Learning Tarot - Tips To Become An Excellent Tarot Reader

Learning tarot is one of the cheapest hobbies around. You can practically get started with just a few dollars that you spend on a basic tarot deck, and a good book for learning the meanings of the cards. And possibly a notebook if you want to keep a journal.

It's really that simple to get started.

Now when it comes to how to actually start, there are different schools of thought on this subject.

Some people say that you should not use any books to learn the tarot, but you should simply use your intuition by looking at the single cards and just go with the flow. Let your imagination running and write all the impressions that you get from the cards.

Other people, on the other hand, say that the best way to really learn the tarot fast is to have at least one good book that teaches you the basic meanings of each card. You can go with one book or have a few excellent tarot beginner books that will teach you all the basics you need. Or you can amass as many books as you can and read the meanings of the cards from all these books, and then create your own meaning from everything you've gathered.

Which way you go really depends on your style of learning. If you learn well from books, then go for it. Tarot book reviews offers some excellent books to get you started. And they're quite cheap too.

If you know you are psychic or your intuition is quite strong and you can grasp meanings, feelings and ideas from the world around you, then just get a good deck of tarot cards and go with it.

The most important part is to get started, one way or another. Just do it (the Nike style, as they say!).

So what are some of the best decks to get you started?

Years ago, when I first started to learn the tarot, I bought myself a Rider Waite deck. Later on I found out that this is indeed the basic tarot deck that people learning the tarot are getting as their first. There is something to this deck that is very clear to read and understand that many other decks don't have...at least not for a beginner to tarot.

Just like with learning tarot, there is also another school of thought on which deck is best to start with. There are people who say that you should start with the tarot deck that mostly speaks to you when you first see it.

This means that it could be really anything. For many people this works well. But if you happen to like the artwork on a tarot deck that has not a typical RW (Rider Waite) symbolism for reading, you might find it a bit tougher to really get started.

One reason is because the most tarot book are based on one of the variants of the Rider-Waite deck. So if you're a person learning from a book, you'll really find it hard to get a few good books on your particular deck.

Also once you've gone the alternate route, you'll find it later on that you don't like the Rider Waite deck at all and you'll never get to really enjoy the power that this deck gives you.

But no matter the deck you choose as your first, one thing you definitely need: a first tarot deck.

There are many people (I'm one of them) who like to keep a tarot journal. I find it so much easier to jot down my notes on the readings, on the meanings of the cards that I've learned about and also on my personal, intuitive meanings. They helped me learn tarot much faster than I would have otherwise managed to do.

A good tarot journal doesn't need to be expensive. Here is a description of the Tarot an illustrated journal, a great journal to start out your tarot journey with.

Why is this particular journal so good? it is because it doesn't only have the notes section, but also a set of mini tarot cards that you can use to learn the tarot with. So in effect, you can start out learning the tarot only with this journal, as it has the guide (it has an explanation of the actual meanings), the journal part (for taking notes) and the actual cards as well. You can basically cut out the cards and use them in your practice.

Alternatively if you already have a tarot deck, you can use any type of journal that you're comfortable with. I've even used once a student notebook that I never got to use ages ago when I finished college, so it was sitting empty on a shelf, gathering dust. I wrote in this journal some of my most powerful readings.

Another reason why you should get yourself a journal is because later on, months or even years after, you can look back at these initial readings and see how far you've come since starting. There is nothing better for feeling good about our progress than seeing it clearly, written in pen on paper.

Before you actually start reading, you need to know a bit more about what you have to do before.

First, you need to find a place that is comfortable and enjoyable, where you know you will be able to read the tarot in peace. Try to not be disturbed during the reading, as you'll just lose your train of thoughts and you might lose that important bit of information crucial to the reading. Or you'll need another 30 minutes just to get back in the "mood for reading".

Then you need to shuffle the cards. Some people like to do some card cleansing, but I simply use the card shuffling for that.

When it comes to shuffling, there are several ways you can do it, and in the videos below I'll show you a few interesting and very useful ways to do it. It's best if you learn to do at least two different ways, so that you can really mix the cards well.

One thing...when you got yourself a new deck, everything is neatly organize so you really need to mix these cards well. One way I do it is by sitting on the floor (or on the bed) and spread all the cards on the the big surface in front of me. Then I just move them around with my hands well. Then I gather them and then start shuffling them.

I find this saves me time from having to shuffle too much. Otherwise you might end up with a few cards that have not been mixed at all, and you have to do it all over again.

I'm not going to focus here on complex readings such as the Tree of Life or the Celtic Cross Tarot, because that's what you'll do later, once you're off the ground.

What I found works best when starting out with learning the tarot, is doing daily tarot readings.

Let me explain.

Before anything else, you need to learn the meanings of the cards. Whether it is from books or from your own intuition, you still need to know what an Ace of Wands means for you or a 10 of Pentacles.

If you're starting out with a complicated tarot spread, you'll be confused at best and ready to give up at worst. It'll be just too overwhelming simply because you don't know yet the card meanings, and even more you don't know the connections between the cards, the tarot story that unfolds in front of your eyes.

The daily tarot reading allows you to get familiar with your cards, to learn the basic meanings and feel more comfortable with them as well.

There are several ways to do your daily tarot reading, and here are some of the more common ways explained.

• Paying attention to the card- this means that you simply take your card and start looking at it. Really looking at it and paying attention to the details. See not only the main figure or theme, but also the small elements in the background.
  
  For example, do you see that little blue bird flying away off in the distance? Or the small fish jumping happily out of the water? Or the water itself - is it calm, is it wavy, is it big or just a thin stream that is ready to dry up?
  
  By noticing all these elements, you will not only learn the card's meaning really well, but you'll also enrich what you've learned with new meanings, new connections.



• Tarot meditation - this is something that I'm doing currently when I get a new tarot deck. So how do I do it? I shuffle the deck, pick a card, look at it, at all the details just as before, and after a few minutes, when I'm in a meditative state, I'll "enter the card".
  
  Just like you'd enter a comic book and see the characters come to life. You start to speak with the characters.
  
  And don't forget the fish, the dog, the cat, any other animal you see in the card. Turn around, turn 360 degrees and look around. What do you see? What do you feel, smell, hear? Do you hear some music? Is there chit-chatter going on around you? What are the people telling you? Ask them questions, and hear their answers.
  
  You'll grow much richer, with much more knowledge of the cards if you do this.



• Shuffle the cards, pick one and look at it. Then start reading on the various meanings that your tarot books are telling you. Then just pick the meaning that speaks to you mostly. This is an easy way to learn the cards, one that I've used at times as well.

Go through one tarot deck at at time, each day pick a card and then set it aside so it doesn't come up again when you shuffle the deck the next day. You'll learn tarot this way faster than most people who are learning tarot by jumping into readings before knowing what exactly they are reading about.

The Sakki Sakki Tarot
The Sakki Sakki Tarot Deck is the most refreshing way to enlightment. The size of the deck is such a plus - finally, my small hands can handle my cards gracefully. The Major Arcana is wonderful, but this deck is special because the Minor Arcana is wonderful too. Some of the Minors have no heads, but as others say, it somehow makes the actual message come through easier.

Connolly Miniature Tarot
I cannot believe the art on these cards. I would think with the artwork shrunk down so small, the quality wouldn't be so great. But these are wonderful. Great for a trip or to put in your purse. I used to read with them when I had downtime as a security guard. I would highly recommend them!

Le Veritable Tarot de Marseille (French Edition)
The clarity, the colours, and the general production values make this a superb Marseille tarot deck. If this is the style of tarot you want, with unillustrated pip cards, then you can't do better than this beautiful deck.

Tarot of the Saints
This odd, charming hybrid of a book synchronizes Christian hagiography, Gnostic mysticism, Jungian archetypes, and the Tarot deck. Place, author of Angels' Tarot and other works, draws correlations between the figures of the Major Arcana and the Christian saints that are not hard to see and appealing in their transparency: St. Nicholas as the Magician, St. Barbara as the Tower, St. Valentine for the Lovers, and so forth.

The Tarot of Prague
Lavish, beautifully-produced book and tarot deck evoking the rich imagery of the Magic City. Composed from thousands of original photographs of the art and architecture of Prague, each gorgeous image on the 78 cards is a stunning, original collage. For both tarot novices and experts, the accompanying 300-page book gives in-depth guidance to using this gorgeous Tarot, with * interpretations and explanations of each card's symbols * links with traditional Tarot symbols * how to use the deck for cartomantic readings * how to make short, interpretive Tarot readings * keywords to help readings emerge quickly.

Children Cards - Tarot Cards For Kids
Have you ever thought teaching your children tarot? There are many wonderful and suitable children cards that help kids learn tarot easily. This article wil...

Tarot Card Images Online
There are many reasons why people would be searching for tarot card images. For example before buying a new deck, I always check online the deck images, to s...

Shadowscapes Tarot
The Shadowscapes tarot is a relatively new deck which was publishes in May 2010. Of course I got it the very next month as it was available at Amazon. This ...

Celtic Cross Tarot And Celtic Cross Spread Meaning
This lens will help you learning to read the Celtic Cross tarot spread, which is probably the most popular and well known spread when learning the tarot. I ...

Tarot Bags For Your Tarot Decks
Tarot bags are absolutely great to have if you are either a: - tarot reader - tarot deck collector - both If you have any kind of relationship to tarot and...

William Blake Tarot
If you're looking for creative, unusual and artsy or artistic tarot cards, the William Blake tarot is one worth checking out. I got myself this tarot deck f...

Printable Tarot Cards
There is a new growing trend in making your own tarot decks using printable tarot cards. But the question is why would you go to the troubles of printing a ...

Free Tarot Online - The Best Tarot Free Reading Sites
Free tarot online readings have become quite popular over the last couple of years. Tarot has a rich history of existence. Starting hundreds of years ago a...

Best Tarot Decks For Reading Tarot
If you're here, you most probably like tarot. And if you like tarot, it's unavoidable that you'll end up collecting some of the best tarot decks to learn and...