Welcome to the next in my series of articles for Zaghareet on the centuries-old tradition of tarot cards. Last issue, we touched on their history and basic organization. This article will assume some you have familiarity with the cards, and now want to learn how to interpret, or ‘read’ the cards… so read on!
What is a Tarot Reading and How Does it Work?
Reading the cards, sometimes known as throwing cards, is the laying out of a small quantity of randomized cards according to various patterns, and interpreting the story they tell through a mix of symbolism, intuition, and context. Think of it as a direct line to your gut instinct. Your wise unconscious mind derives meaning from the dream-like visual language of the cards, and has great advice for you about likely outcomes… if you are wiling to listen.
Learning to Read the Cards
There are many approaches to reading and laying out the cards. These patterns are called ‘spreads’. The Celtic Cross is well-known, but there are hundreds to choose from. A typical spread has from five to ten cards, although I did watch tarot master Rachel Pollack do one with EVERY card in the deck once.
Maybe your aunt taught you the cards at her knee. Maybe you found a mentor, as I did. There are people who can read them using a mere poker deck, with no pictures to guide them. But most start with a new deck of tarot from this century and the little white book. With experience comes courage and facility with the images and their associations. There are wonderful writers such as Mary K. Greer, and internet resources such as the Aeclectic Tarot Forum. Experiment, study, and repetition will help you develop habits that work for you and get results.
Now Lay It Out
Let’s use my favorite 5-card spread. Imagine the cards as guests at a dinner table. Read the how-to that follows. When the cards are revealed, search the assemblage for their collective wisdom. When in doubt, ask “What do I need to know right now?”
Clear a reading surface about 3 feet square. Take slow breaths. Clear your mind. If you are reading for someone else, they being the ‘Querant’, have them do the same. Ask them to hold their question firmly in mind. Shuffle the deck thoroughly yourself, pass it off, and have them ‘get their question’ into the cards by shuffling a bit more. This next bit is a tradition I have stuck by. Putting the deck down in a stack, with their NON-dominant hand, split the deck twice into three piles. Continue this way, recombining and splitting again in three. Repeat till the deck has been cut three times total.
Have the Querant set the stack in front of themselves, fanning the cards out with the non-dominant hand. Have them continue to hold the question, passing their hand across the cards feeling for cards that feel ‘different’. They pull cards one at a time, laying them facedown in the pattern dictated below. They can either share the question with you aloud, or not. I mostly don’t ask.
Cards will lay out simply, like this: X X X X X
Let’s Interpret It
When the pattern is complete, turn cards over slowly in any order, looking at the whole picture. Reversals (upside-down cards) are a study unto themselves. I don’t use them, but will explore them in a future article. Each card has a spectrum of meanings, from benevolent to challenging, that can be grasped based on context. If you wish to work with reversals, leave them as you find them. If you don’t, turn the cards upright and move to the next step.
Now, look for Frequency: is there a preponderance of any one number, rank or suit? Make a note. Also look for Dignity: watch for the mood of a card by the company it keeps. Think of it as one great house on a bad block. Try to discern how the cards are dignified by the neighbors. Is everything rising at last? Are hopes being dragged down? Also, sometimes while shuffling or laying cards, one will jump out of the deck. This card is whimsically known as a ‘volunteer’ and is included in the reading, off to the side. Think of it as a footnote to the topic at hand.
Explain the meaning of each card aloud with your Querant, and then regard the group as a whole. Watch how each image affects the Querant. Ask questions to give the best interpretation possible. “I can see this bothers you. What does it remind you of?” Two of my favorite examples are of the man who lit up when he saw the Queen of Wands. “That’s my cat!” he smiled, pointing to the feline by her feet. This card instantly had warm associations for him. More poignant is the example shared by my early mentor, Kate Nordstrom. The traditional Rider-Waite-Smith depiction of the Two of Cups is a convivial scene of a man and woman holding goblets, his hand is extended towards her. Kate described her client crying out, “He’s trying to take her cup!”, speaking volumes about the Querant’s state of mind, and the real questions being posed to the reader.
Build on It & Save It for Later
Sometimes the meaning is so clear and so timely that 5 cards reveal all. Sometimes new, more informed questions open out of those first five. Never fear. Add a one, or a whole extra row, if needed. Select a card in the reading already laid out, and frame a new question based upon that. “What else do we need to know about this card?” or “What is the root cause of this part of my trouble?” for example.
Reading is exhausting. Quit when you have had enough.
When the reading is done, archive it. Take a picture, if you have camera/phone, or write down the formation in a journal. Encourage a revisit of the reading over the week. If the Querant has tarot at home, lay the same cards out to ponder in passing. At some point, the scary image loses its power, the peaceful one seems more attainable, the poverty card makes way as personal prosperity rises. You’ll see the same handful of cards repeating over time for each person, and then phase out as particular life issues are resolved. As we live in free will, we change our outcomes. The tarot reminds us to level up to reach our potential. Tarot has no absolute answers, and gives homework every time!
Tips on Reading for Others
Tarot is a game of sorts, and has its roots in a game, but reading for others carries real responsibility. Be focused, brave, and honest about your level of skill. Don’t read more than three cards in a ‘party style’ setting. Big spreads are for deep questions, and unless you really want to talk to someone at the martini bar about the probable loss of their job or their philandering husband, keep it short and light.
Also, don’t apologize for your efforts. I’ve drawn an absolute blank on just a few readings over the years. In one case, they were in absolute denial about the ‘elephant in the reading’, their obvious addiction. A few times, the cards were clearly reading for previous clients! I can’t account for that without sounding overly mystical, but suffice it to say that there are more mysteries in heaven and Earth than I will solve on this lifetime. If Tesla, Jung and Steven Hawkings don’t know everything about the universe, I don’t expect to either. If you are being paid to read, refund the money of the sceptic as soon as its apparent that nothing can be learned. And just let them know, good-naturedly, that the Mysteries of the Universe have ‘Gone Fishin’.
For nothing is written!
