Reading Tarot Cards: Meanings, Spreads, Interpretations

Reading Tarot Cards – Introduction

Written by GHP on 10:05 PM

Reading Tarot Cards – Introduction

There are a variety of ways in reading Tarot cards (pronounced “Ta-Row”). Most people use the full deck of 78 cards, while others prefer to use only the 22 cards of the Major Arcana. Of course, those who read ordinary playing cards are effectively reading the Minor Arcana, although the interpretations for each playing card don’t necessarily match up with those used by Tarot card readers. There is a very traditional way of reading Tarot cards, where you start with an initial reading using the Major cards to focus on important issues, following up with a reading using the full deck to highlight details.

There are two people involved in any Tarot reading, the reader and the querent. The reader is the person who lays out the cards and interprets their meaning. The querent is the person for whom the reading is done. If you are reading Tarot cards for yourself, then you are both the reader and the querent.

When reading Tarot cards, it is important to keep in mind (for both reader and querent), that your purpose is to get an understanding of a situation which is in progress or about to happen.

The reader’s first priority – before even taking out the cards – is to make sure the querent understands what’s going on.

It is much easier if the querent is familiar with Tarot readings, as a thorough explanation is not necessary. At most, and only if you’ve never read for this person before, you will need to tell him or her how you want them to handle the cards. Also, you will want to tell them how to phrase their question; this will depend on the type of reading. You can explain how your system works (the significance of individual cards in your spread) as you are doing the reading.

If the querent is unfamiliar with Tarot cards readings, then there’s a great deal more you have to explain. Begin by telling them the questions that will and will not be answered by the Tarot cards. One simple way to do this is to tell them that the Tarot can reveal information about your past, present, and future, and/or about people or situations you’re involved with. But it certainly cannot tell us the winning lottery number – past, present, or future!

Visit the other posts on the right column to learn more on how reading Tarot cards works.

Reading Tarot Cards – Introduction