5️⃣Tarot Fundamentals

Throughout the years of learning Tarot and later astrology, I’ve often thought:

I just need one more technique.

One more deck.

One more spread.

One more approach.

One more system.

Then my readings will really take off.

The funny thing is, if you think back to the best readings you’ve ever received, they probably weren’t complicated at all.

You didn’t walk away with ten action items.

You remembered ONE thing.

One insight.

One sentence.

One realization that changed something.

1. Deconstruct the Deck

There are hundreds of Tarot decks, most are 78 cards (22 majors, 16 court cards, 40 minors). But they are definitely not all the same.

When you get a new deck, lay out all the majors.
Then each suit.
Then the court cards.

Look around.

How does this deck communicate?

Is it direct or subtle?

Dark or playful?

Ancient or modern?

What symbols repeat?

What themes are present?

Tarot is a visual language, so spend some time taking in the images.

2. Build Correspondences, Not Definitions

Notice I didn’t say memorize meanings.

I said build correspondences.

A definition is a dead butterfly pinned to a board.

Ask yourself:

What does this card mean to me right now?

Not forever.

Not for all humanity.

Right now.

The Three of Wands might speak about expansion today and impatience tomorrow.

Both can be true.

One of the best ways to build correspondences is through a daily draw.

If you’d like to build a daily draw practice, can I interest you in the FREE CLASS below? 👇

Another is simply describing what you literally see on the card.

Your filter matters. So spend some time speaking your impressions, even if it’s just to yourself.

3. Learn to Ask Better Questions

A bad reading often begins with a bad question.

As I often say:

Garbage in, garbage out.

“Should I do X?” is usually a terrible question.

Should according to who?

What outcome are we measuring?

• Money?
• Happiness?
• Relationships?
• Career growth?

A vague question produces a vague reading.

A focused question produces a focused reading.

Instead of asking:

“Should I take this job?”

Try:

“Will I earn $100K at this job within a year?”

“How will I like the general working environment?”

“What is the stability of the position being offered?”

Tarot loves specificity.
Give it something concrete to respond to.

4. Build Your Own Spreads

This might be the most underrated Tarot skill of all, and is Tarot’s invisible super power.

Most readers treat spreads like furniture they bought from a store.

A well-designed spread is like a treasure map.

It leads you directly to what you’re trying to understand.

You don’t have to wander around the reading hoping the answer falls out.

You can build positions that systematically reveal exactly what you want to know.

Learning to create spreads changed everything about the way I read, and it can be a game changer for you too.

5. Read for Other People

This is the one.

This is the big one.

I believed that too.

I was wrong.

Reading for other people is what builds the skill.

You can study swimming for twenty years.

Eventually you have to get in the water.

The same is true with Tarot.

Reading for others teaches you how to stay with a question, trust your intuition, communicate clearly, and find the signal hidden inside all the noise.

This is Tarot in practice.

The Real Secret

Most Tarot readers are collecting tools.

What they really need is repetition.

When you pull a card, ask yourself:

How does this card answer the question?

That’s it.

That’s the whole game.

A weak reading wanders.

A strong reading aims.

The best readers I’ve known aren’t walking encyclopedias.

They’re focused.

They stay with the question until they find the answer.

If I had to start over tomorrow,

• I wouldn’t memorize more meanings.
• I wouldn’t buy more decks.
• I wouldn’t learn astrology sooner.

I’d get the nerve to read for other people much sooner.

Because that’s where Tarot stops being in the head and connects to the flow.

-Cassandra the Card Reader
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