What I’ve learned from three months of studying the tarot

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I can’t believe it’s only been three months. It feels like I’ve learned a ton since I started this journey. Mainly because I had a moment of realization a few weeks ago that showed me that I’ve been developing my skills with intuition since I was very young. And the realization that I’ve spent the past 40 years using it. So when I say that I’ve been studying tarot for three months, that’s true, but the skill it takes to read the cards is one I’ve been working on my whole life. That being said, I still know that I am young in this discipline, and in my practice every day, I feel my growth and understand my place in the grand scheme. I am no expert at this and would never claim to be. What I write here is based on. My journey is a work in progress; things can and will change with time, deepening knowledge and experience. So let’s dive in.

The first I want to talk about in my growth so far is that many people will tell you that you are learning something wrong. Or that how you do, it must be wrong since it isn’t the same as how you do tarot. If you’re in the process of learning tarot and you encounter this, please disregard them. They know what they know based on their experience. And their experience is different from yours. Plus, they don’t know your mind and intentions with the cards. If you are someone who has done this to someone else, and you feel that they are genuinely doing something the wrong way, help them instead of ridiculing them, please. It’ll make everything much more excellent for those trying to figure this out. If you can’t be nice, don’t be anything at all.

Since I started my YouTube channel, where I’m sharing my journey with people, I’ve had two comments along these lines, one told me I was going to burn in hell for using these cards, and the other was someone who wanted to ridicule me. He just wanted to feel better than someone else, and I was that person. Sometimes you have to look at situations like this and understand why they’re treating you the way they are. More often than not, it comes from a deep place of insecurity. That’s all. Brush them off, and don’t let anyone scare you off from learning. Every other comment I’ve received in the last three months has been highly positive, and I”m grateful to be a part of this community and contribute to it.

Another thing I’ve found is that there are as many interpretations of the cards as there are people who read tarot cards. There are, of course, standard meanings of the cards, which are pretty easy to learn. An excellent book for this is

“The Key to the Tarot” by Arthur Edward Waite. This is the basis for the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot that most of us started with or use today. It will take some time, however, as sometimes the standard meanings don’t always work with the imagery. But it is a great place to start. You’ll find that there are a lot of decks that use the meanings from Arthur Waite as their foundation.

My process for learning the cards started with learning numerology and applying it to the deck. This worked until I started seeing the symbology in the cards and understanding what those symbols meant. I probably read about four books on the tarot before I got to this point and was doing a multi-card reading every day. This was a relatively intuitive process since it occurred to me that I had learned the symbology when I was learning about the world’s religions back in the late 80s and early 90s. That was one of those moments where I realized that I had already started this journey several decades ago. I just needed the cards to show me.

The last book I finished was “78 Degrees of Wisdom” by Rachel Pollack. A fantastic read and a hell of a deep dive into the cards. I love her knowledge and the way she talks about the cards. Plus, she offers insights from her life as a tarot reader. I just started reading another of her books, Rachel Pollack's Tarot Wisdom: Spiritual Teachings and Deeper Meanings. It’s another deep dive but written many years later than “78 Degrees” In the time between these two books, she has deepened her understanding of the tarot, which shows in the second of the two books. I would recommend reading 78 degrees and then reading Tarot wisdom.

I just didn’t read a few books and started reading the cards. I also spend time every day with my cards. I do a daily reading which I write about and share. And I do another reading for myself. For the readings I share, I use the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot. For the ones I do for myself, I bounce around between The Transient Light Tarot, The Wildwood Tarot, and the White Numen Tarot. It all depends on how I’m feeling that day. I keep a journal of my personal readings and take pictures of the spread so I can refer back to it throughout the day. Sometimes My insights at the beginning of the day differ significantly from those I have at the end. I also write these in my journal as well. So far, it’s proved to be a great way to learn the cards more deeply.

I also perform weekly readings using a cross spread with six cards. And I will sometimes shuffle the cards and pull cards one at a time and try to tell a story with them. This last idea usually gets me to see the cards differently. No matter what I’m doing with the cards, I always make sure to set an intention for what I’m about to do. Whether it’s a reading I will share or one, I will keep it private. Whether it’s going to pertain to a specific question or whether it’s a storytelling read, whatever it is, I make sure to let the universe know what I”m going to do with that reading.

Now, You Don’t have to do this; I share this so that you can understand how I relate to my cards and the practices I use in connection with my cards. Your practices may be different. And that’s ok. My practices don’t invalidate yours and vice versa. The only rules I can find related to using the tarot are those I’ve found on the American Tarot Associations’ website.

It’s mostly about things like doing right by your customers/clients and not getting into any shady or unscrupulous practices. Refer clients to legal and medical professionals if they need those services. We’re tarot readers, not doctors or lawyers! And, of course, don’t misrepresent yourself or your abilities. If you’re not a professional, don’t tell people that you are! If you’re starting like I am, Let people know you are just beginning. But these are just good ideas for life in general as well. The traditional techniques you apply to the tarot are your own, and if they work for you, this is great. They may not work for everyone, and that’s also ok.

Another thing I’m learning is that now that I’m reading from different decks, I’m starting to see how each deck reacts to me and how I react to each tier. I have one deck that I just cannot read. It’s too abstract for me. And another deck I would never use in readings unless someone specifically asked me to use it. I connect with that particular deck very well. Still, since there is a fair amount of sensualism and nudity, I don’t feel comfortable using that one for general readings with others. And these are the things you’ll probably run into as you start adding to your collection of decks. Not every deck works for everybody, and not every deck gives us the same answers.

I am drawn to the Wildwood tarot because of its connections to nature and the natural world. Plus, the artwork is stunning. This deck speaks to me when I need to head out into nature. Or when I feel like the asphalt around me is too much to bear. On other days I’m okay with the Transient Light Tarot. And sometimes, The White Numen Tarot is my jam! But not every day. When I have decks for when I’m feeling mighty, for when I’m feeling down, and even one-for-one, I feel a little spicy! Yeah, there’s a tarot for that!

There is a tarot to suit just about every mood, interest, curiosity, fantasy, and belief. If you are interested in something, There is a tarot deck that fits that niche. Some are better than others at satisfying that nice, but you can generally find a deck for just about whatever you’re into. I have an oracle deck based on the life of Britney Spears, and it’s pretty empowering! I was surprised. Will I do readings with it? Probably not… unless someone asks for it.

The last thing I’ll leave you with here is that I’ve started to think about doing realigns for others. I’m unsure what that will look like or How I’ll do it. My first thoughts have been to do a series of free readings to find out ways to do homework for others remotely so that I can do them within my schedule and still offer a good service with good value. If a free reading is something you’d like from me, here’s a link where you can request one. I’ll do my best to respond within 24 hours. At the moment, I’m opening this up to only 1o readings. I’m also planning on delivering my readings in PDF format. I’ll see where that goes and what people think of readings given in that fashion.

So that’s my journey into the tarot so far. It’s been a wild ride, and I’m excited about where it’s going. Thanks for reading, and I look forward to sharing more about this wild ride with you.

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