WHICH TAROT CARD MEANING SHOULD YOU BELIEVE?
One of the questions a lot of beginning Tarot readers have is, “Which definition should I believe?”
If I find two different definitions of the same card that seem to say completely different things, which one should I use?
Actually, that’s not as much of a problem as many new readers might think. You can skim through the various Tarot sites on the internet and discover that most of the definitions are remarkably homogeneous. If anything, there’s sometimes a troubling lack of imagination in them.
Still, there are differences, and those differences can affect your ability to read the cards.
One book might stress that The Emperor brings order and structure, while another views him as rigid and controlling. One site might describe The Hierophant as organized religion, while another sees him as a teacher, mentor or guru figure.
So how do you decide?
THE PAMELA COLMAN SMITH COLORING BOOK
A good starting point for any reader is simply to LOOK at the cards. What are they actually saying?
And I don’t mean, “What vibe am I picking up from this card?” I mean literally look at what the image portrays.
The best place to learn how to do that is the Waite-Smith Tarot deck. The artist behind that deck, Pamela Colman Smith—also known as Pixie—did a phenomenal job of portraying the essence of each card. In a very real sense, the images ARE the definitions.
Each one is a little visual story that tells you what the card is about.
The Three of Swords shows a heart pierced by three swords. It means heartache.
The Five of Wands shows five guys wailing away at each other with sticks. It means conflict, competition or vigorous engagement.
The Eight of Pentacles shows a man sitting at his workbench carving pentacles. It means work, practice and developing skill.
The Three of Cups shows three people raising their goblets and dancing together. It means celebration, friendship and having a good time.
Not too hard, right?
If you’re a beginning reader, start with those pictures and those stories. Think of the Waite-Smith deck almost as a coloring book in which every picture tells a story. Your first job is simply to learn how to read the pictures.
WHEN THE DEFINITIONS ARE WRONG
There ARE times when standard Tarot definitions have drifted away from the images on the cards. When that happens, you can use the artwork itself to double-check the definition.
Let me give you an example.
Take a look at the Nine of Cups. What do you actually see?
When I was learning the Tarot many, many years ago, a common interpretation of this card was an individual who is doing well materially but has a certain air of smugness and self-satisfaction about him.
And that’s pretty much what Colman Smith portrayed. He isn’t smiling so much as smirking. His body language—crossed arms and widely planted legs—practically screams that this is somebody who is very pleased with himself.
It wasn’t necessarily a BAD card. It simply wasn’t a particularly elevated one.
Fast-forward to today, and the Nine of Cups is frequently called “the wish card.” Whatever you want, you can have. Your wishes are coming true.
Really?
Is that what you see in this picture? Rainbows and unicorns?
Obviously not.
That doesn’t mean every modern interpretation of the Nine of Cups is useless. But it does mean we should occasionally stop repeating definitions we’ve inherited and ask a very simple question: Does this interpretation actually fit the card?
The Waite-Smith deck gives us a remarkably useful visual reality check. If a definition bears little resemblance to the picture, it’s worth questioning the definition.
IS THIS A SHALLOW APPROACH?
There are plenty of self-professed experts who will tell you that the Tarot is incredibly complicated and deep.
And they’re right.
Tarot symbolism can be profound and extremely complex. You can spend years studying these cards and continue finding new layers of meaning in them.
But if you’re a beginning reader, you don’t need to worry about all of that right now.
As time goes by, you may want to take a much deeper dive into the cards. You may want to explore numerology, astrology, Kabbalah, alchemy and the various occult traditions that influenced the Tarot.
That can come later. Fortunately, A. E. Waite and Pamela Colman Smith did much of that work for you, and they embedded an enormous amount of it in the deck.
For now, you can do something much simpler.
Pick up the cards. Lay out a reading. Look at the pictures.
What story are they telling you?
That’s where Tarot reading begins.
I also offer a free beginner’s Tarot course here on the website, so if you’re just getting started, you may want to give that a quick read.
But above all, keep it simple.
And keep it fun.
