Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
Tarot: Standard Meanings or Intuitive Interpretations?

Tarot: Standard Meanings or Intuitive Interpretations?

Last updated on: September 9, 2021 at 3:00 am by John Beckett

Tarot: Standard Meanings or Intuitive Interpretations? 2021-09-08T13:23:49-06:00 John Beckett

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Lately I’ve seen a few people on Twitter arguing about how to read Tarot cards. Some say you should always use the generally accepted meanings for the cards, while others say the standard meanings don’t matter and you should let the cards speak to you however they will. I’ve seen one side screaming “you’re creating Tarot dogma!” and the other side screaming “you’re just making it all up!”

That’s a gross oversimplification of the argument, but rather than deconstructing the “debate” (a debate I declined to participate in) I’d rather start with a clean sheet of paper. How much emphasis should we give to the “book” meanings of the cards? Where do these meanings come from? And how does all this work, anyway?

The origins of Tarot

The origins of Tarot are somewhat mysterious, but not nearly as mysterious as some claim. It didn’t come from Egypt – or anywhere else – as a divination tool or as a conduit of esoteric wisdom. Rather, it began in Italy in the late 1300s and early 1400s as tarocchi, a card game. Using Tarot cards for divination came later.

So if Tarot originated as a game, the cards could not have had divinatory meanings baked into them from the beginning (the Sola Busca Tarot may be an exception, but that’s far from certain). Further, there were many decks not just with different artwork, but with different cards. The only thing common among most Tarot decks is the structure of 4 suits of 14 cards each plus 22 trumps, for a total of 78 cards.

Many people think of the Waite-Smith deck as the “standard” Tarot, but it wasn’t published until 1909. It was designed by Arthur Waite with artwork by Pamela Colman Smith, both of whom were members of the Golden Dawn. They tried to encode Golden Dawn principles and teachings in their work and they were largely successful. However, they were working within a system that was already over 400 years old at the time. Their work was an evolution of the Tarot, not a discovery of something inherent in the Tarot.

Consensus meanings

So if Tarot has no inherent meanings – either designed or discovered – where do our generally accepted “standard” meanings come from?

From the same place all our generally accepted meanings come from – from an informal consensus of people who’ve worked with it.

Some meanings are obvious – the artwork and the name lead to a straightforward conclusion. It doesn’t take a PhD in art history to figure out that the Wheel of Fortune is about luck, random chance, and changing conditions. Others draw on archetypes rooted in the commonalities of human experience (The Moon) or on the experiences of those who created the cards (The Magician).

Tarot has never been practiced in a vacuum. Readers have always talked to each other, sometimes formally (“what do you think the King of Wands represents?”) and sometime informally (“I was doing a reading last week, and…”). Over time, we’ve come up with a collection of meanings that are accurate and helpful… most of the time.

How does Tarot work?

The answer to whether cards should be read according to fixed meanings or with intuition depends at least in part on how you think the Tarot works.

One theory says that Gods and/or spirits arrange the sortilege so that the right cards come up in the right positions to give the reader the information they need. If that’s correct, then every card that comes up in a reading is there for a specific reason, and we should be aware of what those reasons are likely to be. If you’re trying to get someone to stop and all you can do is flash a color at them, you’re going to choose red – not blue and certainly not green. If this theory is correct, we should pay strong attention to the standard meanings of the cards.

Another theory says the sortilege is random, but Gods and/or spirits direct your attention to elements in the artwork or to card combinations in order to answer the question. If this is true, then the standard meanings – the consensus meanings – may provide some hints, but what’s most relevant is what we see when we look at the cards. This supports a more intuitive reading.

A third theory says that divination systems unlock the subconscious and allow us to see and know things we ordinarily could not see and know. If this is true, the archetypes illustrated by the cards may set boundaries and provide context, but the final interpretation may only be tangentially connected to the standard meanings.

So, which theory is correct? Ultimately, we don’t know – divination does not easily lend itself to scientific testing. My experience tells me it’s all of the above and the mix varies from reading to reading.

The point here is that none of these theories conclusively point to either “standard meanings are always right” or “standard meanings are useless – always read intuitively.”

There’s a place for both approaches.

Free-lance mediumship is a thing

But I will say this: if you’re all about intuition, why bother with the cards? Free-lance mediumship is a real thing. If the spirits talk to you so clearly you don’t need cards, or if you’re able to see the future without them, just do your trancework (or however you access this… assuming you can turn it on and off… which some can’t) and tell people what you see.

A few people have that level of skill. I’m not one of them. And even when a God whose voice I know well gives me a message, I want to be absolutely sure I heard it right before I deliver it. So I draw cards. The cards confirm the message vast majority of the time, sometimes through the consensus meanings and sometimes by the connections I see in them and between them.

But if you don’t need the framework provided by the cards, then don’t bother with them. Just be a free-lance medium.

Not a random draw – this is designed arrangement. You can figure out what it means.

Tarot is non-linguistic communication

I think my biggest concern with the “we should always use the standard meanings” position is that it attempts to turn a non-verbal, non-written, non-linguistic communication method into pictograms or even hieroglyphics. And that’s a mistake.

If a picture says a thousand words – a figure of speech, but one that contains great wisdom – why would you try to restrict deep and multifaceted pictures to a handful of words?

How did our pre-human and barely-human ancestors communicate without language? As best we can tell, language is a very recent development. We have it, Neanderthals may have had it, earlier species almost certainly didn’t have it. How did they communicate without it?

More relevantly here, how did they think without it? Can you think without using words? You can, but it requires great effort.

Images can communicate concepts and meanings without using words. We will eventually have to put that communication into words – either for our clients or for ourselves – but when we jump to the words too quickly, we miss the rest of the message.

Look at the picture until you get the full thousand words – don’t settle for seven or eight.

Learn the standard meanings first

With all that said, I strongly recommend learning the standard meanings of the cards first.

There is wisdom in the archetypes represented in the Tarot artwork. There is insight in their historical context. There is value in the consensus meanings developed over the years.

Beyond that, standard meanings provide structure and guidelines. As valuable as a thousand words can be, when you’re just starting out a thousand words can be overwhelming. The standard meanings can help you figure out where to look and where to concentrate. They can help keep you from going off the deep end and seeing only what you want to see, or from getting overwhelmed by your fears.

Start by learning the standard meanings of the cards.

Remember that most books and classes are focused on the Waite-Smith deck and its many offshoots. That’s why I recommend that beginners start with one of them – I used the Robin Wood Tarot for many years, and still use it frequently. If you’re using a significantly different deck, learn the meanings of that artwork. Don’t try to force the Waite-Smith meanings onto cards that are nothing like them.

The Sola Busca Tarot. Do NOT try to map the Waite-Smith meanings onto this deck. It can’t be done, at least not with any degree of accuracy and authenticity.

Learn to answer questions

I started out doing large-spread readings for general insight. That was a mistake. Ask a vague question, get a vague answer. More cards just make it more confusing.

In her excellent book Read Like the Devil, Camelia Elias says “in divination the only thing that’s real is the question, whether from the heart or some distorted illusion of the mind. The job of the fortuneteller is to answer it, regardless.”

If I was teaching a class in Tarot, I would start students out asking a very simple question – not much more complicated than “yes or no” – then drawing one card to answer it. From there we would move to 3-card spreads that can provide a little more context, and then to 5-card spreads that can include nuance and depth.

Small spreads drawn to answer simple questions will teach you the value of standard meanings – and also their limitations.

Then learn to read the cards

Once you’ve got the standard meanings down cold, you always know where to start in a reading. That confidence allows you to let your eyes wander over the cards, seeing which features seem important and which ones aren’t. You can look for combinations, repetitions, and themes.

At that point, you’ve stopped reciting book meanings. Now you’re actually reading the cards – you’re getting the full thousand words.

And as you do, you’ll likely find that most times, what you read bears a strong resemblance to the standard, consensus meanings. However those meanings developed, they were retained because they proved helpful to readers over the years.

But you’ll also find yourself pulled to one specific part of that meaning, in response to one specific part of the question. You’ll find yourself saying things that were never in any Little White Book but that make perfect sense in the context of this layout and this situation.

And you’ll find that your readings are more accurate, more meaningful, and more helpful to your clients and to yourself.

So, on the question of standard meanings vs. intuitive interpretations, the answer is clear: we need both.

Another designed arrangement – this one is a response to the first. You can figure it out too.

For Further Reading

A Need For Divination (May 2016)

How I Learned To Read Tarot (January 2017)

In Defense of the Celtic Cross (January 2021)

Read Like The Devil (March 2021)

Why I Read Tarot For Divination (May 2021)

Tarot Deck Reviews

Celtic Tarot – A Review (November 2017)

Sola Busca Tarot – A Review (September 2019)

Previous Post

September 7, 2021

Make Good Art

Next Post

September 12, 2021 Autumn Equinox: The Triumph of the Dark

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Books Community CUUPS Druidry Foundations and Context Gods and Goddesses Magic Myth Nature Ritual Spiritual Practice Theology Travel Uncategorized Videos

Select a Month November 2026 October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What is the name for the Jewish prayer shawl?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Tefillin Mezuzah Tallit Kippah