A tarot deck is seventy-eight cards and a mirror. It doesn’t tell the future so much as lay out the forces around a question, so you can see your situation more clearly.
Two halves of the deck
- The Major Arcana: 22 cards for life’s big themes and turning points, from The Fool to The World.
- The Minor Arcana: 56 cards in four suits (Cups, Pentacles, Swords and Wands) for the everyday matters of feeling, money, mind and drive.
How a reading works
You hold a question, draw one or more cards, and read them in context, often in a “spread” where each position carries a meaning (the past, the present, what’s blocking you). The cards prompt reflection; the meaning comes from how they speak to your situation.
Read in the context of your chart, a card lands even closer to home. New here? Start with your birth chart, or try palmistry next.