Tamarfab - Untitled

how i approach a reading / the cards

do you feel overwhelmed when pulling cards?

are you a beginner and need a guide to get started?

read this to see how i personally do this and you might find something useful out of it!

thank you if you support! this took a lot of work so it means so much :)

look at my pinned post for resources and links to cool things :))))

warning - LONG lol

for the most part this is just an educational guide but it’s also made for you to follow along with your cards to see a visual as you read. if you want to skip the info and just try an analysis with me , skip to - “SO YOU PULL ONE CARD - NOW WHAT???”

also : pinterest is a great way to find cheat sheets!

INCLUDES:

- using imagery + facial expressions and body language

- using colors

- using the suits/court + numbers (sometimes)

- using placement (in the spread)

- major and minor arcana differences + how to approach them separately

- using reversals

FIRST THINGS FIRST

get a deck with good imagery - rider waite preferably. pls do not get a deck made with a “pretty” look to it. these are nice for when you become accustomed to the cards and more intuitively aware.

Bustle

4 Best Tarot Card Decks For Beginners, According To Experts

Tarot card readers share their recommendations for the best tarot card decks for beginners.

for example, heres a deck I have that i would NOT use as a beginner. (not my pic)

2ND THING - SUPER IMPORTANT

Divination and spirituality are individual practices. No 2 people will do them the same or practice them the same. This is why its so important that you find what works for you and how your intuition works. For example, if someone is clairaudient (hears messages), that doesn't mean you will be. You could be clairvoyant (sees visions/pictures).

SPREADS - YES OR NO?

You may hear about celtic crosses and other big spreads, but for now I say keep it to 3 cards or less. Once you become more accustomed to the meanings, 5 should be okay. This is because you hardly know what they mean, why try to send your brain into overload? Lets honestly keep it to 1 or 2 when your first trying to wrap around how tarot works !

REVERSALS - YAY OR NAY?

As a beginner, I say no to reversals. I don't have a vendetta against reversals lol, you simply are already trying to learn 78 cards, doing 156 is really hard. plus, reversals usually aren't as easy as people think. later, if you find that they work for you and you like them pls use them!

MAJOR VS MINOR ARCANA

arcana = secrets —— major secrets and minor secrets

major are big things / occurrences , they overpower the minor arcana in the reading

minor are smaller, daily life things.

important things to realize/look into:

major:

- 0-21

- study the fools journey

- major will be harder to go off of imagery so i suggest reading my post before trying to analyze any major cards.

minor:

- contains 4 suits (wands, pentacles, cups, swords)

- each suit contains 4 court cards (page, knight, queen, king)

- easier to read off of imagery so i suggest going through each one with my suggestions below

THE 4 SUITS

it’s important to realize that each suit represents a different thing(s). once you learn each one, reading will become a lot easier. (especially court cards)

THE COURT CARDS

now that yk the suits, let’s tie them into the court cards.

the court cards can be confusing bc of a couple things: they can be seen as people in a reading, they can be yourself, they can be timing, they can be a quality of someone, etc… SO MANY THINGS. So study this cheat sheet below and see how they relate to each other!

NUMBERS MAY SOMETIMES BE OF IMPORTANCE

now i don't usually use the numbers in my analysis. yes, they are INSANELY important, but i have an understanding of the cards. I would suggest using a cheat sheet and memorizing it because a few of the numbers i actually find important. Aces, 5, tens. Aces are usually gifts/offers. I've found that about all the 5s are usually negative. Tens are big endings/beginnings in different forms. 10 of coins and cups are positive, while 10 of swords and wands are a bit more negative. Again, depends on how you take them in a reading.

ZODIAC SIGNS IN TAROT

there are 12 zodiac signs. in tarot, each zodiac sign has 1 major arcana card assigned to it. You can use these as recognizing people in a spread OR timing by using the dates in the zodiac. Keep in mind that just because the moon = pisces does not mean that that is the only meaning to the moon - just a helpful addition.

TIMING

tarot can also give insight on timing. Of course major arcana with a zodiac assigned might be easiest, but minor arcana can do just as well. Find a method that works for you, do you see wands as the fastest (days) and pentacles as the slowest (months/years)? or is it opposite? now that you have that in mind, use the number. for example - 5 of wands. 5 days. --- 6 of cups. 6 months. Really it depends on your meanings of timing so assign them and stick to it!

IMAGERY

so now that yk the basics let’s look at how the imagery reflects meaning of the card.

FIRST THING- this is why i preach having multiple decks if possible. this is bc the cards look different so, you use your intuition to grab the deck with the imagery you need for that card - the other decks imagery might not reflect the message they want to get across!

lets use these main questions / prompts when beginning to analyze a reading :

how many people are in this card?

what are they doing?

what are they looking at?

how are they standing/sitting? on what? or where?

what is the background?

what are they holding?

where are they looking? (different from what, i promise)

WHAT IS THEIR FACIAL EXPRESSION?

—————

so it’s a lot yes, but it’s so important and you will do it without realizing as you go.

let’s use this card for my example: (9 of swords)

let’s take notice of the main things we see : we see one man, he is in a bed with 9 swords above him.

by this- we can assume - he was sleeping and woke up from a nightmare or a night terror. we see that he is holding his face in agony or despair.

now this doesn’t literally mean a nightmare, he could be having anxiety or stress about something - the 9 swords could be pressuring him or are “heavy” on his mind. overall, the coloring in the card is dark and gloomy.

THE REASON I SAY WHERE INSTEAD OF WHAT ARE THEY LOOKING AT

this is only used by me when i have multiple cards in a spread. + when they fall out in their own formation/spread.

i will show an example below.

(this deck is not good for facial expressions, but their body language is useful for this example.) pay attention to the king of wands. he is pointing to another card in the spread - the queen of cups. So, for this example, i will say that the king of wands is a king who strives after what he wants. what does he want? the queen of cups.

That was just a small example out of many. one that i find happens more is an example below.

See how the woman in strength is looking towards the 4 of wands. This could mean like you finding the strength you need to work on making your family/relationship healthier and happier. Many meanings but its all how you interpret it with your intuition.

WHAT WAS THE QUESTION?

one of the biggest things you have to keep in mind when breaking down a card or a spread - is keeping what they are talking about in your head. The same spread will have a different message depending on whether its referring to love or finances. AS WELL as different people. The same cards pulled for me will NOT have the same message as the same cards pulled for my friend. Understand? So always keep the question in mind when breaking the cards down. Cards have so many meanings, don't want to get them mixed up lol.

SO YOU PULL ONE CARD - NOW WHAT???

Take into account everything said above.

whats the name of the card? sometimes the names say a lot more than we realize. For example- justice.

immediately recognize the suit and number. Use your knowledge of what these mean.

Now look at the people in the cards. How many people are there?

^^now go into what they are doing, their body language, their facial expression, where is their attention, what are they holding. What energy is this card giving off?

the colors and the background/underlying imagery in the card. Is the card overall dark and gloomy or colorful?

if you have multiple cards in a spread do this for all of them, and slowly find connections between the cards to unlock the meaning.

I will do an analysis on this card to give you one final big example

3 of swords*

we first notice this is swords and we know swords represent truth, clarity, communication, thoughts, etc...

there are no people in this card, but one heart. this heart is bright red, really the only color in this card. behind it are gloomy clouds pouring rain. 3 swords stabbing into the heart.

now lets use our knowledge on the connection between hearts and cups. and cups represent love, emotions, feelings, etc...

this card just reeks heartbreak. its like someone said something (swords - communication) and it was like swords stabbing into your heart and youre just heartbroken. the clouds are rolling in and youre sad and feel like it can't get any worse than this.

Okay I hope this helped a lot! I post readings and pick a piles so follow if you want to see more like this!

Ashley Banks

this smoky quartz specimen is sometimes called the “pink tutu” because of its rose quartz frill

The Scream, oil on canvas by Gnevol

I’m the only Michiko that cares about you, you got that?

💗Masterlist💗

💋WTF is going on? general

💋WTF is going on? love edition

💋What makes you sexually attractive?

💋Who’s jealous of you + why?

💋What’s their sexual fantasies?

💋How can you bring in more abundance?

💋What is being hidden from you?

💋What do you need to heal?

💋Whats your vibe?

💋What’s your sex appeal?

💋How does your person feel about you vs. the 3rd party?

💋Who’s stalking you?

💋How are you elevating in life?

💋Who wants to be your valentine?

💋Who is obsessed with you?

💋What’s your next accomplishment?

💋What’s the gossip about you?

💋What will your next friendship be like?

💋How do men view you?

💋How do women view you?

💋Why are you successful?

💋Your next sexual encounter

💋What’s blocking your success?

💋Why do you trigger others?

💋What do people say when you leave the room?

💋What is their karma for hurting you?

💋What have the angels been trying to tell you?

💋How do people view you in the bedroom?

💋How will April be for you?

💋How will summer be for you?

💋What’s the tea on your haters?

💋How would your celebrity crush react upon meeting you?

💋How does your crush feel about you?

💋What about you turns people on?

💋Why are people scared of you?

💋What will your sex life with your future spouse be like?

💋How can you improve your finances?

💋What shadow work do you need to do?

💋What do they think of your voice?

i will receive good news after good news

i will receive good news after good news

i will receive good news after good news

i will receive good news after good news

i will receive good news after good news

i will receive good news after good news

i will receive good news after good news

i will receive good news after good news

i will receive good news after good news

i will receive good news after good news

i will receive good news after good news

Germ’s week of rest: tarot exercises II🍁

Pull a card with the intention of drawing the representation of yourself

Next step: literally research the shit out of the card: astrological significance, tree of life association, what element, what step on the journey to ascension does it represent, color theory, entity associations etc etc etx

This is about learning about yourself, introspection is key, and research in your craft is key.

Essentially do a deep dive on a card which is heavily associated with yourself at this time