Tarot Cards for Beginners: A Complete Guide to Your First Deck and First Readings

You can begin tarot with a deck, a matching guidebook and one clear question. You do not need to memorize all 78 cards before your first reading. Start small, notice the pictures and let your understanding develop at a pace that suits you.

If tarot has spiritual meaning for you, make room for that in your practice. Treat each interpretation as something to explore rather than a verdict. The cards can be part of a meaningful reflection without establishing what another person thinks or guaranteeing what happens next.

Choose a deck you can comfortably use

A Rider–Waite–Smith-style deck is one practical starting point if you enjoy illustrated number cards. Look for artwork you can see clearly, cards your hands can manage and a guidebook that explains this particular deck. Pamela Colman Smith’s artwork, developed with A. E. Waite, is central to that tradition.

Marseille and Thoth have different visual and interpretive approaches; they are not forbidden beginner choices. What matters is having teaching material that matches the deck instead of trying to force one system onto another. Preview several cards, not only the box, and check what the guidebook includes before choosing. The first-deck guide offers a fuller checklist.

You can choose your own deck rather than wait for a gift. You also do not need extra ritual supplies to get started. Keep any purchase within your own budget, and use a deck you already have if it works for you.

Meet the 78-card deck

The familiar structure is 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana. The Minor Arcana divide into four suits, each with ten numbered cards and four court cards. The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s history and structure of tarot explains the deck’s playing-card background.

Decks may rename suits or courts, reorder cards or add extras. Use your own booklet to identify those differences. For more background, explore Britannica’s overviews of tarot and playing cards.

A learning route without a deadline

Use these stages as a flexible route, not a promise of mastery in a set number of weeks. You can practise a small reading while you are still learning the cards. Keep the guidebook open whenever it helps.

1. 1Get acquainted Choose a deck and read its introduction. Notice how it names the suits and courts. Try one card with the book beside you.
2. 2Explore the Majors Study a few distinctive images at a time. Describe what you see, compare the guidebook and keep your own notes.
3. 3Add suits, numbers and courts Compare cards within one suit, then compare the same rank across suits. Check the individual meaning rather than relying on a formula.
4. 4Keep a short practice record Use one card when it suits you. Record the card, a possible meaning and a question or action; keep later events separate.
5. 5Read a small spread Assign three positions before drawing. Connect the cards to one question, then decide whether any practical action is useful.

If you enjoy a calendar, adapt the four-week study plan. Repeat or spread out its exercises rather than measuring your ability against the dates.

The Major Arcana: start with memorable pictures

In the Rider–Waite–Smith sequence, the Fool is numbered 0, followed by the other Majors through XXI. A “Fool’s journey” story can be a memory device, but you do not have to adopt it as spiritual doctrine.

• The Fool
• The Magician
• The High Priestess
• The Empress
• The Emperor
• The Hierophant
• The Lovers
• The Chariot
• Strength
• The Hermit
• Wheel of Fortune
• Justice
• The Hanged Man
• Death
• Temperance
• The Devil
• The Tower
• The Star
• The Moon
• The Sun
• Judgement
• The World

Pick a few cards, describe what is actually in each picture and compare your notes with the guidebook. Keep a list so you know which ones you have studied. Death, for example, is commonly interpreted through endings and transition; drawing it is not evidence of a physical death.

The four suits: a starting vocabulary

These themes are broad associations, not rigid rules. A card’s image, position, neighbouring cards and your deck’s approach all matter.

Numbers: prompts, not a meaning calculator

• Ace — BeginningsAce of Pentacles: a practical opportunity or something to nurture.
• Two — Balance or choiceTwo of Wands: considering a direction before acting.
• Three — Growth or connectionThree of Cups: friendship and shared celebration.
• Four — Structure or a pauseFour of Swords: stepping back to rest or reflect.
• Five — Challenge or disruptionFive of Pentacles: hardship, exclusion or noticing available help.
• Six — Exchange or reconnectionSix of Cups: memory, familiarity or generosity.
• Seven — Assessment or persistenceSeven of Pentacles: reviewing what your effort is producing.
• Eight — Movement or sustained workEight of Wands: pace and coordination—not a dated prediction.
• Nine — Intensity or near-completionNine of Swords: a theme of worry, not a diagnosis.
• Ten — A culmination or transitionTen of Cups: belonging or an image of shared contentment.

Suit plus number can help you remember, but it does not explain every card by itself. The Eight of Pentacles, for example, is often linked with sustained practice, while the Eight of Cups can suggest leaving something behind. Check the individual image and guidebook instead of forcing the same meaning onto every Eight.

Court cards: explore a role or approach

Courts need not identify a person of a particular age or gender. They can be ways of approaching a situation. Compare the four ranks within a suit using the guide to all 16 court cards.

Begin with one card and a short note

Choose a low-stakes question about your own choices, such as “What could I pay attention to while learning this skill?” Draw one card, or deliberately select one you want to study. Daily practice is optional; a workable routine matters more than keeping a streak.

1. Notice: Describe a visible detail before deciding what it means.
2. Compare: Read the guidebook and identify one interpretation that relates to your question.
3. Choose: Write one reflection or action, or note that you are not sure yet.

For the Eight of Pentacles, you might notice repeated tools and careful work, compare the theme of practice, then write: “I’ll repeat one small exercise rather than start several new ones.” That is a choice you make, not an instruction you must obey.

Record the date, question, card and your interpretation. Later, add what actually happened in a separate entry. Include misses and uncertainty instead of reshaping every event to match a card. A random draw can repeat cards; use a checklist or select unstudied cards if your aim is to cover the whole deck. The short self-reading routine gives another way to organize this practice.

Your first three-card reading

When you want to connect several ideas, try these positions. You do not need to wait a set number of weeks. Past–present–future is another option, but future is an interpretive possibility, not a confirmed forecast. Choose the roles before you draw; the spread guide explains other layouts.

1. 1Situation
2. 2Obstacle
3. 3Advice

1. Write one question about your preparation, options or actions.
2. Mix the cards using a method that is comfortable for your hands. Cutting once is optional. See the shuffling guide for alternatives.
3. Draw three cards into the positions above. Describe each picture and consult the booklet.
4. Write one sentence per position, then connect them in a short summary.
5. Choose a practical next step, leave the reading open or decide no action is needed. Revisit your notes without treating them as proof.

Useful boundaries while you learn

• References are allowed. Consulting a booklet is not a failure, and there is no deadline for putting it away.
• Reversals are optional. Begin upright if that keeps things manageable. Add another approach when it interests you, not because a calendar demands it.
• More cards are not automatically clearer. Before drawing a clarifier, name the exact uncertainty. You can pause without solving the reading.
• Keep other people’s choices with them. Ask about your own preparation and boundaries rather than using cards as evidence of hidden motives.
• Practice with consent. Tell friends you are learning, keep their information private and let them stop or decline a question.

An experienced reader may offer a conversation or demonstrate an approach, but booking one is optional. Agree the price and scope first. Keep your decisions with yourself and decline pressure to pay for urgent curse-removal or other fear-based extras. Use appropriate factual or professional help when a question requires it; a tarot interpretation cannot verify those facts for you.

18 beginner questions