How this course works (free, at your own pace)

Welcome. I am so glad you are here. This is a free course for complete beginners, and it will stay free. You do not need an account, you do not need to give me your email, and you do not need any special gift. You need curiosity, a deck of cards and a few minutes a day.

How the course is built

The course has nine short modules and 30 lessons. Module 0 is this welcome. Module 1 explains what tarot is and where it came from. Module 2 is about reading ethically, because good habits are easiest to learn on day one. Modules 3, 4 and 5 teach the cards themselves: the 22 Major Arcana, the four suits and the court cards. Module 6 teaches spreads, from one card to the Celtic Cross. Module 7 covers reversals, journaling and reading for other people. Module 8 gives you a 30-day practice plan and your certificate.

Each lesson teaches one thing. Most take five to fifteen minutes to read. At the end you will find a small exercise and a short quiz. The quiz is not an exam. It is there so you can check that the main idea landed. You can take it as many times as you like.

How your progress is saved

When you finish a lesson, press “Mark as done”. Your progress is saved in your own browser, on your own device. Nothing is sent to me. That keeps your learning private, but it also means that if you switch to another phone or clear your browser data, the course will not remember where you were. If that happens, simply open the course page and pick up where you left off.

How fast should you go?

As slowly as you like. Some people do one lesson a day for a month. Others read a whole module on a Sunday afternoon and then practice for a week. Both work. What matters is that you actually shuffle the cards between lessons. Tarot is learned with your hands and eyes, not only by reading about it.

What you need

• A tarot deck. Any deck based on the Rider-Waite-Smith images is easiest, because most books and websites, including this one, describe those pictures. The next lesson helps you choose.
• A notebook. A cheap one is perfect. You will use it for short notes after each draw.
• A quiet corner and ten minutes. You do not need an altar, candles or crystals. If you enjoy them, use them. They are not required.

What this course will not do

This course will not teach you to predict the future with certainty, because tarot cannot do that. It will not ask you to believe anything. It will teach you to look carefully at 78 pictures, to ask good questions and to notice what a reading brings up in you. Many people find that is more than enough.

Try this

Today’s exercise: Find a quiet place for your deck and a notebook you will use only for tarot. Keep it short. Two or three lines in your notebook are enough, and there are no wrong answers. If you like, come back to the page tomorrow and add one more line about anything you noticed in the meantime. Small, regular notes like these are how the cards slowly become familiar.

Quick recap

• The course is free, with 30 lessons in nine modules.
• Your progress is saved privately in your own browser.
• Go at your own pace, and shuffle the cards between lessons.
• All you need is a deck, a notebook and a few quiet minutes.

Keep going

When you have done the exercise, press “Mark as done” and continue with the next lesson, Your deck and your notebook. There is no hurry. If a lesson needs a second day, give it one.

To read how I think about tarot for beginners, see the opening chapter of my book The Novice’s Guide to Tarot. If you would like a printable companion for the first weeks, my free Mini-Grimoire has the basics on 15 pages.

You can always return to the course page to see every lesson.

Go deeper: The Novice's Guide to Tarot: Introduction

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