Tarot card reading means laying out a few picture cards for a question and talking through what each one shows about it. The cards do not fix your future. They give you a set of images to think with: a figure walking away, a cup spilling over, a tower struck by lightning. A good reading uses those pictures to help you see your situation more clearly, so that the decision you make afterwards is your own and a better informed one.
This guide covers where the cards come from, what is in the deck, what happens in a reading, what tarot can and cannot tell you, and how to tell a careful reader from one to avoid.
Where tarot comes from
Tarot began as a deck of playing cards. In northern Italy in the 1400s, noble families played a card game called tarocchi, using a normal pack with an extra row of picture cards added as trumps. Those trumps became today’s Major Arcana.
Reading the cards for meaning came much later, in France at the end of the 1700s. The deck most readers use today, and the one this site follows, is the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, published in London in 1909. Its pictures were drawn by the artist Pamela Colman Smith, working with the writer A. E. Waite. Smith gave every card a scene, not only the trumps, and that is why a beginner can read a Three of Swords or a Ten of Cups just by looking at it.
Tarot is not an Indian tradition, and it is not part of Jyotish. It sits beside Kundli and numerology as a separate tool.
The deck: 78 cards
| Part of the deck | Cards | What it usually speaks about |
|---|---|---|
| Major Arcana | 22, numbered 0 to 21 | The big turns of life: a new start, a test, an ending, a choice that changes the road |
| Wands (fire) | 14 | Drive, ambition, new ideas, the energy to act |
| Cups (water) | 14 | Feelings, love, friendship, family bonds |
| Swords (air) | 14 | Thoughts, decisions, arguments, hard truths |
| Pentacles (earth) | 14 | Work, money, home, health and the body, skill built slowly |
Each suit runs from Ace to Ten, followed by four court cards: Page, Knight, Queen and King. The court cards often describe a person, or a way of behaving, more than an event.
In the Rider-Waite-Smith order, Strength is card 8 and Justice is card 11. Older Marseille-style decks swap the two, so do not be surprised if a different book numbers them the other way round.
What happens in a reading
- You bring one question. “What do I need to understand about this job offer?” works far better than “Tell me about my life.” The question guide has 25 examples.
- The cards are shuffled. The reader shuffles while you both keep the question in mind. Some readers ask you to cut the deck or say “stop”.
- The cards are laid in a spread. Each place in the layout has a meaning, such as past, present or advice. One card gives a quick look; three cards tell a short story. The spreads guide explains the common layouts.
- Each card is read in its place. The same card says something different as “the challenge” than as “the advice”. A card that lands upside down may be read as reversed, which the reversed cards guide explains.
- The cards are read together. Three Cups in one spread say feelings are at the centre of this question. Several Major Arcana cards suggest a bigger turning point than the question first seemed.
- You talk it through. A good reader asks you questions back: does this fit, what does this picture bring up for you? The reading is a conversation, not a lecture.
In a reading by video call, the reader lays the cards out in front of the camera, so you see each one as it is turned over.
How to read a card you have never seen
Start with what is in the picture before you look up any meaning. Who is there? What are they doing? Is the scene calm or stormy? On The Fool, a young man stands at the edge of a cliff with a small bag and a white dog, looking at the sky, not at his feet. Even without a book, you can feel what that says about starting something new with more trust than planning.
Then add the number and the suit. Aces are beginnings, Fives are usually a struggle or a loss, Tens are the end of a cycle. On the Ace of Cups, a hand comes out of a cloud holding a cup that overflows into a pool: an Ace, so a beginning, and Cups, so a feeling. A new feeling, given freely.
Last, connect it to the person. The Eight of Pentacles, a craftsman bent over his work, means one thing for a student preparing for an exam and another for a shop owner who has run the same business for twenty years.
What tarot can and cannot do
| A reading can | A reading cannot |
|---|---|
| Help you put a muddled feeling into words | Promise an outcome or a date |
| Show you options you had not listed | Tell you what another person secretly thinks |
| Point out the pattern you keep repeating | Make the decision for you |
| Give you a calm hour to think about one question | Replace a doctor, a lawyer or a financial adviser |
A card about health is a reason to see a doctor, never a diagnosis. A card about money is a reason to look at your own plan with someone qualified. Timing questions, such as when a marriage or a job change is likely, are better suited to a Kundli, which works with planetary periods; the marriage prediction calculator is an example.
How to choose a reader
A careful reader:
- explains how they read, and is happy to answer your questions about it;
- says what a card can suggest, and also says what it cannot show;
- gives the choice back to you, and does not push you to decide out of fear;
- lets you stop the reading at any point.
Be wary of anyone who:
- says you are cursed, or that someone has done “black magic” on you;
- says a card shows a problem that only a costly ritual from them can remove;
- predicts a death, an illness or a divorce as if it were certain;
- asks you to come back again and again for the same question.
If a reading leaves you more frightened or confused than when you started, step back and talk to someone you trust. The tarot myths guide covers the cards people fear most, such as Death and The Tower.
If you want to learn
You do not need a special gift. Learning tarot is closer to learning a language: symbols, numbers and positions, then practice. A four-week start that works for most people:
- Week 1: the Major Arcana from The Fool to The Wheel of Fortune (0 to 10). Look at one card each morning and write one line about it.
- Week 2: the rest of the Major Arcana (11 to 21).
- Week 3: the Aces to Tens of two suits, noticing what each number does in both.
- Week 4: the other two suits and the court cards, then your first three card spreads.
The card of the day on the tarot hub draws one card for each date, which is an easy way to keep the habit going.
A reading with Namieta
Namieta Modi gives tarot readings by video call, booked on WhatsApp, for people anywhere in India. You bring the question; she lays out the cards where you can see them and talks you through each one. Tarot can also sit alongside her numerology and Kundli work, if your question needs more than one view. See tarot card reading for how a session works.
Questions about tarot card reading
Do I need to believe in tarot for a reading to help?
No. Most people come with a question they are stuck on, not with a belief. The cards give you pictures to talk about, and talking about them often brings out what you already half know. What you do next is still your decision.
How many cards are in a tarot deck?
78: the 22 cards of the Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana cards in four suits of 14 (Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles). The meanings on this site follow the Rider-Waite-Smith deck. The tarot hub lists all 78.
Is tarot the same as fortune telling?
Not in the way it is read here. Fortune telling claims to know a future that is already fixed. A tarot reading looks at the situation you are in, the feelings around it and the likely direction if nothing changes, and leaves the choice with you.
Is tarot part of Indian astrology?
No. Tarot comes from Europe, while Kundli, numerology and Vastu come from Indian tradition. They answer different kinds of questions, and many people use more than one. The comparison guide explains which suits which question.
Can I learn to read the cards myself?
Yes. Learn the 22 Major Arcana first, then one suit at a time, and draw one card a day with a line in a notebook about what it meant for you. The spreads guide has simple layouts to practise with.
How does a reading by video call work?
You share your question on the call, the reader shuffles and lays out the cards in front of the camera so you can see each one, and then talks you through them. You can ask questions at any point. Namieta gives tarot readings this way, by video call, booked on WhatsApp.