Reading the Tarot Intuitively

You have seen the beautiful tarot decks at a store or fair. You may have gotten a reading from a professional. The Tarot interest you. You buy the deck that calls to you with its artwork. Now what do you do? How do you actually use your beautiful, new tarot deck?

You can, of course, read the little pamphlet and memorize all the meanings of all the cards, upright and reversed (when a tarot card is drawn upside down is called ‘reversed’). You might discover, however, that somehow the answers you get reading the tarot cards following the instructions does not seem to provide meaningful answers. Worse, the tarot cards drawn seem to have no bearing on the questions you ask.

At first you may feel you are not suited to read tarot cards. That is likely untrue. You have been drawn to the tarot cards, so it is extremely likely if you practice you can become quite good at Tarot. The problem may be the instructions, not you. Though it is important to gain a fundamental understanding of the prescribed meaning of your new tarot cards this is not how tarot is really understood. Tarot is not like learning mathematics where there is only one right answer. Tarot is not like learning car repair where you learn all the parts, their names and how things are assembled. Tarot reading requires a very special instinct. For now, let’s just call it ‘a powerful intuition’. This is not something the little instruction book can provide you. Tarot cards work best when they relate to the psyche of the reader: You.

Before trying to read a full tarot spread as a beginner you might find it valuable to spend some time simply studying your tarot deck. Examine the images. Take some time to look at and get a feel of your deck. You might discover that taking the time to get to know your tarot deck on a very basic level (and for the deck to get to know you) can lead to improved reading results. Here is one tip on how to really get to know your tarot deck (and begin to activate your intuitive senses)

Read One Tarot Card at a Time

Try selecting a tarot card at random from your deck each day. Then, ask yourself the three questions below. Be mindful that upright tarot cards usually represent obvious or physical issues. Reversed cards (with the images upside down) often mean that something hidden or less obvious. It can imply that there is something your subconscious or psychic intuition knows, but you are unaware of it.

Question One:
After you have drawn your daily card, what is the first image you see? This will be the most important symbol for you at this time on this tarot card. What does this image mean to you? What is it telling you?

Now, keep in mind, at a future date, some other image or something different about this card will jump out at you first. This is an important lesson. It is about allowing yourself to be drawn to the first image and meaning. On another reading, it is possible some other image will ‘speak’ to you. This is about following your instincts and intuition freely. Today, however, just study the first image you are drawn to.

Question Two:
What are the main colors in the card? What do these colors mean to you?

Colors are only colors if you see only with your eyes. But there is more to colors that just light in a particular spectrum. Colors have a feel to them. Colors can trigger certain emotions, feeling. Later, you may discover the colors in a tarot card drawn during a reading can prove important, especially if you are drawn to a particular color at that time.

Question Three:
Looking at the entire tarot card you have drawn today, what do the symbols, image AND colors taken all together say to you? Just look at the card and whatever pops to mind is the right answer, today. Allow your subconscious to come to the surface. Have fun with it.

Reading the Tarot intuitively is about learning to quiet your mind. Give your self some time to see deeper into what you think you know. Once you have become very familiar with your tarot cards AND learned to quiet your mind allowing your subconscious to become part of the reading process, you will find that reading the tarot cards and spreads with become much quicker. It is an art to be able to have our subconscious mind work in harmony with our conscious mind. This is about tapping into intuitive powers you only suspected you might have.

Once you have gotten to know your tarot deck, it might be time to read a simple tarot spread (and apply those new intuitive skills).

Reading a Simple Past-Present-Future Spread

For this reading start by focusing on an issue or problem that has been bothering you. Do not try to solve the meaning of life or find out how your whole life will turn out. Make it a simple, but somewhat important issue you would like some insight into. Create a clear question about this issue. Hold that question in your mind. Phrase your question so it is open ended. Example: "What are the issues and possible solutions to making some additional money?". Now, while thinking about the question, shuffle the tarot cards.

Select three tarot cards and lay them down in a line, left to right. Next, turn the three over.
These three tarot cards now represent the Past, the Present, and the Future about this question you’ve been holding in your mind.

Remember the ‘getting to know you’ sessions with you tarot cards? Now it is time to draw on those sessions and allow yourself to run through the intuitive process.

Select one of the tarot cards you’ve laid out for Past, Present, Future. Keep you question in mind focus but now turn that question towards the time frame of the card select. If you select the Past tarot card, turn the question towards the past. Once the card is face up, what do you see? Is it right side up or upside down (upright or reversed)? What strikes you first about that card? What image(s) pop out at you? How do those images relate to your question and the past? What are the colors of the card? Are those colors like paint or liquid, how do you feel about them? Now look at the whole card? If you remember how the instruction book defined the card’s meaning, great. Now, go beyond that. If you do not remember the defined meaning of the card, maybe you are not suppose too. See what you see.

Naturally, you are going to do this general process for all three cards. The Past card will speak to you about what has happened, maybe reveal why it happened. The Present card may reveal things hidden in plain sight. The Future card suggests one or more paths you might take. Consider how each tarot card Past, Present and Future play into one another. Is there a common thread? Are there dramatic breaks? Allow you unconscious mind to babble while your conscious mind finds connections. It is all about permitting your intuitive, or psychic, self, to lead.

It is good to keep in mind that there are no fixed outcomes. Some things are more likely to happen, but nothing is true until it does happen. Knowing what likely will happen gives you an opportunity to either reshape the future or tip the odds even more towards a likely event. It is up to you.

Over time, it’s a good idea to learn all the various meanings and interpretations of each tarot card. It is not the memorization of volumes of tarot card interpretations that makes Tarot what it is. It is about the reader and how the reader can tap into their intuitive powers or psychic powers or subconscious or whatever and bring the tarot cards to life.