Read Your Own Tarot

A Quick & Dirty Guide to
Interpreting the Cards
with Excerpts from The Vertigo Tarot by  Rachael Pollack - RP

Before one attempts to try their hand at interpretation, one should become familiar with the card suits and what they symbolize.

Just to set the record straight, the Tarot deck was invented well after the common deck of cards in use today.  

In fact, the very first Tarot deck created was never meant for fortune telling, but for playing a game called Tarocchi. In other words, the Major Arcana cards didn't actually have any sort of spiritual meaning, they were merely legendary allegorical characters. The spiritual symbolism was added much, much later. 

However, the modern decks do indeed have a ton of symbolism jammed into each and every one. The reader's job is to decide what those symbols mean to them and interpret the cards as they Feel.

If you want to go in-depth as to what each and every card means, I suggest visiting TarotWikipedia. They have fairly comprehensive interpretations for each card.

Note: If you do not have an actual Tarot deck of your own, you CAN use a Normal playing deck of cards! Basically the four suits are the same - yet with different symbols.

Hearts = Cups
Spades = Swords
Diamonds = Coins
Clubs = Wands

The Suit Cards

Cups
Water / Love, attraction, Romance, emotions.
Reverse: Emotional extremes, vindictive.

Characterized by Water, this suit represents love, fantasy, imagination, passivity, the unconscious, relationships, and friendship.

The element of cups is water, and the suit of cups pertains to situations and events of an emotional nature. As such, when the tarot is used in divination, many cups signify an emotional issue or love situation, or some event that affects the querent emotionally.

The watery astrological signs are Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces. 

"Some historians believe that the four suits represent different classes of Medieval society. Cups would symbolize the Clergy since the blood of Christ is received from a chalice." - RP

Pentacles (or Coins)
Earth / Money, Business, Work
Reverse: High expectations, over work.

Characterized by Earth, this suit signifies work, nature, money, physical reality, home, stable relationships, routine activities. 

This suit is connected with the classical element of Earth, the physical body and possessions or wealth. Coins represent the feudal class of traders, and therefore to worldly matters in general. Associated physical characteristics include dark hair and eyes, dark complexion, and sturdy build.

The earth astrological signs are Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn.

"Pentacles, being derived from coins, would represent the merchant class." - RP

Swords
Air / Intelligence, Aggression, Physical activity
Reverse: Temperamental, judgmental, Hasty.

Characterized by Air, this suit symbolizes mind, mental activity, analysis, conflict, pain, quarrels, heroism, sadness, abstraction. 

In tarot, swords correspond to the element of Air, and as such signifies freedom but also quick change. The Swords suit also traditionally represented the military, which implies strength, power and authority, but also responsibility, violence and suffering.

The airy astrological signs are Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius.

"The suit Swords would represent nobility, as these are the tools of their warfare." - RP

Wands (or Staves)
Fire / Communication, writing, the Internet
Reverse: Thoughtless, forgetful, over-analyze.

Characterized by Fire, this suit represents the experience of energy, action, optimism, creative impulse, adventure, sexuality, movement, beginnings. 

The suit of wands, staves, or rods represents the element of fire and gives information relating to the traits of the fire element in astrology. It represents the peasant or farmer class of feudal society and relates to simplicity and to nature, as well as to poverty and submission.

In the Vertigo Tarot the Wands appear like torches, and sometimes paintbrushes.

The airy astrological signs are Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius..

"Wands would represent peasants since the peasants grew staves." - RP

The Court Cards

King

Mature adult, Control, Command.
Traditionally male.
Someone you look to for Instruction.

Reverse: Judgmental, bossy, controlling.

Queen

Mature adult, Management, Sympathy.
Traditionally female.
Someone you look to for Advice.

Reverse: Emotional extremes, smothering, vindictive.

Knight (Jack.)

Physically active adult, Aggression, Achievement, Focus.
Traditionally male, but can mean an Aggressive Female.
Someone you look to for Action.

Reverse: Temperamental, aggressive, Leaps before looking.

Page

Young person, chatting, phone calls, education.
Teen-aged Male or Female.
Someone you look to as a friend.

Reverse: Immature, emotional extremes, silliness.

1 The Magician

The Major Arcana

There are twenty-two Major Arcana, or Trumps in the tarot deck, and each one has their own separate meaning. To compare it to the ordinary playing deck of cards, that's twenty-two Jokers. 

If you're interested in the individual meanings, Google.com is your friend. There are literally thousands of sites that have each card defined in exquisite detail for your perusal.

For your first foray into tarot interpretation, I'm going to ask you to toss all that out the window and simply look at the images that show up in your spread. Instead I want you to GUESS. Literally, follow your intuition and say the first thing that pops into your head. 

Consider it an exercise in learning to trust yourself.

Ready to try your hand?

Simple Tarot Reading:
One Direct Question

Have the Questioner choose their question wisely! Just like magic, Tarot tends to answer by taking the shortest route, pretty much like a Fortune-cookie. The clearer your question, the clearer the answer.  

Short-cut: Have your questioner Write Down the question they want answered!

A Reader does Not need to know the Question!
Merely if the question involves: A person, a place or a situation.

Directions:

• Shuffle your cards as you feel comfortable. Three times is the normal limit.

• Spread the deck out in a fan.

• Have your questioner choose 3 cards.

• Push the rest of the cards back together and place the rest of your deck to one side.

• Lay the first card in the center. This is the Focus - the direct answer.

• Lay the other two cards to either side in a fan. These are the details supporting the answer.

• LOOK at the center card.

The best way to interpret your cards is to say the first thing that pops into your head. Think in terms of the Rorschach Inkblot Test. The hardest part is allowing yourself to say what you actually Feel.

• Interpret the two cards to either side as extra details that support what the center card means. 

Example:

• The Sun is the center card. This can mean release from captivity, or release from something that has been holding you down. 
• To the right you have The Ace of Coins which means an influx of money, or a solid business venture. 
• To the left you have The Empress which can mean bounty through hard work, windfall, or fruition. 

With the center card; The Sun, as the focus,  I would say: release from money worries; the Ace of Coins, by way of an investment or hard work that finally pays off; The Empress.

"What if I get three Court Cards?"
(King/Queen/Knight Page)

Court cards don't always signify people. They can just as easily represent ideas.

For example, the Queen of Cups can mean "romantic advice." If the card is reversed, however it can mean "romantic rivalry".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Interested in a private reading?

Make an appointment with me today.

Let me help with those tough questions.

The Vertigo Tarot
Illustrated by Dave McKean
Text by Rachael Pollack
Inspired by: 'The Sandman' by Vertigo Comics

Sandman written by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth and Mike Dringenberg.

Death, Desire and Despair created by Neil Gaiman and Mike Dringenberg.
Sandman and all related characters copyright DC comics.