How to read tarot cards: a simple guide for beginners

To read tarot cards, ask an open question, shuffle, lay out a few cards in a spread, and read each card's meaning in light of its position (for example "past", "present" and "future"). Then look at the cards together: what story do they tell about your question? You don't need to memorise 78 meanings to start. Begin with one card a day and a three-card spread, and look meanings up as you go.

The deck in one minute

A tarot deck has 78 cards:

• 22 Major Arcana: the big themes, from The Fool to The World. See all 22 meanings.
• 56 Minor Arcana in four suits of 14 cards (Ace to Ten, then Page, Knight, Queen and King):
• Wands: energy, ambition, creativity
• Cups: feelings, love, relationships
• Swords: thoughts, words, conflict, truth
• Pentacles: work, money, body, home

1. Ask an open question

The best tarot questions are open and about you: "What should I focus on this month?", "What can I learn from this situation?", "How can I feel calmer at work?" Yes-or-no questions and questions about other people's private thoughts give vague readings. Tarot works best as a mirror for your own thinking, not as a forecast.

2. Choose a spread

A spread is a layout where each position has a meaning. Good ones to start with:

• One card: a quick reflection for the moment, or a card of the day.
• Past, present, future: how a situation has unfolded and where it could go.
• Situation, challenge, advice: practical and very easy to read.

3. Shuffle and lay out the cards

Shuffle while thinking about your question. Some readers cut the deck into three piles; others just stop when it feels right. Lay the cards face down in the spread, then turn them over one at a time, left to right.

4. Read each card in its position

For each card, look up its keywords and ask: what does this mean in this position, for my question? The Ten of Pentacles in "past" might be a stable home you grew up in; in "advice" it might mean thinking long term.

5. Read the cards together

Then step back. Are there many cards from one suit (lots of Cups: this is about feelings)? Several Major Arcana (a big turning point)? Does the story move from difficult to hopeful, or the other way? Your first impression is often the most useful.

6. Write it down

Note the question, the cards and what you thought. Looking back after a few weeks is the fastest way to learn the cards, because you'll remember them through your own life.

Reading tarot with Moonfold

1. Pick a spread on the home screen: One card, Past-present-future, Love, Work and money, or Five-card insight.
2. Type your question, or leave it blank, and tap Shuffle and deal.
3. Turn the cards over one by one. Each card's meaning for its position appears as you turn it.
4. Tap any card to read its full upright and reversed meaning.
5. Tap Done. The reading is saved in your Journal with its question and date.

Start each day with the card of the day on the home screen. One card a day is the gentlest way to learn the deck. When you're ready, read about reversed cards and the love spread.