🌟Tips For Interpreting Tarot🌟

🌟Tips for interpreting Tarot🌟

1. The most important clues may be in the background!

In the Rider Waite Smith deck, many cards show a figure with a number of significant items behind his or her back. What happens behind one’s back is, for oneself, something unseen, shadowy, something to which one has no conscious access. This could point to the idea that the figure in the foreground is unaware of the nature or scope of their issues. You can’t grasp what you cannot see, and that can reveal a lot about the nature of the card’s meaning.

2. The color of the sky reveals a lot!

Again referencing the Rider Waite Smith deck, the color of the sky on a given card often leads to a simple but important clue for its interpretation.

3. Pay close attention to proportions!

In the image of the Four of Wands, the figures are depicted much smaller than is the case in other images; they fall short. Or perhaps they are of normal height and are painted so small in order to emphasize the comparatively huge size of the wands. This sort of thing can be found in many other cards.

4. Court cards represent developed personalities or facets of oneself!

The Queen: impulsive, an initiator, an investigator (water type)

The King: thorough, intensive, consolidating (fire type)

The Knight: magnifying, expanding, a drawer of consequences (air type)

The Page: makes something tangible out of or with the element in question (earth type)

4. Pay attention to numbers!

Numerology can play a big role in your interpretations of the cards, especially in the Minor Arcana:

Ones (Aces): Something new with vast potential is indicated when you have many aces in your readings. They are pure energy without form - and it depends on you to shape it and bring the opportunities that they represent into fruition. Because they are raw, they are also unstable, and can very quickly overwhelm if not taking care.

Twos: Coming together in pairs is the theme of the twos, and all the complexities that this union represents. We leave the individuality of the ones, and the twos are a taste of union.

Threes: Group dynamics rule the threes in the tarot, and they depict different outcomes that can occur when a group comes together - whether they are groups of individuals, or groups of ideas. Because it is also symbolically thought of as completion (the first polygon, the holy trinity, etc) it also indicates an initial completion of a first phase of some sort.

Fours: The fours usually indicate that some foundation has been created and is ready to grow and evolve. To grow and evolve is the key here, because though the foundation is created, there is some disappointment indicated sometimes because things may not have progressed entirely as hoped for - thus, the fours are also the universe’s way of pushing us to grow and move forward.

Fives: Change, fluctuations and conflict are represented by the fives. After the fours, the fives are amplifications of that same energy. When that energy explodes, the fives ask us to look within ourselves for a deeper reason of why to progress. To move forward and beyond these instabilities, we have to push forward.

Sixes: While the fives represent conflict, the sixes represent the movement away from that conflict into a solution, whether they are internal or external, whether that means reconciliation or letting go. They are the cards of overcoming suffering, light after the dark.

Sevens: When seeing many sevens in a reading it usually indicates that it is a time to step back and introspect. The sevens ask us to assess, and reevaluate whether the path that you are taking is what is best for you. Sometimes this is a lonely pursuit, but this period is needed to go forward with your authentic desires.

Eights: A completion of a second phase is indicated with the eights, and usually corresponds to some sort of achievement, whether in the worldly sense, or in an emotional sense. Growth either way is indicated here, and sometimes it can take place in a form where we least expected it.

Nines: Nearing completion is indicated by the nines, and this can take the form of entering a plateau of some sort. What looks like the finish line, may actually be just a transitory stage. While the feeling of completion is here, it is usually just a pause before the final part of the cycle comes.

Tens: In the tens, we see the actual completion of the cycle, that something has come to a full circle - it indicates that from this point forward, we can move towards a new beginning. ✨🔮✨ Sources: Biddytarot, The Ultimate Guide to the Rider Waite Tarot by Johannes Fiebig and Evelin Burger, Understanding Tarot by Liz Dean

the year ahead tarot spread (in depth and specific!)

This tarot reading is my favorite way to prepare for the New Year, so I thought I’d share!

This is technically a 36 card spread, so definitely don’t do this unless you have a couple of hours to kill, lol. It’s time consuming, but so worth it! This reading will give you a detailed look at your journey through the coming year, the lessons you’ll learn, and the major milestones along the way. The number 36 also has significance – in numerology, 36 is associated with fulfillment, creativity, and balance.

One thing to keep in mind is that the future is never set in stone. People change, circumstances change, and energy changes. You might experience a dramatic energy shift between now and, say, next November that totally changes the way that month turns out for you. For this reason, I still recommend doing regular “check-in” readings throughout the year.

To start, divide your deck into two piles – one for the Major Arcana and one for the Minor Arcana.

The Major Arcana represent major themes/lessons. (For example, if you draw the Death card for the month of May, your major theme for May will be endings and rebirth.) The Minor Arcana represent major events and milestones. (For example, let’s say you draw the Two of Cups for the month of September. You may be entering into a new romantic relationship in September.)

I like separating the cards out this way because it helps me get a more detailed and in-depth understanding. Another way to think of it is this: the Major Arcana represent the phases of your spiritual journey, and the Minor Arcana represent the ways that journey manifests in your daily life.

If you want to do a simpler version of this reading, simply do not split your deck. Shuffle the deck as you would normally – Major and Minor Arcana together – and pull one card for each month. That card represents the main theme for the month. This won’t be as detailed as the more complicated method, but it is a heck of a lot less time consuming and may be better for beginner readers.

For each month, pull one card from your Major Arcana pile and two cards from your Minor Arcana pile.

The Major Arcana card is your theme for the month – it’s the lesson you need to learn (or relearn) to further your spiritual growth/personal development. This is the archetype that best describes the energy surrounding you this month. Because of this, whatever Major Arcana card you draw is probably going to influence the Minor Arcana cards you draw with it – the major events/milestones in your life reflect your spiritual growth, and vise versa.

Be sure to interpret the cards in relation to each other. Try to look at the three cards as a whole, and try to see the “story” in the cards. For example, the Three of Swords is the “heartbreak card” and may represent a breakup, but if it appears with the Sun card, you can be sure that your breakup will open the door to happiness, spiritual growth, and good fortune. In this case, the Three of Swords is telling you to rip the band-aid off and cut a toxic person out of your life so you finally have space to be happy again.

Make sure you write your readings and interpretations down so you can look back on them later! I record all of my readings in a Google Doc because it’s easier to keep track of than a paper journal lol.

One more thing: make sure you return your cards to their respective piles before shuffling and drawing cards for the next month. Yes, this means you might get repeat cards – that’s the point. There may be some lessons that take more than one month to learn, or that come back up for you several times throughout the year. Personal development isn’t linear!

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I hope this is helpful! I got so much clarity from this reading, and it really helped me realize what I need to work on in 2020. Let me know if you decide to try this – I’d love to hear how it went!

For those of you who learn visually, I have a video on my YouTube channel where I do an example reading using this method and talk you through it. Hopefully that clears up anything this post didn’t accurately explain.

Happy new year, babes!

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