Tarot for Beginners: Understanding the Cards & Your First Tarot Spreads
Tarot can look complicated when you first open a deck. 78 cards, mysterious illustrations, Major Arcana, Minor Arcana, four suits, court cards, spreads... where do you even begin?
The good news is that you don't need to memorise 78 definitions before you can start reading Tarot.
At its heart, Tarot is a system of symbols and archetypes that can be used for reflection, storytelling and exploring a question from different perspectives. Learning the basic structure of the deck makes everything much easier — and from there, intuition and practice can take over.
So, let's start with the basics.
What Is a Tarot Deck?
A traditional Tarot deck contains 78 cards, divided into two main groups:
22 Major Arcana cards
56 Minor Arcana cards
An easy way to understand the difference is to imagine that your life is a book.
The Major Arcana represent the big chapters: important lessons, turning points and major themes.
The Minor Arcana are the pages within those chapters: everyday emotions, conversations, challenges, relationships, work and decisions.
Together, they create the story of a reading.
The Major Arcana — The Big Life Lessons
The Major Arcana contains 22 cards, numbered from 0 to 21.
It begins with The Fool (0) and ends with The World (21).
The sequence is sometimes described as The Fool's Journey — a symbolic journey through different stages and experiences of life.
You will meet cards such as:
The Fool — beginnings, possibility, taking a leap
The Magician — action, ability, manifestation
The High Priestess — intuition, mystery, inner knowledge
The Empress — abundance, creativity, nurturing
The Emperor — structure, authority, stability
The Lovers — relationships, choices, values
The Chariot — determination, direction, progress
Strength — courage, patience, inner strength
The Hermit — introspection, solitude, searching for answers
Wheel of Fortune — cycles, change, turning points
Justice — truth, fairness, accountability
The Hanged Man — pause, surrender, a different perspective
Death — endings, transformation and transition
Temperance — balance, moderation, harmony
The Devil — attachment, temptation, unhealthy patterns
The Tower — disruption, revelation, sudden change
The Star — hope, renewal, inspiration
The Moon — uncertainty, intuition, the subconscious
The Sun — joy, vitality, optimism
Judgement — awakening, reflection, answering a calling
The World — completion, achievement, wholeness
And despite the dramatic names and pictures, cards such as Death, The Devil and The Tower don't automatically predict literal disasters.
For example, Death commonly symbolises an ending or transformation rather than physical death. Context matters enormously in Tarot.
The Minor Arcana — Everyday Life
The 56 Minor Arcana cards are divided into four suits:
🔥 Wands
💧 Cups
⚔️ Swords
🪙 Pentacles
Each suit contains cards numbered Ace to Ten, followed by four Court Cards:
Page • Knight • Queen • King
Once you understand what each suit broadly represents, interpreting the Minor Arcana becomes much easier.
Wands — Passion & Action 🔥
Wands are traditionally associated with the element of Fire.
Think:
Creativity • Ambition • Energy • Passion • Inspiration • Action
A reading containing lots of Wands might therefore point towards projects, motivation, career ambitions, creativity or something you're passionate about.
Cups — Feelings & Relationships 💧
Cups are traditionally associated with Water.
Think:
Love • Emotions • Relationships • Intuition • Connection
Lots of Cups in a reading can suggest that emotions or relationships are particularly important to the situation being explored.
Swords — Thoughts & Communication ⚔️
Swords are traditionally associated with Air.
Think:
Thoughts • Communication • Decisions • Conflict • Truth • Intellect
Swords aren't necessarily negative, although some of their imagery can look intimidating. They often ask us to look at how we're thinking, communicating or making decisions.
Pentacles — The Material World 🪙
Pentacles are traditionally associated with Earth.
Think:
Money • Career • Home • Security • Health • Practical matters
They tend to bring the reading back to tangible, everyday reality.
What About the Numbers?
Here's a useful beginner's shortcut.
Instead of memorising every numbered card immediately, learn the general symbolism of the numbers.
Ace — beginnings, potential
Two — choices, partnerships, balance
Three — growth, collaboration
Four — stability, foundations
Five — challenge, disruption
Six — harmony, progress
Seven — assessment, reflection, challenge
Eight — movement, development, mastery
Nine — nearing completion, experience
Ten — completion and transition
Then combine the number with the suit.
For example, if Cups concern emotions and relationships, while Twos can concern partnership and balance, you already have clues for interpreting the Two of Cups before you've even opened your guidebook.
That's much easier than trying to memorise 78 completely unrelated definitions!
The Court Cards
The Page, Knight, Queen and King can represent people, personalities, roles, behaviours or energies surrounding a situation.
As a simple starting point:
Page — learning, curiosity, messages, beginnings
Knight — movement, pursuit, action
Queen — maturity, understanding, internal mastery
King — authority, leadership, external mastery
Combine that with the suit again.
A Knight of Wands, for example, combines the active nature of a Knight with the fiery passion of Wands.
Do You Need to Read Reversed Cards?
When a Tarot card appears upside down, it is called a reversal.
Some readers interpret reversed cards differently — perhaps as blocked, internalised or weakened versions of the card's upright meaning.
Others don't use reversals at all.
If you're a complete beginner, it's perfectly reasonable to start with upright cards only.
There is already plenty to learn. You can introduce reversals later if they make sense to you.
How to Start a Tarot Reading
Find somewhere comfortable where you can concentrate.
Think about the question you want to explore while shuffling your cards. When you feel ready, draw your cards and place them into your chosen spread.
Try asking open-ended questions rather than only questions requiring a yes or no.
Instead of:
"Will I get the job?"
Try:
"What should I understand about this job opportunity?"
Or:
"What can I do to improve my chances of moving forward?"
This gives the cards much more room to tell a story.
And remember: you don't have to understand every card instantly.
Look at the image first.
What catches your attention?
How does the card make you feel?
What are the characters doing?
Does the card feel active or still? Comfortable or tense? Hopeful or uncertain?
Then look at its traditional meaning and consider how that meaning relates to your question.
Beginner Tarot Spread #1 — The One-Card Reading
This is probably the easiest way to begin.
Shuffle your deck while thinking:
"What energy should I be aware of today?"
Then draw one card.
That's it.
Instead of trying to predict everything that's going to happen, spend a few minutes thinking about the card and how its symbolism might apply to your day.
Doing this regularly is also a fantastic way to gradually learn your deck.
Beginner Tarot Spread #2 — Past • Present • Future
Once you're comfortable drawing individual cards, try this classic three-card spread.
Place three cards from left to right:
CARD 1 — PAST
What has influenced this situation?
CARD 2 — PRESENT
What is happening or influencing me now?
CARD 3 — FUTURE
Where could the current path be leading?
The important word here is could.
Tarot doesn't need to be treated as a fixed prediction of an unavoidable future. A future-position card can instead be read as the potential direction of the situation if the current circumstances continue.
Beginner Tarot Spread #3 — Situation • Challenge • Guidance
This is one of the most useful spreads for everyday questions.
Draw three cards:
CARD 1 — THE SITUATION
What do I need to understand about what is happening?
CARD 2 — THE CHALLENGE
What obstacle, influence or pattern should I recognise?
CARD 3 — THE GUIDANCE
What could help me move forward?
This spread works beautifully for relationships, career questions, personal decisions and situations where you simply feel stuck.
Don't Just Read the Cards — Read the Story
One of the biggest steps in learning Tarot is moving away from interpreting each card completely separately.
Imagine you draw:
The Fool • Three of Wands • The World
Rather than simply reading three definitions from a guidebook, look at the progression.
A beginning.
Expansion and looking ahead.
Completion.
Suddenly, the cards become a story.
Also notice patterns.
Are there lots of Major Arcana cards? The question may involve bigger themes or important lessons.
Lots of Cups? Emotions and relationships may dominate.
Lots of Pentacles? Practical or financial matters may be particularly relevant.
Several cards of the same number? That repetition might be worth exploring.
The more you practise, the more naturally these connections begin to appear.
And Finally... Trust Yourself
Your Tarot guidebook is there to help you — especially when you're learning — but it doesn't have to be the only voice in the room.
Two people can look at exactly the same card and notice completely different things.
That's part of what makes Tarot fascinating.
Learn the traditional meanings. Understand the structure of the deck. Look closely at the imagery.
Then ask yourself:
What is this card saying to me in the context of this question?
Start with one card. Experiment with simple spreads. Keep notes if you want to follow your progress.
You don't need to know everything before you begin.
Sometimes the best way to learn Tarot is simply to shuffle the cards, ask your first question... and turn one over.
Tarot is best used as a tool for reflection, personal insight and entertainment. It should not replace professional medical, legal, financial or mental-health advice.