Do you need to learn the traditional tarot meanings before you can start using the cards?

Do you need to memorize the card meanings?

Can you consult the books and other explanatory resources during a reading?

There’s something mystical about a tarot reader who picks up a deck, lays out an elaborate spread and interprets the meanings of the cards guided only by their memory and intuition.

I certainly enjoy doing these intuitive readings, but for over twenty-five years of reading tarot, I still consult the deck books and traditional meanings for the cards at almost every read.

And you can too, if that’s how you want to do it.

Reading the Cards by Memory and Intuition

Developing your own meanings and significances based on your intuition and interpretations of the art work of the cards is a beautiful way to let the cards lead your ideas. This is the foundation of intuitive reading. 

Often, readers who operate with this method are also using the traditional meanings of the cards (these days mostly derived from the RWS deck) they have committed to memory.

Reading With A Guide Book or Other Resource

Despite what many a tarot resource will tell you, there is absolutely nothing wrong with consulting the deck companion books, or a website like the wonderful Biddy Tarot by Brigit Esselmont, as you’re reading any spread.

By the way, I totally recommend Brigit’s book The Ultimate Guide to Tarot Card Meanings. Her interpretations of the cards blend traditional meanings with a contemporary, usually optimistic worldview that supports both the light and the dark sides of life.

While intuitive, off the cuff reading brings a beautiful personal meaning to a spread, using the traditional meanings gives your reading a grounding in the ancient lore of tarot, layering on significances you might never have otherwise thought of.

Plus, many decks give new meanings to cards by working with all kinds of different visual symbolism, so different decks will give differently nuanced readings. For example, a reading from the Thoth deck will take on an entirely different significance than a reading from the super cute Catittude deck, even if equivalent cards are drawn.

The Right Way to Read Tarot?

There is no right or wrong way to read tarot.

If you’re just starting out with tarot, I recommend reading from the traditional meanings of your deck guide and the classic RWS interpretations first. If that’s how you feel like working.

Many readers insist on memorizing the cards and their reversals. That’s 156 meanings. You don’t need to memorize anything, but if this is the way you want to read, then go for it. If you decide to learn the meanings off by heart, the manner in which you embark on that study is up to you. I know of one reader who spent a whole week focusing on each card, and swears by her practice. Others do a card a day. Some start with 0 The Fool and move numerically through the deck, others go for the images they’re drawn to first. If you’re inclined to these kinds of methodical commitments, enjoy your journey.

There is absolutely nothing stopping you from enjoying a lifelong practice of tarot, working with intuitive readings and still consult the books as you read.

 As you go along and familiarize yourself with the decks, certain cards will take on their personal relevances to you, and those meanings will stick in your head first. Especially if the same cards keep on cropping up spread after spread. It happens – it’s one of those things that makes tarot really seems like magic.

Just start.

Lay your cards out in traditional spreads, consult with books or websites to find these, or make up your own. And then perform your reading by consulting the books. If your memory and intuition take over, great! You’ve found your method. 

Just like writing processes, the paths to a rewarding tarot reading are innumerable and will change from person to person. They’re all allowed, correct, and valuable. And just like writing processes, your tarot methods might change as you change, evolve as you evolve.

Just remember, there is no right way and you’ll never do it wrong.