Experience has shown me that it can be helpful to get familiar with the order of the 22 major arcana cards.  It’s the story of a journey, starting off with The Fool and ending with The World. Lay them all out in a row and look at the scenes that are unfolding in each one. Start to become familiar with where each card falls. For example:

Strength sits between The Chariot and The Hermit. Here, we have this vibrant, decisive energy on one wing with the calm, passive, reflective energy on the other wing and in between Strength where the focus of this card is on reaching goals, settlements, against that of the strength of willpower, determination to overcome adversity. Learning the order that the major arcana run in can help to prompt you in your own readings by asking, “What had to come before this card, and what does it lead to after?”

As many of my clients will gladly tell you, I do NOT go for all of the ‘Angels,’ ‘Fairies’ and what I would term “Woo Woo” stuff!  Yes, I’m intuitive / ‘psychic’ / read energy, but I’m also ‘grounded’ and very ‘down to earth.’  Tarot has been built up to hold so much mystery and mystique, and it’s hard to shake some of the superstitions its reputation has collected over the centuries. When I teach tarot workshops, there is always at least one student who brings a borrowed deck to class. Why? Because they’ve heard that you’re not supposed to buy your own tarot deck.  WRONG! In fact, I do ask my students NOT to rush out and buy a deck beforehand, only because my classes will help them to decide what deck will suit them best.   

The power of tarot has nothing to do with the process of acquiring a deck. Tarot is about empowerment, not about waiting for things to appear in your life magically. If you want to learn tarot, go out and find a deck that speaks to you and calls it your own. I have clients who come to me and ask which hand they should shuffle the cards with, Really!!!  Or they ask should they cut the deck, and how many times? Not necessary – just think about your question and put your energy into the cards is my reply!!!

For the reader, these rituals and superstitions can become a major block when you’re new to tarot, because they can plant seeds of doubt that you are starting off on a wrong note. You might wonder if the energy is off, or if you’ve jinxed yourself somehow. Can other people read with your deck? It’s up to you. I do let people read with my cards when I am teaching. I don’t think someone else’s hands on my deck will affect my ability to interpret a reading – our power remains within, no matter what.

Do you need to wrap your deck in silk, or leave it in a special place so that it doesn’t attract ‘low’ or negative energy?  I do have special ‘Tarot Bags’ for my cards. However, it’s because I respect my cards and want to look after them. I don’t find that it is completely necessary to have a special bag or cloth for them.  Some of my decks are kept in the original box.  Remember, Free Will and Empowerment – keep your cards in whatever you like, wherever you like.

What about my ‘intuition’?  Clients and pupils ask me ‘How do I develop my intuition’?   Well, like anything in life, if you don’t use it, you will most likely lose it.  Intuition is something that has to be worked on, exercised and developed.  It is not something that is handed down from one generation to the next. We all have it, but not everyone uses it. Tarot can be one of many tools that will help strengthen it.

When you read for someone or even yourself, don’t twist the message of the cards. Consider yourself the messenger. Not the one who decides what ‘should happen.’  But never affirm something terrible and allow a stranger to leave with information they can’t possibly process. Yes be honest,  but don’t be brutal. Tarot is a tool for helping and guidance above all, never a definitive sentence. In each card, you can find at least three pieces of advice every time you draw it. In a difficult situation, look out for those.

I dread being asked the question – “Is my husband having an affair”?  I know that if I give an affirmative answer the woman will be devastated, even if it is just confirming what she already knows.  I tend to counter with the question  -“Why do you feel that you need to ask that question”? Then the truth, frustration, and anger come out, then I’m able to counsel the woman, not reading cards and predicting a nasty event.

While I often say that there are no set rules to reading the Tarot, one must remember that the reading of Tarot Cards is part of a process to help and heal others. It is not for the general purpose to increase your bank balance!

Yes, there are professional Tarot Card readers who make a living from the cards. However, the living earned is likely to be modest. Here are some intentions/goals to aim for as a reader and, if you don’t like them I would suggest that reading tarot cards is not for you. Being ethical and building trust with the client go hand in hand. Often you will find that clients will come with serious problems on their hands. You have a responsibility towards them. Be kind, be truthful and be helpful.  Don’t promise things just to make them feel better. Don’t paint everything black either. Don’t diagnose someone who has health problems but rather help them deal with the problem on the emotional and spiritual level.  Often with health issues, I will refer my clients to a doctor, likewise with lawyers and other professions.

Remember, You are reading Tarot Cards to help others. You cannot use the tarot cards or readings to your own benefit over somebody else. You cannot use a Tarot Reading to offer benefit to the client over another individual.  By all means, you can provide advice/warnings on business and relationships, etc.. However, it cannot be advice that will help the client gain an unhealthy advantage over another person.  You should know where the line is drawn.

Some tarot readers ‘must’ use reversed cards and consider it an essential part of their reading style. But style is the key word here. As with any reading I give, I emphasise that the client has free will to go and do whatever they wish after the reading, contrary to the reading!  So is the case for the reader, you can do whatever you wish – reversed or not…

Using reversed cards is just one of many tarot reading techniques. As you progress with your tarot readings, you will have many opportunities to learn and experiment with reading techniques – reversed cards, different spreads, your own spreads, etc.  But when you’re starting out, keep it simple. Learn the cards, feel the cards, become familiar and comfortable with your interpretations. Develop a relationship with your tarot deck and let it show you what it can do. There is no hard and fast rule that says you must use reversed cards at all. With a clear question or intention for a reading, and with the right spread, upright cards can give you everything you need to know already. Personally, I never use the reversed cards in my early days of reading; it never affected the outcome. However, I do use them now, but sparingly.

I’m attempting to make life easy for you here; so in the early days when you’re still learning tarot, it can be difficult enough familiarising yourself with each card. Therefore it isn’t necessary to add a completely new layer of meanings to the reading. When you reach a point where you are comfortable with your deck, then you might want to try out some new reading styles to see what fits.  This is the time for experimentation.

I have been reading in Asia for over six years now. Last month I read for over forty people in full readings and dozens more at various promotional events, which gives you an idea of the numbers of people I have read for over time. You will appreciate then that I occasionally have times when I question whether or not my intuition is working or not, so I am not surprised when I hear someone say, “I’ve been trying to read tarot, but I don’t think I have any intuition.”

Learning tarot will challenge you and will also change you. It’s a natural organic process, which you will have to trust me on.  The more you read for clients, the more you tune into your intuition. Back in the early days, I remember client subsequently correct, with the client offering the confirmation.  There are many times when I have used a logical approach to an answer, and mostly I have been wrong!   Clients’ lives are not logical; often that is why they want the reading.  So while you are conducting the reading, trust your intuition, go with the flow, listen to your inner self.

Tarot Reading for some can be a challenge to learn, often discouraging, only if you approach it without confidence, trepidation and without suitable knowledge and preparation.  Instead, embrace the event, engage in the process, feel, believe in yourself and the intuition will open up naturally, waking you up in ways that you never expected. Don’t ‘second guess’ the moment, just accept.

However, take the reading for what it is – a reading!   Do not start putting unrealistic expectations into your head to see the past, present, and future when you flip the cards.  Often there is just one simple message that you are meant to deliver to the client, nothing more and nothing less.  If the client doesn’t act on that message, ignores or refutes it, they too have their ‘Free will.’

A couple of tips on how the message /intuition ‘jumps out’ at you: Colours, or an image that has always been there but has never been noticed before, is information that the cards are giving to you. Your goal is to read the cards, to know them, to interpret them. Focus on what they’re showing you.

Like any long-term commitment or goal, it can be helpful to set smaller, short-term objectives for yourself along the way to get to where you’re going.  To learn the cards, I used to deal a six card spread each day, asking what the day would hold.  Looking at the six cards and their respective positions in the spread, I was able to develop an understanding of the cards’ positions and how they interacted with the other cards in the spread. 

In the very early days, if I didn’t quite understand the individual card’s meaning, I could go look it up, and in that way, I learned more about a card each day.  After a while, my confidence grew, and so I wanted to do more, learn more, read more and then start bigger spreads, use reverse cards, etc. Take your time and enjoy the experience… It all takes time; you can go at your own pace, no rush.  And enjoy!

If you are good enough your reputation will encourage repeat business and recommendations; the money will come to you. Just have to be patience and enjoy the journey.