- What We Mean by “Basic Tarot Reading Course”
- Where the Seventy-Eight Cards Come From
- The Architecture of the Deck
- How the Numbers Tell a Story
- What Reversals Actually Mean
- The Three-Card Spread and Why It Works
- How to Practice Without a Querent
- Common Misconceptions About Learning Tarot
- Where to Go from Here
We have seen the new deck sit untouched on the shelf for three weeks. The person who bought it opens the box, fans the seventy-eight cards, reads the LWB (Little White Book) that comes with it, and puts everything back. The LWB says the Tower means “sudden change” and the Two of Cups means “partnership.” That is not wrong. It is also not enough.
A basic tarot reading course is a structured method for learning the seventy-eight cards, their relationships, and the interpretive framework that turns a spread from random pictures into a coherent narrative. The key fact is that tarot is a system of correspondences, not a collection of standalone symbols. Learn the system, and you do not need the guidebook.
What We Mean by “Basic Tarot Reading Course”
We are not describing a specific product or a paid certification. A basic tarot reading course is the set of foundational skills that every reader, from the Renaissance court diviner to the modern kitchen-table practitioner, has internalized before they can read fluently. These skills include:
- The structure of the deck (Major Arcana, Minor Arcana, court cards)
- The four suits and their elemental associations
- The numerological progression from Ace to Ten
- The positional meanings in common spreads
- The difference between a “reversed” card and an upright one
Without these, a reading is guesswork. With them, a reading is a conversation between the reader, the cards, and the querent (the person asking the question).
Where the Seventy-Eight Cards Come From
The tarot deck as we know it appeared in northern Italy in the 1430s. The earliest surviving decks, the Visconti-Sforza decks, were hand-painted for the Milanese nobility. They were not used for divination. They were playing cards for a game called tarocchi, a trick-taking game similar to modern bridge or spades.
The shift from game to divination tool happened in the late 18th century. Antoine Court de Gébelin, a French Protestant pastor and Freemason, wrote in his nine-volume work Le Monde Primitif (1781) that the tarot was a survival of the ancient Egyptian Book of Thoth. He was wrong about Egypt. But his claim caught the attention of occultists across Europe.
In 1856, the French occultist Éliphas Lévi (born Alphonse Louis Constant) published Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie, which linked the twenty-two Major Arcana cards to the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet and the twenty-two paths of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. Lévi never produced his own deck, but his correspondences became the backbone of every esoteric tarot system that followed.
The Rider-Waite-Smith deck, published in 1909 by Arthur Edward Waite and illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith, was the first deck designed specifically for divination. Waite, a British occultist and member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, instructed Smith to draw full scenes on the Minor Arcana cards, not just the suit symbols. Before 1909, the Five of Cups was five cups arranged in a pattern. After 1909, it was a figure in a black cloak staring at three spilled cups while two remain standing behind them. That change made the cards readable as stories.
Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot, painted by Lady Frieda Harris between 1938 and 1943, pushed the system further into astrological and alchemical correspondences. Crowley’s deck is denser, more abstract, and less forgiving for beginners. We recommend starting with Rider-Waite-Smith or one of its direct clones.
The Architecture of the Deck
Every standard tarot deck has seventy-eight cards divided into two sections.
The Major Arcana (twenty-two cards, numbered 0 through 21) represents the Fool’s Journey: the archetypal path of human experience from innocence (The Fool, 0) through initiation (The Magician, I), challenge (The Tower, XVI), and completion (The World, XXI). These are the big life events, the lessons that change a person.
The Minor Arcana (fifty-six cards) represents the daily texture of life. It is divided into four suits, each corresponding to an element and a domain of experience:
- Wands (Fire): creativity, will, career, passion
- Cups (Water): emotions, relationships, intuition, love
- Swords (Air): intellect, conflict, communication, truth
- Pentacles (Earth): material life, work, money, health
Each suit has fourteen cards: Ace through Ten, plus four court cards (Page, Knight, Queen, King). The Aces are the root of the suit’s energy. The Tens are its completion or exhaustion. The court cards represent people, personality types, or aspects of the querent’s own psyche.
How the Numbers Tell a Story
The Rider-Waite-Smith deck made the Minor Arcana readable because it turned each number into a scene. But the scenes follow a logic. Once you know the pattern, you can read any deck, even one with only suit symbols.
- Ace: the seed, the beginning, the raw potential
- Two: balance, choice, duality, the first interaction
- Three: expansion, growth, the first result
- Four: stability, rest, consolidation, sometimes stagnation
- Five: conflict, loss, disruption, the breaking point
- Six: harmony, flow, success, the resolution
- Seven: challenge, assessment, the test of will
- Eight: movement, speed, action, sometimes overextension
- Nine: near-completion, satisfaction, the last push
- Ten: completion, exhaustion, the end of a cycle
Combine the number with the suit. The Five of Wands (conflict in the realm of creativity) looks different from the Five of Cups (conflict in the realm of emotion). The Ten of Pentacles (material completion, inheritance, legacy) looks different from the Ten of Swords (intellectual exhaustion, a painful truth fully faced).
What Reversals Actually Mean
Some readers ignore reversals. Some read every card upright. Both approaches are valid. But if you choose to read reversals, they are not simply “bad” versions of upright cards.
A reversed card often indicates the energy of the card is blocked, internalized, or operating in a shadow form. The upright Eight of Wands is swift action, messages arriving, things moving fast. The reversed Eight of Wands is delays, miscommunication, energy that cannot find its outlet. It is not the opposite of the card. It is the card under pressure.
A second common interpretation treats reversals as the card’s energy turned inward. The upright Queen of Swords is clear thinking, direct communication, boundaries. The reversed Queen of Swords is harsh self-criticism, overthinking, the inability to extend that clarity to oneself.
A third school, associated with the Golden Dawn tradition, reads reversals as the card’s energy operating in the past or in the querent’s unconscious. The card is present but not yet surfaced.
Choose one system and stay with it for at least six months. Switching between interpretations mid-reading creates confusion.
The Three-Card Spread and Why It Works
Beginners often reach for the Celtic Cross, a ten-card spread that can take forty-five minutes to interpret. We recommend starting with the three-card spread. It is the minimum viable structure for a reading.
The three positions can be:
- Past, Present, Future
- Mind, Body, Spirit
- Situation, Action, Outcome
- What serves you, What challenges you, What you need to know
The spread creates a relationship between the cards. The first card sets the context. The second card shows the dynamic. The third card points toward resolution. The reader’s job is to connect them into a sentence, then a paragraph, then a story.
A sample reading: Past (Three of Swords), Present (The Star), Future (Ace of Pentacles). The querent has been through heartbreak. They are now in a period of healing and hope. The future holds a new material beginning, possibly a job or a financial opportunity. The story is coherent. The cards are not random.
How to Practice Without a Querent
You cannot learn to read tarot only by reading books. You need to handle the cards. Here is the practice method we recommend.
Pull one card each morning. Do not look up its meaning. Write down what you see in the image: colors, objects, the expression on any figures, the direction they face. Then write one sentence about how that image might relate to your day. At night, compare your morning impression to what actually happened. You will be wrong often. That is the point. You are training your eye and your intuition to work together.
After two weeks of single cards, move to three-card draws. Same method. Write the story before you consult any reference. The reference is a check, not a crutch.
After two months, you will have internalized the basic meanings of all seventy-eight cards. You will still need to look up the more obscure cards (the Hierophant, the Hanged Man, the Eight of Swords) but the Aces through Fives and the court cards will be automatic.
Common Misconceptions About Learning Tarot
“You need to be psychic.” No. Tarot is a system of symbols and narrative structure. Psychic ability, if it exists, is a separate skill. A reader who knows the cards cold will give a better reading than a psychic who does not.
“You cannot read for yourself.” This is a modern superstition with no historical basis. The earliest documented tarot readers read for themselves. Self-readings are harder because emotional investment clouds interpretation, but they are not forbidden.
“The cards predict the future.” Tarot describes probabilities and patterns. A reading that says “you will lose your job” is a reading that has identified a pattern of instability and conflict in the querent’s current trajectory. The future is not fixed. The reading is a warning, not a prophecy.
“You must be given your first deck as a gift.” This tradition appears in mid-20th century occult literature and has no earlier source. Buy your own deck. The relationship between reader and deck is built through use, not through the method of acquisition.
FAQ
How long does it take to learn tarot? Most people can give a coherent three-card reading after two to three months of daily practice. Fluency with all seventy-eight cards takes six months to a year.
What is the best deck for beginners? The Rider-Waite-Smith deck or any deck that uses its imagery. The Universal Waite and the Radiant Rider-Waite are direct clones with updated coloring.
Do I need to memorize all seventy-eight cards? No. You need to understand the structure. If you know the suit meanings, the number progression, and the Major Arcana archetypes, you can reconstruct a card’s meaning even if you have forgotten its specific keyword.
Can I read tarot for money? Legally, yes, in most jurisdictions, as long as you do not claim to be a licensed therapist or financial advisor. Ethically, you should be clear that tarot is a reflective tool, not a substitute for professional advice.
Where to Go from Here
The seventy-eight cards are a language. Learning the vocabulary is the first month. Learning the grammar is the second and third. After that, you begin to speak.
For a deeper look at the symbolic system behind the cards, see our glossary of tarot symbols. For the history of the Major Arcana and the Fool’s Journey, read our guide to the Major Arcana. And for the full framework that connects tarot to astrology, Kabbalah, and alchemy, visit our tarot vertical hub.
The deck on your shelf is not waiting for permission. It is waiting for you to pull the first card.