8 tips for beginners learning to read tarot cards

Tarot reading is a skill that anyone can pick up. As long as you have an imagination and an OK memory, you’ll do fine.

It took me several years before I was comfortable doing readings for other people. I’ve compiled some of my experience to help you cut down on time it takes for you to learn tarot.

1. Buy a deck that you like

The most important part about learning tarot is getting a deck of cards. Sure, you can read up everything on the internet, but until you have invested in a deck that inspires you, most of the studying will not stick.

You should get comfortable with your deck too. Shuffle it and see how it feels in your hands.

It might take a while for you to break into them. I find that once I can start shuffling a new deck smoothly, I’ll start feeling a lot more confident.

2. Get a tarot coloring book or make one yourself

At my tarot workshops, I give out lecture notes that contain outlines of the different tarot card without the colour.

I find that by colouring the cards one by one, I can focus on the tiny details in each. Each detail brings more information and depth to your reading.

You can either buy a pre-bound tarot colouring book or make one yourself through not very copyright law-friendly ways.

If you can’t get one, you can try sketching the cards by hand.

A post shared by Theresa (@thetarotlady) on Aug 24, 2017 at 9:34am PDT

3. Start with only the Major Arcana

The tarot is divided into the Major Arcana (22 cards) and the Minor Arcana (four suits each with 13 cards).

It’s OK if you start out learning just the Major Arcana until you’re more comfortable with dipping your toes into the Minor Arcana.

4. Leave reversals for another time

Despite 14 years of tarot experience, I’ve not used reversal cards for my reading. Reversals are when your card appears upside down.

This can mean the negative side of the card is more apparent or it could mean the opposite of the card is true.

The ambiguity of reversed cards complicate my readings so I always put them upright.

5. Make use of online resources

Before I was comfortable interpreting cards on my own, I relied on online resources to explain the cards.

My favourite sites are Auntyflo.com and Psychic Revelation. I find the interpretation on these two sites fairly accurate and not long-winded.

I also like that they show interpretations for different scenarios: General, Work, Love etc.

6. Use free online readings along with your cards

I know some people don’t trust auto generated online tarot readings, but I found facade,com/tarot gives me pretty good answers when I need it.

I love the Ator Tarot and One Card without reversals reading on facade.com/tarot. The deck is cute and the answer is simple.

Apart from using the answer as guidance as one usually does with real cards, I like that I’m able to read the interpretations along with the reading.

Apart having a from using the site as guidance, you can read the interpretations that come along with the card.

I’ve been using the site for a number of years before I decided to pick up physical tarot reading again. And the time spent reading interpretations has been really helpful.

I wrote a post on computer-generated tarot readings and why I like them.

7. For auditory learners: YouTube

For anyone who learns better through hearing, YouTube videos are a great learning source.

I really like Scarlet Hare’s videos on the different meanings of the cards. She hasn’t updated her channel since four years ago but her videos are still great.

There are many other tarot teachers teaching the different meanings of the cards so watch the videos and see whether you can learn the definitions faster.

8. Learn from a teacher

If you’ve exhausted yourself finding videos on YouTube but still don’t quite get it, sign up for a class.

Information is structured in classes (whether in person or online). If the teacher offers after-class support, you can also have a person to ask questions.