An Easy Start to Tarot
By: H.P. Thomas Moore I see many people that are interested in the Tarot and learning to read the Tarot. However many people give up right away thinking that it is too difficult to memorize all of the card meanings in order to interpret them. What I would like to do here is to give you a quick and easy way to learn to read the Tarot using keywords that are easy to remember and string together. I will go over both the Major and Minor Arcana Cards in both upright and reversed positions. After you are done with this article you will be able to do a straight and accurate Tarot reading without having to memorize many different phrases for each card. Don’t forget that if you want to add any psychic information that you get do that in your readings! I am giving you the meanings and the way that I know the Tarot, though it may differ from what you have learned it is always good to see it from a different point of view so that you can better find a way that suits to your personal needs as a Tarot reader.
Minor Arcana Cards:
The Minor Arcana cards are all of the cards in the Tarot deck that are numbered only. They usually follow suits such as Wands, Swords, Cups, and Pentacles. The numbers go from 2 to 10 in each suit. Each Card has its own personal meaning, and though they are important there is no need to worry yourself with it right away. Sometime down the line it will be good to learn but what we are doing here is teaching you an easy way to start reading Tarot so we are going to forget about that for now. Instead let’s begin with a focus on the numbers.
All Tarot cards are numbered. If any of you are familiar with Numerology you know that each number has a meaning to it. The number meanings are the first step in helping to read the Tarot. In numerology we add numbers together until we are left with a single digit. It is that single digit that we interpret, that is unless it is a double number that is the same like 11, 22,33,44,55 etc. If it is a number like that it is first interpreted in its double form and then broken to a single form and interpreted as a single digit. What will follow are each number in Numerology 1-9 as well as some doubles for extra fun. I am going to use 1 keyword for each number. The reason that I use 1 keyword is that when you begin to read the cards you are going to remember that 1 word and then use word association in order to pull other information from that keyword. It is the word association from the one keyword that makes this method so easy and fun to start with instead of all of that memorizing. This way you can begin to interpret the cards using your own feelings and wording for each and it will be easier to remember for you as the individual reader.
1: New Beginnings
2: Balance
3: Expansion
4: Foundation
5: Change
6: Responsibility
7: Organization/ Spirituality
8: Material
9: Endings
11: Master of manifestation
22: Master of Equality
33: Master of Knowledge
Each number has one meaning for you to work with so write all that down for now and we are going to move on. I promise you that it is all going to come together in the end!
Now that we know the numbers I want to talk a bout the suits of the cards. Pentacles, Swords, Cups and Wands. Each of these suits carries a lot of information on their own and is very rarely harnessed in the beginning. Each have an element that it is associated with, that element can be interpreted to give information. In addition to that, they also work with particular astrological signs that can be interpreted as well.
SWORDS:
Element: Air – Keyword: Communication- Signs: Libra, Aquarius, Gemini , Winter
PENTACLES:
Element: Earth- Keyword: Material/Spiritual- Signs: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn, Fall
WANDS:
Element: Fire- Keyword: Action/Physical- Signs: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius, Summer
CUPS
Element: Water – Keyword: Emotions- Signs: Pisces, Cancer, Scorpio, Spring
With just these simple understandings you can already begin to interpret the Minor Arcana cards! Don’t believe me? By looking at all that we have learned so far lets look at a card:
If we look at the “ 2 of cups” what can you tell about the card already?
1: Cups represent water that talks about emotions
2: the number 2 talks about balance
So string it together and see what happens: the “2 of cups” talks about balancing the emotions! Now here is where the word association comes in, see what other words that you can think of that talk about emotions and balance and string them together with the original interpretation that I gave here…………………see easier than you thought right!
With all of that you already have a base understanding on how to read all of the Minor Arcana cards of the Tarot. This means that you can take all of the Minor cards and do a reading with them using all of the information that we just went through. As I said before as well if you want to at some point look further into the cards then you can get the definitions of each and go even deeper into the reading. This is a good start off point and it being so fun and easy will really allow you to experience the Tarot more fluidly. Now I said that I was going to go over reverse meanings as well so here it goes. If a card comes up reversed, it has the same meaning as it does upright only it is manifesting slower than normal. So you give the same meaning and tell the person that you are reading that it is manifesting slower. Also it is good to know that the Minor Arcana represent all of the day to day things in our lives. You can also look at the full reading once it is done and see what suits have more than others. If you have more cups than other suits then the person is working on emotional situations, more wands then it is more physical. Swords they are focusing more on mental and communication, pentacles focus more on material things or spirituality.
Major Arcana Cards:
The Major Arcana are the cards that have writing on them. Everything from The Fool to the Aces and the Court Cards are part of the Major Arcana. We already know about the numbers and the suits so we already have the Aces figured out! Aces are the number 1 of each suit that means they are new beginnings. The type of new beginning depends on the suit; wands for example would be physical new beginnings.
At this point I’m sure that you are thinking that the reading that you are going to be doing will be pretty general, and you’re right. When you are first learning the Tarot the readings are bound to be general, but as you choose to learn more and add your intuitive information to it they are going to be more and more specific as time goes on! Let’s continue on now and talk about the Court Cards of the Tarot.
The Court Cards are the people cards in the deck, Knights, Pages, Kings and Queens of each suit. These cards literally represent people! By knowing the sign of each suit you can even tell what signs that person may be. The King of Swords for instance is going to be a man that is a Libra, Aquarius, or Gemini. Kings represent men that are usually adult males, Queens are adult females, Knights are young adult males sometimes teens, Pages are children and can be male or female. There is usually not a card for young adult females and this is mainly because females tend to mature faster than men, so there is no need for a female young adult card. Now you know not only the Aces and the Minor Arcana but the Court Cards as well!
Now we are going to go into the other Major Arcana cards. This is usually where people get a little freaked out because of the memorizing but you already have some information on them because you know the numbers so what I am going to do here is list the cards as well as 1 keyword for each, then using your powers of word association you can string together other words in order to interpret the cards more fully, then after that you will have a solid base understanding on reading the Tarot Cards!
0 The Fool: New Beginnings
1 The Magician: New Beginnings
2: The High Priestess: Secret Knowledge
3: The Empress: Nurturing
4: The Emperor: Stability
5: The Hierophant: Religion/Spirituality
6: The Lovers: Choices
7: The Chariot: Travel
8: Strength: Courage/Strength
9: The Hermit: Guidance
10: The Wheel of Fortune: Cycles
11: Justice: Harmony/Law
12: The Hanged Man: Objectiveness
13: Death: Change
14: Temperance: Healing
15: The Devil: Bondage
16: The Tower: Rebuilding
17: The Star: Optimism
18: The Moon: Reflection
19: The Sun: Vitality
20: Judgment: Understanding
21: The World: Success
Now you know all of the Tarot Cards and can begin to do a reading based on what you have learned in this article. After you have practiced with this for a while go out to your locally owned bookstore and find yourself a book on Tarot and begin to learn dome of the deeper meanings of the cards as well as the symbolism that they possess. After that you will be able to do very accurate readings and you will open your intuitive abilities as well so that information can come from your psychic side too!
Minor Arcana Cards:
The Minor Arcana cards are all of the cards in the Tarot deck that are numbered only. They usually follow suits such as Wands, Swords, Cups, and Pentacles. The numbers go from 2 to 10 in each suit. Each Card has its own personal meaning, and though they are important there is no need to worry yourself with it right away. Sometime down the line it will be good to learn but what we are doing here is teaching you an easy way to start reading Tarot so we are going to forget about that for now. Instead let’s begin with a focus on the numbers.
All Tarot cards are numbered. If any of you are familiar with Numerology you know that each number has a meaning to it. The number meanings are the first step in helping to read the Tarot. In numerology we add numbers together until we are left with a single digit. It is that single digit that we interpret, that is unless it is a double number that is the same like 11, 22,33,44,55 etc. If it is a number like that it is first interpreted in its double form and then broken to a single form and interpreted as a single digit. What will follow are each number in Numerology 1-9 as well as some doubles for extra fun. I am going to use 1 keyword for each number. The reason that I use 1 keyword is that when you begin to read the cards you are going to remember that 1 word and then use word association in order to pull other information from that keyword. It is the word association from the one keyword that makes this method so easy and fun to start with instead of all of that memorizing. This way you can begin to interpret the cards using your own feelings and wording for each and it will be easier to remember for you as the individual reader.
1: New Beginnings
2: Balance
3: Expansion
4: Foundation
5: Change
6: Responsibility
7: Organization/ Spirituality
8: Material
9: Endings
11: Master of manifestation
22: Master of Equality
33: Master of Knowledge
Each number has one meaning for you to work with so write all that down for now and we are going to move on. I promise you that it is all going to come together in the end!
Now that we know the numbers I want to talk a bout the suits of the cards. Pentacles, Swords, Cups and Wands. Each of these suits carries a lot of information on their own and is very rarely harnessed in the beginning. Each have an element that it is associated with, that element can be interpreted to give information. In addition to that, they also work with particular astrological signs that can be interpreted as well.
SWORDS:
Element: Air – Keyword: Communication- Signs: Libra, Aquarius, Gemini , Winter
PENTACLES:
Element: Earth- Keyword: Material/Spiritual- Signs: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn, Fall
WANDS:
Element: Fire- Keyword: Action/Physical- Signs: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius, Summer
CUPS
Element: Water – Keyword: Emotions- Signs: Pisces, Cancer, Scorpio, Spring
With just these simple understandings you can already begin to interpret the Minor Arcana cards! Don’t believe me? By looking at all that we have learned so far lets look at a card:
If we look at the “ 2 of cups” what can you tell about the card already?
1: Cups represent water that talks about emotions
2: the number 2 talks about balance
So string it together and see what happens: the “2 of cups” talks about balancing the emotions! Now here is where the word association comes in, see what other words that you can think of that talk about emotions and balance and string them together with the original interpretation that I gave here…………………see easier than you thought right!
With all of that you already have a base understanding on how to read all of the Minor Arcana cards of the Tarot. This means that you can take all of the Minor cards and do a reading with them using all of the information that we just went through. As I said before as well if you want to at some point look further into the cards then you can get the definitions of each and go even deeper into the reading. This is a good start off point and it being so fun and easy will really allow you to experience the Tarot more fluidly. Now I said that I was going to go over reverse meanings as well so here it goes. If a card comes up reversed, it has the same meaning as it does upright only it is manifesting slower than normal. So you give the same meaning and tell the person that you are reading that it is manifesting slower. Also it is good to know that the Minor Arcana represent all of the day to day things in our lives. You can also look at the full reading once it is done and see what suits have more than others. If you have more cups than other suits then the person is working on emotional situations, more wands then it is more physical. Swords they are focusing more on mental and communication, pentacles focus more on material things or spirituality.
Major Arcana Cards:
The Major Arcana are the cards that have writing on them. Everything from The Fool to the Aces and the Court Cards are part of the Major Arcana. We already know about the numbers and the suits so we already have the Aces figured out! Aces are the number 1 of each suit that means they are new beginnings. The type of new beginning depends on the suit; wands for example would be physical new beginnings.
At this point I’m sure that you are thinking that the reading that you are going to be doing will be pretty general, and you’re right. When you are first learning the Tarot the readings are bound to be general, but as you choose to learn more and add your intuitive information to it they are going to be more and more specific as time goes on! Let’s continue on now and talk about the Court Cards of the Tarot.
The Court Cards are the people cards in the deck, Knights, Pages, Kings and Queens of each suit. These cards literally represent people! By knowing the sign of each suit you can even tell what signs that person may be. The King of Swords for instance is going to be a man that is a Libra, Aquarius, or Gemini. Kings represent men that are usually adult males, Queens are adult females, Knights are young adult males sometimes teens, Pages are children and can be male or female. There is usually not a card for young adult females and this is mainly because females tend to mature faster than men, so there is no need for a female young adult card. Now you know not only the Aces and the Minor Arcana but the Court Cards as well!
Now we are going to go into the other Major Arcana cards. This is usually where people get a little freaked out because of the memorizing but you already have some information on them because you know the numbers so what I am going to do here is list the cards as well as 1 keyword for each, then using your powers of word association you can string together other words in order to interpret the cards more fully, then after that you will have a solid base understanding on reading the Tarot Cards!
0 The Fool: New Beginnings
1 The Magician: New Beginnings
2: The High Priestess: Secret Knowledge
3: The Empress: Nurturing
4: The Emperor: Stability
5: The Hierophant: Religion/Spirituality
6: The Lovers: Choices
7: The Chariot: Travel
8: Strength: Courage/Strength
9: The Hermit: Guidance
10: The Wheel of Fortune: Cycles
11: Justice: Harmony/Law
12: The Hanged Man: Objectiveness
13: Death: Change
14: Temperance: Healing
15: The Devil: Bondage
16: The Tower: Rebuilding
17: The Star: Optimism
18: The Moon: Reflection
19: The Sun: Vitality
20: Judgment: Understanding
21: The World: Success
Now you know all of the Tarot Cards and can begin to do a reading based on what you have learned in this article. After you have practiced with this for a while go out to your locally owned bookstore and find yourself a book on Tarot and begin to learn dome of the deeper meanings of the cards as well as the symbolism that they possess. After that you will be able to do very accurate readings and you will open your intuitive abilities as well so that information can come from your psychic side too!
H.P. Thomas Moore is a professional Psychic and Occult teacher living in Southwest Florida with his Mal-shi Chloe. He enjoys reading, ghost hunting, teaching and blogging.
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