Reading Tarot Cards, A How- To

By Bridget Lord

First, let’s start with what tarot cards are. One deck comes with 78 cards, from The Star (hope and new beginnings) to the King of Cups (compassion and balance) to The Tower (pride and disaster). They are used to predict or understand your past, present, and/or future depending on how you read and interpret them. 

First, decide on your question. Your question should be broad but defined by one aspect of your life. For example, “what does the future of my love life look like?” or “what path should I take in pursuing a career?”. 

Second, you should decide what kind of reading you want. 

• 1 card - 

  • You can draw one card each day to set intentions and guide your choices that day. 

  • One card can also be used for a question that you feel has one answer, like a future question. 

• 3 cards - 

  • Past, present, future readings are used with three cards, reading from left to right.

  • Situation, action, outcome readings also use three cards

  • Three cards can also be used to help you consider three different options, like a career or academic question. 

• Celtic Cross - 

• A Celtic Cross is a cross (4 cards) plus four cards to the right of the cross. This is a complex reading that should help you understand your question’s answer fully. 

 Next, shuffle your deck. I recommend purchasing a deck of tarot cards from a local shop, secondhand from Depop, or from a small shop on Etsy. While you shuffle, think intently of your question and devote some of your positive energy to the cards. 

Finally, flip and interpret the cards. I encourage finding a friend already experienced in tarot to help you understand your cards, or downloading an app. I can recommend the apps Golden Thread Tarot, Trusted Tarot, or Tarot Card Reading Numerology.

Bridget’s Favorite Cards: 

• The Empress. The Empress represents divine femininity and nature. I love this card because divine feminine energy is what inspires me and keeps me going even through struggle. 

• The Magician. The Magician represents individual power and spirituality, and in a daily reading it can encourage you to manifest on that day! (You can learn more about manifestation from Lily Boyd in issue one!) 

• Ace of Pentacles. The Ace of Pentacles represents new opportunity and prosperity. I love it because it can indicate that it is time for me to jump on an opportunity that comes my way, or one that I had seen before but been too afraid to pursue. 

Bridget’s Favorite Question 

“What has the past taught me, present experience truly like unclouded from my own assumptions, and future hold for me in this relationship?” I love this question because each relationship, even distant ones, are very important to me because our connections to other people are what makes us human. Whether it’s friends, colleagues, family, or a romantic partner, this question can teach me a lot about my relationships each time I ask it, and I always find it to be very accurate to my own life.