How to draw tarot cards, step by step
Drawing cards means tuning in: a deck, a calm moment, an intention, then a gaze resting on each card.
By Thomas Guilhot · updated
How to draw the cards at a glance
A reading starts with a clear intention, continues with an unhurried shuffle, and ends with a gaze resting on each card.
By Thomas Guilhot · updated
How to draw the cards, in practice
First step
Put your intention into one open sentence, or decide to draw without a question and simply observe what shows up.
Second step
Shuffle the deck at your own pace, then cut or stop the gesture when it feels complete, without aiming for a precise duration.
Third step
Lay the cards down position by position according to the chosen spread, and look at the whole before reading each card one after the other.
What you need to know
Setting an intention
Before touching the deck, take a moment to know what you are trying to illuminate. An open question, one that begins with “how” or “what,” leaves more room for the reading than a closed question. You can also draw without a question, simply to look at what shows up. No formula is required, and the intention remains yours. It can change from one reading to the next, with no need to justify it. It can change from one reading to the next, with no need to justify it.
Shuffling and cutting
The shuffle mostly serves to settle you. Many readers shuffle the deck until the gesture feels complete, then cut it into several piles that they gather as they like. There is no ideal duration and no required direction. On Versana, the digital reading reproduces this step: you choose the moment when you stop the shuffle. Nothing rushes you, and you can start over as many times as needed. Nothing rushes you, and you can start over as many times as needed.
Laying out and looking
The cards are laid down one after the other, according to the chosen spread, each position carrying its question: what sheds light, what holds back, what is offered. Look at the whole first, then at each card in turn. A careful reading avoids concluding too fast and stays open to several possible meanings. Taking a few minutes in front of the spread often brings out links that a first glance misses. Taking a few minutes in front of the spread often brings out links that a first glance misses.
Frequently asked questions: How to draw the cards
How to draw the cards: what matters most?
To draw cards, you set an intention, shuffle the deck, then lay out the number of cards defined by the chosen spread. Each card is then read in its position. The aim is to look at a situation from several angles, not to obtain a verdict.
Is it a rule or a tradition?
How you draw is a matter of tradition and personal taste. Some cut with the left hand, others do not, some ask a question out loud, others stay silent. None of these habits is essential to a sincere reading.
How do you apply it in a reading?
Choose a spread suited to your question: one card for quick insight, three for a situation, more for a broad subject. Shuffle, draw, then read position by position. Start small, it is easier to read, and larger spreads will come later.
To go further
- Reversed cardsWhether to read reversed cards: the four readings of a reversal, one card read four ways, and what to do with a card that comes up upside down.
- Reading a cardRead a card from its image, its number, and its position in the spread, without a memorized dictionary of meanings.
- Elements and suitsWands, Cups, Swords, Pentacles: the four suits, their elements according to tradition, and how they answer each other.
- History of tarotFrom the Italian card game of the 15th century to the readings of the late 18th century, then the Rider-Waite of 1909: the key stages.