Frequently Asked Questions:

Do I need to have any particular beliefs to find the Tarot useful?

Not at all. The cards originated in the melting pot of religious, philosophical, and artistic ideas of the early Renaissance, and are meant to depict the "universal" human experience. In any given deck you will find nods to Neo-Platonism, Christianity, Gnosticism, Paganism, modern psychology, and mythology. Surely somewhere in all that you'll be able to find a symbolic language that makes sense to you.

What can I ask during a reading?

As a participant in a reading, it really helps to have a purpose in mind. It will give us more to discuss, it will give you a sense of purpose and presence in the reading, and it will help you later on in recalling and applying the reading to situations in your life.

It’s best to avoid simple yes/no questions; these are often resolved over the course of a reading anyway, and looking past them will result in a better understanding of what one’s real concerns may be.

Beyond there, pretty much any question can benefit from the attention of a Tarot reading. Some examples:

"What is the current status of a certain issue or turn of events?"

"What will be the outcome if current patterns and tendencies remain as they are now?"

"How should I go about solving a particular problem or reaching a particular goal?"

"What are the causes of or reasons behind my current situation?"

"What are the best options available to me?"

A Tarot reading is also a good opportunity to address issues of self-awareness, consciousness, and faith. Philosophical entanglements, spiritual roadblocks, your identity, your sexuality, your current state of development as a human being. The limitations of the cards are merely those of yourself and your reader; just be sure to be as honest as possible as to how deep you would like to go.


Do the cards really give meaningful answers? How?

This is a difficult question to answer. People come to the cards with a lot of preconceived ideas about how they work, and the best I can do is try to incorporate those ideas into the reading that we do together.

The best explanation of how the Tarot functions stems from the theories of Dr. Carl Jung, legendary psychiatrist and the founder of analytical psychology, about the unconscious mind, the part of your psyche that you are completely unaware of. One’s personal unconscious is a reservoir of material that was at one time conscious but has been forgotten or suppressed. The collective unconscious is the deepest level of the psyche which contains the amassed experiences and ideas that you have inherited from mankind as a species. The images and symbols of Tarot cards function as a bridge across the gap between the conscious and unconscious minds, across which memories, fantasies, and ideas can flow, can be understood consciously and be articulated. If you look deeply enough into the symbolic meaning of a card and its position in a reading, you are already halfway down the road toward a glimpse of your own mind that you would otherwise not have taken the time to see.

The cards you draw are a random assortment; they are a platform from which to dive into an abstract interpretation of your current situation. They are a palette from which the reader and the querent paint a picture together. Tarot, like other divination systems that strive to find meaning in a random assortment of data, relies on the principle of synchronicity to reveal the underlying patterns of your life. The “right” card seems to be in the right place at the right time. Is it meaningful? Is it a message? Well, first let’s look and see what it says. Just by drawing connections between the cards themselves, you begin to see the complex relationship of interconnection that has parallels in every layer of our consciousness. With enough patience, you could yield similarly personal results from any random pattern—but with its rich language of symbolism and visual interpretation, the Tarot is ideally suited for pursuing the visceral, emotional insights and subtle impressions of the unconscious.


Do all Tarot card readers use this approach?

Tarot experts all have their own ideas about how the cards work. Some profess to be psychic. Others are devoted to folklore or religion. Some are only comfortable using secular or psychological terms. And some people just use the cards as an excuse to have a deep conversations about touchy issues.

Regardless of whatever a reader’s particular approach may be, their results are still probably hinged on the principles I explained in the last question. Some people are naturally insightful, some are fearlessly candid, and of course some people are just capable of painting a broader stripe of bullshit than others. Some people even may actually be psychic, for all I know. But a good reading needn’t rely on forces any more mystical than what you encounter on a daily basis. Thus, it is a skill that anyone can learn and put their own touches on.

Most readers will readily discuss their approach with you if you ask. You can learn a lot from being exposed to someone else's beliefs, but it helps to know what you're getting into before you start sharing personal information with someone during a reading.


Are the meanings of the individual cards consistent from deck to deck?

Yes and no. In a reading you can draw from the classical interpretation of a card like, for example, the Emperor, but pay equal attention to the very different portrayal on the card before you. A good reader has access to the ideas behind every version of the Emperor card they have ever seen, which can greatly inform what they decide to tell you about it. Each reading is different, and each card is so packed with symbolic elements that they may never mean exactly the same thing twice.

Some decks veer away from the familiar concept of the Tarot to the point where the only thing Tarot-like about them is that they’re printed on cards. As long as a person has learned them well, they can be used for readings, though the results may be harder for people to relate to if they are accustomed to more traditional decks.


Can the cards predict the future?

No, not exactly. The cards shed light on the underlying patterns and themes of your life story, and while that may make an obvious statement about where you’re headed, or what the consequences of certain decisions might be, the cards will not “tell your fortune”. There are many irresponsible fortune-tellers out there who use the cards as an extension of their supposed psychic powers, who seem incredibly comfortable making outlandish or catastrophic predictions based on the cards you draw. Even if someone happened to be truly psychic, this practice would really have nothing to do with the Tarot at all—the cards would be merely a prop. Your future may change because of what you learn from the cards, but that is a result of your search for self-awareness: natural, not supernatural.

It is possible, however, for a reader to tell you things about yourself that you aren’t ready to hear. A good reader must be sensitive to this and choose their words carefully; to quote Ann Lamott, “You don’t always have to chop with the sword of truth. You can point with it, too”. There are plenty of irresponsible people out there who are always looking for an excuse to make dramatic statements and predictions just for the effect they will have; when these pronunciations are mixed with the truth about ourselves, they can be hard to dismiss. Ultimately, it is up to you to decide whether the truth you hear is one that is worth examining, something you need to hear.