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Being creative is often about finding new and novel ways to express yourself or draw insights. Tarot, with its underpinning of serendipity, helps you do that by helping you think about situations in a different way than you may do so normally. That can help you gain insights into your own life, as well as the lives of those for which you perform readings.
When it comes to the Rider Waite tarot deck you don’t need to be limited by the 78 cards that are divided into two sections. In fact, you can use tarot cards in any number of ways to spark your imagination and intuition.
Whether you prefer to play up the drama and augment your readings with candlelight and other artifacts with a more somber and serious tone or tarot is just a passing curiosity, reading tarot cards can be a fun exercise to help you and others navigate the human experience.
Understanding tarot cards is just the beginning — any tarot card reading guide can teach you how to read tarot cards for yourself — but the best way to learn tarot is to actually get in there and start doing it. Each reader has a different way of interpreting the signs depicted in a tarot deck, and it goes well beyond the basic tarot card meanings. That said, you’ll still need a place to start, and developing a basic understanding of tarot cards is something that every aspiring tarot reader needs to go through.
The Minor Arcana
The minor arcana make up the most cards (56) of a tarot deck. These are the four suits. Just like a deck of playing cards, but the suits are wands, swords, cups, and pentacles. Each suit has cards that number from one to 10, and there are also face cards, also known as courts. There are four court cards, and while your deck may be slightly different, they feature a page, knight, queen, and king.
The Major Arcana
The Major Arcana make up the remaining 22 cards in a tarot deck. These are the “big secrets,” versus the minor arcana’s “little secrets.” Or as I like to call the minors “water cooler” talk. Just the daily chit-chat of everyday situations Most of the cards you may recognize are from the major arcana, such as The Lovers, The Fool, The Sun, The Devil, as well as cards such as the Death tarot card and Justice tarot card. Major arcana cards tend to deal with larger life themes and concepts that are tied to universal human existence.
Using Tarot as a Creative Tool
While tarot can be somewhat difficult to grasp for novices, expert tarot readers know that a tarot reading is more about the questions being asked and the reader than something intrinsic to the deck of cards themselves. In that sense, tarot readings are creative since a reader must interpret the cards and draw insight where there once were only questions.
If you haven’t had a chance to develop your creativity in tarot readings yet, here are some things that you may want to consider.
Get a professional reading
One of the best ways to understand the tarot card meanings and how to develop your creativity is to get a professional reading. You can read about tarot as much as you want, but you’ll learn far more about setting a mood and being creative when you see someone doing so in person. You’ll also see how a reader crafts a story, which can help you in your own readings and even outside of tarot — sometimes it’s all about the story!
Draw cards to get familiar with their meanings
Before you can understand the tarot card meanings of all 78 cards in a tarot deck, you’ll need some practice. If you’re just starting out, try drawing a card at random from a deck each day, looking up the meaning if you don’t already know it. Once you start to become familiar with the meanings of each card, you can then move on to more complicated draws featuring multiple cards.
Use your intuition
Many of those new to tarot think that it’s all in the cards. But most tarot experts know that the tarot cards themselves are merely a jumping-off point. You’ll have to use your creativity to take those simplistic tarot card meanings to another level. Use your intuition and gut to draw inferences that others won’t see — that’s the true value of tarot card readings. The power is in your hands!
Don’t be afraid of the dark
Just like in life, there’s light and darkness in the tarot deck. But if you avoid the so-called “dark” tarot cards and their associated meanings, you may lose out on valuable insights that can help propel the story forward. The Devil doesn’t solely have to be about good and evil, it can represent fears, failures or that you need to establish another perspective on something, and that can be very creative and rewarding.
Be patient
Those that are new to tarot often want to hit the ground running after a few hours of study. But it can take a lifetime to master tarot and apply your creativity in unique and interesting ways in your readings. That creativity will also help you outside of your readings, especially if you feel stuck on something and unable to move on. With some experience, you’ll be able to use those tarot card meanings to develop your understanding of just about any situation, and that can help you move forward.
After all, there are 78 cards in the tarot deck, and you won’t be able to understand or apply them all until you develop your understanding and your experience. Even tarot experts can find new ways to draw insights from a reading, and that’s what makes tarot such a fulfilling activity. Each reading is an opportunity to learn something new, as well as a way to see something in a new light.
Learn Tarot Card Meanings From Tarot Guru
Whether you’re an expert or just starting out on your tarot journey, knowledge, creativity, and insight are important components of any tarot reading. Sure, the insights and creativity come from you, but the knowledge has to come from somewhere.
Here at Tarot Guru, we want to help everyone understand tarot card meanings, as well as how they can be applied to different situations. Check out our FAQ page to get started on your Tarot Journey!
