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Ten top tips for interpreting the tarot cards

tarot scene

Learning to interpret the 78 tarot cards might feel like a big task, and it can take time, effort and practice to get acquainted with the cards.

Here are my top ten tips that you can use and apply when you’re reading the tarot.

  1. Major or Minor Arcana

Have you drawn a card from the Major or Minor Arcana? This will be your starting point. Overall when interpreting the trump cards, keep in mind that these cards symbolise transformation, and growth, either in the form of a new cycle or the completion of a cycle.

The four suits on the other hand, represent events that happen in our day to day lives. For example, in a career reading, drawing the five of wands signifies healthy competition at work.

You can also provide dates for your predictions with the four suits:

  • Cups – Months
  • Pentacles – Years
  • Wands – Days
  • Swords – Weeks
  1. Universal elements and the four suits

Each suit relates to a universal element. Use the qualities of each element as a tool to assist you when interpreting the cards.

  • Cups – Emotions, feelings, love, relationships (Water)
  • Wands – New beginnings, inspiration, ideas, creativity, vocation (Fire)
  • Swords – Mental, thought, communication, logic, intelligence, mind (Air)
  • Pentacles – Money, possessions, materialism, land, health, body (Earth)
  1. Use a cheat sheet

Use a tarot cheat sheet when you practice your readings. Cheat sheets are a great way to learn more about the cards, a cheat sheet will;

  • Summarise the information;
  • Present the meanings in an easy to read format; and
  • Provide concise words to describe each card.
  1. Take your time

Don’t be afraid to take your time when interpreting the cards. Being patient will allow you to understand the cards with accuracy. You will be more helpful to your client when you can give a clear reading. Drawing too many cards at once can become overwhelming and will affect the quality of your reading.

  1. Use your intuition

Practice using your intuition. Gaze at each card and clear your mind. Eventually, you will tune into the cards and learn to trust your instincts with each answer. This method does take time, but continue with it and you will develop your own internal guidance.

  1. Combine numerology with the tarot

Each tarot card has a number and numbers have different qualities to them. You can combine numerology in your readings to benefit you. Another way of using numbers is by dividing the cards into piles of the same number and look for similarities amongst them. For example, the number two in each suit symbolise events that are playing out behind the scenes, and the number three cards symbolise new beginnings.

  1. Choose the right spread

Selecting the right spread will provide a structure to your reading and you will be able to recognise if the card relates to a past, present or future event. Learn by using a simpler three card spread, then progress to the four-card cross spread, and when you feel confident try out the Celtic cross spread.

  1. Practice on yourself

It’s not unlucky to practice the tarot on yourself and it will get your skills up to speed. You can practice by asking the tarot specific questions about yourself and by matching a spread to your question. The more you do this, the more confident you will get at interpreting the cards to fit different questions.

  1. The question under consideration

Always interpret the cards by keeping the original question in mind. This will be more difficult in general readings because of the broad nature of the question. Stick to the question and take a break if needed to get perspective on each card.

  1. Communication between the cards

Look at how the cards communicate with each other. Are the figures on the card facing each other? Or, does one have their back to the other? Look for patterns.

For example, the cards below are both Swords and relate to the mind and communication. The figure on the Nine of Swords has their back to the Ten of swords, indicating that this person was betrayed in the past, which is causing mental suffering and preventing them from moving forward. Communication is important here, they can resolve this internal conflict by confiding in someone, such as a therapist or counsellor.

As you can see, the tips given here will take time to learn, but by using these methods consistently you will begin to develop your tarot skills and your own internal guidance. Most importantly, play around with these techniques and have fun! Or even create your own methods for interpreting the tarot…

Biography

Sarah Buttery is a professional tarot reader and esoteric researcher and blogger.

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News and a New Spread – 12 Month

tarot year

Have you wondered what the next year might bring? A new spread has been added; a 12 month Spread. Now that it’s coming up to the end of the year, it’s a perfect time to think about what the next year will bring for you.

There are also some other exciting features for Tarot-Explained in the new year. January 1st is the celebration of our second birthday, and with this comes a review and update of the card meanings. Recently, we added a numerology section to each card, and more card meanings will be added over the next year.

Have a happy holiday season everybody.

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Spooky Halloween Tarot Spread

pumpkin Halloween Tarot

Halloween is a great season and a perfect time to do a Tarot reading. I love this time of year, the colours change and we all get ready to settle down for winter. With so much time spent indoors, it’s good to think about the future and how the next year is going to plan out. It’s good to give yourself some time before January the first rolls around to plan and think about what you want from your next year here. For now, let’s focus on Halloween and a scary,  spooky tarot spread!

Want a FREE Halloween Spread Tarot Reading?

Choose Your Halloween Tarot Cards Now!

 

Witch’s Pentagram Spread

Halloween Tarot pentagram spread

The pentagram is a symbol with many meanings. There’s even a Pentacle tarot suit! The five points of a pentacle each represent a differing element. For this spread; shuffle your deck, and then place five cards face down in the pentagram shape.  Flip them over one at a time. You can start where you like. The positions represent the following:

  • Spirit: Something to aim for, goals and achievements. The journey to take to become what you want to be. Your ideal life.
  • Fire: Instinct. How to treat your current problem. What you want to do regardless of the outcome.
  • Earth: Something or someone keeping you grounded. A dependency you may not realise. Something holding you back.
  • Air: Hidden secrets. Something or someone that may be here now but not for long.
  • Water: An action to take to improve your life. Someone who will benefit you. Someone you can help.

Be sure to check out the card meanings for insight. Why not comment below with your results?

Want to Choose Your Live Halloween Tarot Reader?

 

We’ve selected live tarot readers to give you a FREE 3 Minute Halloween Spread Tarot Reading! Scroll through them below and pick your favorite one.

How was your Free Halloween Tarot Reading? Let us know in the comments below!

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Tarot as Inspiration

tarot inspiration

I look at my deck of tarot cards when I’m in need of inspiration. As Tarot-Explained.com mentions a lot, Tarot cards are a great addition to your life in terms of decision making and getting a second opinion. They can act as another person to bounce ideas off of or a sounding board for your own ideas.  They even helped with this update. Once you understand even the basic card meanings, you’ll be able to bounce ideas around and develop them.

The idea generation process is different for everyone, but as most of us have a visual memory and visual brain, Tarot lends itself to idea generation well. You can look at single cards, combine cards, take elements you like from some and ignore others, it’s really up to you. The imagery of the Rider-Waite tarot deck is complicated and filled with lots of hidden symbology. Personally I find this extremely interesting, and it adds a whole new layer of depth to the cards. You can spend ages looking up card meanings and reading about new concepts.

How do I put this into practice?

If you have a project you want to start, a painting for example, in mind, here is what I’d suggest. Of course you can adapt this to whatever you’re working on. Grab a piece of paper and your tarot deck and find somewhere quiet for ten minutes or so. Write down any of your first ideas to start on the paper as a mind map. You don’t need any ideas to start with really, but if you do, the Tarot deck is a good place to grow them.

Shuffle your deck and draw a card. When you draw a card, first of all, take note of the visuals, does this apply to anything you’ve written down so far? Add it in, link concepts down. Next, check out the card meaning. Anything else relevant? When you’ve exhausted a card, it’s time to draw another. You can continue until you feel your ideas are developed enough to start working on.

I use this method when I’m stuck. This post, for example; I was stuck for an idea of what to write. I have a list of topics to cover written down but none of them felt ‘right’ for writing right now, so I looked at the deck, in front of me where it always is and drew a card. I drew the three of pentacles. Although it isn’t the given meaning of the card, I saw people discussing. It looks like they’re discussing ideas. I sometimes have trouble generating ideas, and realised that whenever I’m like this, I can and often do just look into my tarot deck for inspiration. That was my train of thought, and it just goes to show that a Tarot deck can have more uses than mystical divination.

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Meditating with Tarot

meditating with tarot

Tarot cards can be great object for meditation. We’ve previously touched on meditating with Tarot in this blog post; Swapping the elements in your card readings. If you are familiar with meditating generally, this will be an easy element to add into your practice, and there are a number of ways to go about it. If you aren’t an experienced mediator, then that’s fine too, you’ll still be able to take something away from this. Using Tarot cards as a visualisation tool will help you better understand your deck, and the meanings of the cards.

Before you start, you should always set aside some time where you won’t be disturbed. Put your phone on silent and try to block out exterior noise. If you live with others, request that they don’t bother you while you’re meditating. You should try to be as comfortable as possible. Sit on a cushion on the floor, or on a comfy chair. You’ll need to be still for a while, so choose whatever is best for you. Some choose the lotus position, but you don’t need to.

Once you’re comfortable, you are ready to begin meditating.

One way to learn given meanings of the cards, as well as understand what they mean to you, is to meditate on single card. You can look up the meanings beforehand if you wish to get an overview. When you’re ready, choose a card to begin.

The Meditation Process

  • Place the card in front of you and gaze at it for a while.
  • Take in as much detail as you can
  • Close your eyes
  • Picture the card in front of you in your room, and slowly make the room disappear
  • Grow the card in your mind until it is larger than you
  • Picture the scene in the illustration as if it were a real life scene and step into it.
  • Take a moment to visualise the details of the card. You can open your eyes briefly to remember  any details you might have missed.
  • When you’re ready, in your minds eye, ‘step’ into the card, and take in the sights and sounds of the illustration.
  • Be a part of it for as long as you want. The scenario doesn’t have to be static, move it along. What happens next?

There are a lot of things to explore here. You can remain in this imaginary card world for as long as you wish. You can also combine cards. Much like meditating on one card, using two cards follows a similar procedure. Place the two cards together and imagine they are one. What is happening? How do the meanings combine and affect each other? This may seem simple, but when you’ve got cards that can have opposite meanings, it can lead to interesting and unexpected results.

When you’re ready, you should reverse the process. Step out of the card, make it smaller again. Visualise your room to ground yourself back to reality.

 

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How to start using Tarot

how to start tarot reading

Tarot is a complex system to learn and work with, that’s why Tarot-Explained.com exists! Tarot is not all for show and isn’t fully intuitive or ‘made up’; there are basic universal meanings to cards that you’ll need to learn to read effectively. Have a look at these steps for some good tips on learning to read Tarot for yourself and others.

Learn the basics

Each card has a meaning. Combinations of cards have meanings. Learn the meanings of each card. While you’re learning, it’s helpful to look through each meaning as you draw a card. on Tarot-Explained.com, each card has a page full of meanings so you can quickly look up how to interpret it. Soon, you’ll begin to learn the meanings by heart, and you won’t have to look them up to get a general idea. It’s still helpful if you are doing a more in depth reading, however. Card meanings will soon become second nature to you. Learning the basic meanings of each card first will help you in your Tarot journey.

Start simple

For your first few readings, try simple yes and No questions. Each card meaning on Tarot-Explained.com has a Yes and No section. You can easily draw a Single card spread for this. Simple draw a card and look for the Yes/No section on the card meaning page. If you’d like to delve deeper, consider the meanings of the cards in relation to your question. Have you drawn the Ten of Swords for example? The answer is ‘No’, but the symbology of the card and the meanings it carries may help you further understand the question. Extrapolate and understand what you’re asking yourself.

Use your intuition but stay objective!

Tarot is a personal journey. Cards have universal meanings but it is up to you to interpret them. This can carry some weight, especially if you’re asking questions with difficult answers. Tarot is objective in meaning, but you will use your intuition to understand what it is telling you. Will you get that new job? You might read the the cards to say no, but you can still achieve what you wanted. This comes out best when you are doing a reading for a close friend. You don’t want to promise good news, but you don’t want to hide bad news simply not to hurt their feelings. Remember; you’re reading Tarot to understand and get a new perspective; don’t kid yourself if you see something bad.

Practice

As the adage says ‘Practice makes perfect’. Consistent practice will help you further understand the card meanings and relations between them. Do lots of readings on lots of different subjects. Try to do one reading a day if you can.

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Swords and Wands: Swapping the elements in your card readings

tarot header

 

As the art of tarot reading relies heavily on your intuition and also an interpretation of the visual element of the cards, it is important for your deck to successfully represent what your intuition is feeling. No- one likes working with a deck that doesn’t speak to them visually, and it also needs to connect to our inner vision of what the cards represent. But what happens if what your intuition feels contradicts what is represented on the cards?

In a traditional Tarot decks such as the popular Rider- Waite, swords are represented by the element of Air and Wands are Fire. The visual differences are not always obvious, however the symbology and the meanings will still represent the element.

Some readers, such as myself, prefer to use a different meaning system based on the Air and Fire elements being switched. But why is this? No doubt every reader who feels this way has their own reasons for this, but mine personally is due to my personal, psychological and spiritual connections with the elements and the items mentioned. It is important not to ignore these personal connections with the elements as they are an integral part of your intuition.

Why do some decks choose to make this switch? Let us consider the idea of the Wand (which is sometimes called a Stave or Baton in some older decks). Some pagans use this implement in spell and ritual work to create magical circles, and to do this, it relies on focus of the mind, and also the imagination. These are both associated with the element of air. Everything that the wand does is ultimately an inner spiritual effect. However, the Sword/ Dagger/ Athame, much like fire, is a rather assertive (as opposed to passive, like the wand) object. It is important however to be aware that the Athame is not used in a physical fashion and is certainly not used for harm, and is also sometimes used to cast circles, hence its popular association with Air.

The argument, ultimately, can swing both ways. So how do you find out which way is best for you? Here are a number of activities for you to try:

 

Wand/ Athame Meditation
Place yourself somewhere comfortable, but upright, such as a comfy chair or a pillow on the floor. You may light some incense or a candle. Ensure you will not be disturbed and that you do not have any pressing matters to attend to. Hold a wand or an athame/ dagger/ sword (or do one then the other) and close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths (ten or more is good) to ensure you are fully relaxed. When you are ready, try to focus your mind on the object in your hand. Feel it’s energy- what sort does it have? Is it dark and passionate, bright and deep? Take as much time as you like thinking on the object and allowing your mind to be fully absorbed into the activity. You may find this will help you work out how you feel about the object and bring you closer to the answer.

 

Tarot Card Meditation
Sit in a comfortable position with a tarot deck of your choosing and pick a card from the Wand and Swords suit (or their equivalent). Place them side by side and close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths until you are fully relaxed. Slowly, place your hand over one of the cards and concentrate on it. Feel the energy reverberating from the card- how does it feel? Can you sense a colour? Try this activity with the other card, then try it whilst focusing on both. Is there an obvious difference between the two?
If you are interested in the idea of using a deck with swapped elements, there are a number you can try- for instance the Art Noveau Tarot, Celtic Dragon Tarot, Fantastical Creatures and Legend: Arthurian Tarot.

 

This post was written by Jio Butler, who also designed the fantastic new logo for www.Tarot-Explained.com. You can view more of her work here: Deviantart Link

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Subjectivity of Tarot

tarot explained thumb

One of the most striking things I found out when I was learning about Tarot was the sheer subjectivity of the meanings of the cards. They’re read in context, but the divined meanings can differ greatly depending on where you are sourcing your information from. If you’re doing a reading for yourself, this is fine, you understand yourself better than anyone else, much like dreams; usually, if you give it just a little bit of thought, you can work out why your dreams are the way they are. You understand your own internal symbology and mental connections, and when you understand the basic meanings of a spread, you can find sensible ways to apply them to yourself.

This made it difficult, however only slightly, when coming up with meanings for the cards on Tarot-Explained. I gathered the meanings of the cards from a number of sources and tried to put what was ‘right’ or what was generally considered a consensus on the card meaning. In retrospect, this is okay, but i’m not entirely sure if it’s correct. There seem to be two main ways to know what a card means; inherited meaning and applied meaning.

Inherited meaning is what this site provides; the basic outline of what the card is traditionally meant to symbolise. Death = Rebirth, Fool = Beginnings, etc. As I mentioned above, I went through a number of sources and tried to gather the general aspects and meanings for each card, and write them in a way that worked. To understand the core concepts, it’s fine. Given meaning is how the cards make you feel, or, what you understand them to feel, or how you interpret their illustration. You might look at a card and feel something completely different to what the inherited meaning is. This is okay too.

Many people feel a special connection to a deck, and this is where a given meaning can apply best. There’s no right or wrong, in the end it’s up to you how to decide what the cards laid out in front of you are meant to mean.

 

The site is due a redesign soon. We have a fancy new logo and other things coming. Exciting times.