The Beginner's Guide to Reading Tarot Cards, According to the Pros (2024)

Lately, my mornings have undergone a subtle but transformative revolution. Instead of doom-scrolling on my phone like I used to, I reach for my tarot deck and pull a card. Even though I’m still a beginner, reading the tarot (specifically, Rachel True’s new deck) has become an essential part of my morning routine.

“There is absolutely a difference in my day when I sit down with the tarot and spend some time with myself before the craziness kicks in,” memoirist Michelle Tea, who also wrote Modern Tarot, tells OprahMag.com. Tea also appreciates the tarot as a “piece of art that echoes back through the centuries.”

Technically speaking, the tarot is a set of 78 decorated cards that dates back to the 15th century. The cards initially were used in Europe as a game, and only gained a mystical connotation in the 18th century. The deck is divided into the major arcana, 22 cards that represent major themes in a person’s life, and the minor arcana, which represent everyday events. The minor arcana is subdivided into four suits, each containing ten cards and four court cards. But you’ll find out about this when you start using your first deck.

Ultimately, actress and reader Rachel True says, these cards are pieces of paper. “The magic and beauty and power of the tarot cards is their ability to help you unlock your own personal power,” she says.

Learning the meaning of all 78 cards, not to mention reversals, can be daunting—but any beginner can start on the journey. “Tarot is for everyone, because everybody has an intuition. Tarot is a way to connect to that,” psychic medium Michael Cardenas says. Tarot reader Aerinn Kolfa*ge agrees, telling OprahMag.com, “You can get a good reading just from the images of the deck without being psychic at all. The symbols can open another way of looking at the world.”

OprahMag.com spoke to multiple professional tarot readers to learn their tips and tricks. While each pro offered their own version of tarot 101, they all agreed that the journey is a personal one. Read their advice—then discover what works for you.

Pick a tarot deck that speaks to you.

The first step, of course, is procuring a tarot deck—and there are many options. Do you go for the nature imagery of the popular and modern Wild Unknown deck? Or the Tarot de Marseilles deck, one of the oldest in existence? Or break out a deck of playing cards, with each corresponding to a tarot card? Beginners may want to start with the influential Rider-Waite-Smith deck first published in 1909, as its artwork inspired many later iterations.

Psychic medium and tarot reader Sarah Potter recommends researching the decks' artwork on sites like Aeclectic Tarot prior to buying, since the design conveys the cards' significance. "Being able to connect with the imagery is so important. Select a deck that you find yourself in and offers the right mirror," she says. She also dispels a long-held myth that people shouldn’t buy their own decks: "Go ahead and buy your own.”

Take care of your cards.

Bri Luna, the creator of the Hood Witch, stresses the importance of caring for your cards. For Luna, that means storing them in a pouch or a box and cleansing them with crystals, like a Selenite wand.

“Tarot isn’t a toy. It’s a tool,” Luna says. “There should be some reverence when you’re calling upon your higher self to lead you in your readings and to give you insight into the information you want to know.”

That said, Tea cautions against feeling like you need certain materials, like a silk pouch or crystals, to read. “Some of these traditions create a more ritualistic space around the tarot practice. But I don’t like feeling like people have to do those things,” Tea says. “You can meet your tarot cards right where you are. Your tarot is always there for you.”

You can use books—but make your own meanings too.

Got your deck? Great. Now, it's time to become acquainted with the cards. Luckily, you're not on your own: There is an abundance of information about the tarot on the internet and bookstores. Further, most decks come with guidebooks that interpret the deck’s particular artwork.

That said, professional tarot readers recommend trusting yourself above all the supplemental material. Make your own meaning. As a first step, Luna recommends writing a journal entry for each card. “Sit with each card first. Write out your thoughts and impressions, and see how they align with the books’ interpretations,” she says.

For astrologer and tarot reader Lexi Ferguson, the process of learning the cards is never-ending. “Don't ever assume you have the final answer about each card. Just because you read it in one little book doesn't mean there’s an ultimate answer for cards. The beauty of it is there are always more layers,” she says.

After becoming acquainted with the cards, start doing readings for yourself and others.

Learning the cards’ meaning is the first step. Putting them in conversation is the next one. According to Tea, doing readings for yourself, others, or even imaginary friends is the only way to learn. “The art of reading tarot is connecting the cards—not only remembering what each card means, but gaining deeper intuition and understanding about the way that they would influence each other in a spread,” Tea says.

Ferguson compares tarot to a speaking a language. “You can only take so many classes. You have to jump in, and that's how you’re going to get fluent,” Ferguson says, adding that—if reading for others—you should inform them you’re a beginner.

Ironically, doing readings for yourself can sometimes be even more complicated than doing readings for others. “What’s challenging is remaining unbiased,” Potter says. “Before doing a reading for yourself, be open-minded to whatever comes through.”

Visit other readers, as well.

Mallorca-based tarot reader Caitlin McGarry recommends consulting other readers, as well. “There are so many ways of interpreting cards when you arrange them with other cards. Going to different readers can help you see that,” McGarry says.

When it comes to readings, choose your question wisely.

Before pulling the cards for a particular spread, you’ll need to formulate a question. Think about your intentions for the reading and what you really want to know about your love life, career, family drama, or wherever else you're seeking clarity. Crafting effective tarot questions is an art of its own.

Ferguson recommends starting questions with the word “how” or "what," instead of “will," and avoiding simple “yes or no” questions entirely. In this way, Ferguson says, you can inject agency into your reading, and have a hand in creating your own future. “It gives you something actionable. Instead of just sitting around, waiting to see if the tarot was right, you could actually do something to make change in your life,” she says.

Shuffle the cards until you’re ready.

While shuffling the cards, meditate on the question you're asking. There are multiple shuffling techniques: Spread the cards out in front of you, shuffle them casino style, or hold the deck in one hand and use the other to shift chunks from one side to the other. “Do whatever feels right,” Potter says. “I recommend closing your eyes, taking a deep breath, and clearing your mind.” As for when to stop? Similarly, Potter says to trust your intuition (sense a theme?). "I just know when the cards are throughly mixed and ready," she says.

If you’re doing a reading for another person, you can also have them shuffle. “I like people putting their energy into the cards,” Tea says. Or, Ferguson suggests a compromise between the two: She shuffles, and her client cuts the deck into three piles, selecting one. Just as there are methods for shuffling, there are as many options for cutting the deck. Ultimately, how you divide the deck comes down to intuition.

Be sure to pick a spread, like the Celtic Cross, before you shuffle the cards.

When using a tarot spread, each chosen card will correspond to a certain position, like “past,” “present,” and "future." Ferguson emphasizes the importance of picking a spread prior to dealing the cards. “You need the context of the spread to have meaning. I don’t think cards have very much to tell us without relationships. If a card is in the past position, why is that?”

Beginners may gravitate toward one-card readings or three-card readings, like: past, present, future; opportunities, challenges, outcomes, and mind, body, spirit. The 10-card Celtic Cross is also a popular spread, giving a more comprehensive look at a certain question. There are boundless ideas for spreads to be found online and in books. You can even make up your own.

By repeating the same spread daily, you may glean deeper insights. True recalls the summer she pulled a Celtic Cross spread daily, to illuminating results. “I would draw a diagram for the Celtic Cross every day. I’d write it down. After a month you start to see things like, Oh my goodness, I keep getting the Justice card in the same position all the time, or, I keep getting the Justice card, but it's moving around the spread.”

You can read reversed tarot cards—or ignore them. Your call.

Ah, reversals. We have arrived at one of the most debated topics in tarot. Everyone has an opinion on whether or not readers should place extra significance on cards that are positioned upside down. Here’s the long and short of it: If you choose to read reversals, you’re going to have to learn another 78 meanings.

"When a card falls in a spread in reverse, it’s most often a modified meaning of its upright position meaning," Blue June, a professional tarot reader, tells OprahMag.com. June gives the Fool as an example: One of its upright meanings is spontaneity, yet in reverse it means recklessness. Still, June recommends placing the reversals in context of the "story" of the spread. "One common mistake is to go straight to the opposite meaning but it’s not usually so black-and-white. This is where intuition comes in," she says.

While most of the professional tarot readers OprahMag.com spoke to use reversals in their readings, everyone has a different approach. Tea, for example, considers them arbitrary and chooses to forgo them entirely. "I find reversals add more negativity to the tarot deck. Good cards become bad. Bad cards don’t become good—they become differently complicated. You end up with more bad news when you reverse the cards,” she says.

Track your progress by keeping a tarot journal.

No tarot practice would be complete without a journal to track the cards you pull—and what you learn from them along the way. “The most important thing is your journal,” Cardenas says. “What the journal does is give you receipts. You’ll write something down and you’ll see, six days later, that you were correct. You’ll start to see how many days it’ll take for your visions to come true. You’ll have a record that this is real.”

Sample journal entries include logs of past spreads, a record of personal card interpretations, and daily pulls. When you’re first getting comfortable with a deck, devote entries to writing first impressions and interpretations of each card, which you can consult later on.

Through writing in a journal, beginner readers can develop the confidence in their own intuition and abilities, which will guide the rest of their practice. “Writing is a way to get to know the tarot so you’re not reliant on what some book says. Starting with your own dedicated journal is a great place to begin,” Kolfa*ge says.

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