Thoughts on Tarot: The Best Advice
When I first started reading Tarot, I was overwhelmed. I think that’s the most common feeling for all newbies when it comes to Tarot though. It’s a lot of information to absorb, and there are so many different ways to do it.
I started my Tarot journey in 2011 right before my senior year of high school. I can still remember buying my first deck of cards from my local Hastings store. It was a basic Rider-Waite starter kit, and I was immediately in love. I must have spent at least an hour in my car flipping through the cards before I realized I should probably go home.
There’s just something so captivating about a new deck of Tarot cards. The first time you open them, it’s almost like a first date.
What I loved the most about starting out was all the various spreads. I would sit and draw cards for hours, making up my own spreads. The bigger the better, I thought. Which, come to think of it, is probably one of the biggest reasons I was so overwhelmed to start with.
The best advice I ever revived as a new reader was that simplicity is best. The more you pull, the more complex the answer is, the harder it is to get a clear interpretation. At least that’s how it was for me in the beginning.
It wasn’t until late last year that I received my second best piece of advice as a reader. It was the shadow card. No matter what spread you’re using, a shadow card is always a good idea. This was how I learned about my shadow self, to be honest. Pulling a card for my shadow self, to better understand how she my affect or be affected by a situation or process that I’m working through.
I think that these two things have the potential to help any Tarot reader at any level of expertise. When in doubt, keep it simple. And always address your shadow self during a reading, even if it’s by pulling a single card.
