How to use Tarot cards

[Reality]

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?

[Scandinavianhermit]

Are you familiar with the term "spread"? There are several different ways to lay the cards out on the table, each with its own peculiar advantages and disadvantages.

 

The most simple one is to put three cards on the table and allow them to form a sentence. A slightly more advanced one is Triage en Croix with five cards: https://www.thetarotforum.com/forums/topic/15904-the-triage-en-croix/

 

Some deck publishers have a disproportional obsession with The Celtic Cross spread, but I think a tarot reader ought to master the three card spread, triage en croix or a classical tableau of 9, 16, 25 or 36 cards before jumping to The Celtic Cross. The Celtic Cross isn't for everyone, even if The Celtic Cross becomes the favourite spread for some.

 

I described one of my own favourites here: https://www.thetarotforum.com/forums/topic/15459-essential-spreads/#comment-284134

Edited November 29, 2024 by Scandinavianhermit
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[Raggydoll]

You can start with learntarot.com , it has a free course that should give you all the basics. The thread I linked would probably be of interest too. 

[Reality]

Wow@Scandinavianhermit, thank you. The thread you shared is exactly what I was looking for. I really wasn’t familiar with the terminology, I apologize for the mistake.

Edited November 29, 2024 by Chardxul

[Reality]

Thanks Raggydoll! I’m sure that it’s useful to spread this information around. Maybe it’s okay that I created this thread.

[Scandinavianhermit]

30 minutes ago, Chardxul said:

Wow, thank you. The thread you shared is exactly what I was looking for. I really wasn’t familiar with the terminology, I apologize for the mistake.

There is no reason to apologise. English isn't my native language, and I was unaware of the term "spread" too in the beginning.

 

Cartomancy is a more niche and adult field of interest, than primary school textbook lessons in English like "Tom's bulldog is called Winston. Pat's cat is called Mountie. Anne's daddy is a cowboy. This is a kangaroo, but that is a kiwi.", if you get my drift. "Cartomancy" is a fancy word, too. Nothing like everyday words like "road", "bike lane", "slippery", "pavement", "rain", "blizzard" and "tea".

Edited November 29, 2024 by Scandinavianhermit

[Reality]

I just completed my first ever spread. It was regarding a relationship that I started with a woman. The first card literally said that I will marry her, I was very pleasantly surprised! The rest of the spread revealed positive and negative aspects of how our relationship will unfold and literally each card made perfect sense to me. I was literally laughing out loud in disbelief as I was reading about each card. Don’t tell me it’s impossible to use Tarot to predict the future.

Edited November 29, 2024 by Chardxul

[Reality]

I think I found a new passion for divination.🫶

[Scandinavianhermit]

I'm very glad for your sake. Keep it simple in the beginning, and you can try out more complicated spreads later, if you feel the need.

[Reality]

After my last spread, I did a spiritual work to bless what I did and a blue pentacle appeared where I was placing the cards, perhaps to mark the place where I do Tarot, perhaps to make my practice official. Although, that’s how it seemed to me.

[Scandinavianhermit]

56 minutes ago, Chardxul said:

After my last spread, I did a spiritual work to bless what I did and a blue pentacle appeared where I was placing the cards, perhaps to mark the place where I do Tarot, perhaps to make my practice official. Although, that’s how it seemed to me.

Experiences like that are highly personal. Your own symbolic framework is probably the best.

 

For someone else the same symbol could mean something else. To some extent, symbolic framework is something we chose to learn. Just like it's possible to be fluent in both French, German and English, it's possible to be fluent in more than one symbolic framework, but we only use one at a time.