How To Read The Tarot Like A Professional

The Tarot - 78 cards, each with multiple meanings – is a daunting prospect for the new reader. It's not just the learning involved but becoming familiar and confident with the cards so that readings are fluent and natural rather than stilted, clumsy and uncertain. It is true that practise will deliver professionalism and it is also true that the learning process never stops but it is possible to give yourself a flying start and to be reading fluently in Days rather than Months.

The method is simple – make the deck your own. Once the Tarot becomes a distillation of your knowledge, experience and philosophy, reading it is second nature. There is nothing radical or revolutionary in this, it's exactly how the Tarot has evolved over centuries of use as a philosophical 'machine' and why there are so many divers meanings and associations. As a starting point, be clear in your mind how you view the Tarot – making it your own does not preclude association with higher powers and realms, with occult forces, faeries, angels, dragons or even mystic cat folk – I have 'apprentices' who work in all these ways, and more. Whatever your spiritual association for the cards strengthens the learning method by giving a focus. Next, settle on your research sources – Google and Wikipedia is fine but you can add as much depth as you wish (I use Claude Levi Strauss and Frazer's Golden Bough, Parker's Astrology, the I Ching...). Ideally the research process is an ongoing one.

Begin with the Major Arcana. 22 unusual and memorable cards which is the easiest part of the Tarot to get a mental grip on. Using a notebook, work with a card at a time and without using any reference books make very brief notes about what the card suggests to you. Record any significant image and symbolism that strikes you. Record any notable colour usage. The image will remind you of something or somebody, or perhaps some event or experience. Sometimes of several things. Record these associations. Bring in the research: note the card's main meanings in your tarot booklet or book and let these sit in your mind. Don't look up 'The Fool' or 'The High Priestess' in your reference sources but look up the associations you have begun to make – symbols, images, colours. If the card suggested a story or myth to you, look that up. Read the notes you find while visually referencing the card. You're not trying to commit stuff to memory but you will naturally do this. You will develop a personal link with each card and each card will develop a 'story' for you – reminding you of something you know, something you've experienced, learned, felt. This anecdotal association gives you the ability to 'riff' when you read the cards, extemporizing about the myths/symbols/colours and giving simple story 'examples' of what the card suggests. Here is one example to get you going: Strength is associated with Hercules. Look up Hercules. Here is another, The Chariot, a bit tougher – look up chariots, how they worked, how they were used. Look at the card's colour uses and the symbolism in the layout of horses and driver. Control is associated with the Chariot.

If you struggle with remembering multiple ideas there is a very easy to master and use a memory system called the Locus system which dates from the same time as the Tarot's origins and the two were once a part of a wider learning and knowledge system. It's well worth using your research skills on this (or buy a book like my 'The Tarot Professional'!) it boosts your confidence but it's not essential.

Now the Minor Arcana. Cards 1to10 are both 'cut-down' and more specific versions of the Major Cards 1 to 10. Less dramatic, significant and important than the Major, the Minor card relates to a specific aspect of life, shown by the suit. Swords represent the mind and the intellect, Cups spirituality and emotion, Wands vitality and energy, Coins practicality and needs. Swords and Cups are inward-looking, Wands and Coins look outwards. Astrology is useful extra reference here – look at the Elements: Air (Swords), Water (Cups), Fire (Wands) and Earth (Coins). Each minor card of a given number has the same core meaning which is applied according to the aspect of life it's Suit relates to.

Royalty. The Royal cards indicate people – male, female, mature, young, child. They also represent time – Days (Pages), Weeks (Knights), Months (Queens), Years (Kings). The suit can also indicate astrological types as per the elements above, so a royal of the Swords suit indicates an Air type (Gemini, Aquarius, Libra). Knowledge of astrological types helps your 'riffing' here.

Over a few days the entire deck, used this way, will become familiar – each card prompting observations, stories, personal examples and ideas. Now for the last bit. Each card now has it's 'meaning system' but you need to relate the cards to the questioner – and their questions. The final bit of learning is the card spread. Start with the Celtic Cross – you'll never need another but if you want to use different spreads you'll find it an easy and organic process. The Celtic Cross is a framework for your reading that indicates, in the card positions set around a central significator, current influences (one covering and positive, one crossing and negative), the foundation – or root – of the reading (below), the passing influence (behind), the coming influence (ahead), and the path the questioner is on (crowning, above). Next to the cross is a pillar showing: Current Outlook/state of mind, Family/Friends/Loved ones influence, Motivation (fears/ambitions), and lastly Potential (outcome – the best that can be achieved). Note I have simplified the terms for each position. The position of the card modifies the meanings the card holds and gives them a reference point in your Questioner's world.

You have three layers of interpretation – what the card suggests on it's own, what the card suggests in relation to it's position in the reading and finally, how the card may be modified by its relationship with the other cards in the reading. You have your personal knowledge system, you have a framework, now read those cards! Remember – you don't have to start at any particular card, go to where the associations and ideas are strongest – neither do you have to follow a specific sequence. Ideas, stories and possibilities will naturally flow to you and as you read this way, you will sound energised, confident, assured and interesting. Professional!

By: Jez Rogers

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