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How can you read tarot cards as a beginner?

05/07/25 5:33pm

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wikiHow Editorial Team

05/07/25 5:35pm

To read tarot cards as a beginner, stary by familiarizing yourself with all the tarot cards in a deck and their meanings. Both the major and minor arcana are associated with different meanings based on whether they're upright or reversed, and each also corresponds to a "yes" or a "no."

Start with a simple yes/no reading or a three-card spread. For a yes/no reading , ask an open-ended question, then draw a single card and interpret it as a yes or no. For a three-card spread, draw 3 cards—the meaning of the first represents your past, the meaning of the second represents your present, and the meaning of the last represents your future.

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Jessica Lanyadoo
Astrologer & Psychic Medium

05/07/25 5:39pm

For beginning tarot readers, I recommend learning the Ryder-Smith-Waite deck. The Ryder-Smith-Waite Tarot deck is the Tarot deck that most other decks are based on. If you learn that deck, you're going to be able to navigate any deck that you come across.

Also, get a book that teaches you about the cards and learn the Major Arcana, which are the cards that I think excite people the most because they represent big life events or developments. Keep your readings really simple. A one-card reading or a three-card reading is the best way to avoid confusing yourself or overcomplicating it.

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