Alioth Fox (but you can call me Daddy~) on Nostr: Simple tarot reading for those of you who want to try it but are intimidated about ...

Simple tarot reading for those of you who want to try it but are intimidated about remembering what all 78 cards represent:

First, the cards don't have special powers; they don't predict the future, they don't tell you what to do. They're tools to help you understand/organize your own thoughts. Like most elements of modern witchcraft, the tarot is about self-empowerment. Inside of you, there is a better version of yourself (the inner self or higher self). The thought behind tarot is that you are using imagery and symbolism of cards to understand what your higher self is trying to tell you. You may believe in some supernatural version of that, and that's fine. But it's absolutely not required.

Second, you don't need to memorize what every card means. Start by just looking at the illustrations on the cards and thinking about how they make you feel. Each card's art tells a story.

If you can't remember every card, remember what each *suit* represents:<li>Swords are intellect and reason.</li><li>Wands are passion and desire.</li><li>Cups are feelings and emotions.</li><li>Pentacles are resources and wealth/poverty.</li><li>The Major Arcana, (named cards like the Fool, the Tower, etc.) are parts of the Inner Self.</li>

And if you really WANT to know each card, make a cheat sheet! Your deck probably even came with one. If not, there's plenty of resources online. There's no shame in using a reference - it's ALL about self-empowerment, and you do that in whatever way works best for you. The tarot is just a tool. If you want to keep every card right-side-up and not do reversals in your readings, do it! If you want to pull out just the Major Arcana and not use the whole deck, do that too. If your deck says "rods" instead of "wands" or "coins" instead of "pentacles," that's fine. There's no wrong way.

Here's a simple daily practice: ask the question "what do I need to know today?" Separate the Major Arcana (that's all the named cards) and the Minor Arcana (that's any card with a suit - swords, wands, cups, pentacles) into two piles, then draw just a single card from each pile. Look at it as your Inner Self answering the question you asked: the Major Arcana card represents which part of your mind is speaking, and the Minor Arcana card represents what it is saying. It can help if you keep a journal of your readings (we love our fancy blank books, after all).

I know several folks who've bought tarot decks because they wanted to dabble in cartomancy, but they looked at the deck and were so intimidated by it that they just never really did. Hopefully this demystifies it a little bit and gives you something to start with :)

Blessed be <3