Tarot: Getting started
As a 90’s kid my childhood was fraught with ouija boards, Goosebumps novels, Magic 8 balls, scary stories at sleepovers, and tarot. For years I was frightened of the occult. Devoid of the internet, education on metaphysical topics was limited to scary witch stores (I say that with love) and scary movies. Tarot was lumped into the same category as seances, the Exorcist, and Nightmare on Elm Street - possessed. There was no good coming from the other side it seemed.
This was further confirmed when I received a reading as tween from a teen, which turned out to be true - my parents were going to get a divorce, and then they did! Tarot only brought bad, bad things. It was as if touching the cards would unleash a hellish sequence of events, nothing but disaster in its wake.
And yet, tarot decks kept making their way to me. The last set that magically appeared in my life was an innocent cat deck. Very cute and very funny - The Devil card was a vacuum. How approachable! Even so, the deck remained locked away in a closet. . . . until my spiritual knock-over-the-head in 2019.
And yet, tarot decks kept making their way to me. The last set that magically appeared in my life was an innocent cat deck. Very cute and very funny - The Devil card was a vacuum. How approachable! Even so, the deck remained locked away in a closet. . . . until my spiritual knock-over-the-head in 2019.
With nowhere else to turn (as like that cat deck, I was also spiritually closeted) that’s when I began drawing one card a day. What could be so wrong with that? And guess what - no hellish spiral of events occurred. What blossomed instead was the gift of introspection, affirming signs, and next steps. The messages were more subtle than I was expecting - at times they felt like a cosmic riddle.
While I loved the cat tarot, I wanted find my deck. I realized I could curate my experience to one I was comfortable with, something that aligned energetically. I eventually landed on this beautiful deck. It opened up a whole new world for me.
How to get started
find the right deck
This can (and likely will) change over time. Approach your future deck as if you were buying a new car - don’t settle for just any old car on the lot. Go to your local metaphysical store and test drive (i.e. look at the covers) of all of the decks. A few will likely jump out at you! If you don’t have a metaphysical store nearby or you didn’t find one that speaks to you, the internet is a suitable option. Once you find a deck you like, note the illustrator or producer for future purchases.
understand The learning curve
It’s steep. Learning tarot is both immediately easy and eternally difficult.
Start with the keywords in whatever resource you’re using. I like Labyrinthos. I find their definitions to be incredibly helpful. But, this is just the beginning. You’ll eventually have your own language with tarot, develop your own internal dictionary/encyclopedia/thesaurus. This just takes time and doing a lot of practice readings on yourself and other people.
Practicing on other people is helpful because you’ll be faced with situations you wouldn’t come across only reading for yourself. And in some ways it’s easier to read for others, particularly people you may not know that well, because you won’t know their personality, lifestyle, personal dynamics, etc. Be open to feedback - what you got right and what you may have misinterpreted.
In the beginning, it’s easy to hold back on what you’re getting out of fear. Whatever comes to your mind to say (in kindness), say it! My biggest regrets in readings are the times I didn’t say something.
Learn the fool’s journey and minor arcana
The Fool’s Journey aka the Major Arcana . . .
. . . is the set of cards that do not belong to a suite. They explore a narrative around many developmental aspects and important milestones one might come across in their life. Having one of these cards show up indicates bigger life events or shifts.
The Fool’s Journey begins with, you guessed it, the Fool! His number is 0, representing unlimited potential. We start with the Fool seemingly stepping off a cliff with a tiny rucksack to go on a grand adventure. His meager rations point to his naivety in thinking he won’t be gone long or without food.
He’s taking a leap of faith, and he’s going to meet many people and experience many things along the way. Each card that follows is contexualized as the next step in the Fool’s Journey, these are represented as archetypes (The Emperor/The Emperess, etc) and situations (The Chariot). If you have ever seen The Wizard of Oz, think of it as if the Fool were Dorothy on the Yellow Brick Road. She sets out on an adventure and she no idea what she’s in for - meeting Lions, Tinmen, and Scarecrows along the way, while traversing dangerous forests, fields of poppy and more.
One thing to note about the Fool’s Journey - your perception about what it means will be highly informed by your own personal experience, and that’s ok! I mention it because there are many interpretations out there, so don’t think your interpretation is wrong. We’re in an everlasting relationship with our decks, and they will use the language you know how to speak, so to say.
Learn the suites
Each suite has a different realm:
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Associated with the element of Fire
Creativity, co-creation, ideas into action
Just like a wizards wand, it refers to taking an intention and casting it into existence!
The consequences of bring things to existence and the ways you may need to protect your creation
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Associated with the element of Air
Logic, communication, ideas and thoughts
Swords, like ideas, can be double-edged, used for good or to gain power, to restore peace or create chaos
A thought can be a weapon
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Associated with the element of Water
Realm of emotions, relationships, spirituality
Liquids take the form of their container
Water is all around us, we just have to look for it
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Associated with the element of Earth
Material things, legacy, money
Feel the weight of the a pentacle/coin in your hand, would you notice it was gone if you never had it?
Money is another form of energy
Of course this is one iota of the total heap. But it is easiest to start at the lowest common denominator and work up.
Take a course
The metaphysical shop near me offers one off monthly tarot meetups. They cover a different theme each time. These are great for beginners to advanced readers. I wouldn’t recommend taking a full-blown course until you’ve done some learning already. You will take more away from a course if you have covered the above sections and have familiarity with it. You’ll be able to dive more easily into the details, which would be a better use of money, in my opinion. It’s easy enough to learn the basics on your own. It is more difficult to recognize the nuance on your own, and this is where instruction is great. And on that note…
Advanced topics
Reversals
Depending on your mental fortitude, you may what to start reading reversals right away. For me, it was helpful to learn both at the same time because it painted the full essence of each card. Light & shadow.
What is a reversal? When pulling cards, they can come up oriented upright or reversed. While this can “reverse” the meaning, it often is of the same essence, but may carry a heavier message.
For example, the simplest reversal might be the Star. In its upright position, its keyword is “hope”, however in its reversal it can mean “hopeless”. But if you dive further into reversals, there’s still generally a positive message. Maybe it’s not that a reversed Star card is “hopeless”, maybe it means that you feel like your dream is further off than you thought it was, and this card may be the encouragement you need to keep going.
Uprights and reversals both come with advice to stay on your highest and best path, even if it is just to surrender to the situation.
A good example of this is in the Five of Cups (grief, loss) - in the classic Rider-Waite deck, the imagery contains a person mourning over three cups that have been knocked over, letting their liquid flow everywhere. It looks quite sad. But if you continue to look at the imagery, you will notice that there is a river running by and two cups that haven’t been knocked over behind the figure. The message here is that while the querent may be going through a tough time, there are resources around them if they only opened up to look for them. They still have two cups full of liquid, and there’s a river nearby to fill the empty cups.
You can see how there is a beautiful message despite it being one of the saddest cards in the deck.
This is a great segue into the next topic. . .
pips
Pips or keys are the imagery within a classic tarot deck. It is important to look for these around the scene of the card. Everything holds meaning.
The Chariot is lead by a black horse and white horse (good and evil, tamed and untamed, opposites). The Queen of Cups is sitting at the water’s edge with one toe in the water meaning she is in-tune with the emotional realm. The Moon has a dog and a wolf - suggesting that by moonlight, your senses may be tested, are you seeing a dog or a wolf? It asks you to use your intuition to decide if you are faced with friend or foe.
There is much to unpack with pips (or keys as some people call them). This is where your own personal experience may shape the meaning of the card differently than another person, and that is AOK! The tarot works with your dictionary, and it just takes time to build that connection.
Final Thoughts
That was a lot to review and we have only just scratched the surface! I plan to write more on each of these topics, so stay tuned!
