Some other open-ended questions you could try are:
- What patterns no longer serve me?
- What is the best course of action right now?
- What in my life needs attention?
- What qualities should I embrace?
- What does this relationship need to grow or resolve?
How to interpret tarot card readings
Just as you want to keep the questions open-ended, you also want to keep an open mind—remember that the point is to gain a new perspective; to see yourself or a situation more clearly. “Intuiting is definitely a big part of a tarot reading; that’s what makes it so special,” Howe says. “Tarot is really a tool to facilitate talking about things. Use language that you already have, or knowledge that you already have, so you can see it less as ‘This holds all of these secret meanings that I have to do all this work to access,’ and more like ‘I know all the meanings; it’s just a matter of making the connections and being able to articulate them.’”
The four elements—earth, water, fire, and air—and numerology also play a large role in the tarot, which can be helpful to draw on. “If you do that, then it’s more your own perspective and you can be a little freer with your interpretations,” says Howe.
Tarot is an age-old practice for a reason; each card is designed to make sense on an intrinsic level. “The reason a card can relate so specifically to multiple people is because tarot is rooted in archetypes that speak the language of the collective unconscious,” Dyan explains. “Our stories are told through archetypes, like The Fool or The Hermit, and they’re familiar to us because they exist in our energetic blueprint. Keep in mind that your interpretation of the cards is just as, if not more, important than the conventional explanation.”
Get to know some basic tarot spreads
For beginner readers, Howe recommends two basic spreads, a three-card pull and the Celtic Cross. The former is where three cards are drawn from the deck to represent the past, present, and future. Once you get better, you can even up the ante to a six-card pull, with two cards representing each area.
The Celtic Cross, though slightly more complicated, is also a traditional starting point. “The Celtic Cross spread is a classic spread where each card has an assigned position and an assigned meaning for that position. It’s 10 cards, so it’s a lot of information and it’s a very clear spread,” Howe says.
However, keep in mind that there is no one “right” spread—it’s more important to keep the big picture in mind. “It’s really about the connections between the cards,” Howe says. “Depending what cards are around a certain card, it will influence the meaning. They’re all being influenced by each other, sometimes they’re really amplified by each other.” Dyan says that it is best to “focus on the quality of each message instead of the quantity of cards pulled.”
Whatever you do, don’t panic
Remember, tarot is not predictive. “Don’t believe everything you see in the movies about tarot,” says Dyan. “The cards will not predict things that you have no control over; they will not predict death and cause despair—you have free will to create your own path using the guidance provided by the cards.”