It’s one of the biggest frustrations of beginner Tarot readers, how do you develop intuition and read Tarot more intuitively? 

Before we dive in, I want to make it very clear that intuition isn’t a skill as such, it is a natural, instinctual power that every human has. It transcends the conscious mind and you can find intuition in every living thing, no matter how sentient. 

So if you’re thinking you don’t have ‘intuition’ you’re wrong. You have it. It already exists within you, it’s just a muscle you haven’t used much and so it has weakened. Our goal before the end of this blog is to have you feeling an awareness of that intuitive muscle again. It is to feel like you know where it is inside you and how you can tap into it for Tarot readings or just general life.

I want to create a stand-alone blog diving into this in more detail, but I think it’s important to touch on it before we get stuck in. 

Instinct and intuition are two different entities. The simplest way to explain it is this: 

Instinct – A base, almost animalistic feeling that comes from our need to stay safe and alive. Your instincts are what tell you to run when there’s danger, to breathe, to eat when you’re hungry, to drink when you’re thirsty. Essentially, it is an unconscious understanding that is designed to spur you into some kind of action. That’s why the Tarot Wands are associated with instinct; they are a suit of motivation, power, and action. 

Intuition – A ‘knowing’ that is not directly influenced by facts and conscious thought. It is like Spider-Man’s spider senses. It’s like someone or something has whispered in your ear imparting information and knowledge that seemingly comes from out of the blue. The Tarot cups are the suit that is linked with intuition because it’s a knowledge that doesn’t come from logic, it’s more emotional than that, it’s more intangible and often helps us decipher what is right and wrong. 

The reason it’s important to know the difference between the two is because we’ll be working with intuition and it can be easy to mistake one for the other. Understanding instinct is a little more complicated because there’s a lot of psychology that influences instinct and what it encourages to act on. We’ll be looking at intuition, the unconscious knowing, the feeling of just knowing something and learning how to trust it and lean into it.

Like I mentioned before, your intuition is a muscle, the more you use it the stronger it gets. But how do you even start exercising a muscle you can’t feel and have no idea where it is inside your body?

The first step is drawing it up from the depths so you can form that reconnection. Here’s a quick and easy exercise to draw that intuition back out, like fishing. We need to put ourselves into a position that requires the help of intuition to gain greater insight. What better way than using an Oracle card? 

Oracle Card Free Writing Exercise: Grab a notebook and a pen then take a look at the card.

Write down everything that comes to mind. Don’t overthink anything, don’t analyse anything, just write whatever the card brings to mind. 

Aim to write a full page. Don’t worry about it making sense or grammar or creating full sentences, the important thing is we get the knowledge the card sparks down on paper.

The hardest part is done. You’ve already opened the door to your intuition and allowed it to say what it needs to say in the previous exercise. 

Now, we need to work on becoming more conscious of our intuition’s messages. The previous exercise allowed you to reignite that intuitive muscle, now it’s about how we can consciously recognise when our intuition is trying to tell us something. This time, all you’ll need is a random object. 

Mindful Observation Exercise: For this, we’ll be using all five senses to help us become more conscious of the intuitive messages we’re being sent. Essentially, we’re channelling this unconscious knowing into something more external, which allows us to better recognise and act on intuition.

Take an object that’s in your vicinity. It could be a lamp, your phone, or a remote control, the more seemingly mundane the better. Again, grab your notebook and start writing down answers to the following: 

What do you see? – Get really specific about what you see, what the the finer details of the item that you’ve never noticed before?  

What do you hear? – Give it a tap, drop it on the floor (as long as you won’t break it that is), if it’s got buttons what do they sound like? Play around with it and treat it like an instrument to see what sounds you can create. 

What do you feel? – Toss it between your hands, run your fingers over every lump and bump, and make a note of the different textures, temperatures, where the lumps and bumps are and where it’s smooth.

What do you smell? – What does the object smell like, is it pleasant, or unpleasant, does it smell like nothing or does it smell like something?

You’ll notice I’ve left out your sense of taste because I do not want to encourage you to go around licking objects in your home. However, if you want to give this a try, do it with something edible like fruit or even try it at meal times to add an extra ounce of mindfulness to how you eat.

Now we’ve both consciously and subconsciously connected with our intuition, it’s time to test it out in a more practical way.

One of the most common ways we use our intuition in our daily lives is when we have to make a decision. It might be when we’re trying to decide what to have for breakfast, we might ask ourselves ‘What do I feel like eating?’ and our intuition chimes in with the answer.

Intuitive decision-making is a skill we can apply to all areas of our lives and its especially useful for when you’re reading Tarot or Oracle cards. I want to use these tools to get you started with intuitive decision-making and to do this, I’m going to again use Oracle cards. If you’re more proficient in Tarot, you might want to try this next task with your own Tarot cards. 

*I use Oracle cards when I want to make an exercise as accessible as possible to a wider group of people, hence my use of them in this blog. But, these exercises can easily be used with either Oracle or Tarot cards.  

Pick a card, Any Card Exercise: Before you take a look at the three cards below, I want you to write down in your notebook one line that describes what’s on your mind and how you feel about it right now. You don’t have to go into detail, just a brief summary. 

Now, close your eyes and take three deep breaths. Try and ground yourself in the moment by focusing on the movement of your chest and stomach as you breathe in and out. Bring your awareness to how your body feels.

Once you’ve completed your three breaths, choose the card you feel the strongest pull towards. 

This pull can feel different for everyone so I can’t say exactly what it will feel like. For me, I notice how my eyes are instantly drawn to one card more than the others. For others, there may be a voice in their head that says something like ‘left’, ‘middle’ or ‘right’. 

Once you have chosen your card scroll down to see what you picked and spend some time thinking about how that card relates to what you wrote down at the beginning of this exercise. Think about what it’s inviting you to explore. Think about how it might be giving you more insight into why you feel the way you do. Make a note as to whether the card’s message is a comforting one, or if it’s highlighting something you might have been avoiding.

Like with strengthening any muscle, you can’t just run through these exercises once and hope you become an intuitive master overnight. In order to develop your intuition, you need to work on it consistently and frequently. 

Because I’m a Tarot reader and so read Tarot or Oracle cards in some form every day, that acts as my intuition workout. It may be you start doing daily card pulls to help you build that muscle, or maybe you come back to this blog every week or every other day to complete these exercises. 

Find a way to practice that feels organic and fun for you. You don’t want your relationship with your intuitive self to feel forced. If you really enjoyed the mindful object exercise, do more of that, maybe meditation is something you want to try or you want to give intuitive writing a go. Experiment with different exercises to build the best workout for you and your preferences. 

If you’re interested in exploring your intuition more within the world of Tarot, don’t forget I have a free workbook and guide that teaches you two additional skills that make intuitive Tarot reading feel easier than ever. Just click below to sign up and instantly get access to the editable PDF!

Learning Tarot can feel frustrating at times, but with these essential Tarot tips and techniques, you’ll have the best chance at learning to read Tarot with ease.

One of the biggest reasons people fail to learn how to read Tarot cards is that they try and reach the finish line before they’ve even left the start line. Tarot is a journey and an exploration of the self as much as it is a skill. Find out how you can ensure success when learning to learn to use this amazing tool.

Choose the right Tarot deck

Choose your preferred form of learning

Ignore the preconception that you need to be psychic

Start building and trusting your intuition

My first tarot tip is to find a tarot deck that you feel connected to. It could be a deck that you love the theme of or maybe you really connect with the imagery. 

For many, a great starting point is the Rider Waite Tarot deck, because this is the deck that most guidebooks and courses will use to teach beginners. There are loads of different versions of this deck, so there are plenty of options to choose from! 

I always encourage my Foundational Tarot students to get a Rider Waite deck to start with because if you can read with this deck, it makes it 100 times easier to read other more contemporary Tarot decks. 

The most important part of choosing your first tarot deck though is making sure you love it. I have a pretty sizeable collection now and there are decks that I thought I’d love that I barely use and decks I bought as a novelty and absolutely adore. 

If you can buy your decks in person that’s amazing, but there’s no harm in buying decks online. Just make sure they’re genuine as there are a lot of fakes on places like Ebay and Etsy.

The biggest mistake I made the very first time I was trying to learn Tarot, was not paying attention to the method of learning that came most natural to me. I am a very visual learner, meaning that I learn best by watching something be done or by visually being talked through something such as in the form of presentations. 

I don’t learn well through just reading. I struggle to follow written instructions, so trying to learn how to read Tarot from just a guidebook proved to be a no go. I wasted a lot of time on trying to learn from just books and because I struggled so much I started to believe that Tarot reading just wasn’t something I was meant to learn. It turns out it was just that I was trying to learn the wrong way for my brain.

If you’re not sure how you learn best, I suggest looking at something called VARK. This is an acronym for all the different versions of learning. V for visual, A for auditory, R for reading and writing and K for kinaesthetic. There’s a great quiz you can do on the Arden University website here to help you figure this out.   

Once you know what type of learner you are, you can then look for ways to learn Tarot that best suit you. For example, if you’re a kinaesthetic learner you’ll learn best through practice and actually doing the skill, learning as you go. So, looking for practice spreads and doing daily card pulls to learn the meanings of the cards will be perfect for you.

To help you even more, here are some suggestions on how you might learn tarot based on your preferred learning: 

Visual – Watch YouTube readings or Tarot readers offering collective readers on Instagram. Choose a tarot course that teaches via video and visual prompts such as the Foundational Tarot Course. 

Auditory – Explore Tarot podcasts such as Tarot For The Wild Soul or the Energetic Tarot Podcast. There are also a few teachers out there that offer audio lessons that would also be great for you. 

Reading & Writing – Books, Guides and Workbooks are your best friend. I have a Major Arcana Workbook that is a perfect first step into learning Tarot which you can find here. 

Kinaesthetic – You’ll learn best by actually practicing and pulling cards rather than writing down or trying to memorise meanings. A great way to do this is searching for Tarot spreads on places like Pinterest and putting them into practice. Make sure you have your deck’s guidebook to hand to help you.  

It’s like a deeply rooted preconception that Tarot cards can predict the future but I believe that’s not possible. Why? Because that would mean the future is set in stone, which then takes away your free will. 

Trying to live up to this reputation is one of the reasons many people either don’t start to read tarot or give up. They feel like they have to have a ‘gift’ or that they have to be psychic in order to be a ‘genuine’ tarot reader. You do not. 

Tarot cards illustrate the subconscious. They reflect back to us what is really happening and can cut though any conscious blocks we unknowingly place in the way. There’s no need to have psychic powers or be able to converse with spirit guides. All human beings are wired into the collective unconscious whether we know it or not and that means anybody and everybody can learn to read tarot. 

This also means there’s less pressure to get things ‘right’. What comes to you is what is meant to come to you. Even when reading for others. If you simply interpret the cards, the subconscious fills in the blanks and creates the meaning of a reading. 

I couldn’t offer tarot tips without touching on intuition. It’s something we all have and it’s also something that we can work to strengthen over time. The reason we use our intuition in tarot reading is because it is the purest line we have to the unbiased truth. 

As we move through life we are moulded by our experiences. We see the world through the lens of the hopes and fears we have in the moment, so our intuition is our one true source to cut through the noise and get to the truth. 

Your intuition will feel unique to you. There’s nobody that can say ‘this is what intuition feels like’ because it depends on the individual. For me, my intuition feels like a pull deep in my gut. Like someone dropping a penny in a well, it’s very physical. For some though, their intuition may come in the form of a voice in their head, or maybe just an intense ‘knowing’. More often though it can appear as a combination, which is why tapping into your intuition is not as easy as it sounds. 

A good way to start identifying what your intuition feels like is by taking action on instinct. Start small, we don’t want you burning all your bridges without any logical reasoning. try going for a walk and instead of planning your route, choose directions based on where you feel you ‘want’ to go. Try and pinpoint where that feeling appears within your body or mind and look out for feelings in that area as you progress.   

Once you know where to find your intuition, it then becomes about trusting that intuition to guide you. Another task easier said than done. 

The good news is, learning tarot reading or even working with Oracle cards, are great ways to strengthen and build trust in your intuition. The more you do card pulls or readings and work on trusting your interpretations, the more you’ll be able to trust your intuition in your daily life. 

Some other ways to start trusting your intuition are to keep a journal. At the end of each day – or even in the moment using the notes app on your phone – write down how you followed your intuition and where it lead you. 

The more you can build a record of your intuitions guidance and the outcomes, the more you build tangible evidence that your intuition is in your corner. 

One of the reasons I make sure to teach a bit of tarot history in my beginner tarot course is because it’s important to understand where the tarot originally came from. The more you know about something’s history, the more you understand why it takes the form it does in the present. 

With tarot cards, it’s important to understand all the different evolutions it has moved through and how it has become the tool for introspection that it is today. It also means you understand the symbolism and meanings of the cards much more deeply, which helps with your learning and interpretations. 

It’s also important so that you can understand where the myths and legends of the tarot. You can see where the taboos and misunderstandings come from as you trace the cards journey all the way from the 14th century to the 21st century. 

Remember when I spoke about the Rider Waite tarot deck in the first half of this article? Well that deck in particular pulls various elements from the history of the tarot cards. There’s not only christianised iconography in forms like The Devil and the archangels, but there’s also astrological symbolism taken from some of the very first iterations of the tarot or Tarocchi as it used to be known. 

In my opinion, if you want to learn how to read tarot, you need to be open to learning about its history as well.

Ah yes, a tarot tip I could have really used at the start of my own journey. Trying to read too many cards right when you’re just starting out is a recipe for disaster. I like it to trying to eat an entire chocolate cake Matilda style in one sitting. You can only consume so much, especially when you’re first starting out. 

I always encourage my tarot students to take the course slow. There’s no rush to master tarot and if I’m being honest, I don’t think you ever stop being a student of the tarot. I’m still learning new ways to read the cards and interpret combinations I thought I had pinned down. 

If you try and learn all 78 meanings in one sitting, your brain will give up. A human brain can only process and retain a set amount of information all at once, so taking your time and learning 2-3 cards at a time is your best chance of really becoming a seasoned tarot reader. Yes it takes more time, but slow and steady definitely wins this race. 

Another reason to take things slow and not try and learn or read too many cards all at once, is because it will cause frustration, which will then make you more likely to throw in the towel.

There were a good three or more times before I finally learned to read tarot that I had tried and failed. I tried to learn all the cards in ones sitting or memorise the meanings from a book and the more I tried to study, the more frustrated I became and then eventually gave up. 

It was only after doing an online video course where the tutor specifically stated that you should only do one lesson a day and even better, a week, that I started to make progress. The truth of the matter is, you are more likely to succeed if you take things slow and see progress, then if you try and cut corners or race to the end and continuously get frustrated with yourself.  

Practice makes perfect. The tarot tip non of you want to hear but it’s true. How can you ever master a skill if you don’t practice? Especially a skill like tarot reading. It’s imperative that no matter if you’re learning through a course or just winging it with your favourite guidebook, if you don’t make time to actually practice readings then you’re not putting what you’ve learned into practice and it’s wasted. 

Start small. Do one card pulls for yourself each day and try and interpret the card within the context of what might happen that day or what has happened if you do it at the end of the day. Build it up slowly until you’re doing basic past, present and future spreads regularly. 

If you want to read for others then enlist the help of your friends and family, or seek out willing strangers online to give free readings to. The more you do these readings the more confident you’ll be and the more you’ll be able to really trust that intuition we were just talking about. 

*Tried and Tested Tarot Tip: When I was first learning I was really reluctant to do readings for people, so instead, I’d choose my favourite movie/TV characters and do imaginary readings for them. It worked wonders and helped me build my confidence.

Like I mentioned earlier when talking about the history of the tarot cards, there are a lot of symbols, meanings and iconography locked within the meanings of the cards. Often, you’ll see these things carried across different decks, so no matter what the imagery or style of the illustration, you’ll be able to recognise something. 

Some popular imagery are symbols like astrological signs or planetary signs. In the Rider Waite tarot deck in particular you’ll see a lot of Christian symbology such as angels, the devil, Adam and Eve and judgement day. However there’s also other religions locked within the symbology such as Judaism and Egyptian beliefs – a mix of both of these can be see in the High Priestess card with her headdress reflective of the Egyptian goddess Isis and the Torah grasped within her hand.   

As well as more spiritual symbolism, in modern tarot reading we also see a lot of influence from the Scientific world, specifically psychology and Carl Jung’s theories. We see this most often in the structure of the Major arcana and how it puts us into contact with Jung’s archetypes. 

The main things to be aware of are; the presence of cycles such as the cycle in the major arcana moving from The Fool to The World and then back to The Fool, symbols such as the four elemental elements, animals and structures, numerology and astrology. 

It’s unavoidable that you’ll at some point come across the sceptics that just want to test you or catch you out. But, if you’ve followed my previous tarot tips about not trying to be ‘psychic’ and concentrating on your intuitive interpretations, you’ll have nothing to worry about. 

But, it doesn’t mean that you won’t come across the feeling of needing to ‘prove yourself’ to others. Of course, if you’re reading for the public you want to give them the best service possible, but as a tarot reader your job is to interpret the cards. you’re not there to tell someone what they want to hear or make up stories to seem like a mystical fortune teller. We are channels for the vulnerable truth and so we can’t get distracted by the expectations of others. 

One of the things I love about encouraging people to build a tarot practice that feels authentic to them and one that they can use for themselves, is that you are free to ignore what other people may think of you. You don’t have to worry if someone hears something they like because you are reading for yourself, so there’s no expectations to compete with from external sources. 

If someone doesn’t believe in tarot, nothing you do or say will sway them. It’s also not your responsibility to convert people into believers, you’re a lover of tarot, not a missionary. If someone wants you to ‘prove’ that you can read the cards, what they’re actually asking for is for you to prove that you can tell the future, and we know that’s not what we’re about. 

I fully credit my current Tarot practice to readers like Melinda Lee Holm and Lindsey Mack. Listening to their podcasts, watching them do readings on Instagram and lives fully formed me as a tarot reader. 

It’s the same thing when you buy different tarot decks. The author will always offer up meanings for the cards that are uniquely theirs, which helps you to gain a whole new perspective on meanings you though you already knew.  

Getting readings from other readers is also a great practice, because it gives you first hand experience of someone else’s techniques and approach. Absorbing these things you can vastly improve your own interpretations and continue to get better and better at your readings.

It also helps to get readings from others purely because it can be tricky to really get to the heart of something on your own!

My number one tarot tip above all others is to start a tarot journal. 

There is nothing better for someone who is starting to learn tarot then to write down their findings when they work with the cards. I do a little series over on my paid Substack where I go through my old tarot journal and breakdown how I would read the cards now compared to how I read them when I wrote the entry. I’ve learned so much from doing that, even as a professional reader who has been reading tarot for years now. 

Journaling with your cards also allows you more space and time to explore the interpretations that come up for you. Those intuitive pulls you you feel, those feelings you get when you see a certain card, in your tarot journal you can make a note of all of it. 

If you’re not already familiar with tarot journaling, you’ll be pleased to hear that I have a completely free workshop on it. It takes around 30-45 minutes to complete and shows you how to start a tarot journal from scratch, offering tasks you can get stuck into straight away. 

So that’s it! That’s all the essential tarot tips I think you need to really get the best start with learning how to read the tarot. 

If you’d like to find out more about my beginner Tarot course, you can do so here. 

Or, if you’re still not sure if Tarot is the right tool for you why not give my free tarot taster workshop a go? It’s a 2-part self-led video workshop that gives you an amazing introduction to learning tarot and what you can expect if you choose to take a course. 

You can also find a quick and easy quiz here, to help you decide if tarot is the right tool for you and your needs. So much to explore! I hope you enjoy.

How do you read Tarot for beginners? It’s a question that many new to the world of cartomancy will undoubtedly ask…

Tarot Reading can seem daunting at first because you feel like you have to memorise 78 different meanings for each of the cards. Although that’s true to some degree, it’s not as scary as it sounds and there’s plenty of ways to master the Tarot without losing your mind.

One of the first things to understand is that originally Tarot was a simple card game. It was created as a status symbol. Aristocracy created a series of carefully hand-painted cards to passively show off their wealth. It’s only within the last few hundred years that Tarot became associated with fortune telling.

Many therefore think they have to be psychic or have some sort of ‘gift’ in order to be able to read Tarot but you do not. There’s actually many different ways you can choose to get started with Tarot reading. It might be that you only want to read for yourself, or maybe you do want to offer fortune telling for clients.

Modern sciences like psychology also play a big role in our current Tarot landscape. This is an angle I prefer to read from. A more psychological and quantum physics angle. I’m not a very naturally sciencey person, but I get the most value out of researching the connections between science and the spiritual, particularly within the Tarot. 

So, when it comes to answering your question ‘How do you read Tarot for beginners’ I will try and answer it as best I can. Let’s get started. 

Of course you can!

Learning to read Tarot is like learning any skill. If I had to compare it to something I would say it’s a bit like learning a language. You have to learn about structure and context, then you learn the meanings of the cards, a bit like learning words. Only with Tarot you have beautiful illustrations to help you translate. 

In my experience, and I tried to learn Tarot for years before I actually committed to learning to read Tarot properly, courses are your best bet. I found that buying books wasn’t enough for my very visual way of learning. I also needed practice tasks laid out for me in order to get to grips with reading. Tarot courses are also great because you can get feedback on your readings to see if you’re getting the basics right.

 Even self-led courses like the Energetic Tarot Foundational course has the option of getting in touch to chat about anything you might find confusing or complicated.

Teaching yourself is hugely rewarding, plus there’s no better person to practice on than yourself.

You can make mistakes and find your own rhythm in your own time.

The thing to make clear about teaching yourself Tarot is that there are ‘traditional’ meanings we all apply so that we’ve got knowledge to build on, but it’s using your own experiences and intuition to interpret the cards that really makes you a Tarot reader.

I’m not going to lie and say that it’s easy, because of course its not. You’re essentially learning a whole new language and having to form connections with part of your brain you don’t usually connect to.

But, it’s not impossible and learning Tarot should always be fun. If you find you’re trying to force yourself to learn Tarot and you’re not enjoying yourself, take a break and think about whether it’s the right medium for you. There’s loads of different ways to do divination, from Scyring using obsidian mirrors to Oracle Cards and even Runes.

If you want to be good at reading Tarot, the key is practice. Mountains of consistent practice. That’s why I always push my students to take up Tarot journaling right from the beginning. Creating a consistent Tarot journaling routine will instantly put you on the right path towards mastering the Tarot cards. 

Another thing I tell all my students is to take your learning journey slow. Your brain can only process so much information at a time, which means you’ll actually learn Tarot quicker by learning the cards in smaller doses. 

This question will gain a different answer depending on how you ask. In truth nobody really knows, but there are plenty of valid theories. The theory I subscribe to most is that the Tarot has a way of tapping into the subconscious mind. Like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible coming down from the ceiling on that wire.

The Tarot has a way to sneak past all of our mental defences and gains access to the darkest and most well protected parts of the self. This then allows us a direct line to talk to the subconscious self and ask it questions so we can get answers and find a deeper sense of clarity and understanding.  

The way in which the Tarot does this is a combination of intuitive feelings, personal paradigms, collective unconscious knowledge and known archetypes. It uses shared human experiences and the way individuals view the world and their place within it, to highlight things we would usually miss. 

Tarot gives us a birds-eye-view of who we are, why we are the way we are and why we think, feel and do the things we do. It’s like a best-friend and therapist hybrid, not qualified to offer medical advice but knows you well enough to offer relevant guidance. 

One of the ways Tarot cards work is by representing energy. Plus, your own energy when reading can be a huge factor in how you interpret the cards. Because of this constant energy exchange, I always recommend cleansing your cards once in a while. 

The main way we cleanse the Tarot cards before each use is by tapping or even just shuffling. I always like to give my cards a quick tap three times with the heel of my palm. This helps to knock out any stagnant energy that might be lingering in an unused deck or clear off any mixed energies in an overused one. 

A good practice is to keep a bit of clear quartz or selenite on top of your deck or in your deck bag. These crystals are known for their purifying qualities and they can keep the energy of your Tarot deck fresh when not being used. 

Another way to cleanse your deck is by running it through the smoke of dried sage or rosemary. I like to do this as a sort of ‘deep cleanse’ every six months or so, as I keep my own decks fairly energy neutral through using those previously mentioned techniques. 

The best way to take those very first steps in Tarot reading is to start small and ask a specific question. For example, you may start your day by asking your Tarot deck “What should my focus be for today?”. Shuffle your deck – especially if you’ve just got new cards and they’re fresh out the pack – then choose a card for guidance. 

Once you’ve mastered one card Tarot pulls, you can start adding more cards to your readings. Add one extra card to make a two card spread and assign a purpose to each of your two cards. An example of this would be if we asked the same question as before – “What should my focus be for today?” – then we would pull two cards instead of one. You might assign the first card the purpose of telling you what you should focus on, then your second card could expand on that and offer how you can do it. 

As you get more and more confident you will start increasing the number of cards in your readings. The three card, past, present and future spread is the most popular amongst beginners and professionals alike. But, like I mentioned before, it’s best to take things slow and steady.

I always recommend asking a specific question when working with Tarot, mainly because I use the cards in a very psychology-centric way. Asking a question therefore gives the subconscious an area of the mind to focus on, rather than trying to sift through libraries of information to find the right thing. 

When it comes to what questions to ask your Tarot cards, the general rule is to avoid any questions that can only result in a simple yes or no answer. For any yes or no questions, it’s best to use something like a pendulum, rather than the more complex Tarot cards. 

It’s best to follow the 5 W’s & H rule when asking questions of the Tarot. This is the rule that your questions should begin with either; what, when, where, who, why and how. These questions allow room for expansion and exploration. Particularly the ‘why’ which is something that can be extremely eye opening when using Tarot. 

For example, I often ask my cards ‘why’ I feel a certain way and it gives me the opportunity to really unravel complex thoughts and feelings in a more in-depth way.

When it comes to the best Tarot deck for beginners, there’s no doubt that it is the Rider Waite-Smith Tarot deck. This is the Tarot deck that most modern and contemporary Tarot decks use as a foundation for their meanings. If you can read Tarot with a Rider Waite-Smith deck, then you’ll find it a lot easier to transition to other Tarot decks with different illustrations. 

It also helps that the Rider Waite-Smith deck is available world-wide in some form or another. Plus, there’s many different versions that are identical or at least extremely similar. I’ve got the Pamela Coleman Smith Centennial Rider Waite-Smith deck and I also have The Original Rider Waite deck. Some other popular versions are the Universal Waite Deck and the Radiant Rider-Waite Tarot Deck.

If you really don’t vibe with the Rider Waite-Smith illustrations, then there are lots of more modern takes on the same imagery that might be better suited. For example, The Light Seer’s Tarot Deck follows the same structure as the Rider Waite-Smith deck but with updated illustrations. The same goes for the very popular Modern Witch Tarot Deck. 

Whichever deck you choose to go with eventually, the most important thing to keep in mind is how a deck makes you feel. I have a great number of decks that I’ve collected or been sent over the years. However, there’s only a handful I love to use because their illustrations genuinely interest me. My favourite deck is the Pagan Otherworld’s deck, which perfectly taps into my love of classic oil paintings and that renaissance art style. 

Choose a deck that makes you want to do a reading every time you see it! 

Arguably, there’s never a ‘bad’ time to do a Tarot reading, however there is a bad mindset. If you are feeling especially low, are having less than kind thoughts about yourself or others, it might be good to not pick up your deck.

Remember when we touched on cleansing your Tarot deck? We touched on how working with Tarot is an energy exchange between you and your cards. This means if you are radiating negative energy then you are more at risk of getting it back. It’s also because when you are in this frame of mind, you might not be seeing things as clearly as you should be and you don’t want to do a reading that is going to make you feel worse!

It also goes without saying that doing a reading when intoxicated can also be less than clear. Nobody wants a drunk Tarot reader, not even if you’re doing a reading on yourself. 

Again it all comes down to doing readings with a clear head. This is why it’s always best to do a little meditation before doing a reading. The calmer and more clear headed you are, the easier it will be to do a reading and the more beneficial that reading will be. 

If you’re ever unsure as to whether you should do a reading, especially for yourself, ask yourself “Do I feel energetically capable of offering or taking guidance right now?” if the answer is no, walk away. 

Master the Major Arcana cards with this beginner-friendly guide to all 22 of the major cards.

The Major Arcana refers to the first 22 cards in a traditional Tarot deck. It runs from The Fool all the way to The World and represents the major themes all humans have to move through within the cycle of life.

If you are new the world of Tarot cards and Tarot reading, then you may be wondering what exactly the Major Arcana is and what makes it so special? 

These 22 cards are some of the most widely recognised cards out of the 78 card deck. They are frequently used in the media when representing the Tarot. We all know the cards Death, The Tower and The Devil. These are all part of the Major Arcana.

If you are new the world of Tarot cards and Tarot reading, then you may be wondering what exactly the Major Arcana is and what makes it so special? 

These 22 cards are some of the most widely recognised cards out of the 78 card deck. They are frequently used in the media when representing the Tarot. We all know the cards Death, The Tower and The Devil. These are all part of the Major Arcana.

So what makes these cards so special in a deck of 78 cards? The Major Arcana hold a lot more weight than they’re Minor Arcana counterparts.

They represent the major life lessons and themes and the major archetypes we all come across in the cycle of life. They set the overall tone for a reading and provide an anchor as we move through the other cards in a Tarot reading spread.

The Major Arcana is called as such because ‘Arcana’ means lessons or knowledge. These cards represent the ‘major’ knowledge and lessons we as humans need to move through life. The other 56 cards in a traditional Tarot deck are called the Minor Arcana cards, because they represent the ‘minor’ life lessons and knowledge. 

Another way to think of these two sections of a Tarot deck is that the Major Arcana is the umbrella and the Minor Arcana is everything that sits underneath.

These 22 cards are also seen as archetypes. If you’re not familiar with what archetypes are, they are a term used within psychology to refer to the universally understood symbology of a pattern of behaviour. 

Something we go back to time and time again in Tarot is psychologist Carl Jung’s breakdown of archetypes. Particularly the four main categories of; The Self, the Persona, the Shadow and the Anima/Animus. 

The Major Arcana is numbered from 0 to 21, meaning that in total there are 22 cards within the Majors. These cards all run from The Fool – which is given the number of Zero – and ends with the final card, The World – which is given the number of 21. 

One way of seeing the Majors is in a table of three rows. This is often referred to as ‘The Fool’s Journey’ and positions The Fool as the hero of the Major Arcana cycle. He then goes on a journey where he encounters each of the archetypes locked within the 21 other Major Arcana cards. 

With each meeting he is faced with a new challenge. When we read the Major Arcana cards, it can be helpful to put ourselves in the position of The Fool in this respect. It can help us better understand why a Major card has made an appearance in our readings. 

The Major Arcana, like all of the Tarot, is a cycle. Once you reach the card numbered 21, you then circle back and start a brand new cycle with The Fool back at position Zero.

This represents our natural life cycles. We are never stagnant, life is always moving, throwing ups and downs our way. This is what we face within the journey of the Major Arcana. 

The Major arcana therefore tells the story of the self. If we apply those four archetype’s from Jung’s work then we can see this a little more clearly. 

Going back to that Fool’s Journey, the first line of the Majors represent the self, the second could represent the persona and the final representing the shadow with the animus and anima sprinkled throughout to add dimension. 

The very first card in the Major Arcana. This represents new beginnings and freedom.

The second card representing creation and manifestation.

The third card which represents spiritual exploration and mystery.

The fourth card which represents fertility, nurturing and self-love.

The fifth card which represents our personal power and authority.

The sixth card which represents our beliefs, habits and traditions.

The seventh card which represents our duality and our unconscious and conscious.

The eight card and the card of independence and exploration.

The ninth card representing inner strength and self control.

The tenth card meaning isolation and introspection.

The eleventh card representing fate and destiny, the things out of our control.

The twelfth card meaning our subjectivity vs objectivity and truth. 

The thirteenth card which represents stress, perspective and suspension.

The fourteenth card representing change, transition and transformation.

The fifteenth card representing balance, willpower and moderation.

The sixteenth card representing our vices, addictions and materialism.

The seventeenth card in Majors representing chaos, destruction and fresh starts.

The eighteenth card referring to our hope, direction and optimism.

The nineteenth card representing our subconscious, dreams and shadow self.

The twentieth card representing joy, success and abundance.

The twenty-first card referring to thresholds and make or break moments.

The final card of the Majors, the card of completion and ascension.

To help you learn the core meanings of all of the Major Arcana cards, here is a little infographic that acts as a quick and handy cheat sheet. These are the traditional meanings of the Tarot cards and meanings can vary depending on what deck you are using. These are ideal for any Rider Waite deck or a deck based on the Rider Waite meanings. 

If you’ve got a taste of the Tarot and you’re looking to see if Tarot reading is something you want to dive into a little more, then make sure you sign-up for my free self-led workshop below.