My last few Tarot Tips have been pretty intense, and some of you may have even found them a bit ‘dark’ – so I’ve decided to talk about love and marriage in my next few tips.  There’s nothing like a bit of romance to pick up your spirits!

     We humans seem to be especially interested in love, romance, marriage, and sex – and so the cards, of course, offer a myriad of insights into all of these things!

     Let’s start looking at this subject by taking a look at the ‘marriage cards’ in the deck.

     There are primarily three marriage cards in the deck.  The Sun, the Heirophant, and the 3 of Cups. 

     When the Sun turns up as a marriage, it talks about the union of two souls, two people totally in love.  This truly holds the meaning of a new beginning for them.  They are married in their hearts, whether or not they have stood before the altar.  When the Heirophant turns up representing marriage, it talks about a traditional marriage performed in a church between a man and a woman.  It...

Before we even get into the actual card combinations that I use in my readings to predict illnesses, often quite accurately, I need to address the elephant in the room.

     You are a tarot reader, not a doctor.

     You are not licensed to engage in any kind of medical diagnosis, unless you have a medical license of some kind.  Being a tarot reader, even a psychic, does not give you that authority.

     You can get into serious legal trouble offering a medical diagnosis, but even more importantly, if you offer an incorrect one, and your client does or doesn’t act on their health issue because of what you’ve told them, they can be severely harmed and you will feel guilty for a very long time.

     So the most important thing you should always tell your client BEFORE you offer any medical advice, is that although you will tell them what you see in the cards, they should definitely see a medical doctor for confirmation; your reading does not replace a medical evaluation.

     That s...

Death is such a touchy subject that when people see the death card in their reading they sometimes actually freak out.  Even some readers seem very uncomfortable with the Death card. There’s no need to be.

The Death card in a reading, talks about transformation.  Nothing more, nothing less. The cards that fall around it in the spread will tell you what is being changed.  If the Death card is inverted, the transformation it brought about has already occurred.  What’s interesting about that, is that if you see Death inverted in a future position in the spread you are using, your client is probably going through the transformation NOW. That’s one of the reasons I like to read the cards both upright and inverted.  You get extra little insights like that.  To be inverted in the future, it must be upright now.  Simple.

So, Death is more often representative of a change in consciousness, attitude, or thinking, than it is physical.  Your client could be changing their mind about a career path,...

Many tarot readers only read the cards right side up, which is perfectly fine.  If that is your reading style of choice, skip this tip!

I have found that when you read the cards using both upright and inverted meanings, it often makes them easier to read.  The inverted meanings of the cards might be a bit more difficult to learn initially, but ultimately it makes your readings easier to do.

This tip is about how to read the court cards when they are inverted.  Using inverted meanings is especially powerful when applied to the court cards – that is, the people cards in the deck.

When looking at an inverted court card, you will have three different ways of reading the card.  One or even all of these options may apply.

Option 1 – The person depicted by the card using its normal upright meaning is ill.  If that is the way you choose to read this inverted card, you will also see several wands near it, and often the Temperance card that can be an indicator of health issues, and also prob...

During my many years teaching tarot I’ve found that for many people, the court cards are the most difficult cards to learn.  If you are one of those people who have difficulty with them, you’ll want to pay special attention to this tip!

     You see, there’s a special trick I’ve used for years to make it easy to remember and read the court cards in the tarot deck.  This is important as the court cards represent all the people in your life, or the life of your client.

     To start with, each of the suits has a King, Queen, Knight, and Page.  Kings are adult, responsible, men.  Queens are women.  Knights are young men who have not yet assumed the responsibilities of manhood.  Pages are pre-adolescent children, or anyone acting like a child.

     The four suites of the tarot are wands, pentacles, swords and cups.  Wands represent the element fire, pentacles are earth, swords are air, and cups are water.

     So here’s part one of my ‘trick’.  I let the element describe the person ...

What do I do if all the cards in my spread are Court, or People cards?  How can I read that?

Here’s what to do if you pick some cards for a client or lay out your favorite spread to read for someone, and all, or nearly all, of the cards are Court cards. 

     Firstly, the Court cards are cards that represent people.  These would be the Jack, Queen and King in a regular playing card deck.  In the Tarot they are the Page, the Night, the Queen and the King. A few decks call the Nights ‘Princes”, and some call the Pages ‘Princesses so if you are reading the meanings from a book don’t let that confuse you.

     Many people have difficulty learning the meanings of the Court cards.  If you are one of them, please read or watch my Tarot Tip #10.  That will make it very easy for you to learn and remember them.
     So back to your reading.  You’ve turned up a card, or a spread, that has mostly, or only, Court cards.  What do you do?  How can you read that?

     Firstly, if the prospect o...

Asking questions is one of my personal favorite uses for the Tarot. 

     The simplest way to do this, for the beginner, is to simply hold a yes or no question in your mind, shuffle the cards well, reversing them as you shuffle so that they will be both right side up and reversed when pulled from the deck, then fan the deck out on the reading table, and pull one card from the fan, turning it face up on the table before you.

     If the card is right side up, your answer is yes.  If it’s reversed, your answer is no.

     You can use this simple technique for both yourself and for other people.  If you are reading for yourself and wish a little more insight, consult the meaning of the card in its reversed or upright position in your favorite tarot book, such as my own “The Tarot Reader’s Workbook”.  Resist the desire to add your own input, or you will likely muddy your answer.  But if you are reading for another person, you can both consult the book meaning and also ‘intuit’ whatever p...

Occasionally I have had all four Aces appear in the same Tarot reading.

Interpreting all four Aces in a Tarot spread can provide insight into the potential beginnings and opportunities in different areas of life.

Here's a general guide to interpreting the four Aces together:

1. Ace of Wands: This card represents new beginnings related to passion, creativity, and ambition. It may suggest a new project or opportunity that ignites your enthusiasm and motivates you to take action.
2. Ace of Cups: This card represents new beginnings related to emotions, relationships, and love. It may suggest a new relationship or a deepening of existing relationships, or it may indicate an opportunity to connect with your emotions and bring more love into your life.
3. Ace of Swords: This card represents new beginnings related to clarity, truth, and communication. It may suggest a new idea or perspective that helps you cut through confusion and see things clearly, or it may indicate a need to communicate you
...

Here are two great hints to get you reading and working with your cards quickly. 

1 – Every morning when you start your day, shuffle your cards, keeping your mind open and relaxed as you do so.  Then, spread the cards out like a fan on the table in front of you, holding in your mind as you do so the simple question, “What will today hold for me?”.  Select your card, turning it over to see the face.  I like to read the cards with both upright and inverted meanings, so if it turns up inverted, I read it inverted.  If you like to read only upright meanings, then do that.  To read the card and find out about the day to come, first I just look at the card and see if anything special jumps out at me.  Do I find myself looking at the card’s number?  Or it’s primary color(s)?  Is my eye drawn to a figure or object in the card?  Those things may prove to have special significance.  Next, I consult either the guide book that came with the deck, or my own Tarot Reader’s Workbook, or some other b...

 The tarot is a learning tool, far more than just a tool for doing readings.  Many people get stuck when they are beginning to learn to read the tarot, thinking that they don’t know enough.  Maybe they haven’t memorized all the meanings of all the cards, or perhaps they haven’t mastered the particular spread they’ve chosen to read with. They think they have to know everything there is to know about the tarot, before they can read for someone other than themselves. 

     Please don’t get stuck in this pitfall.

     After 40 years of reading the tarot, I am still learning more about it every day, every time I use it.  I started reading the cards for other people within days of getting my first deck.  That’s not because I’m somebody special; it’s because I found the best way to learn the cards is by doing them.

     Honestly, all you need to get started is your tarot deck, and one or two meanings for each card.  Don’t be afraid to keep your guide book with you, and to consult it.  That’s...