Tarot 101 - how to start reading?

How to get going and start interpreting cards? Here's what worked for me and why I think it worked. There are plenty of tutorials and methods around, both online and in books, and different systems work for different people. But this one proved to be the most useful and accurate for me. It takes time, but then again, tarot is a "language" and learning a new language will never happen overnight. So unfortunately this is not a "get rich quick" scheme, it's old fashioned slow effort! :)

Daily draws

I noticed through practice that daily draws are a useful method to get acquainted with the deck. For this to work, it's essential to keep journal or log about the cards you got, what you think they mean and what they turned out to mean at the end of the day. I believe that one card for a day is enough, because more cards can create confusion. Meaningful questions for the cards can be for example: what's my day like, what's the main theme/energy of my day, or what's the main lesson of this day.

Keep a journal

After drawing a card, write it down: I had an excel workbook for this purpose! I started daily draws as a "scientific" experiment, wanting to see how well the cards actually correspond with what will happen. At night (or the next morning at latest), write down what really happened - did the card's message match or not. For me, daily draws seem to deliver the strongest or the most lingering emotions of that day, so you will notice whether the card's message "materialised".

Study the imagery

Starting tarot journey by focusing on each card's picture or meditating on it is a good way to learn, but for me, weaving together the card, the day, the real events, actions and feelings; and the imagery worked the best. Say, I got the 5 Wands which usually means conflict, frustration, irritations and competition, and usually shows wands clashing, not managing to align. And what do you know: on a 5 Wands day, there are small obstacles on they way at every turn, little annoyances building up, maybe colleagues or friends causing frustrations with lack of cooperation. By living these emotions and thoughts through, going back to the card's image at the end of the day really makes it pop out and become clear: yes, now I know how this particular card feels!

Don't get discouraged

Daily draws come with a problem challenge that they might predict a very crappy day. Nobody wants to see the said 5 Wands, 3 Swords (heartache), 5 Cups (disappointment) or 8 Cups (abandoning something, fed up) first thing in the morning. Speaking from experience, it's easy to get discouraged and negative about the day ahead. But, this pessimistic attitude is bound to deliver a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The beauty of tarot is the chance to focus more on your inner life, target unhelpful thoughts, weed out negativity: and prepare for challenges, but aim for balance and positivity. I've managed to avoid quite a few emotional lows by being prepared for a potentially disappointing news or a period of time. Just stay zen and trust it will pass. It always will! The next day might deliver happiness and joy of 10 Cups, 2 or 3 Cups, 4 Wands and so on.

Learn card keywords

Cards can be read either intuitively without any background knowledge at all, or in a constructed manner based on the traditional meanings of each card, originally set by the creator of the deck. Or as a mix. I'd say all readers use both aspects and the style differs in how far to each side one ventures.

Keywords help with getting the base line meanings out of the cards. There are plenty of good tutorials online, easily found by Google. As a more or less strict thumb rule, I used to check meanings from at least five different sources for each card and build my own mental database by combining the fixed meanings and my own experiences with each daily card to have enough width and depth in my interpretations.

My favourite sources for keywords are American Tarot Association (because I like lengthy and well argued explanations...), Learn Tarot (because of the handy and accurate keywords list), Aeclectic tarot forum (both the meanings list and the discussion forum, where you can ask others to help), Keen and Biddy Tarot (for their user-friendly style).

I have also used Psychic Revelation and Tarot Teachings but for my liking these lack depth and breadth. Just a matter of taste, I guess!

Use your intuition

This is, simultaneously, very easy and easier said than done. How to teach an improved or enhanced use of intuition? There are no rules that work the same for everyone. But card images are there for a purpose: to give cues and clues about what it could mean. Study each card carefully to see what's happening in it. Who's in the picture? What role they have? What are they doing? What's happening in the background? Are there other people involved and if yes, are they supportive or menacing? How could the main character feel in this situation? Is the card full or emptier, organised or cluttered, busy or calm? What colours are used and how do they make you feel? How about all the pictures and symbols on the card? What comes to mind? What is the overall "vibe", the feeling this card evokes?

Know what time period to focus

Daily draws are a good way to learn because one day is a set timeframe that makes it easy for the reader to identify whether or not the card "took place". But feel free to expand to weekly, monthly, quarterly and even annual readings to gain more practice!

I often see people struggling with interpreting daily draws because the card was too strong, too dramatic for the day. Does it really count as a Tower - sudden shock or crumbling of beliefs and assumptions - that the copy machine jammed and the bus home was late? Tarot contains many symbols for serious, life changing and even shocking events (e.g. Tower, Death, 10 Swords), but in my experience in a daily reading setting they hardly ever mean the "strongest" version of themselves. It seems to me that the shorter the time period in focus, the more diluted the messages are.

Think tarot and your life as a book. A yearly reading would capture the main themes of the whole book (titled the Year of Your Life), a monthly reading would explain one chapter, a weekly reading will highlight a few paragraphs and a daily reading gives a sentence or two. Of course, one sentence in a book can make the world's difference and change the course of the plot. But it's more likely than not that it will just carry the overall story forward: in the framework of one day, that one card was the "peak" moment or the strongest element, compared to the rest that happened that same day.

I hope this helps with getting started or honing your style!

Navigating the uncharted waters of intuition is easy and difficult simultaneously. Photo by Noah Rosenfield, creative commons licence. 

Reach new beautiful heights with improved skills. Photo by Jenny Marvin, creative commons licence.

For tarot newbies - do you need to believe in tarot?

The theme of this blog is to advocate life change with the help of tarot and it is meant for people with or without experience in tarot - from fluent users to complete beginners. This particular post is for you, if you don't have much experience, but are curious but hesitant to start learning and using tarot.

Firstly, to explain this blog's theme, I'm not saying everyone needs a life change - you might be completely content where you're at and that's great! Again, not everyone who wants a life change needs tarot. My point is that if you are unhappy with something, the only person who can take action is you. And if you're struggling with identifying a) what exactly is wrong with your life; b) what to do about it; and c) what could follow from implementing change, that's where tarot can step in very successfully.

I personally believe that tarot is a mechanism we don't yet fully understand and it has a capability to dig out information about very personal or subconscious matters, even matters that have not yet happened. Yes, the future. Interestingly, many scientist now say that time does not flow forward, but it's an illusion of the mind: everything that ever was and will be - - - exists simultaneously. So glimpsing to future is not impossible, it's just not easy because we don't know how to do it - other than with "divination" methods such as tarot, possibly!

But none of this is a prerequisite for using tarot. You don't have to believe in tarot for it to work. Even though there are spiritual aspects in tarot and many people use it for a more spiritually enlightened and enriched life, it's not a must, it's simply an option. You don't need to believe in any form of a religion or spirituality at all to be able to glean useful information from the cards. And conversely, your religion will not be "tainted" by tarot, because...

In practice, tarot is a framework that helps its user to organise one's thoughts. It's like meditation or mindfulness made visible and tangible; the building blocks of cards showing what should/could be in the spotlight of your focus. Each card represents a concept in life: an event, situation, emotion, action, behaviour or a state of mind. When you draw cards - or a reader draws cards for you - they show a certain selection of these stereotypical concepts, such as satisfaction, team work, family, feeling content, heartbreak, feeling betrayed, feeling bored, feeling confident and so forth. Tarot cards can be interpreted by 78 to the power of x so your specific feelings will be found in the cards too.

A skilled reader is able to see a story in these pictures and can tell what you should pay attention to - and potentially change. But the final word rests with the querent, the person who is receiving the reading; you'll know whether or not the advice resonates. Based on my own experience with talented readers, more often than not the interpretation fits 95-100%.

People have always sought direction, guidance and answers to the burning and not-so-burning questions in life. It's part of human nature to be curious and keen to prepare for the future. Tarot is one method among many and it's easy to try out and even learn with a bit of  patience and open mind.

This year is nearing it's end and a new one is about to begin. Now is the perfect time to set goals and map for what you could change, release or achieve during 2016.

If 2015 was a success, next year you can build on that. If it wasn't, 2016 can be, if you know what the direction could be. The "puzzle piece" meditation of tarot can help you immensely!

9 Pentacles, the card of prosperity, affluence, confidence, independence, growth - all great wishes for the year 2016! (c) Paulina Cassidy / Joie de Vivre tarot, published under permission.

Tarot and reconciling with an ex?

I have mainly read for myself for the past four years, but a few months ago I made the leap of faith to start reading for other people – remotely, completely online. My sitters come from all over the world, the only things that connect them are the access to internet, interest towards tarot and a burning question they need an answer for.

I never meet my clients, I don’t know anything about them and next to nothing about their questions, and yet I’m supposed to generate a meaningful answer. And mystically, amazingly, that’s exactly what cards do. Sometimes people give me a sentence or two for background information, such as is the situation about romance, friendship, work or what. Sometimes all I get is “what is X planning regarding me” and I have no clue who is X and what these plans could be: hire the querent? Promote him/her? Marry him/her? Kick them out? And… the cards tell me.

There is a certain element of danger in tarot but it’s not what some people fear – that it’s some sort of a gateway for malevolent entities or attract demons or whatnot in your life. It actually is about tarot being a gateway, but it's into one’s own mind, and being cuttingly honest in it. What’s the deepest, most bare thought or desire about something, will surface with the cards.

How to fly when you feel like breaking down? Picture Sabrina M, published under CC licence. 

Through cards, I have got answers for myself and for others that the querent most definitely did not expect or want to hear.

I’ve been asked to describe someone’s beloved, and the description I got was not the person’s current partner, but her ex. And it came as a shock to the sitter herself that the ex, indeed, was the one in her mind. I’ve been asked how to make the “misbehaving” soon-to-be ex to act like the sitter wanted. And the answer I got was not about the uncooperative partner but the sitter herself: what should she fix in her own behaviour and tantrums to be able to ask for changes in her partner. Or for myself, what is my most negative personality trait and that also revolved around hysterics and tantrums in relationships… I don’t even lose my **** often but it still came up!

The most disheartening answers are, of course, negatives for question we’d so yearn to hear positive news about. Will I get this job? NO. Will X ask me out? NO. Will things work all right between me and my ex? NO. Will I be happy soon? NO. However, with tarot the answer is never black and white and that’s why also my readings follow the pattern: yes, and… or unfortunately looks like no, but… There is simply more to the story than the plain, short positive or negative affirmation. "Yes, because of these reasons and this will follow", or "no because of these reasons and here’s what you could do about it to make things better".

I actually hesitated setting up this website and reading service because the questions I am asked about most often relate to reconciling with one’s ex. That, by nature, is a very difficult topic, because exes are usually exes for a reason. At least one person, if not both, walked out because they were so fed up and done that there was nothing left to try. 

Oftentimes, of course, the situation is not this simple and the relationship is much more complicated – or the circumstances are complicating it – and things could still play out to any direction. Nevertheless, the general life experience tells me that if a couple breaks up, the odds are at the side of not reconciling; how could I keep delivering these dire news to hopeful people who are willing to try anything to give it a one more try? 

Tarot has an answer. Yes, quite often I get gloomy cards for the idea of reconciliation: nah, not gonna happen, just keep walking. But sometimes the cards show cautious hope, a tiny ray of light. But they also often show what the sitter should do and change in his/her behaviour to make any progress and that's the key: we can only change ourselves, we can't force others to do anything - man up, take responsibility, treat us better.. Nope. It all starts from ourselves and setting our own example and boundaries. And tarot will handily, readily and honestly tell you if there is something that should or could change from your part, so that any changes can happen from other's part. 

I think the biggest advantage of a tarot reading in a break up situation is to prepare oneself for the worst, if it (a permanent separation) were to come; or armor oneself with hope and resilience, if the emotions could still be salvaged to full-bloom, more mature love with more mature and loving actions. Maybe the relationship could be saved to friendship, affection and respect, if no romantic love can bud anymore.

At the very least, the cards tell what you can learn about the break up, the finished relationship and about yourself to be able to move on and succeed with much better chances next time. There might be a reason why this relationship didn't work - - - a better one might just be in the horizon!

Sun will always rise eventually.

Beginner's super fast guide to tarot - Minor Arcana

What is tarot? In essence, it's a system to seek guidance, dig deep into one's own and other people's subconscious to identify and understand topics, feelings and motifs that are not necessarily visible to the outside. And how do yo do it? By interpreting "readymade" presentations of these inner workings, i.e. card pictures.

Major and Minor Arcana

Tarot decks are divided in Major Arcana and Minor Arcana cards. Of these, Minor Arcana is very similar and related to regular playing cards: four suits, 14 cards in each suit, 56 cards in total.

The suits have different names in different decks, but they represent four elements: fire, earth, water and air. Fire is often represented by wooden wands (branches, torches etc.); earth is represented by coins or pentacles (Medieval golden disks); air is symbolised by swords because they cut through the air with sharpness; and water is represented by cups or vessels of some form, containing - surprise, surprise - water.

The definitions for what the elements mean differ a bit deck by deck, but usually they mean:

• Fire - inner drive, motivation, energy, inspiration, passion (from the negative side including exhaustion).
• Water - emotions and feelings ranging all over from love and affection to sadness; and from heartbreak to bliss.
• Air - thoughts and mental capabilities, ranging from clarity to confusion; and from frustration and anxiety to mastery of logic.
• Earth - stability, long-term planning and goals, pragmatism, material world, earnings and finances, nature.

Tarot can also be read in terms of numerology and astrology, as each card has connections to these aspects too; and because tarot cards are based on esoteric philosophy, they also embody Kabbalah etc. which I'm personally not familiar with, and have still managed to practice tarot with success. So understanding tarot history and every possible angle of the cards is not necessary, only optional.

Major Arcana contains a storyline, called the Fool's Journey, and it begins with the Fool card numbered 0. The story lasts until the card called the World, numbered 21 (22 cards in total). The journey contains symbols - cards - for each archetypal character and a life lesson a person can encounter in life and learn from it. This journey repeats and/or rewinds over and over again in life, it doesn't mean we only encounter each situation or archetype once.

The two Arcanas ("secrets") work together and represent major or far-reaching live events (Major) and smaller everyday actions, thoughts, feelings and situations (Minor).

Learning basic card meanings is as fast as you can make it, if you simply go through a deck of 78 tarot cards and memorise a few key words for each. The pictures of cards give plenty of hints for these key meanings. That's your starting point.

Good tarot tutorials

Handy tutorials for getting started can be found for example:

• Phuture Me, tarot tutorial
• Biddy Tarot's list of free tarot learning resources.
• the American Tarot Association's website - in my opinion the most comprehensive accurate list of card meanings.
• Aeclectic Tarot website because it offers a wealth of resources, explained card meanings and a community to discuss and ask help for interpreting any card.

For a more straightforward version than tarot, maybe check out the Oracle system, which I'm not acquainted with but which is explained for example here: the Little Sage. Oracle decks do not have a set structure and are more based on key words and subjective interpreting of pictures, I've understood.

Learning tarot key words doesn't cut the mustard, though. It's where everything starts to get you on the right track with what the cards could possibly mean! The real learning comes from practising.

Choosing your deck to learn

My favourite learning deck is Rider Waite Smith, any version will do. There are plenty of reprints around of this 1910 classic deck, they mostly differ in brightness of colours. Pick which appeals to you. RWS is my favourite because its pictures are both simple and packed with symbolism. I've been reading with RWS for four years now and I'm still learning layers and deeper meanings for each card - and probably will continue as long as I use the deck.

RWS is handy because it is illustrative and descriptive, not abstract. The cards depict humans doing something, giving clues about what could be the situation, feelings, thoughts, plans and motifs involved. It is also archaic enough to give the cards sort of a "legend" or archetypal feeling: because the people and scenes look like from the Medieval times, it's easier for us to focus on the symbolic meaning of the card instead of getting entangled with the specifics of the aesthetics too closely.

There is absolutely no reason why you couldn't learn with any other deck available, there are thousands to choose from. However, given that the majority of today's decks are based on the meanings and symbolism of the RWS, it's sort of the "mother" of where the most decks have branched out. Learning RWS is almost like learning to walk to be able to run, ride a bike, jump, dance, do parkour, you name it!

Court cards and pips of Minor Arcana

What do I mean by the archetypal? Well, let's examine for example the court cards of the swords suit. The suit represents thought, logic and clarity and it begins with the Ace of Swords, the birth of a great, clear idea or seeing through the clouds of confusion with absolute clarity. The card numbers range from 1 to 10, then we meet the Page of Swords (the messenger or the student of clarity and new ideas); the Knight of Swords (the fast and furious word fighter), the Queen of Swords (the person who deals with her/his emotions through logic) and the King of Swords (the master of logic and analysis skills).

King of Swords by Pamela Colman Smith under instructions of A.E.Waite (c) US Games.

The meaning of King - or court cards, in general - is easy to understand in the context of "legend". What is a king? He's the ruler of the land (suit). He has absolute control and power over what he rules. He doesn't sway or hesitate, he doesn't need to. He has a life time of experience in being raised to rule this suit. The Queen, traditionally and in this legend context, is the mother of the country, the leader of emotions, the person who can offer emotional guidance and solace. A knight is a fighter and protector, a soldier of the suit; and the page is the messenger or someone who's learning the higher skills of the suit.

Queen of Swords by Pamela Colman Smith under instructions of A.E. Waite (c) US Games.

In my opinion, the Queens of RWS mean the feeling when you are well in charge and enjoying your own abilities of that suite, be it passion, logic, emotions or finances. The Kings, in turn, mean that you are in charge of others around you, are able to give guidance and support for others in the realms of that suit: logic, emotions, inspiration or finances/livelihood.

In my personal opinion, the number cards or pips of each suit are the easiest to understand through numerology, where even numbers often mean harmony and balance and odd numbers mean instability and risk, but also a possibility.

The pip card meanings in a non-exhaustive nutshell: number 1 represents the beginning, number 2 is balance, choice or pairing up, number 3 is growth and expansion (from the pair of two comes three, a couple and a baby for example); number 4 means stability and culmination (4 legs of a chair for example); 5 is instability and seeking for new directions (growing out of the stability of 4); 6 is overcoming the instability of 5, i.e. success of some sort; 7 again is about growth, taking a risk inspired by the success of 6; 8 is when something suddenly aligns perfectly to reveal either a very positive or negative moment; 9 is close to culmination so it's either the very edge of success, the last push or the darkest hour before the dawn; and 10 is the end, closure, culmination - the highest or the lowest point depending on what was culminating.

Combine the number meaning with the suit element meaning and voilà, you have the starting point where to work from with your own intuition. Intuitive reading tips coming up soon!

Online readings, mobile apps or paper cards?

Tarot readers seem to be divided into two camps or schools: the ones who are happy with electronic versions of cards (online or on mobile) and the ones who want to physically touch the cards, shuffle them, lay them out, feel the texture, have a tangible element in the reading.

Toth deck cards, photo: Kyknoord, under Creative Commons licence.

I personally use mostly apps because they are so incredibly handy. I find paper decks cumbersome because they require quite a bit of space to shuffle and lay out, whereas with an app, the cards are shuffled by a single tap - even shuffling can be skipped - and you get a neat row of cards by tapping and swiping. Apps enable me to read wherever I please: at work, in a bus, in a queue...

At the beginning of my tarot journey I was apprehensive towards online readings because so many of the websites offering free readings have a tacky, New-Age-clichéy appearance. It somehow smells like a scam miles away, even if it weren't! However, the cards don't seem to mind in what settings they are. I've received surprisingly accurate readings on platforms I didn't otherwise like; and the same cards repeated across different websites I tried, if I asked about the same matter.

However, because of this initial distrust towards online cards I purchased my first paper deck, the Pamela Colman Smith centennial edition package (Rider Waite Smith) and this deck proved to be great for learning purposes. The somewhat archaic and simplistic illustrations are, in fact, fascinatingly deep and packed full of meaning and symbolism, beginning from the facial expressions of the characters.

This year I've moved away from the RWS because I discovered the world of mobile apps, as flaunted before. I think it's important for the reader to be somewhat calm, focused and clear when doing a reading - to avoid the answer being a mudslide of unrelated info -, but I personally have never required any sort of meditation, rituals, dim mood lighting, candles, whatnot to do a reading. Meaning that I seem to be able to get reliable answers on the go, no need to be securely at home with a paper deck (which was too big to carry around).

The beautiful Queen of Cups from Paulina Tarot (c) Paulina Cassidy, published here under permission.

If pre-meditation, candles, rituals etcetera work for you, cool, stick with them, but tarot doesn't seem to be too fuzzy about when and where it's read. The answers depend on the nature of the deck, the question and how well the question was formulated for a comprehensible answer.

My new tarot love is the Fool's Dog Tarot Sampler app,* which is free to install and it offers a great selection of spreads to practice with, including a free form spread. The Sampler does require a shift in thinking: it literally whisks cards across a number of decks into the same spread. This at first felt confusing and even annoying, because a user can't pick and choose which deck to use. You might end up getting cards you don't particularly like or connect well with.

However, after using these apps for a few months now (there are Tarot Samplers II, III and IV available in Google store) I'm utterly surprised by their accuracy. For a fluent or intuitive reader the Sampler gives much more information than one particular deck usually can, because it combines the strengths of a number of decks and imagery. I also like the surprise element of this tool because you never know - even less than you'd know with one deck - what will come up and how the answer wants to be interpreted. Keeps you on your toes!

This app also links to individual decks which can be purchased for around five AUD; extremely affordable. I now have my favourite decks Shadowscape by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law; and Paulina Tarot by Paulina Cassidy on my phone anywhere I go. How great is that! The only problem is that after seeing so many beautiful decks, I now also want them as paper versions just to admire the artwork and possibly frame them. Oh the choices in life...

* I am not affiliated with Fool's Dog, I simply love this product because it works well for me. 

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How to use tarot wrong

If you already have a deck of cards, it's more likely than not that you've been using them wrong at least in some occasions.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't claim to be a tarot authority of any sort, nor from the tarot police. But I've simply learned through my own unaided journey through tarot (I'm self-taught and later on, actively learned from other readers via blogs and online forums) that there are many many pitfalls a tarot rookie - and even a more experienced reader - can and will encounter.

Tarot collage by Littledeadgirl.

Clarifiers

Because tarot cards are not easy to understand at first sight - after all, each has multiple and layered meanings, and can be more or less cryptic depending on the deck - the most natural thing to do is to ask another card to clarify the previous ones. And then another. And one more. And... that's where things go downhill.

The problem is that the more cards are pulled, the more information is gained. Great, right? No. I firmly believe - and again, just based on my own experience - that one to four cards are more than sufficient to answer any question. If you still don't understand, ask another question. Maybe the wording  of your question simply can't provide a clear answer. Yes and no questions are the hardest to get right, more about that soon. Did you forget your question in the midst of pulling more and more cards? That happens easily too.

The best way to start working with tarot is to write the question down. If you use a mobile app, type the question down. Or use a journal, piece of paper, a post it note, your phone's memo option... anything goes, as long as you get the exact wording down. If the question itself becomes muddied and fudged in your head, the answers will be muddied and fudged too.

Because each card has multiple meanings, a single card can tell a whole story. With tarot it pays to be patient. That sure is something I'm still learning. I used to be the queen of repeat questions and clarifiers. If I didn't get a card I understood (or didn't like the answer, let's be honest here...) I'd keep pulling more until I got one I understood/liked. But, was the answer correct then? 95% chance it was not. It is the nature of tarot that each card requires attention, focus, unravelling, meditating, even. They will open up, but only to the ones who wait, i.e. stay calm, patient and observant.

Repeat questions

This was already touched in the previous section but it's a slightly different problem than clarifiers. Nowadays, if I can't comprehend the message, I might say: "show me the message in a way that I understand" to direct my own mind and subconscious, and then pull another card(s). But this can't be done to death: I don't want to flood myself with irrelevant extra angles that cards so love delivering.

Funnily enough, tarot has a mechanism to stop repeat questions. At some stage, cards just start giving nonsensical answers and often repeat cards like 9 Swords and 10 Swords: overthinking, overworrying and this matter is being thought to death, it needs to be put to rest. That's the end of story with that question, at least for now.

As strange as it may sound, cards behave like a trusted but brutally honest friend. No matter what's the question, the first few answers for the same question are crisp clear honest. But if you keep repeating the question, the cards sort of "cave in" and either go on a blabbering mode (have you thought of this, how about that, you really should consider this...) or throw in a row of super positive or super negative cards, as if spreading one's hands in the air: "I can see you're not listening, here, have the answers you want OR fear the most, I'm done!".

Emotionally investing in the outcome

Well, truth be told, if people were not emotionally invested in the outcome, they wouldn't have invented tarot in the first place! Of course we read cards because we want to know answers to questions that matter to us most. Will I get the job? Will I succeed in this undertaking? Will I meet my dream partner? Will I marry soon? Will s/he like me? Will I have kids? Will I be happy next year?

The trick is, however, to not be too attached to a specific outcome. Firstly, never ask a question you are not willing to hear an honest answer to. Don't ask "do I look fat in this dress"... or "when will I die" if you can't handle the answer (timing questions are horribly difficult anyway so you'd end up fretting for nothing, most likely).

Secondly, accept that whatever the answer is, it doesn't mean you can never get around it. Yes, you might get a NO for "will I get this job". But that can mean that this specific job is not the best one for you and there is another better one in the pipeline, just stay patient and keep doing your best. Same goes for partners, or even children. Will I have a baby this year with a negative answer doesn't mean you'll never have kiddies.

Tarot works best as a troubleshooting, problem solving and self development tool IMO, and you can't beat an obstacle and choose a different, more fruitful path if you can't identify the problem/obstacle in the first place. So sometimes negative readings are blessings in disguise as they warn you about an outcome and give extra time to prepare and change your plans. And sometimes, they actually show a negative outcome brought to you by... you.

I've had more negative answers to my own job application questions than I care to remember. However, in half of the questions I learned later on that a) the job opening didn't go forward and no one was selected or b) I actually didn't want the job after some reconsidering! So, sometimes a NO answer can mean that you yourself will end up changing your mind in the future and YES was never a long-term possibility. Funny that!

Yes/no questions

Unless you have a reliable, established system for knowing when cards mean yes and when they mean no, it's always better to ask something more open-ended or descriptive. Such as: what would be my best course of action in relation to... Or what should I take into account... Or how should I proceed in this matter. A snappy quote I once saw was: my deck doesn't come with yes and no cards, so it's not realistic to expect yes or no pop out.

Each card has multiple, layered meanings, which can take positive or negative flavour depending on the question. Say, 10 Cups is one of the happiest cards in any deck: the attainment of dreams, culmination of happiness, the ultimate bliss. But you might not want to see that card pop up for your love interest and his/her current partner, in case you are sneakily hoping it would be on a shaky ground and you'd still have a chance in winning this popular person's heart. So, depending on a question, even the most positive card can take a negative vibe for you personally.

Some readers use a fixed system where certain cards or reversed cards mean no and certain others mean yes. Feel free to experiment and find your own system. I myself haven't found a fool proof system and I always treat yes and no questions with a pinch of salt, trying to see the context and the wider answer and angle the cards inevitably provide. It can be helpful, too, to not just expect black and white but to accept the gradual greys in between.

Do you need to be a psychic to learn tarot?

I stumbled upon tarot in 2011, when I was going through a major life change, a divorce. I hadn't had any particular interest towards tarot earlier, because I regarded it as either a hoax or something only psychics and mediums use - and I wasn't sure I'd believe in those concepts either. The left-brained science geek, you see? 

But what do you know. On a whim, to distract myself from the heartbreak, I ordered a free online astrology reading (funnily enough I found astrology more plausible than other forms of "alternative" or "esoteric" knowledge) which happened to come with a complementary tarot reading. 

My first encounter with tarot cards was pretty much simple, pure shock and disbelief. The three card reading delivered cards called Death, Tower and Hanged Man. 

Pictured: Hanged Man and Tower from the Tarot of the Magicians, Oswald Wirth 1927, based on the Marseilles Tarot from 1499.

It summarised my situation to a T: I was going through a major personality change and life change, my surroundings and circumstances were crumbling from what I had previously assumed and planned; and I couldn't move out just yet due to financial reasons and having promised to my soon-to-be ex-husband that we'd discuss the break up properly, neither of us would just escape. So there I was, watching myself and my life dismantle, yet hanging in there at the scene because I had made a promise - - - Hanged Man is the card of self-sacrifice and change of perspective. 

Of course I didn't simply know what the cards meant, when I saw them. But the imagery is so visceral I got a hint what they could mean and was shocked and curious enough to start studying. I read everything I found online about these specific three cards. Then I read some  more about other cards. I learned about the Major and Minor Arcana, the different parts of a standard tarot deck. I learned that all those cards were Major Arcana, meaning that they were not mere everyday events or feelings, but much more profound and even life-changing. And I kept reading more, and started doing free online readings for myself to learn more. 

Now when I look back to that moment, the first reading I got may well have been a hoax. It's a well known fact that people turn to tarot and its insight and predictive powers in the midst of distress. When else would you need more solace and a peak to the future than when going through something dramatic? So the row of Death, Tower and Hanged Man could have been just a standard issue of cards the online system sent to everyone. But... 

The more I read about tarot and the more I did readings for myself - first with online decks and then with my own paper copy of RWS (Rider Waite Smith, the "classic" tarot) deck, I realised that these specific cards could not be a coincidence. Not after repeating so many times, and conveniently fading away from my readings when I started feeling better and healed from the emotional turmoil. 

But, now to my question: do you need to be a psychic to learn tarot? Well, what is a psychic anyway? 

If it means someone who is well connected with their intuition, then yes, it does help. But even that is not a prerequisite. An analytical and logical person can do equally well with cards, that's the beauty of it. I've read cards for five years now and I have been a very structured and methodological reader, relying on the set book meanings of each card, and I'm only now venturing towards the intuitive style: relying more on instant feelings, emotions and flashings of "knowing" when I see each card and the whole spread. 

Tarot is a language and each card is a word, description or concept, just in a symbolic form. It can be learned like any other language in the world. Some people seem more naturally prone to learning and some struggle a bit more, but it's possible for anyone. You'll only need an open mind to look at what you see without bias or preconceptions. And then tell yourself what is it you see and how it fits in your life (or, someone else's, if you're reading to another person).

More about reading tips and techniques coming up soon!