How to read a tarot card: image, number, position
Reading a card means starting from what it shows, an image, a number, a name, then connecting them to your question.
By Thomas Guilhot · updated
Reading a card at a glance
Reading a card means first looking at what it shows, then connecting that image to your question without forcing it.
By Thomas Guilhot · updated
Reading a card, in practice
First step
Look at the image without trying to interpret it, and note two or three details that hold your attention.
Second step
Note the card’s name, its number, and the position it occupies in the spread: these clues guide the reading without fixing it.
Third step
Ask yourself what the image evokes for your question, then phrase it as a lead rather than an answer.
What you need to know
Looking before interpreting
Let your eyes travel over the card before looking for its meaning: the figures, the objects, the colors, what first draws the eye. Note two or three details that strike you. This observation is already a reading, and it keeps you from imposing a ready-made meaning on an image you know poorly. You can also say it out loud or write it down. You can also say it out loud or write it down.
The name, the number, the position
Each card carries a name and, for many, a number that places it in a sequence. In a spread, its position adds a nuance: the same card does not read the same in the position of what sheds light as in that of what holds back. These three landmarks frame the reading without locking it into a single sentence. They complement each other, and none should outweigh the others. They complement each other, and none should outweigh the others.
Connecting it to your question
The last step is to ask what the image says about your situation, in terms of a way of acting rather than a verdict. A card can suggest, invite, or nuance, never decide in your place. If nothing comes, set the card aside and come back to it later; the reading loses nothing. Sometimes an image only speaks after a time of rest. Sometimes an image only speaks after a time of rest.
Frequently asked questions: Reading a card
Reading a card: what matters most?
Reading a card means moving from the image to its meaning in three steps: observing what it shows, noting its name and number, then connecting it to your question. The reading remains an aid to reflection, not an imposed answer.
Is it a rule or a tradition?
The meanings attached to cards are traditions, handed down and reinterpreted by readers for a long time. They serve as a starting point. Your own view of the image counts just as much, and it can depart from the usual meanings without being a mistake.
How do you apply it in a reading?
Start by describing the card in your own words, then consult its page to compare your view with the known landmarks. In a multi-card spread, do the same card by card, then look for what connects them before drawing a conclusion.
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.
- How to draw the cardsShuffle, cut, choose, lay out: the steps of a tarot reading, and what each layout lets you look at.
- 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.