What tarot is, and what it is not

Tarot is a deck of 78 picture cards. People use it for reflection, journaling, storytelling, creative prompts and divination. You do not need to believe in one fixed future to use it well. You need attention to the pictures and enough honesty to notice what they are pointing at in your life.

The two parts of the deck

The Major Arcana are 22 cards numbered 0 to 21, from the Fool to the World. They name big themes: identity, love, crisis, renewal, calling and meaning. When a Major card appears in a reading, give it extra weight.

The Minor Arcana are 56 cards in four suits: Cups, Swords, Pentacles and Wands. Each suit runs from Ace to Ten, followed by four court cards: Page, Knight, Queen and King. The Minors describe the texture of everyday life: moods, conversations, work, money and conflict. They are not less important. They are simply closer to ordinary days.

What a reading can do

A reading is a little like holding up a mirror at an unusual angle. You ask a question, lay out a few cards and look at how their pictures meet your situation. Often the cards put words to something you already half knew. Sometimes they point at something you were avoiding. Sometimes they simply help you slow down and think.

Tarot is good at showing patterns, influences and choices. A reading reflects the moment you ask in. When your choices and circumstances change, the picture can change too. That is why I treat “the future” in a reading as a direction, not a locked ending.

What a reading cannot do

Tarot cannot predict anything with certainty. It cannot read another person’s mind. It cannot replace a doctor, a therapist, a lawyer or a financial adviser. If a question is about health, the law, money or safety, the cards can help you think about how you feel, but the real answers belong with qualified people. A good reader says so plainly.

Do you need to be psychic?

No. You need practice, attention and honesty. Intuition grows with use, the same way your eye for a good photograph grows when you look at many photographs. Beginners who study the meanings and notice what each picture is doing already have enough to start.

Read in layers

When you look at a card, try three layers. First, the keywords you have learned. Second, the picture: who is there, what they are doing, what the sky and the colors are like. Third, your question: how does this card sit with what you asked? Most of this course trains those three layers. Today, practice only the second one: just look.

Try this

Today’s exercise: Draw one card and describe the picture out loud for one minute before you look up any meaning. 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

• Tarot has 78 cards: 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana.
• A reading shows patterns and choices, not a fixed future.
• Tarot does not replace professional advice.
• Read in layers: keywords, picture, question.

Keep going

When you have done the exercise, press “Mark as done” and continue with the next lesson, A short history of the cards. There is no hurry. If a lesson needs a second day, give it one.

To go deeper, read the “Introduction to Tarot” in my book The Novice’s Guide to Tarot.

Need a refresher? Go back to Your deck and your notebook or see the whole course.

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

Mark as done