Reading tarot means shuffling a deck, laying out a few cards, and reading what their pictures say about your question. You don't need a gift, a lineage or a hundred books to start. Everyone in our house reads cards, and every one of us started the same way: one card at a time.
This guide covers how we do it: choosing a first deck, getting to know it, shuffling, laying out your first spread, and reading what comes up.
The Parts of a Tarot Deck
A tarot deck has 78 cards in two groups.
- The Major Arcana are 22 cards, from The Fool to The World. They speak to the big themes of a life: beginnings, choices, endings, turning points.
- The Minor Arcana are 56 cards in four suits: Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles. They speak to everyday matters: work, feelings, thoughts and money. Each suit runs from Ace to Ten, plus four court cards (Page, Knight, Queen and King), which often show up as people or as sides of yourself.
Each suit has its own element and its own part of life:
| Suit | Element | What It Covers |
|---|---|---|
| Wands | Fire 🜂︎ | Work, ambition, and creative drive |
| Cups | Water 🜄︎ | Feelings, relationships, and intuition |
| Swords | Air 🜁︎ | Thoughts, decisions, and conflict |
| Pentacles | Earth 🜃︎ | Money, home, and material things |
You don't have to memorize all 78 before your first reading. Our tarot card meanings guide has every card when you want to look one up.
Choosing Your First Deck
We recommend a Rider-Waite-Smith deck for a first deck, every time. Its imagery is the core symbolism most other decks build on. Once you've learned the Rider-Waite, you can pick up almost any deck and read with it, even one with very little symbolism on the cards. The Rider Tarot is the classic edition, and the Gold Rider-Waite has the same art with gold foil.
If 78 cards feels like a lot right now, that's fair. An oracle deck has no fixed structure to learn, so it's a gentle way to get guidance while life is full. You can always come to tarot later.
You can browse every deck we carry in our tarot deck collection.
Getting to Know a New Deck
When a new deck arrives, I give it a good cleanse. Then the deck and I spend some time getting used to each other: I go through it one card at a time and look at each picture. After that, I spread the cards on my favorite surface and give them a long shuffle.
The best way to learn a deck is one card a day:
- In the morning, draw a card. Write down what you see in it: the people, the colors, what they're doing.
- During the day, notice anything that seems to echo the card.
- In the evening, journal about it. What did the card turn out to mean today?
Do that for a few weeks and the cards start to feel like people you know. A tarot journal keeps all of it in one place.
How to Shuffle Tarot Cards
Any shuffle works, and everyone has a favorite. Ours is the lake method.
- Spread the cards face down on a table or a cloth.
- With both hands, swirl them around slowly, the way you'd stir the surface of a lake.
- Let the cards turn every which way as they move.
- Gather them back into a stack when it feels right.
We prefer it because hand shuffling tends to leave clumps of cards together, and the lake gives every card a chance to land anywhere. It also turns some cards upside down, which gives you reversals to read.
If you'd rather shuffle in your hands, an overhand shuffle (taking small groups of cards from the back and dropping them on the front) is gentle on the card stock. Riffle shuffling works too, but it bends cards over time.
How to Do Your First Tarot Reading
There are no rules for what your first reading should be about. Ask about whatever is on your heart. Here's a simple way in:
- Set the space. Light a candle, or set a crystal beside you. It helps turn your attention toward the question.
- Ask an open question. "What do I need to know about this new job?" works better than "Will I get the job?"
- Shuffle until it feels right.
- Draw your cards and lay them out in a spread.
- Look before you look anything up. What's happening in the picture? What do you notice first? How does it make you feel?
- Then check the meaning, and see where it meets what you noticed.
- Write it down, so you can look back on it later.
Tarot Spreads for Beginners
A spread is just a layout where each position has a meaning. Three good ones to start with:
- One card. Draw a single card for the day, or for a quick read on a question.
- Past, present, future. Three cards in a row. The first shows what led here, the second where things stand, the third where they're heading.
- Situation, action, outcome. Three cards: what's going on, what you could do, and where that path leads.
- You, the other person, the relationship. Three cards for a question about two people: where you stand, where they stand, and what is between you.
How to Read a Three-Card Tarot Spread
Read each card for its position first, and then read the three together as one story. Look for what repeats. Several cards from one suit point to that suit's part of life, and more than one Major Arcana card points to a bigger turning point.
Once those feel comfortable, try a larger spread like the Celtic Cross, or make up your own positions for the question you're asking.
How to Read Reversed Tarot Cards
A reversed card is one that lands upside down. We do read reversals, because they add depth to a reading. A reversal doesn't always mean the opposite of the upright card. Sometimes it does; sometimes it points to a blockage, a delay, or energy turned inward. Let the scene on the card, the cards around it and your own intuition tell you which.
If reversals feel like too much at first, turn every card upright and add them in later. Plenty of readers never use them.
Tarot Cards vs. Oracle Cards
Tarot decks always have the same 78 cards, and oracle decks follow whatever structure their creator chose. An oracle deck can have any number of cards and any theme, such as animals, moon phases, or affirmations, and its guidebook explains what each card stands for.
Shuffling, asking an open question, and one-card and three-card spreads all work the same way with oracle cards. The suits, the Major Arcana and reversals belong to tarot. Lenormand cards are a third system: 36 cards that are read in pairs and rows.
Many readers use both in one sitting: a tarot spread for the question, and then a single oracle card as a closing message.
Reading Tarot With Crystals, Candles and a Pendulum
Tarot works well with the other tools on your altar. Crystals and candles set the tone of a reading and help you settle into a specific question.
A pendulum is useful when you're not sure how you're reading a card. Hold it over the card and ask whether you're on the right track. Our pendulum guide covers how to calibrate one.
You can also use tarot outside a reading. A card's symbolism can be the focus of a ritual: stand The Star on your altar while you work toward hope, or The Chariot while you work toward a goal, and let the image point your thinking where you want your life to go.
How to Care for Your Cards
We don't treat our decks as fragile or superstitious objects, because we cleanse them before we use them. What matters most is that they're kept neat. Stack them in their box or a bag, and set a crystal on top if you like. Keep them tidy rather than scattered, in whatever way feels right to you.
Tarot FAQ
Can I Read Tarot for Myself?
Yes. Most readers start by reading for themselves, and a daily one-card pull is one of the best ways to learn.
Do I Need to Be Psychic to Read Tarot?
No. Tarot works with your intuition and the pictures on the cards. Anyone can learn to read, and practice makes it easier.
Does My First Tarot Deck Have to Be a Gift?
No. That's an old superstition. Choosing a deck you love is a fine way to start.
How Often Should I Do a Tarot Reading?
As often as you like. A daily single card is a good habit, with longer readings when something big comes up. If you ask the same question over and over, the answers get muddy, so give it time between readings.
Can Tarot Predict the Future?
Tarot shows where things seem to be heading right now. You still make the choices, and the cards can change as you do.
How Many Cards Are in a Tarot Deck?
A tarot deck has 78 cards: 22 Major Arcana cards and 56 Minor Arcana cards in four suits of 14.
What Does It Mean When a Tarot Card Falls Out While Shuffling?
A card that falls or jumps out of the deck is often called a jumper. Many readers set it aside and read it as part of the answer.
Every Reader Starts With One Card
You don't learn tarot all at once. You learn it a card at a time, a morning at a time, until the pictures start talking back. Shuffle your deck, pull one card, and see what it has to say today.
