How To Choose Tarot Cards For A Reading

You could believe that all tarot decks are built using the same 78 cards, however this isn’t always the case. There are a number of tarot traditions, some of which occasionally alter the card arrangement, source meaning, and even the name. In the English-speaking world, the Rider Waite Smith tradition is the one that is most prevalent. This approach, where the images are illustrative, is the foundation for the majority of tarot decks today. Older than the Rider Waite Smith is the French tarot tradition known as the Marseille. Because the suits on those cards are represented by simple pip cards, it could be more challenging for beginners to read. Finally, the Thoth tradition incorporates various esoteric and philosophical concepts, such as Kabbalah and Astrology, into the cards. If you’re new, we advise starting with the Rider Waite Smith system since it is the most well-known. However, bear in mind these additional customs when you’re prepared to increase your tarot expertise!

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For a tarot reading, how many cards are chosen?

If you find this daunting, Howe advises you to take a deep breath and believe in your own initiative. “In order to see it less as “This holds all of these secret meanings that I have to do all this work to access” and more as “I know all the meanings; it’s just a matter of establishing the connections and being able to articulate them,” use language or knowledge that you already possess. She points out that the four elementsearth, water, fire, and airplay a significant role in the tarot, which is advantageous because the majority of people already have an understanding of the meanings of each element. ” If you do that, your viewpoint will be more personal, and you will be able to express yourself more freely.

Howe suggests the three-card draw and the Celtic Cross as the two fundamental spreads for beginning readers. In the former, three cards are chosen at random from the deck to symbolize the subject’s mind, body, and spirit, or past, present, and future. According to Howe, you could even up the stakes and use a six-card draw, with one card for each location.

Can you interpret your own tarot cards?

It’s normal to be a little clumsy when you first start practicing the tarot. Tarot study is similar to learning a new languageit takes time to become proficient. But what happens if you no longer require the booklet and have intimate familiarity with the deck? Are you able to read yourself? No, except for a few rare instances. Simply put, it’s a horrible idea.

You see, the majority of us turn to astrology or tarot when we’re looking for clarity amid a period of ambiguity. In contrast to astrology, which is quite technical, our consciousness restricts our capacity to read tarot cards. Working with your personal interpretation of the cards, you are not constrained by short- and long-term cycles like the planets’ orbits. It might be tricky to go beyond your current circumstances while utilizing the tarot to better understand a trying scenario. Even if all the cards are spread out in front of you, putting them together requires such a broad perspective that it is all but impossible to fully understand the meaning of each card. Basically, any biases you already have will always be reflected in your tarot reading!

What do I need to understand before I read tarot cards?

You’ll discover as you study more about tarot that each author has a unique interpretation of what each card symbolizes. The majority of specialists will agree on a small number of keywords for each card, but beyond that, there will be a great deal of conflicting information. Additionally, each card will have a distinct meaning based on where and whether it appears in your spread upright or reversed.

That could be a challenge if you value clarity over ambiguity, but consider the tarot a chance to practice accepting uncertainty and building trust in your own intuition. Consider the keywords as boundaries for the meaning of each card, and then start paying closer attention to each name and image to determine what speaks to you individually.

Choosing one card to focus on each day and reflecting on its meaning is one approach to do this. Keep a journal where you can record your personal reflections on each card as well as the conventional interpretations of each.

What should you do initially while using a tarot deck?

What to Do First:

Get out your tarot deck.
The cards are in your hand.
“Knock or tap the pile of cards numerous times while holding them in your palm to disseminate your energy throughout the deck.
Shuffle the cards completely.
The cards are divided into three heaps, which are subsequently reassembled into one pile.

What kind of tarot deck should I use, and does it matter?

It’s a journey that is ultimately personal. According to psychic medium Michael Cardenas, there is “no one correct deck” to begin with. “Each person will have a different deck to bond with. Find the one who will actually speak to you.”

Can you only get so many tarot readings?

Sincerely, the nicest aspect of tarot is that you may ask the cards ANYTHING. No question is too illogical for the tarot, and even better, there is no criticism. There are countless problems that tarot may help you understand and resolve. I personally steer clear of health-related inquiries as a tarot reader because I think a doctor would be a better resource for those, but I welcome every other subject. All of the solutions are already available and readyyou simply need to find them. Here’s what to do if you’re using tarot to make significant decisions in your life or simply to help you choose what TV show to binge-watch next.

Questions You Should Consider Asking at Your Next Reading

As we just mentioned, it’s crucial to pose thoughtful questions during your tarot readings. Identifying what you want to know is the first step in determining what questions to ask. Do you wish to discover your life’s purpose? Do you wish to resolve issues in your romantic life? Do you wish to discover the cause of a prior experience? Once you’ve done that, you may choose what inquiries to make in order to elicit the finest responses. After that, you can utilize these responses to determine what actions to take next.

Here are some thoughtful inquiries to make at your upcoming tarot session. In order for you to see what are good questions to ask for each of them, we will divide them into parts depending on specific topics.

Ask the following questions to get information about your romantic life:

What can I do to better my chances of finding my soul mate?
How do I know when I’ve found the one?
Which of my personality traits is most likely to draw love, out of all the others?
What can I do to make my bond with the person I love stronger?
What obstacles must I face if I want to find real love?
Is my heart hard and cold? If so, how do I get it to open?
What toxicity do I introduce into our relationship?
What assets do I bring to our partnership?
What can I do to improve my relationship’s communication?
Why did my previous relationships end?
Why do I draw emotionally distant people to me?
How can I move past my ex?
How can I tell if, when it comes to love, my instincts are reliable?
How can I find the ideal mate for me?
How can we support one another while we develop our relationship?
What worries do I have about what might occur if I get married?
How are my attitudes toward love restricting me?
What do I need to improve before I start dating again?
How do I reopen my heart after a broken heart?
How can I end my current partnership?

This section is for you if you want to answer tarot questions concerning your career.

Where will I be in ten years?
What is preventing me right now from achieving my full professional potential?
How can I aid my career progress?
What are my career-related strong points?
What are some of my professional weaknesses?
Which abilities should I employ to boost my career?
Why do I love what I do for a living?
Why is it that I don’t like my career?
How can I balance my personal life with my career?
Which career-related beliefs did I inherit?
What can I do to remedy a client problem?
What can I do to make things better between my employer and coworkers?
What should I focus on to gain more independence?
Did my opinions about a career affect how I made decisions? How, if so?
What kind of employment should I be seeking?
How did my parents’ expectations for my job influence my choices?
Should I put more money into myself? How, if so?
How do I locate the ideal position for me?
What profession should I never pursue again?
How will I be able to tell if my job is the correct one for me?
What can I do to socialize more?
How can I make my friendships stronger?
How can I ensure that my friendships last a lifetime?
What characteristics need to I look for in friends?
What traits of mine make for long-lasting friendships?
How can I get out of a poisonous friendship?
How can I tell whether my friendship is unhealthy?
How does my friend perceive me?
What does my friend think of me?
What does the future hold for my friend and I?
How can I make friends more easily?
Why do my friends behave in this manner?
What can I do to help my friend?
What can I do to improve my friendships?
What characteristics of mine make my friendships toxic?
What traits of mine improve the quality of my friendships?
How do I mend damaged friendships?
What about my buddies do I take for granted?
What about me do my friends take for granted?
What is giving my friend worry right now?

Asking the tarot cards the following questions will help you learn how to enhance your health:

What can I be doing to enhance my wellbeing and health?
How can I boost the amount of energy I have?
What prevents me from having the healthiest possible body?
What can I do to better manage a health problem?
How can I try to avoid major health problems?
What lifestyle adjustments should I make now?
Why is my present strategy for health and wellness flawed?
What current concerns about my health am I ignoring?
What can I do to help my body recover from significant health issues?

Here are some helpful questions to ask if you’re looking to improve yourself!

How can I learn to appreciate who I am?
What can I do to regain my happiness?
How am I getting in my own way of happiness?
What do I fear the most?
What in my life has this fear kept me from doing?
How does my fear benefit me?
What do I think of myself?
How can I increase my self-confidence?
How do I overcome my fears?
Who am I truly trying to become?
How can I boost my confidence?
Who among my pals supports me the most?
How can I better care for myself?
How can I stop putting off taking care of myself?
What misconceptions about myself do I have?
What mistakes from the past should I be thinking about?
What should I have known after making these errors?
What actions should I be taking to better myself?
Is there anything about myself that I won’t admit? What is it if so?
How do I accept this knowledge about who I am?
How can I improve my ability to take the bad news?
What can I do to help myself better control their emotions?
What can I do to improve my relationship with my sister or brother?
How can I improve myself as a daughter or son?
What can I do to improve my parenting skills?
What about me do my family members take for granted?
What aspects of my family do I take for granted?
What in our relationship would my parents wish to change?
What about our connection would my siblings like to see changed?
What resentments from the past are influencing how I interact with my family members?
What information do I need to know about a scenario involving a loved one?
How can I support my family?

We hope that this list will help you get ready for your upcoming tarot card reading. Keep in mind to avoid focusing on yes-or-no questions. Keep your queries focused on assisting you in determining what to do next.

How are the Tarot cards connected?

Advice on connecting with your tarot cards whether it’s your first time using them or you’ve owned your deck for a while.

Connecting or reconnecting to your deck can be a helpful activity, regardless of whether you haven’t picked up your deck in a long, are hesitant to conduct a reading for yourself, feel “wrong” with the readings you’ve been conducting, or have purchased a new deck.

Check out Reading Tarot for Beginners: How to Start Reading Tarot for Yourself for advice on how to pick your deck.

Being a competent reader requires you to connect with your tarot deck. But you must invest time, effort, and attention in a good relationship.

How can I tell if I’m not meant to work with a deck or I just need to reconnect?

The connection you have with the deck has to be strengthened, or it might not be the best fit for you at this time, if you’re having trouble getting a good reading from it or feel off with it.

It’s possible that you and your tarot deck aren’t intended to be in a serious long-term relationship if you don’t feel like you connect with it or if you don’t appear to speak the same language. There is a deck available for you if you want to learn, therefore this does not imply that you are not destined to be a reader.

However, there’s also a strong chance that you can establish the connection with a little time and effort. especially if you were initially drawn to your deck.

You can utilize some decks for specific purposes and not others. The majority of your magic will probably be performed with one main deck, although you may occasionally use other decks for fun, support, or clarity. Since decks are exquisite works of art, I love collecting them. And I adore using them when I want to switch things up or am performing a certain style of reading, but I only use my original ride or die deck for all of my professional readings and lectures.

All of this is to indicate that testing out a variety of decks is a wonderful idea. For your first deck, conduct some study, examine the imagery, and choose the one that sparks your interest.

Here are some methods for getting back on your deck. I’ve listed them in the sequence I’d perform them, but you should feel free to customize this exercise according to your own preferences.

How to connect with your tarot cards

You can accomplish this in a number of ways, including by shuffling, using crystals, moonlight, salt, or sacred incense. Click here to learn more about cleaning your deck.

Hold your cards firmly in your palms while taking a few deep breaths. After that, think about the intention you want to have for your practice with them. It could be a word, a sentence, or an emotion. You can use this time to ask any guides or spirits you enjoy working with for assistance or to help you open your channel to divine advice that is in your highest and best interests.

Cleaning the energy in the deck through shuffling. Additionally, it creates the random system that allows us to access the advice we need from the deck. We can gain a completely new viewpoint from the cards because of the randomness that shuffling creates; by doing so, we are deviating from logic and embracing the unknowable. Check out this article on card shuffling.

To get to know one another, gain some fresh perspectives, and, yes, bond, spend some time completing a tarot spread that is tailored to your deck.

What details about you do you want me to know?
Your restrictions?
What type of partnership are we capable of having?
What task are we supposed to complete jointly?
Which card can currently be my teacher?
How can I use this card to explore deeper?

Make putting your deck away a ceremony. You might keep it in a box, cover it in a special scarf, place a crystal on top of it, or place it on an altar while not in use. Choosing to follow this quick procedure at the conclusion of each session or day is a way to show your deck some love, gratitude, and appreciation.

Bonus Tarot bonding exercises:

the whole picture The Major Arcana numbers 0 to 22 should be arranged in lines of seven cards across. Next, arrange the Ace through King cards for each suit in the following order: Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles. Take a good look at the deck in this format. Then thoroughly jumble everything together.

Select a map. To serve as your anchor and guide for connecting with your deck and intuition, choose a card based on its look and/or its meaning. Write down all the thoughts, emotions, and queries this card triggers for you in a journal. Use it to meditate. Keep track of how it manifests in your daily life and tarot practice (and keep a notebook of your observations!). When not using your deck, place this card on your altar. You can carry out this for a week or a lunar cycle before selecting another.

Put your deck beneath your pillow while you sleep. You can connect with the cards in your unconscious time if you can make it comfy.

Also keep in mind that it takes time to establish a connection and relationship with your deck. Like any relationship, it evolves as you develop and gain new knowledge.

Questions you don’t really want answered

Even though it might seem apparent, it’s advisable to refrain from asking the tarot cards questions that you aren’t prepared to hear the answers to. That’s because answers to these questions can reveal information you’re just not quite ready to hear.

“Tarot can definitely come off as offensive if you’re not willing to hear the truth or consider an opposing opinion. Tarot reading Nicole Fortunaso

According to tarot reader and life coach Nicole Fortunaso, “tarot may truly come out as offensive if you are not willing to hear the truth of the problem or look at an alternate viewpoint.” She advises analyzing why you’re reacting the way you are in order to reflect on how to effectively address the underlying problem if you ask the question and aren’t satisfied with the response.

Can I read my own Tarot cards every day?

Is it feasible for a beginner to perform Tarot spreads on themselves? Yes! It most certainly is. Tarot is a technique that aids in deepening our understanding of the present moment, honoring our intuition, and predicting future possibilities.