It might surprise you to know that the absolute quickest way to learn Tarot has very little to do with the cards themselves. Nor does it involve memorising card meanings. Instead, it’s all about believing in yourself and your intuition. That said, if that is all there is to it, I might as well stop typing now. In today’s article, I want to share the Tarot secrets I have learned from nearly four decades of reading the cards.
I share how I got started reading the Tarot and how I have now pretty much come full circle after studying all the adjacent occult disciplines such astrology, numerology and the Kabbalah. The more I study and learn, the more I understand that the true power and beauty of the Tarot lies in our ability to form intuitive associations based on the card images.
That’s not to say that learning all these other occult and esoteric topics won’t enrich our internal ‘data base’ for doing readings. But. If we fail to look at the images and trust what we see, as well as dig into how what we see relates to the question posed, we are better off using some other system of divination. Essentially, the Tarot is a visual oracle.
My First Tarot Reading
The first Tarot reading I ever did was with a 22-card Majors only cardboard cut-out deck from a Swedish Magazine. I was 15 and living in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden at the time. It was the summer holidays and I remember falling in love with the imagery of the 22 Rider Waite Majors as soon as I laid eyes on the cards. There was no Internet to distract me so I got my scissors and started cutting the cards out.
A friend came around and I suggested we have a play with the cards. At the time, I knew absolutely nothing about how to do a Tarot reading. I had not read any books. In fact, I had not even got around to reading the article in the magazine. So I just followed my intuition and laid out five cards in a row. I remember The Devil landing next to The Emperor and just looking at those two cards, I somehow knew without knowing how that my friends had an abusive older man in her life. Instead of trying to psychologise or soften the message, I just blurted out what I saw. It was a rough but honest read.
My friend, who up to that point hadn’t told a soul, started crying and said, ‘Yeah, my mother’s partner has been sexually abusing me.’ I don’t know who was more shocked by the revelation but I didn’t dare touch the cards again for quite a while after that.
The effect of the reading in my friend’s life was positive. She had been gaslighted into believing that nobody would believe her if she told the truth. The cards had just proven that to be a lie so she plucked up the courage to tell her mother and that put an end to the abuse.
Shhh…
Don’t tell anybody… but the quickest way to learn Tarot is to realise that you already know it. You know the language of your dreams and dreams speak the language of symbolism. You may not always ‘get’ what a dream was about. However, you are always better off searching for the meaning based on your inner knowing than looking it up in a dream dictionary. Would it shock you if I say the same is true of the Tarot?
There are many ‘Tarot experts’ out there that will tell you that you have to memorise both upright and reversed Tarot meanings. (I never use reversals–Here’s why.) Some of them will even say that unless you learn the astrological and Kabbalistic correspondences, you will never move beyond the beginner stage. I may even have uttered similar nonsense myself in the past and apologise for that. The Tarot didn’t come as a package deal with other systems and modalities. It has the power to stand on its own and can even become a complete path of spiritual initiation should you choose to use the cards for more than fortune-telling.
You don’t need to believe what the men in the funny handshake club told us about the Tarot over the last 300 or so years. The Tarot didn’t and doesn’t belong to them. While they can make of it what they will, you don’t have to buy what they are selling. Believe in your own soul power and sovereignty when it comes to seeing the messages.
Your Spirit Team Has Your Back!
Trust that if you feel the pull of the cards, it’s by design. You incarnated into this lifetime with the Tarot as part of your purpose and your soul’s evolutionary path. This means that your Spirit Team will also always be there for you to support you on your Tarot journey.
The Tarot System in a Nutshell
There are 78 cards in the Tarot and they are divided into five suits:
The Five Tarot Suits
- 22 Major Arcana Cards
- 56 Minor Arcana Cards
- 14 Wands Cards (Element of Fire)
- 14 Cups Cards (Element of Water)
- 14 Swords Cards (Element of Air)
- 14 Pentacles Cards (Element of Earth)
The Major Arcana describes the Fool’s Journey and is an allegory for our journey of individuation and spiritual maturation. The Minor Arcana shows everyday aspects of our lives. Wands describes our desires, passion and purpose. Cups are about our emotions, intimate relationships and our psyche. Swords deal with intellectual pursuits, problem-solving and communication. Pentacles concern anything connected with the realm of matter so our finances, daily grind and physical health.
If you know the meanings of numbers, you can combine that with the knowledge of the Elements above to derive meanings, even for cards that have non-scenic number cards:
Meanings for Numbers 1-10 in Tarot
- One (1) – The Beginning
- Represents a fresh start, new opportunities, and potential.
- Associated with raw energy, unity, and the origin of an idea or action.
- Two (2) – Duality
- Signifies balance, partnership, and decisions.
- It highlights the need for cooperation, harmony, and the weighing of options.
- Three (3) – Growth
- Indicates expansion, creativity, and the inclusion of cooperation.
- It embodies the concept of growth, often through collaboration and teamwork.
- Four (4) – Stability
- Represents structure, foundation, and order.
- It signifies stability, security, and the establishment of a solid base.
- Five (5) – Change
- Signifies conflict, challenge, and change.
- This number often involves dynamic shifts, disruption, and the breaking of status quo.
- Six (6) – Harmony
- Represents balance, beauty, and harmony.
- It indicates problem resolution, peace, and emotional well-being.
- Seven (7) – Mystery
- Associated with introspection, spiritual growth, and the mysterious.
- It often involves soul-searching and the pursuit of deeper truths.
- Eight (8) – Power
- Signifies strength, power, and mastery.
- It often involves themes of control, discipline, and achieving goals.
- Nine (9) – Completion
- Represents culmination, fulfillment, and the nearing of an end.
- It indicates accomplishment, wisdom gained from experience, and the final stages of a cycle.
- Ten (10) – Full Circle
- Represents completion, renewal, and the transition to a new cycle.
- It signifies the end of one phase and the beginning of another, symbolizing wholeness and closure.
Choosing a Tarot Deck That Resonates
For the quickest way to learn Tarot, choosing a deck with imagery that speaks to your imagination is absolutely paramount. Additionally, if you wish to use the deck for spiritual pathworking, you also need a deck that resonates with your spiritual path of choice. For instance, if you are on a Kemetic path, you may wish to choose an Egyptian Tarot deck. A follower of the Goddess Brigid may choose a Celtic-themed deck and so on.
I suggest keeping your reading deck separate from your spiritual pathworking deck, especially if you read for others. I find it’s best to keep the spiritual pathworking deck on your altar when not in use.
A Daily Practice
Other than understanding the simple structure as outlined above all you need to do is to actually start reading the cards regularly. As part of that (hopefully daily) practice, I strongly recommend journaling your readings so that you can keep adding to your personal Tarot data base of card meanings. If you happen to love journaling and are looking to make the Tarot part of your spiritual evolution, I highly recommend checking THIS POST out!
And don’t worry if you miss a day. It’s the same as with your Dream Journaling. The dreams won’t disappear from your life if you miss a day or two. Neither will the Tarot. Once you start working with the imagery of the cards, you will start seeing it all around you.
The truth is that just like all the astrological influences can be found somewhere in a person’s natal chart, the living influence of the 78 cards of the Tarot is also ever-present to varying degrees in a person’s psyche. The cards simply act as a mirror for the energy or influence that your deep mind wishes to highlight for you.
