Beginner’s Tarot: How to Learn to Read Tarot, from the Very Beginning (Part 1)
beginner's tarot
how to learn to read tarot, from the very beginning (part 1)
When I first realised I was curious about tarot, I felt terrified. Sitting on my bed upstairs by myself, with a deck of demon-themed cards in my hands, I knew that there was something wrong about what I was doing; at least, that’s what my traditional Christian upbringing had left echoing in my mind. The cards felt entirely foreign to me, not only seeming to vibrate with some vaguely evil energy, but also with some underlying complexity tying them all together. It seemed far beyond me. I imagined only someone with some sharp psychic ability would be able to make anything of these pieces of magickal cardboard, and – even if I could – I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be that kind of person.
At the time, I had no idea how tarot would come to be a central part of my process of self-knowing and healing.
Since I began exploring tarot more deeply, it has become my most trusted tool for reflection, inquiry, and analysis of situations in my life. I trust this art, more than any other divinatory or esoteric art I’ve explored, to help me in making meaningful, informed decisions; when I feel confused or muddied within a situation, I know it is time for a reading. Not only do I use tarot in readings for myself, but I now also work with clients from all over the world to help them find clarity in their own life experiences. Every time I open space for a tarot reading, I trust that grounding and insights will follow.
And that’s what I want to share with you in this article: all the healing potentials of working with this timeless oracle. We’re going to cover a lot here, so get ready (and know that you should probably read these instructional articles in pieces, skimming and returning to them as you learn) – let’s explore how to get you on your own journey of learning to read tarot, from the very beginning!
prepare your intentions
As you’re starting out on this new journey, it will serve you to prepare some thoughts, specifically to know the “why” and “how” of your own learning. Moving forward with this understanding will help you stay focused, inspired, and committed to your studies.
The very first question to ask is: “why am I wanting to learn the tarot in the first place?” What is it that’s inspiring you to take on learning this art now? What do you hope to change about your life or be able to do with these new skills you’re building?
Maybe you are looking to just do readings for yourself, to help in making tough decisions as they come up. Maybe you’re looking to learn tarot in order to help others – maybe you even want to go deeper in your studies and build continual relationships with clients, seeing their healing over the long-term. Maybe you’re primarily interested in tarot’s psychological, historical, or artistic depth, how it relates to archetypes of personal growth and life experience, or its connections with other esoteric arts like astrology.
You may not feel like you know how to answer that question right now, and you may not need to – more important than anything is that you’re just asking the question, period, as it will help you identify what’s motivating you each day. When you are feeling less motivated (it will happen!), knowing what inspires you will allow you to reclaim that passion and keep reaching for your intention.
It is also likely that your answer will change a number of times as you continue to learn and grow, so it may be helpful to return to this question every once in a while (monthly? every few months?) to check in with how your intentions have changed. Honor where you are in your process currently, while also remembering the intention that brought you to study tarot initially.
choose your deck
The next questions I would ask are: “what kind of tarot deck do I want, and what kind of deck will serve me in my growth?”
Picking a deck to work with is quite a contentious topic among those who read tarot more deeply or as a profession – which is why I’ll soon be writing a full article specifically on choosing a tarot deck! In many ways, getting your first deck is kind of like taking that trip to Ollivanders, where partially you are selecting a tool and partially, the tool is selecting you; when you begin to work with your cards in a deeper way, you will quickly find that they are much more than pieces of paper with art on them: each deck carries its own energy and has its own way of expressing concepts, so it is important to work with a deck you find resonates.
For this reason, some readers argue quite strongly against getting a deck by any means other than it being gifted to you; many see gifting decks as the only legitimate form of receiving one, though obviously that brings up some questions (like how did the gift-giver get the deck in the first place?). Others advocate that because tarot decks are so energetically bound, they should never be exchanged – or certainly not without a set of intentional rituals to transfer to being with another reader.
In my practice, I see absolutely no problem with purchasing or exchanging decks, though I do suggest exercising a lot of intention around choosing a deck and caring for it. When I bought my first deck, part of the reason I found the cards so foreign has to do with how I got them; I was feeling impulsively drawn to get started, and so I chose from the ones my nearby bookstore had available, knowing very well I didn’t resonate with any of the ones there. After I took more time to do research online and searching around (having returned the first one to the store), I found a deck I felt far more connected with and that very deck has remained my primary reading set ever since. In this process, I’ve learned to take note of a few different questions – which I still ask any time I buy or acquire new decks:
- What kind of style do I want?
There are thousands of artists who have printed their own interpretation of tarot – am I looking for something more flowy, more fantasy-themed, more ethereal? Something darker, with more grunge? Something very traditional, which prioritises maintaining the original history of the tarot, or something that is more loosely interpreted? Identify what kind of styles you resonate with and use websites like Aeclectic to search for themes among currently available tarot decks; almost certainly, the feeling you’re looking for exists.
- What size and format am I looking for?
Some tarot decks are sized to be especially portable and can fit in your pocket while other decks can easily be larger than your whole hand (wouldn’t suggest these!). Most decks will be somewhere in between and won’t be quite pocket-sized, but definitely still manageable. Also consider how much information you want on a card. Some decks will show you an image, the name of the card, its astrological and qabbalah associations, and perhaps even other information – I find these kinds of decks overwhelming and distracting from the visual essence of tarot, opting for decks that leave lots of room for story and interpretation through the imagery. Keep in mind that you generally won’t just be looking at one card at a time, but many cards within one reading; text and borders and extra spacing all multiply quickly!
- What kind of coin am I trying to invest in a deck?
Most non-collector tarot decks generally range from around $12 to $60, with the average deck – something you can find easily online or at your local book or spiritually-themed shop – floating around $25. Remember that you will likely be keeping this deck for many years to come.
As getting your own tarot deck can be such an intimate, personal experience, I’ll surely be writing more on this specific topic, but for now, these are a few questions that can help you know what to choose!
study your cards
So, by this point, you’re getting your intentions together, as well as the deck you’ll be reading with. Now, what? It’s time to learn the cards, themselves.
Immediately, this seems an overwhelming feat; not only are there 78 cards in the deck, but the individual cards have their own numbers and other features and— don’t worry. Fortunately, regardless of the thousands of options of tarot decks available, nearly all of them follow a consistent pattern that they’ve inherited from years of a growing tradition and philosophy. Isn’t that beautiful?
Alright, get ready to take some notes. Firstly, every tarot deck can be divided into three parts, this structure being the main thing that distinguishes the tarot from other oracle decks:
- the minor arcana (40 cards)
- the court cards (16 cards)
- the major arcana (22 cards)
Loosely, the minor arcana cards correlate to day to day or more mundane experiences. Working around the house. Daydreaming. Falling in love, or meeting someone new. Getting in an argument. Missing out on an opportunity. Hearing juicy gossip from someone you know.
Further, the minor arcana is divided into four suits, four elements which help define their meanings further. Generally, it goes as follows:
- cups, correlating to water (matters of emotion, feeling, dreams, and memories)
- wands, correlating to fire (matters of passion, focus, and raw, vital force)
- pentacles, correlating to earth (matters of resources, labor, and material reality)
- swords, correlating to air (matters of thought, mind, and communication)
So, when you pull a card that is of swords, you know that the card is talking about ideas floating around or something someone said. If it’s cups, you can imagine that the card is talking about something deeper and more having to do with what’s at the heart of the issue, what someone’s really feeling.
For each of these suits or elements, there is a card numbered from one to ten in the minor arcana, part of the meaning contributed by the element and part by the number (numerology fans, rejoice!) – that is how we arrive at its total 40 total cards. For example, you may pull the Six of Cups, a card which often talks about emotional questions having to do specifically with our childhood and returning to a memory of simpler times. The Ten of Wands often has to do with feeling overburdened by taking on too many different things in life, and the Ace (One) of Pentacles generally speaks of new resources (money, time, connections) appearing. Every single one of these cards in the minor arcana – and in the tarot in general – has a traditional meaning which has been newly interpreted by the deck’s artist, so regardless of which deck you pull a Five of Swords from, it will always relate somewhat to the Five of Swords card in every other tarot deck.
When you look at the 16 court cards, you will find that they share the elements of the minor arcana (and many people just consider these cards as part of the minor arcana). The distinction here is that the court cards are a more personified version of the elements, still with a structure. For each element, there is a:
- Page (representing someone beginning to explore a theme)
- Knight (representing someone taking action within a theme)
- Queen (representing someone with some skill around a theme)
- King (representing someone with mastery around a theme)
(Feel free to rename these to something queerer and less patriarchal; some tarot decks you find will reinterpret this traditional structure, as well.)
So, for example, the Knight of Swords will often show up representing someone on their way to deliver a message, with something to say. The Queen of Cups will represent the energy of someone with a lot of emotional presence and sharpened skills around feeling and intuition. Some readers take these cards to represent actual people during readings, but for me, they represent “energies” – several court cards can show up to indicate the same person, but different aspects of how they are approaching a question or situation.
Lastly, we arrive at the major arcana, a set of 22 cards – in contrast to the minor arcana’s focus on the mundane, the major arcana seems to represent a more divine existence. If you think of the minor arcana as things that people are doing in their day to day lives, the major arcana represents larger forces or processes, beyond any individual person; if that seems vague, it’s because the major arcana is vague.
This part of the tarot deck does not explicitly show any pattern with the suits or elements or numbers. Instead, the set of 22 should be considered as one progression of experiences that represents the life cycle – often referred to as the fool’s journey. The major arcana has cards like Judgment, a card which appears when a critical decision is being made, or the even more intense Tower, a card that cautions against taking a certain path in life and urges us to reconsider repeated patterns, or otherwise experience loss and hurt. Or the Chariot, representing a time when the path is clear and we can move forward with passion and our full intention. The Death card – the most misunderstood card in tarot, as a sign of transformation and deep, lasting healing – also belongs to the major arcana. Generally, it suffices to understand that when major arcana cards come up in a reading, they should be given more attention than surrounding minor arcana + court cards. They show up when something greater or deeper is going on, bringing our focus to the bigger picture and offering opportunities for more profound growth.
Collectively, the minor arcana, court cards, and major arcana form the 78 cards of the tarot, as they have for centuries – and as you learn these cards and come to understand their depths more fully, you will be well on your way to a profound, lasting relationship with the tarot and all that it can bring to your life.
In the next part of this beginner’s tarot series, we will explore how to set up your first reading, get to interpreting the cards together in a spread, and reflect on where else the tarot may take you in your spiritual journey. Until then ..
With love and light,
Amani
P.S. If you’re excited about learning the tarot, join me in our next online tarot workshop series, where I will guide you through the process and we can practice together – the next series will be beginning soon. Click here to learn more and sign up today!
Amani Michael
intuit.hue founder + guide
