Tarot Talk & Technique

I’ve been getting into tarot lately and mentioned it to my friends and they made fun of me and said that tarot is girl thing. Curious if anyone else has dealt with this kind of reaction, and why people still see spirituality or introspection as gendered.

Is it the first-time sitter? Is it the very experienced person that has had many readings before? Is it the sitter who is "with it". Is it someone who has a common type of question i.e. love, career & money etc. Is it someone who has a very difficult question to address? Is it someone who is skeptical about tarot readings? Is it someone who has been to a fortune teller i.e. a Gypsie House? Is it doing couples readings? Is it a sitter who is very young or old? You get the idea. What is your favorite kind of sitter? And why? My favorite is when I don't know somebody's question and I know …

Hello, I always have trouble with the court cards. There are two major issue that I am experiencing: 1) The kings and the queens In almost every reading that I do, they make an appearance. But I find it hard to understand the following: • Who is this person that the king/queen is representing in a reading? For e.g., if I am reading on a topic related to my work and if I get King of swords, then I want to know if this king of swords is my boss or a co-worker or a new client. • How is this person related to the topic or to the other people (the other kings/queens) involved in the situation/appearing in the reading? For e.g., • If I get King…

In March I am offering an intro course on tarot. I'll be briefly reviewing: History to present day The top 3: RWS, Thoth, Tarot de Marseille Why people read: divination, self-inquiry, self-help and healing, storytelling, creative expression Approaches to learning how to read the cards Hands-on activity I'd appreciate any thoughts and suggestions.

Do you reshuffle and pull new cards? Flip the reversed cards upright? Do you apply some larger meaning to the spread (for instance, I've heard it said that when all cards are reversed it signifies an internal conflict on the part of the querent, or that it means somebody is moving)? Other?

Does tarot have anything to do with anything that is "new age"? I was unsure of what the term "new age" actually meant, so I Googled it and this is what I came up with... New Age. noun. 1. : a way of thinking arising in late 20th century Western society and adapted from a variety of ancient and modern cultures that emphasizes beliefs (as reincarnation) outside the mainstream and that advances alternative approaches to spirituality, right living, and health. _______________________________________ What is your thinking just how the tarot fits into all things that are new age? What do you think the general public's percep…

Greetings everyone, I purchased a small velvet cloth as an additional layer on my table, but the border is horrid - ugly in my eyes. I'm going to trim it with proper shears. But, how do I seal the sides so that it does not continue to fray? Is there a liquid or something similar that works? Asking my crafty folks. Thanks.

Hello, I just found out about TT&M yesterday and I am really glad to be here. In one of my tarot books there is a quote saying, "There are no bad cards in the tarot, just lessons to be learned." This quote sort of changed the way I do readings. For example, I used to think the 10 of Swords was a bad card and so did one of my querents, until I learned that the card meant the ultimate end of the situation & in the card, we see a figure laying on the ground with 10 swords in his back/spine. He's dead right? But a bright sun pierces the darkness of the blackest night letting you know that a new beginning and a new day is dawning letting you kno…

I spent some time sorting out all of the tarot techniques, methods and practices that I use in my own work, many of which have appeared as (very) Frequently Asked Questions in the online tarot community over the years, and turned them into a kind of "punch-list" that might be used as an overview for the more traditional practitioner. These are all personal preferences, and there is a tiny bit of "bio" thrown in to get me to 42 iterations (Douglas Adams fans will understand). Many are questions that I'm sure we've all asked ourselves. 1. Type of shuffle: Overhand, riffle or other? Overhand; sometimes “casino shuffle” 2. Querent handles cards, Yes or no: Yes, shu…

Happy New Year everyone! My question is do you believe it's okay to do a reading for someone who is in the public eye like a politician or a celebrity...even though they don't know you? I guess what I am trying to say is that I've always avoided questions that have always invaded other people's privacy...questions like "Does Johnny love me?" I would always reframe those type of questions for the sitter. Would I be out of line to do a YouTube video on a political figure (a three-card spread like Issue/Action/Outcome), even if I don't know the person? The person in question here is Elon Musk. He is the richest guy in the worl…

I remember many years ago on Aeclectic there was a member who asked a question about the history of a treasure that had recently been found. Who left it there and why? I'm not sure if anyone ever found out the answer, but there may be a way we can unearth such secrets. Does this sound like an interesting way to use the cards? I would like to start up some Tarot 'research' activities like this that people can participate in. Here's one activity: A question is asked - maybe someone sees something in the news and wants to find out the answer to it - it could be a historic person, treasure, ancient civilisations, such as Atlantis or wh…

I stumbled across a book titled “Mastering the Tarot” by Paul Fenton-Smith. I read a couple of pages as I was curious about its potential based on the title. I feel there are more than enough beginner tarot books and not near enough intermediate/advanced ones. However, I scoffed and stopped reading as soon as I saw an entire page about how one should ONLY read for other people and literally NEVER read tarot for oneself. His reasoning being that one is too emotionally invested in the outcome and cannot be objective which will cloud the reading. I find this to be ridiculous. Yes, we are invested in the outcome of a reading for ourselves and we want only good things…

Lately, I have been feeling that Tarot is mirroring me and reflecting my subconscious more than telling me about the future. I do understand that the future is not set in stone and that things can change according to our energies. But sometimes with the readings I feel hopeless because it mostly shows me what I want to see. If I dont want to encounter a situation and ask for the future outcome, the resultant card would be a No. If I do want to encounter the situation, the resultant card would be a Yes. And this is when I do the same reading twice, but a week apart. And in the end, I end up in a third situation. I think what I am trying to ask if yo…

I took some time off of my decks and they've been packed away until recently. Now that I have them out, I've been going through them, just counting and basically checking that all is well. I noticed a few of my decks have "hardened" into a brick and kinda feels tacky when trying to separate them. Is this normal? Only a few, most are great, even duplicates of the hardened ones are great. Weird.

When another tarot reader reads for you, do you usually add new meanings to the reading? For example, I will mention a personal experience: I ordered a New Year's reading for myself with a professional tarot reader - I prefer to have someone else read for me, on certain occasions, so that I am not biased - In the predictions for my health, he mentioned the Justice card and interpreted it beautifully. When reflecting on this card, I remembered that, within my tarot studies, Justice (with its scales that measure everything) can indicate the prediction of exams, such as blood counts, etc. In this case, I received the printed reading, without any dialogue with the reader.…

I am aware that Aleister Crowley created his own deck Thoth, but just how was it inspired by the RWS deck? I know that this is sort of a broad question, but are there similarities between the Thoth & the RWS deck? Whatever you want to share I am all ears.

I hope this is the right forum for this question. For 2025 I have started doing daily reads for myself and wanted to dive deeper into Mary Greer's work. I calculated my Soul and Personality card to discover I don't have Hidden Factor card, but a Teacher card. In her explanation, I don't follow. I am a 19,10,1 in her constellation chart. If I understand correctly this means I don't have a shadow, but a life lesson to focus on. However, in doing some research I see the Teacher and Hidden Factor terminology used interchangeably. I was hoping for additional reading to better understand the distinction. I found this quote interesting about 19, 10, 1: "In this pattern, you co…

What are your Tarot / divination related resolutions / plans/ studies/ activities for the next year? Have you got any plans or areas of interest you want to work towards? Goals? Reading changes?

I found this quote last night by Dr. Wayne Dyer ~ "You create your thoughts, your thoughts create your intentions, and your intentions create your reality." On the table of The Magician's card are the wand (passion), cup (emotions), sword (thoughts) & pentacle (the physical realm). My uneducated mind tells me yes, The Magician card points to that we are the creators of our reality and even being so the very 1st card of the Major Arcana. But I really don't know. Or is the above quote just another example of new age gaslighting? Or is there something to it. Can our thoughts create things? Is this what the tarot…

I am frequently struck by a song which makes me think of a particular Tarot card. Meaning that what the song is about, it's lyrics and ideas, fit in strongly with the meanings or symbolism of a given card. I thought it might be fun and even a good learning opportunity to discuss some of these songs and how and why they fit with a card or cards. Here's one that recently struck me in that way; Joan Jett; "You Don't Own Me" (lyrics are there with the song). I felt that two people are in this song; the person singing it as well as the person it is directed at. First, I felt the Page of Wands could be the person singing. Very independent, young, not wanting to be "ti…

In the Reading for Those in the Public Eye thread I mentioned that I had to reframe questions like "Does Johnny love me?" so I am not invading one's privacy. I took this advice from a couple of tarot books (I won't name the writers of the books here), and it seems that a few of the experienced readers who are members of this forum said, well one said they would lose 50% of their clients if they didn't take those questions and another reader said they take those questions because it would be nice to have food & electricity in one's home lol. Everything I know about Tarot comes from books that I have read. I would be interested in th…

Hello, How do you bring Tarot into concrete life ? Or do you use it mainly for "(self-)investigation" ? I came to Tarot by way of Rachel Pollack. I have loved the depths it showed but... In a more mundane aspect, I don't want it. I don't need to get more inside myself, I don't need to know more about my hidden feelings etc (I'm simplifying, and at the risk of sounding smug : I don't need to explore myself. Or others, for that matter). The thing is, it seems every book I come across is about that : exploration, soul dive, hidden stuff. I love it to explore certain things, yes. But how do I disentangle myself from that approach to…

I've always wondered whether whether the person getting a Tarot reading asks their central query aloud or whether the Tarot reader has to intuit what the querent wants from the reading. I've read quite a few guides but this aspect has never been covered in detail. I'm obviously a beginner and would be fascinated to hear member's views 🙂

Hi ! What's your best advice to read Tarot cards. Thank you very much 💜 ✨️

Is the tarot a predetermined oracle or does one believe they have a free will? I've heard both points of view and I am not sure what to believe. Do you tell your sitter that the future is set in stone? What are your thoughts on this? Simple question. Just curious?