Mystical Angels

How do you properly use and read tarot cards?

I've always been interested in learning, and I think I'm finally going to take the initiative this summer. I'm looking to find out the proper way to read as well as interpret them. I was wondering if there was a certain deck anyone would recommend for a beginner. If you don't believe in it or whatever other reason you have to add negative things, I couldn't care less. Feel free to message me with more info if it gets a bit too long for here. Thanks in advance. ^.^

Public Comments

1. When you are on the toilet.
2. Play poker.
3. the garbage dump
4. Throw deck in metal container add charcoal starter throw in match. Then go find a Bible and stop playing with the devil by reading what God wrote!
5. It takes a long time to master tarot-- and then I think it probably comes down to the practitioner being gifted. Get a book on it and start reading! I like tarot myself, just because I think it's full of archetypes.
6. The deck doesn't matter; it's the use that is important. Find an open garbage can, put the cards in it and walk away. Tarot was a complicated French card game resembling contract bridge. The colorful cards were adopted by fortunetellers, and they've been fooling people ever since. No one can predict the future, with tarot cards or any other means.
7. The most recommended tarot decks to learn from are based on the Rider Waite deck… the Hanson-Roberts deck, Morgan Greer deck, the Fenestra deck and the official Los Scarabeo deck are all good decks that are very close to the Rider Waite in their images. Any deck will do though… find one whose images appeal to you and that “speak” to you. To choose a good deck for yourself you’ll want a deck that first of all you find appealing… something that will motivate you to use the cards. More importantly, however, you’ll want a deck that “speaks” to you. Find a sample image of one (or several) of the cards. Ask a somewhat random sample question and then look at the image… how would you answer your question if you pulled that card? If the answer comes fairly easily, then it might be a good deck. If it’s a struggle, then it might not be a good deck for you, even if you find it really beautiful. One effective method of learning tarot is to journal. Go card-by-card through your deck in order and spend some time with each card. Study the image on the card and record your impressions. Break down the symbolism (out loud if you have to) and record what you think it means. Then get out your books… the guidebook that comes with the deck and any other book you have with tarot meanings (at least having one other book can be helpful. I recommend either “Tarot: Your Everyday Guide” bu Jenina Renee or “The Tarot Workbook” by Nevill Drury) and read through the entries while examining the picture on the card. Record whatever information seems important or relevant. When you are through with the deck, go back through your notes and study them… compile a short statement about the card, maybe a couple of sentences describing what you think it means… then see if you can break this down further into a keyword or two that describes the card… this will help the meanings you see by studying the cards stick in your head a little. The next thing you might try is comparing the numbers. Take out all the aces and compare what they mean… the things they have in common will refer to the essential meaning of “ace” and the things that are different about them will refer to the essential meanings of each suit. Go on and do this with the twos, threes etc until you’ve gone through all the minor arcana. I found this to be extremely helpful, myself. Next find a reference for the “Journey of the Fool” and the story about the major arcana and why they are in that particular order and what they symbolize in our greater life’s journey. Journal about the Journey and how you feel about the major arcana… these things were all very helpful to me in my training. To do a reading, leave the book alone. Don’t even keep your guidebook with your deck as you don’t want to be tempted to reference it during the reading. Read from the images, even if you have no experience with the cards. Look at the people on the cards and figure out what they are doing, how they are feeling and what the various symbols might indicate, then try to apply the behaviors and symbols on the card to the situation at hand. Use your intuition to focus on what seems to be the most important and relevant aspect of the image or symbolism. If you’ve never read before, you might be better off leaving more complex spreads alone. Leave the complex 10-card “Celtic Cross” spread for when you are more experienced with the cards and stick with simple spreads like a one-card spread or 3 to 4 card spreads where the positions are fairly easy to figure out. Once you’ve got a better handle on the cards themselves and the positions of your spreads, you can experiment with more complex spreads and trying to read the relationships between the cards. -Scarlet
8. i think you have to be dedicated to learning it ive had tarot for a very long time, and i still know nothing about it :-D i just never really learned it seriously, so i think it takes a real effort and interest in it i think its smart to learn with the really easy ones, but then, maybe thats cos im an idiot :-D