Credit... Jesse Untracht-Oakner for The New York Times

STEP one

Choose a deck

In that location are a few central differences between a regular deck of cards and a tarot deck. Generally, tarot decks contain more cards, and each carte du jour features an illustration associated with its pregnant. The decks accept been reimagined many times with different styles and themes.

The almost important thing is that your tarot deck resonates with you: Purchase a deck you'll want to use and do with. (Or, ask someone to buy a nice deck for you, if you feel superstitious about buying your ain.)

"My recommendation is e'er to retrieve about a deck like you're choosing a roommate," said Jessica Dore, 34, a social worker and tarot carte du jour reader who is known for her daily readings on Twitter and now teaches tarot card reading.

The reader behind a pop YouTube channel called Tarot by Bronx recommends visiting a local bookstore or metaphysical store and so yous tin can meet and hold a deck before buying it.

If that's non possible, you can always scan tarot decks online at retailers like Little Reddish Tarot, Rite of Ritual and Llewellyn. If yous're a beginner, it's worth considering a deck that comes with a guidebook.

Hither are some suggested decks:

The Rider Waite tarot deck, originally published in 1909, is one of the most popular. Information technology can make for a bang-up beginner deck because it'southward easy to find information on how to translate the cards. The Modern Witch tarot deck is a contemporary twist on the Rider Waite deck. The Akamara tarot deck showcases African spiritual practices. The Tarot Illuminati deck features cards with vibrant colors and detailed artwork.

STEP 2

Empathize the basics of a tarot deck

A tarot deck has 78 cards and is divided into 2 sections: major arcana (major mysteries) and small-scale arcana (meaning minor mysteries).

There are 22 major arcana cards, and they tend to bargain with big life events and overarching themes, for example, relationships, career and love.

There are 56 minor arcana cards. These tend to bargain with smaller problems and day-to-day tribulations, like fleeting emotions and situations. Minor arcana cards are divided into 4 suits: cups, wands, swords and pentacles. Each arrange has numbered cards from 1 through ten, as well every bit four court cards (folio, knight, king and queen).

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Credit... Jesse Untracht-Oakner for The New York Times

STEP 3

Come upwards with the question y'all want to inquire

The aim of a tarot reading is to explore a question virtually the self. Y'all pick cards to help you reflect on possible answers, interpreting the meaning of each in relation to what yous asked. Continue in mind that tarot cards are tools for introspection, and for that reason information technology's best to keep questions open up-ended.

"Any questions that are clear and concise that deal with who, what, where and how are great," said Tatianna Morales, 33, who taught herself to read tarot cards as a child and now conducts a variety of services every bit Tatianna Tarot. "The whys are not so of import, because things can modify."

Though you lot can employ tarot to work through the big things happening in your life, like career obstacles and relationship struggles, it tin can likewise address twenty-four hour period-to-day questions.

Here are some examples from the experts, of questions you lot tin ask of yourself or to help answer for other people:

What do I demand to be aware of correct now?
Where should I be focusing my energy or attention?
What do I need to appreciate about myself today?
Should I have pizza … again?
Why is my mother like that?
What's my biggest challenge for the mean solar day?
What do I demand to know about my dear life?
What should I be doing career-wise?

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Credit... Jesse Untracht-Oakner for The New York Times

STEP 4

Fix your area

Do whatever feels right to set the mood. Some people like to use specific table cloths while they read, while others apply candles or crystals.

Many tarot menu readers as well cleanse their surface area earlier they start. You tin can do this with sprays similar lavender, as well every bit past burning incense.

Here is a guide to incense.

STEP v

Shuffling and cut

Get-go by shuffling your deck while thinking about your question. Shuffle however feels about comfortable, and end when you feel you've thought about your question enough and are ready for an answer.

After shuffling, place the deck facedown and cut information technology into multiple smaller decks. They don't have to be of equal size — but whatever feels right. Then, restack all of the decks back together at random. Your cards are now gear up to pull: Yous'll flip individual cards up from the deck and place them faceup on the table.

Prototype

Credit... Jesse Untracht-Oakner for The New York Times

Footstep 6

Pull the cards

There are unlike ways to pull tarot cards. You pull them intuitively or into "spreads" — specific organization where each card is assigned a meaning.

Bronx and Ms. Morales said they pull cards intuitively, flipping over cards until they feel they've answered their question.

For beginners, spreads or specific forms of reading tin be easier to grasp. The simplest of these is a one-bill of fare spread, where a single card is pulled.

Pulling a single card at a time can be less overwhelming than a full spread, and it can give you the opportunity to become to know the cards better. Ms. Dore recommends pulling one card in the morn and ane in the evening, creating opportunities to check in with yourself.

3-card spreads are piece of cake and adaptable. You'll pull three cards, placing them on the table from left to right. Assign each position a meaning: For instance, the outset card yous pull can represent the past, the center card can correspond the present, and the terminal tin look at the future. You could also look at listen, torso and spirit; your current situation, your obstacle and advice; or any other meanings you want to assign.

A Celtic cross is a 10-card spread that approaches an issue from multiple angles. The first menu you pull looks at the heart of the issue, while the residual work to explain it and give you insight on the best fashion forrard. Here is a guide. Still, given the number of cards, it can be a little overwhelming if yous're non familiar with what they all mean yet.

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Credit... Jesse Untracht-Oakner for The New York Times

Footstep 7

Begin to learn to read the tarot deck

Commencement up, the pocket-size arcana. Cups, associated with h2o, is the conform that deals primarily with emotions, openness and imagination. Wands, associated with fire and passion, stand for energy, move and creative force. Swords, associated with air, represent your listen; how yous think, communicate and solve issues. Pentacles, associated with globe, explore the physical world and how we interact with it, representing topics like money, the dwelling and careers.

Next, the courtroom cards. Just similar in a regular deck of cards, each arrange has face or court cards — commonly called king, queen, page and knight.

"You tin think nigh them every bit individual entities that stand alone, or you can think about them as a sequence or a progression," Ms. Dore said. The page and the knight can correspond youth or inexperience, while the queen and male monarch can convey adulthood and mastery.

Major arcana cards, like the Star or the Lovers, refer to bigger events in your life. Though these cards can be intimidating at first, merely make sure to take your time with them and read up on all the different ways they tin be interpreted. They're e'er more nuanced than they seem at a glance: For case, while pulling the Death card may feel similar a bad omen, it could be interpreted more innocently — that something in your life could end.

One last tip!

Keep a tarot journal.

"Go with your ain instincts, try to shut your encephalon off and write every bit much as you can about what you're picking upwards for that carte in that moment, and compile a list of definitions over time," Ms. Morales said. "That listing will become your ain encyclopedia."