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Welcome! From my experience, this forum is great for everybody, no matter where we are right now on our tarot journey. Which is never-ending anyway. There is no tarot police, whatever you do is okay. Referencing the booklet, or a book, or not doing so at all - it's all okay. The learning effect is maybe greater if you try to do your own interpretation first, write it down and then compare with what's written in the book. But it's not necessary. The traditional meanings of the cards have developed over time, depending on the time and place the cards were used and who created the deck. There are different traditions; in the English-speaking world, the Waite=Smith tradition is dominant. Its card meanings were not only influenced by tradition but also by astrological associations. If you're interested, you can dive into that knowledge, but many people are good tarot readers without astrological knowledge. While the meanings of the trump cards are the same in nearly every deck, there is more variation among the suit cards. Each suit has a theme or character of its own, usually based on the four ancient elements, and each numbered card also has numerological associations. All these associations also influence the meaning of the card. If you don't have questions about your own life, one way of working with the cards is asking questions about historical or fictive characters and situations, but also sports or politics or your own past. Yes-or-No-questions are possible, but you may get better result from open-ended questions. Some people get better results with general questions, others with very concrete questions, you'll have to try this for yourself. One-card-readings are very useful, and many people recommend starting, like you do, with a card-per-day exercise. Draw it in the morning, look at it, keep it open, and in the evening, ask yourself: did I meet the mood or energy of this card anywhere today? Simple three-card readings are also great because they give you a bit more information, and you can see how the cards interact. There are tons of ideas for three-card spreads, from Past/Present/Future, Mind/Body/Spirit or Root/Problem/Solution to whatever interests you. Many people work without spread positions and just look at the overall picture the three cards generate. You can simply try every idea that comes to your mind. Just playing with the cards is a good way of getting to know them. I have always found that picking cards can be as helpful as drawing a card. For example, you can ask yourself: how do I want this job interview to go?, and then go through the deck and take out three or four cards that show the answer. Don't overthink it, just look at them and see what comes up. Then, put these outcome cards together and think about them. There are reasons why you picked them. You may wish to take a picture of these cards together and look at them before and after the job interview. Who is my mother as a tarot card? my father? my best friend? Again, find the cards without looking at the book. First, pick the card or cards, and only then read about their meanings. I found the advice of writing everything down to be very useful for me. No matter whether you use a note-taking app or a paper journal, it will help you learn to get the tarot better. You'll keep track of your insights and won't lose them. As a newbie, you have the chance of developing your own associations with the cards, and that's great. You can also write here on the boards about your card and get input from others. There is a great reading circle for beginners here where you can read for others and get feedback. It's often easier to get a clear reading when you read for a stranger. Reading for ourselves, we all have our biases 😉 There are tons of material about the tarot on these boards, online and in books. And it's your choice whether you use it or rely on your own wisdom and intuition; you can change your focus whenever you want. The most important thing is to work with a deck that speaks to you with a clear voice, where each card has a distinct character. Nowadays, there are so many decks that it may seem impossible to find one. The usual advice is to stick with a Waite-Smith tradition deck because there are so many good resources about these decks, but many people have started with different decks. Even if everybody loves a certain deck and recommends it - if you find it ugly, dry or uninteresting, you don't have to follow the advice. Tastes differ. The deck library here on the forum is a great resource if you're looking for a deck that resonates with you. There are also great apps where you can work with different decks to see how they work for you before you invest in buying one. There is no pressure and no end-of-year exam. Tarot is an open art, and it's a language that anyone can learn. The fun for me is in the learning, not the knowing. Because with every reading, you start anew. Enjoy the journey!

Hello @Lakewater welcome to the TT&M Family

Hello @witchcraft welcome to the TT&M Family

Hi @witchcraft, and welcome. I think you can easily use tarot for reflection without being worried about inviting bad energy. But then, I'm someone who believes that it's about you and what you bring to tarot; the cards are a tool not the source. People see it different ways though (which is good, the whole point of having a forum to exchange ideas 🙂 ) so I'm sure you can also find advice here on dealing with those concerns if they come up. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it here.

Death is a definite end to something. A transformation from what has been. Something is not coming back. I was shuffling the other day and it fell out of my deck 2 minutes before I got a phone call saying my friend had died.

I have the deck and I worked with i last year (2025). The pictures is easy to understand but I didn´t feel that the LWB helped anything. I got the advise from people in here to skip the LWB och just use the deck and my own head! That worked much better!😉

I know so little about tarot that I'm not even sure how to make 5 quality posts. A lot of the discussions are way over my head lol. There's also a lot of good information in this part of the forums alone, but there's an overwhelming amount for me. It seems I am well and truly The Fool. I suppose that I'd like to know how other people got started, and what they might recommend? For context, I do have a pip deck. It's an anime themed one. I understand that there is no rush and tarot seems to be something you continue practicing and learning and "mastering" for one's whole life. But I thought it might be helpful (and hopefully okay / not off-topic) to ask some beginner questions here without hijacking someone else's thread... 1. I often struggle to know what to ask or inquire. I personally prefer to avoid questions that would be fortune-telling, and I also avoid yes-or-no questions. So far I don't even ask a question really, I more or less ask for something to "consider" or "reflect on" today. 2. Whenever I've done a single card reading (haven't even attempted multi-card readings), I have to reference the booklet that came with my deck. Is this... okay to do? On the flip side, to what extent is it okay to just look at a card and interpret it in a more personal, private way that is unique to me? And for lack of a better term, where do the "pre-packaged" meanings come from; is it just general, somewhat non-specific consensus from 100+ years of people doing tarot and working with the same decks and imagery? 3. Is this forum a good place for utter beginners like myself, or more for more experienced tarot people? Thanks.

I hope someone read that in Obi-Wan Kenobi's voice. My username actually comes from a time when I was falsely accused of cheating in a video game and got banned for "video game witchcraft." I since decided to reclaim the word, I guess. Just wanted to clarify that rather than accidentally come across as a poseur lol. The reason I joined was to hopefully learn more about tarot... I only have one deck, an anime themed one by Natasha Yglesias. Yeah, I like anime and was introduced to tarot by the Persona games series. Generally speaking, I've always had an openness to "mysticism" or "spirituality" whichever people prefer. Even though I've had this deck for two years, I've been rather hesitant to use it because of a lot of religious baggage. Also, I'm a bit superstitious; I just want to use tarot in a more secular sense, as a tool for reflection. I don't want to invite bad energy or self-fulfilling prophecies or anything like that. So I was hoping that by joining here I could learn from people who have more experience and know a lot more about tarot. Well, I think that I'll leave things there for now. Thank you for reading.

I know too much about how LoS LWBs are created, so have developed a general disdain for them. Regardless of what the imagery looks like, LoS has a slavish devotion to forcing those images to be interpreted through a RWS lens. The LWB for this deck veers toward the useless end of the spectrum. (I have almost 300 LoS decks.) Some sample interpretations: 8 Swords: "Fear and indecision that create isolation and suffering. The weight of undesired responsbility causes a state of oppression." 10 Wands: "Waste of energy, squandered in the search for useless things or because of the pressure of too much responsibility." Justice: "If you have followed the road of honesty you have nothing to fear from the door of Justice. Relate your problems, even vigorously, and sometimes when you least expect it you will find wise people that can give you advice." To my eye only one of those interpretations even comes remotely close to reflecting what's depicted on the cards...

Hi just a quick introduction Happy to be apart of your forum and learn and share with the other posters here.

You asked a yes no question - one card will do it; you don't need to draw more. So there I'd say - no it won't happen again.

thank you @DanielJUK I will look at it all again and see how the meaning works out that way. Next time though I'll definitely state in my question "and The Lady is her" 😂 as you suggest because this has taken a toll on my brain cells! (And now you also know why I don't contribute much at all to other threads, I don't have firm footing yet.)

@Celine I think the reason @joy says the Lady represents you and Bear, her, is because you asked as the question.... "what my (female) boss had taken away from our discussion?" Of course, you can ask about her at work, or other people, or do fictional readings and you would not be the significator. This reading involves you because you are asking, and that is why it is allowed with our third-party rules because you are part of the reading. We wouldn't allow just reading on her at work, for example. This is just other people's opinions on the reading though and of course you can ignore it and disagree. I would see you as the Lady as well though in the reading. You can make intentions before the reading, what represents you and her and see if they come up in the reading. I always ask what card my querents want to represent them and commonly they choose Gentleman / Lord or Lady.

Ok consider me tickled. I'm looking at the spread again. The only other person card is the Bear (no, for some reason not Paths in this case). Both the Bear and the Lady knight to Paths so there will be beef between them. And they're definitely not in something healthy with Mice between them. And looks like Bear has some things to ponder regarding her stability. Oh well.

Nay, rather than being a tough nut to crack, it is risky to comment on. If you put the focus on the question, it becomes clear. Much like if the question is whether someone has a sexual inclination justifying an advance - in those reads, the Lady and Lord will show the person in question most of the time, while the querent is represented in the alternatives, if at all. I have chosen this example for it does also show just why, for the sake of the querent, one should take those questions on rather than dodging them.

Thanks @Mister there's logic in that too. I suppose my example reading was particularly confusing as I may be part of the reading (as the said discussion was with me) so lines were blurred. I need to practice more and a wider variety of topics.

When thinking solely about the Death card on its own, I usually see it as pointing to a shift, a reset, or the end of a phase rather than anything literal. It often shows up when something has reached its natural conclusion and needs to change form. In that sense, it can relate to an event, a situation, or a pattern that isn’t likely to continue in the same way. That’s just how it behaves for me when I’m looking at the card by itself.

@Celine Stick with your guts. The Lord and Lady do not always represent the querent, especially outside of GT's. They are often at the center of an inguiry and tend to show the ones asked about or the ones holding sway over the matter discussed. On this forum, so-called "third-party-readings" ar a no-no, however, once you open up your table, you will encounter plenty. If you apply "always the querent" there, your readings are bound to become nonsensical. The job of a reader is to answer questions, not to criticise people for their worries or their wording.

Hello @joythank you for taking the time. In this logic it means that should I do a Grand Tableau about another woman, the Lady would still be me. Because I'm doing the query. Yet it is a very usual practice exercise to be reading about characters in a tv show, celebrities and what not. Here my confusion arises from the fact that indeed I may be part of the picture as I was a party to the discussion in question, but the reading is not about me. Do I make sense?

Well who else is the querent in this reading if it is not you?

Thank you all for taking the time to respond. I like seeing how differently the Empress shows up for each of you. The archetypal mother energy, the idea that she shifts from day to day, and the way she feels in the Anna K deck with that strong, earthy presence are all interesting to read. From everyone’s replies, she seems to change depending on the deck, the situation, and the reader’s relationship with her. That actually helps me understand why she has been showing up in different ways for me lately. If you’re open to sharing more, I’m curious about something. When she appears strongly for you, what usually brings that out? A certain deck? A certain type of question? A certain mood or situation? Thank you again. I’m really enjoying hearing how she behaves in other people’s readings.

Thank you @joy So unless the question is asked by someone else, we are always the querent and therefore Lady/Lord represents us. It bothers me... I truly thought I was asking a technical question, that's why I didn't put it in the personal readings. Apologies @geoxena. I drew nine cards, two of which were the Lady and the Bear. And indeed the reading is very different if the Lady represents me (and it also tends to move away from the question) or her (which places her at the centre as the one who is doing something with the discussion or not) @Mister I think along the same lines. If I drew cards about a woman I didn't know for practice purposes, and the Lady was part of the draw, there's no question in my mind that the Lady would represent that woman. And here indeed my question was genuinely "what will she do with all that" not "crap, what is she considering doing about me". I need to work more and take note of such questions. Thank you!

I'm with DanielUK on the archetypal mother when I see the Empress in the RWS. But in the Anna K Tarot I get a much different feeling, more like Mother Earth and an Uh-Oh-What-has-she-gone-and-done-this-time-? kind of feeling. It doesn't help that the image reminds me of a former friend of mine. She was the kind of friend that would help bury the body if I needed her to. There is still abundance but I'd start looking looking to make sure there's no arsenic in her pantry because she's done or is about to do something that isn't quite right.

I don't recall pulling the Empress very often in my readings, but I generally look at the image and how the card relates to the other cards around it, and then let my intuition tell me what that card stands for or means. Every time will be different because every reading and every day is different.

What exactly do you mean when you say the Lady "fell?" Do you mean that, in addition to the cards you pulled, the Lady and Bear cards fell out of the deck while you were shuffling? Or are you saying that the cards you pulled "fell?" If it's just that they fell out of the deck while shuffling and you already had pulled the cards for the reading, then I would've just put the ones that fell back into the deck and read only the ones you pulled. I see no reason to include cards that fall out as part of any reading. It just means it wasn't a great job of shuffling. But if that's not what you meant by saying they fell, can you please explain with more detail?