Learn to Read Your Own Tarot Cards

I envied a friend who could read Tarot cards, and she advised me to buy a basic Tarot deck for about $12, and an instruction book, because I could teach myself.

In about 18 months of spare time I learned the card symbolism and memorized the meanings of all 78 cards when they are in in the upright position and in the reversed (upside-down) position. That's 156 memorizations, more than the 144 in the "12 Times" multiplication table, but you learned that as a child, and you can learn these. And also within that time I practiced blending my learning, intuition, and common sense to make each Tarot reading cohere into a plausible story of a situation's past, present, and future. That is your goal.

The best deck for a beginner to choose is the "Rider-Waite" deck (shown above at right) because

• it is widely available
• the face cards and Major Arcana cards have their names printed on them, so you'll know them at a glance
• most Tarot textbooks use it as their study deck
• the drawings are plain and their symbolism is mostly pretty obvious. When you see the Three of Swords pictured as three swords from gray storm clouds piercing a red heart, the meaning will be quite clear.

Tarot decks come in dozens of styles and sizes. Eventually you may prefer to use another deck, but choose Rider-Waite (pictured above at right), the most familiar of the decks, as your starter and choose a size you can shuffle. Shuffling the cards is an important part of the Tarot-reading ritual. The books teach you the traditional ways to cut the cards and to lay the cards out. They're traditional because they give the best results.

Just as in school, reference books and workbooks are your best friends while you are studying. My favorite is Easy Tarot Guide (pictured above) by Marcia Masino. Besides clearly explaining the cards, and correctly emphasizing that Tarot cards are symbolic, not literal, her chapters include study questions so you absorb what you have just read. It's not quite "easy," but I have not found a better book. If you want the information broken down even more, there is Tarot for Dummies (pictured above), a book title that grates on me because true dummies probably don't have the capacity for Tarot. You must be intelligent and have common sense. When you read Tarot cards you deal with people's lives and feelings. You must do this with care. It is not a game.

Just as if you are learning the art of goldsmithing or piano-playing, take Tarot seriously and study and practice if you want to master it. When you begin, understand that you are in a beginner phase and please have patience with yourself. Just as piano beginners are not ready for concert performances, a beginner at Tarot is not ready to do readings. Nobody is born knowing how to read Tarot cards; there is nothing "psychic" about it. It is a skill. If you still need books to interpret the cards you are not yet ready. Respect yourself for being on the journey to true understanding of an ancient and beautiful art.

Sylvia Sky, experienced astrologer, monitors 70-plus horoscope and psychic sites for quality and accuracy. See her Tarot-related articles: Busted: Fake Tarot Card Readers and Is Tarot Psychic? How a Tarot Reader Knows Your Business Before You Ask. Copyright 2011 by Sylvia Sky.