Tarot Talk & Technique

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?

I definitely have spirits manifesting applicable things as I do spreads, but, is that what Tarot is? Just your spirituality communicating with you? Or, is there a greater phenomenon behind the results of the cards?

I am intrigued, what's your reading process? From getting ready, to shuffling, to working on the cards. Do you have any rituals or methods you always do? Are there some parts that are personally important when you work on your readings?

I have a beautiful deck with classic illustrations. I’ve had them for a while now and I finally felt like I had the heart to get involved with the practice. Although I always thought they were cool. My deck came with a card interpretation booklet, which is nice to practice with, but I still don’t know where to start. How do I use these? I was hoping that someone would take the time to write out a beginner’s guide about how to use Tarot cards. I mean, with step by step instructions. I thought it made sense to have something like this on here, is there one already and I missed it?

When I work, I always give the querent a choice of asking me a question or just keeping the question to themselves. But I do ask them if they have a question in mind or not. This past Monday I did a reading for a lady in her mid-50s, and I knew she had a question in mind, but I didn't know what the question was. So, the reading starts. I start talking about the meanings of the cards, and we are conversing back & forth...and then it just hits me, I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT HER QUESTION IS. I don't remember if it was just the vibe, I got off her. Or if it was something that she said, but I knew this woman's question. So, I basically formulat…

I personally do because of life experience in general (age 60 to 76). I also know that getting a tarot reading is VERY popular among the younger generation (Gen X & Millennials) The reason I ask you all the question is because I once had a tarot reading done for me by a younger type of reader (face to face), and frankly I wasn't very impressed. And this was very recent. What are your thoughts, opinions & ideas.

I'm enough of a novice that I mostly stick to one-card readings, but I realize this limits what the cards can tell me. However, when I pull multi-card spreads, I often struggle to assemble them into a cogent narrative the way more experienced readers do. It's partly that I still often have to reach for a reference book to remind myself of card meanings, but it's also that I'm often unclear on how the cards influence each other and thus alter each other's meanings. (Hopefully I'm explaining that clearly.) Does anyone have tips for strengthening my skills there?

I have a friend who knows that I read the tarot. She asked me and told me that she is considering having me doing a reading for her regarding her wanting to quit smoking. I told her that I don't know what kind of cards will come up in a reading and that I am not sure what I'll say to her situation when I do see the cards on the layout. If you were in my shoes, and did a reading for this lady, just how would you go about framing the reading or what sort of advice would you give her using the cards to empower her to have the ability to stop smoking? Or what would be your approach here? Thanks for reading this.

I feel like the majority of users in the r/tarot subreddit take an oddly hard-line stance that tarot can only be used for self-reflection, that it's impossible to read predictively, or sometimes that it's possible but unethical (as in cases where people are attempting to read for third parties who aren't present). I find their doubt beginning to rub off on me, so I'm curious whether this forum's members have any different perspectives to share. In particular, I'd love to hear about any especially noteworthy or on-target predictive readings you've received.

I did a reading on my partner who has been awful to me. I asked if he would be ok if we split because we’re currently in a limbo. This is what I got for him… 10 of pentacles The tower 7 of cups The Devil 5 of swords 9 of wands Not in that exact order. Thank you so much!

Do you have a certain ritual that you use the cards for with sitters? For example, before the reading starts, I will get a vibe off my sitter and will pick out an "indicator card" or a personality card like on the court cards. Like my sitter today I chose the Queen of Cups for her as she (I felt) was very expressive in her emotions. After the shuffling and cutting process, I had her insert that card into the deck and then after that is done, I'll ask them if they want the "top or bottom card" on top or underneath the Indicator card, then after three cards are chosen in this manner, I'll do the reading. That's what I mean by "ritual". I didn't learn…

When you get the vibe that the spread you've pulled are too good to be true, how do you know it isn't just your own wishful thinking influencing the cards? A few times recently, I've pulled cards to gain insight into a couple different aspects of my life that haven't been going so well, and suits like the Six of Wands or the Sun have turned up in relation to the outcomes with surrounding cards to support more positive interpretations. I know every suit can be ill-aspected and no card is unambiguously positive, but still I'm left confused. Should I trust that something better is coming my way? Or chalk these readings up to my hope for a better outcome helping c…

Hello everybody, Just curious if you guys and gals use a philosophy that was kind of popular about 10 years ago called The Law of Attraction that was made popular of videos like The Secret, books and YouTube videos by Abraham Hicks & new age promoter Oprah Winfrey. What exactly is the Law of Attraction? It states that this Universe is an "attraction-based Universe" and that "like attracts like". And that we are entirely responsible for everything that happens in our life's. Sounds like a simple and easy way of looking at the world, doesn't it? But the downside of it if you take this way of looking at the world is let's say you are a woman and y…

Hi - I’m hoping someone with more experience than me, can help. I’m very, very new at this. I have been interpreting the cards and I was doing great, until I got to the court cards and was given two interpretations for each card, this has just happened on court cards so far. I just wrote them both down and moved on, but after researching I believe one is maybe the situation as a whole and the other is an individual? 🤷🏻‍♀️ I’m struggling to grasp the concept (difference), since all of the cards have been straight forward in their messages. Thank!

This past weekend I had a young woman email me to my personal email her story of being stalked & harassed. She requested a tarot reading on the matter and I did one for her. Has this reading situation of having a sitter that is being stalked or in danger ever happened to you? How did you frame the reading? What kind of advice did you give the querant? Have you ever turned down someone in trouble like this? What made you take on a sitter's request like this in the first place? As I was told by the moderators of this site, I can't give out more details to my reading because the reading I did wasn't on the TT&M website. Lo…

I asked the cards about my decision to move to another city where my boyfriend lives and the Death card came up. For some context, the only thing that still keeps me in my current city is the friendships, but quit recently I've been hurt and disappointed by a very good friend, so I start focus on my needs more and I want to move. What do you think the Death means?