How to Read Tarot Cards: Part 1 - The Major Arcana

© Copyright 2011 Patrice Walker All rights reserved

My first introduction to the tarot deck occurred many years ago when I received a “psychic” reading from a friend of a friend. What stands out in my mind today is the fact that the gentleman who gave me the reading used a tarot deck, and the only part of the reading I remember is when he exclaimed, “I see a baby!”

Now mind you, at that stage of my life, having a baby was the very last thing on my “to do” list, so I promptly forgot the prediction after the reading was over. Except that, two months later, I found myself pregnant, and the “baby statement” came rushing back to me. Some may say that his “prediction” turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy on my part, but believe me, having a baby then was not even a consideration, at least on a conscious level.

A couple of years after I had my now 31 year-old daughter, I decided to investigate these tarot cards to see if I could figure out how the psychic could have made such a seemingly accurate prediction. And I’ve been fascinated with them ever since.

I’ve found over the years that giving myself tarot readings and occasionally reading for others is an excellent way of getting clarification on and insight into the problems and questions life tends to throw at me.

And while many tarot spreads include a “future” position (which I’ll discuss in Part 3), I don’t use the cards to predict the future because I believe the future is malleable and not a “done deal.”

You can change the future, I believe, by changing the present moment thoughts, beliefs, feelings and intent you have about it, but that’s another hub altogether. So if you’re looking for a way to predict the future via the tarot cards, you’re not going to find it in these articles.

Perhaps individuals like the psychic who gave me that prophetic reading have this ability, but I’m not one of them. And I don’t believe you need to be that kind of psychic to give meaningful tarot readings.

The purpose of this three-part series is to show you how to give yourself and others meaningful tarot card readings. To do this, all you need is:

• Some basic knowledge about the tarot deck and each card it contains (Parts 1, 2, and 3)
• A powerful, one-card spread that will help you reinforce and expand your understanding of the cards (Part 4)
• A simple, four-card spread to help you get started reading tarot cards (Part 5)

This isn’t as daunting a task at it may first appear. I’ll take you step-by-step through the process of learning the meaning of the cards and how to apply them to a one- and four-card spread that will give you excellent information on just about any issue you or the person you’re doing the reading for wants clarification on.

**Disclaimer This hub series is not intended to suggest that you use the tarot as a substitute for professional help. Please seek help on any health, legal, financial or other issue that requires the intervention of a licensed professional.

While there are hundreds of “oracle” decks on the market, the kind of card deck I’ll be focusing on is the 78-card tarot deck. All 78-card decks are based on the Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) tarot deck, first published in 1909.

I could write an entire book on the meaning of each card in this deck, but there are many books on the market that do this, so thankfully, I don’t need to. What I will do is describe the structure of the deck and offer some basic meanings of the cards to get you started. If you are just learning how to read tarot cards,

You should have the RWS deck or a deck that is closely based on it as you begin your study of the tarot. Once you have the cards’ basic meanings under your belt, you can explore the hundreds of other 78-card decks to find one that’s suited to your particular background, interests, and tastes.

Have a loose leaf notebook on hand for taking notes. Write the name of each card in the deck at the top of its own page. As you read the descriptions below and in Part 2, take a moment to look at the card image and see how it relates to the words I’ve used to describe it.

Do different words come to mind as you look at the image? If they do, jot them down. As you'll see in Part 4, your intuition is going to be an important aid in learning how to read tarot cards. And the more you can describe the images in your own words, the easier it will be for you to remember them.

The RWS deck is divided into two parts:

• The major arcana and
• The minor arcana.

Arcana (singular arcanum) is a Latin word that means “secrets” or “mysteries.” Therefore, the arcana, both major and minor of the RWS tarot deck, reveal knowledge that is secret or hidden from ordinary view.

The knowledge is considered secret because it is transmitted through symbols and images that must be interpreted in order to be understood.

The major arcana consist of 22 cards that symbolize the major stages of a journey each human travels in life.

In a tarot card reading, a major arcana card points to a significant turning point in your life that you need to pay particular attention to. What follows is a description of that journey. And since you’ll need an easy way to remember what each card represents, I have suggested a short key phrase for each card.

**Note** For convenience, I’m using “he” through this description, but it applies to both genders.

Also the images are from a 1909 card deck scanned by Holly Voley (http://home.comcast.net/~vilex/) for the public domain and retrieved from http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot.

0 – The Fool: The journey begins with the Fool. He doesn’t know what’s in store, has very little past experience to rely on, and will probably make mistakes along the way. He may not even be sure of what he wants to accomplish, but he is eager to begin.

I – The Magician: The Fool still has much to learn, but he has several tools at his disposal (namely the four elements of earth, wind, fire, and water) to help him succeed. He has the ability to create a plan that will help him set him on the path towards his goals and to make effective use of his tools.

II – The High Priestess: The Fool needs to understand that logic can only take him so far, that his intuition and inner guidance are just as important. At this stage of the journey, he learns to go within to access that guidance.

III – The Empress: When logic and intuition combine successfully, manifestation is the result. The Fool learns the value of giving and receiving nurturance because life perpetually produces all that is required to meet his needs.

IV – The Emperor: At this stage, the Fool learns how to structure all of the abundance he has access to and to bring a sense of order, control, and stability into his life.

V – The Hierophant: A society can’t survive without a set of values and morals by which to govern behavior, and the Fool learns what these values are at this stage of his journey.

VI – The Lovers: Now the Fool is ready to engage in relationship with others. Important decisions need to be made at this stage of the journey so that the Fool can learn how to successfully navigate the often choppy waters involved in relationships of all kinds, not just romantic.

VII – The Chariot: Relationships can pull the Fool in opposite directions, so he needs to learn how to balance these opposing forces in order to move forward to accomplish his goals.

VIII – Strength: At this stage of the journey, the Fool must gain control of his passionate and often rebellious inner nature so that he remains calm, poised, and confident in the face of situations that can produce emotional turmoil and cause him to lash out in anger.

IX – The Hermit: The Fool has gained much experience during the first eight stages of his journey. It’s time to turn inward to digest this experience and seek the guidance about what to do next. He knows how to go within because of his early association with the High Priestess.

X – The Wheel of Fortune: Emerging from his hermit’s cave, the Fool is now ready to learn that, while he has great power to achieve his goals, the timing of that success is often out of his hands. The Wheel of Fortune teaches him that “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

XI – Justice: Having learned that he can’t control everything, the Fool is ready to understand that he reaps what he sows, that there is a justice at work that is always striving to maintain balance and harmony in the world.

XII – The Hanged Man: The Fool is at a point in his journey where he must stop again and reflect on where he has come from and where he is headed. This may require that he consider his situation in a new light or that he give up something in order to move forward. The important thing is that he pause.

XIII – Death: Death is a powerful but difficult lesson that the Fool must learn. The cycle of life requires that death must occur in order for life to continue. The Hanged Man hinted that a death might be necessary; the Fool now knows it is inevitable.

XIV – Temperance: Having successfully moved through Death’s lesson, the Fool has gained a great deal of emotional strength, balance, and integrity. He’s not so easily thrown off balance by the ups and downs that are an integral part of life.

XV – The Devil: The Devil is ready to teach the Fool that he will become a slave to the material world and suffer if he continues to search there for what can only be derived from the spiritual dimension of life.

XVI – The Tower: Time to shake things up. The Fool’s tendency to cling to outdated structures that no longer serve him is forcefully disrupted at this stage of his journey. The rug is pulled out from under him, providing him with new insights that allow him to move forward.

XVII – The Star: A period of calm always follows a storm. The Fool has survived the disruptions brought about during the Tower stage of his journey. He realizes there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and can relax and rejuvenate before continuing his journey.

XVIII – The Moon: The rest the Fool has experienced is allowing material to emerge from the depths of his subconscious that he did not have access to before. He may be confused or disconcerted by some of this material, but it has important information to impart.

XIX – The Sun: The preceding stages of the Fool’s journey have been difficult, but worth it because a new dimension of being is being born within him, an aspect of the self he never would have discovered otherwise. He is renewed and re-invigorated and can move forward with confidence.

XX – Judgement: A transformation, a rebirth is occurring within the Fool that opens him to the spiritual dimension of life, giving him a different measure by which to judge his life experiences.

XI – The World. The Fool has now seen it all. He has successfully completed a major cycle of growth and development and is ready for the next cycle. And while he’ll start his journey at the very beginning, he has a wealth of experience from this cycle to guide him.

**A Word About Nudity - Remember that the tarot is a symbolic language. and symbols need to be interpreted in order to be understood. Nudity is one such symbol and is featured in several cards. It represents allowing one's true nature to be revealed, with nothing (i.e., clothes) covering it up.

Granted, this is a lot of information to absorb, and there are still 56 more cards that you need to learn. Learning to read the tarot isn’t something that can be achieved over night, but my hope is that you will enjoy the journey of learning the cards as much as you do the end result of using them to give yourself and others tarot card readings.

One of the best tarot books on the market (check out its Amazon ratings) that has been a tremendous aid in helping me get a handle on these meanings is Tarot Plain and Simple by physician and psychiatrist, Anthony Louis.

The book provides, among other things a comprehensive list of keywords for each card in its upright and reverse positions that will help you understand the symbolism of the cards. Beginners and advanced readers alike use it as a memory jogger during tarot card readings..

The only tarot book you’ll ever need! “Whether you are a beginning or advanced reader, you will find that studying this book will make your readings stronger and more accurate.”

In Parts 2 and 3 of this series, you’ll learn about the other 56 cards in the tarot deck, the minor arcana. Parts 4 and 5 will teach you how to use a one- and four-card spread respectively to reinforce and expand your understanding of the tarot cards and begin doing your own tarot card readings.