Learn The Tarot Card Meanings
Learn The Tarot Card Meanings
the
Tarot Card
Meanings
by
The Daily Tarot Girl
Learn the Tarot Card Meanings: Notes
A) Why do we need to learn the “traditional” Tarot meanings?
– Tarot is a language. When you learn the meanings, you are able to speak the language.
– Think of the traditional Tarot meanings as a pot or a canvas. It acts as a base for the
reading. But just as it's the artist's job to create the painting and bring their own vision and
skill to the canvas, it's the Tarot readers job to bring their own intuition and creativity to the
interpretation of a card.
– Tarot meanings are not static/fixed – they are flexible and change based on spread, issue,
surrounding cards.
– It's more important to get a sense of the “essence” of the card, rather than a specific
definition.
B) Tarot Structure
78 cards (Arcana=arcane, secrets), majors(22), minors (56) – 5 suits: majors, and the 4 suits of the
minor arcana, court cards
Majors – spiritual, major events, turning points, passages, opportunites, life phases, challenges
Minors – everyday, mundane issues
Courts – people, personalities, character traits
Death analogy – pretend your dead and you're looking at your life from a “big picture”
perspective – all the major events/spiritual turning points are represented by Major Arcana cards,
and all the minor stuff is Minor Arcana. All the people in your life can be represented by Court
Cards.
Suit Qualities – each suit represents an element and an area of everyday life
Pentacles – earth, physical/material (body, health, money)
Wands – fire, energy, passion, creativity, drive
Cups – water, emotion, feelings, relationships
Swords – air, thoughts, mind, communication
C) The Exercises!
1. Notice what's going on in the card
Write down: what is happening?
*After, you can look up the meaning in your book
In this exercise you're making a physical and emotional connection with the card
*understanding it's essence!
4. Each Tarot card represents something you have experienced in your own life (or a part of
yourself)
Connect the card to an aspect of your own life.
-This makes each card personal (connection to the deck)
-makes the Tarot feel relevant to our own lives
5. Creating a story/character
Choose a card, read the meaning in your book and then add your own character details and
story
-your taking the “traditional” meaning and adding your own twist, your own flair!
-makes the people of the Tarot real, creates context & engages your own creativity!
6. Symbols as triggers
Choose a symbol on the card & connect it to the “traditional” meaning
Choose a symbol on the card to represent the cards meaning (or “essence”)
-this acts as a trigger, powerful way to use the symbols on the card
What does this card mean? VS What is this card telling me?
Tarot Meanings Cheatsheet
Major Arcana
0 The Fool - New beginnings, optimism, trust in life
Notes
Minor Arcana
Suit of Swords
King - Serious, controlling, rational and mind/intellect-focused
2 - Indecision
3- heartbreak, betrayal
9 - indulgence, self-satisfaction
2 - Balance, multitasking
2. Feel into the Tarot card. Pretend you are the character in the
card and imagine being in that same physical position. What
do you feel and notice?
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
3. In your own life, when have you experienced what this Tarot
card represents? (Or perhaps this card represents an aspect
of your self)
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
4. Does this Tarot card remind you of anyone you know?
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
Symbol: __________________________________________
Meaning: _________________________________________
External vs Internal Meanings
What might the following cards mean externally and internally?
Make sure you first look up the meaning of each card in your Tarot
book or on the meanings cheatsheet in this booklet.
(Answer key is on the following page – but don't cheat!)
Ten of Wands
External: Your taking on too many responsibilities and tasks!
Internal: Your feeling exhausted and burdened because you put a
lot of pressure on yourself.
Six of Pentacles
External: ______________________________________________
Internal: ______________________________________________
Page of Cups
External: ______________________________________________
Internal: _______________________________________________
Judgement
External: ______________________________________________
Internal: _______________________________________________
Ace of Swords
External: ______________________________________________
Internal: _______________________________________________
Four of Cups
External: ______________________________________________
Internal: _______________________________________________
Two of Pentacles
External: ______________________________________________
Internal: _______________________________________________
The Tower
External: ______________________________________________
Internal: _______________________________________________
Knight of Pentacles
External: ______________________________________________
Internal: _______________________________________________
The Devil
External: ______________________________________________
Internal: _______________________________________________
7 of Wands
External: ______________________________________________
Internal: _______________________________________________
Answer Key
Please keep in mind that there is no ONE right answer here. There are many possibilites. The
Answer key is just to give you an idea of the different ways of seeing a Tarot card's meaning.
*Tip: make the character seem as real and human as you can!
Favorite foods?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Fantasy vacation?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Career?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Greatest fears?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
The Chariot
Meaning: Victory, confidence, success and Possible Advice: stay focused and keep your
moving onward and upward goals in sight, take action, have confidence
Three of Cups
Eight of Pentacles
The Star
Queen of Wands
Five of Cups
Answer Key
There are many differnent ways to see the “advice” in a card.
Below are my simply my own interpretations.
Three of Cups
Meaning: Celebration, friends coming together Possible Advice: Lighten up and go out and have
some fun! Connect with friends.
Eight of Pentacles
Meaning: hard work, learning a skill, nose to the Possible Advice: Right now it's important to
grindstone keep busy
The Star
Meaning: hope, peace and having faith that Possible Advice: Relax! Everything is working
everything will work out out as it should. Keep this card on your
nightstand to remind yourself of this.
Queen of Wands
Meaning: A woman who is strong, capable and Possible Advice: Now is the right time for you to
creative. She can achieve anything with the channel your inner Queen of Wands. Follow
focus of her intent and energy. your passions and be direct in approaching your
goals.
Five of Cups
Meaning: grief, loss, disappointment Possible Advice: Don't dwell too long on what
didn't work out. Focus on the positive in order
to move on.
Studying Tarot Cards by Number
Group your Minor Arcana cards according to their number.
Each grouping will illustrate how each number is expressed
through the four different suits.
Ace
Wands Cups
Swords Pentacles
2
Wands Cups
contemplating where to put ones energy relationship, coming together
Swords Pentacles
deciding between two things balancing, juggling two things
3
Wands Cups
Swords Pentacles
4
Wands Cups
Swords Pentacles
5
Wands Cups
Swords Pentacles
6
Wands Cups
Swords Pentacles
7
Wands Cups
Swords Pentacles
8
Wands Cups
Swords Pentacles
9
Wands Cups
Swords Pentacles
10
Wands Cups
Swords Pentacles
Studying Tarot Cards by Suit
Group your Tarot cards according to their suit and lay them out
numbers 1-10 in order. You will have four groups of ten. Spend
some time studying the progression of each suit.
Wands = shows us all the ways that energy, passion and creativity operate in our
lives
Cups = shows us all the different ways we experience emotion and relationships
Swords = illustrates the various roles that mind & thoughts play in everyday life
Pentacles = shows us the different ways we experience money and health
Druidcraft Tarot
This is a gorgeous pagan deck that is very special and wonderful to read with. I recommend
getting the deck and book set as the book provides an excellent explanation of each card as well
as a good selection of pagan-inspired Tarot spreads.
Osho Zen Tarot
This deck is a bit of a different take on the Tarot. I find that many people who have a hard time
reading Tarot, have an easier time with this deck. These cards are excellent at getting to the real
meat of a situation - the deep, underlying issues that need to be recognized.
If your into things like Eckhart Tolle, Eastern spirituality and meditation, then you will really enjoy
working with this deck.
See my review right here.
Hello there!
I'm Kate and I love reading the Tarot intuitively and teaching others to do the same. I also
love to write, bellydance, paint and read lots and lots of books!
If you love Tarot as much as me, and especially if your totally new to Tarot, check out my
website daily-tarot-girl.com – it's packed with tons of great learning resources like videos,
exercises, articles, tarot spreads and more.
I also teach private Tarot lessons via telephone or Skype, so if you would like to work 1-on-1
with me and take your reading skills to the next level, then you can check out my
http://www.daily-tarot-girl.com/work-with-me/tarot-mentoring/ or contact me directly at kate@daily-
tarot-girl.com