Quick Guide to Secrets of Tarot Card Readings
Tarot Tutorials
Dear Reader,
I’m publishing an updated version of this tutorial for anyone wanting to learn tips on how to use tarot cards, who to read for, and shortcuts to memorising their most fundamental meanings.
If you are a professional reader, you might want to skip to Parts II and III. This post includes the following headlines:
Part I: Foundations of Tarot Card Readings
General Way to Read the Cards: Suits and Court Cards
Suits and Numbers
Major Arcana Cards
Memorising Specific Meanings
Part II: How to Choose a Spread for Tarot Card Readings
Shuffling the Cards
Part III: Interpreting Cards in a Tarot Card Readings
Combining Channeling with Tarot Card Readings
The Higher Purpose(s) of Reading Tarot
Basic Psychic Channeling for Tarot Readings
Reading Tarot Cards for Friends and Family
Q&A: "Can I Read My Own Cards?"
Thanks for reading my readings!
Wishing you all good things,
Kyra
Tarot Tutorials
Quick Guide to Secrets of Tarot Card Readings
The following guide offers some tips on reading tarot cards I've learned about over the years as a tarot reader. I am happy to share them with you in case it might save you some time or help you to provide yourself and others with readings that can offer insight into the past, present, and future. For this tutorial, I will refer to the Rider Waite (or Smith Waite) tarot deck(s) since many people are familiar with those decks.
Part I: Foundations of Tarot Card Readings
General Way to Read the Cards: Suits and Court Cards
Minor Arcana cards can refer to 1) a minor event or 2) specific parts of a major situation. When you have a suit card, this is in the category of one of the four suits; usually cups, pentacles, swords, or wands. There are general meanings to each suit which you can quickly memorise. Cups refer to relationships and the emotional life and are ruled by Water signs. Pentacles are about financial and practical situations and relate to Earth signs. Swords indicate mental processes, consciousness, and intellectual life and are more closely related to Air signs. Finally, Wands indicate creativity, ideas, and inspiration and are connected to Fire signs.
Suits and Numbers
Each of the four suits is numbered from 1 to 10 (e.g. Ace of Cups to Ten of Cups). Every number has a specific connotation so if you memorise the general idea behind the numbers you can connect the meaning of the suit to the definition of each number. For instance, Ace (or 1) is a new beginning and cups are about relationships and/or emotions. Therefore, Ace of Cups in a basic and general sense indicates either a new relationship or emotional state. The type of relationship indicated by this card will depend on 1) the other cards in the spread which might refer to a person or situation and 2) the question asked by the querent, or person asking the question and being read. While the meanings of these numbers vary, it was helpful to me when I started reading Tarot to get familiar with commonalities within each number. For instance, every time I saw a two I knew this card was offering a message about duality, partnership, two paths, or possibly a choice or decision that needed to be made.
The following are basic meanings and are by no means a complete list of the numerical interpretations or numerological ones found in the Minor Arcana cards. These word associations are just a place to begin: Ace: beginnings, opportunities Two: partnerships, balance, decisions Three: groups, collaboration, growth Four: stability, structure, order, rest, reflection Five: a conflict that offers an opportunity for positive change, considering an alternative approach to generate a different result Six: progress, success, problem-solving, organisation, harmony, rewards Seven: learning, gaining wisdom through experience, working towards a goal Eight: action, change, perseverance, the "courage to change what we can" part of the Serenity Prayer Nine: fulfillment, arriving at a goal. Ten: completion, the end of a cycle, inner or outer transformation
Major Arcana Cards
Major Arcana cards indicate a more significant external event, or inner change, or can refer to both. There isn't a shortcut to learning these because they all have different meanings but the good news is that there are only 22 in a 78-card deck so it is not a lot to memorise. If you are a beginner at reading tarot it can help to have a deck that says the meaning on the card, which the Rider-Waite or Smith-Waite decks can provide.
Memorising Specific Meanings
For those of you who are visually oriented or practising artists, it will probably be quick for you to learn the meaning of the cards because each one has an image. However, if you are not as visually inclined, it might help to think of a wild (or even not-so-wild) association for each card. For instance, Emperor indicates a leader but can also be a father figure so you could think of something that rhymes like "Father-Leader-Emperor" each time you see the card that says "Emperor" at the bottom.
Part II: How to Choose a Spread for Tarot Card Readings
There are many helpful spreads. There is no "right" or "wrong" spread, and you can use your creativity to develop your own. The most basic place to start is by asking a question and pulling one card per answer. Once you get more comfortable with this, you might want to try a past-present-future three-card spread. From there, you will find more spreads in tarot card guidebooks or through your own online research.
Shuffling the Cards
Q: "How long should I shuffle the cards for?"
Part III: Interpreting Cards in a Tarot Card Readings
Combining Channeling with Tarot Card Readings
For ideas about channeling, please visit my post that offers some basic tips on how to develop your abilities under the headings "Time Travel Tarot Trip", "How to Make Predictions" and "A Less Stressful Psychic Process".
Basic Psychic Channeling for Tarot Readings
If you are in service you will always have a higher purpose. As long as you can set your ego aside and read the cards with a genuine desire to help someone, an open mind, and persistently practising this to improve your skills, you will connect with a higher purpose and meaning. One caveat is regarding the balance necessary for the most effective way to deliver news. If you see a warning in the cards it is most responsible to let someone know, yet it is also part of your function as a reader to do so in a way that does not cause anyone harm. This is a way of communicating that comes with practise but for now, know that it can be helpful to alert someone that there is a warning in the cards and ask them if they want to know about it. Alternatively, you can start the reading by letting the querent know that both warnings and opportunities can come up in the cards and check in with them to make sure they are okay with hearing about the warnings, too. Warnings can help someone avoid a difficulty. Sometimes it's better to know what's on the way than to ignore it and have them miss out on a message.
Reading Tarot Cards for Friends and Family
It can be tricky to read for someone in your life. How can you be objective when you’re possibly tied into the outcomes of their lives and will continue to be? There can be more objectivity if you have someone read you or someone close to you where there is no outside involvement and therefore conflict of interest. It is also hard to break difficult news to someone if you are close to them so that is another reason to have your or their cards interpreted by an objective reader.
"Can I Read My Own Cards?"
It’s not as if I don’t read my own cards occasionally but doing so comes with multiple limitations, including objectivity and accountability. You will also be missing out on additional insight and foresight. There’s nothing wrong with reading one’s own card, it’s just an incomplete experience.
If you have any questions about how to read the cards, please add your queries in the comment section below this article. Happy Reading!
Donations and tips can be sent to: paypal.me/kyraoser
Please mention 'GIFT' in the notes. Thanks for your support!
Psychic and tarot readings are for entertainment purposes only and are not performed by a licenced medical practitioner. Please consult with your medical doctors regarding all health concerns. Please consult with your financial advisor regarding all financial decisions. We make no representations or warranties, either express or implied, concerning the accuracy, relevancy, or quality of the information provided. No guarantees are stated or implied. Any consultation you receive is subject to your interpretation and you agree to take full responsibility for your interpretation, decisions, and actions. Comments are public and may be searchable on websites and search engines.