Here is a series of tips for working with and reading the Tarot that have been gathered from our team and research. These tips should help you get going with the Tarot.

If you see a lot of Major Arcana cards in a spread, it generally means that this question is extremely important to the querant or is a life-changing matter. It can also mean that the querant cannot control the events that are unfolding around him or her, that they must wait and watch before taking action.
To help you with timelines, each of the suits can also be thought of as representing a season:. swords are fall, wands spring, cups summer, and pentacles winter. (You will see varying versions of this, choose the one that works for you and then be consistent.)
A particular suit may turn up heavily in a spread and can tell you what is influencing the question or querant most. For instance, if you see a lot of pentacles, then this must be a financial matter. Cups would indicate a matter of the heart; wands, spiritual, or emotional and swords a matter of the mind or perhaps an argument or something similar.
You can assign your own unique meanings to specific cards. For example, The King of Swords, for me represents the time of Taurus, and for someone else may mean something completely different. That's Ok – and part of the magic of the tarot… once you begin working with it in a specific way, ir "remembers" and reacts to help you get the right answers – and some consistency in your readings.

Remember, the tarot can be used for many things besides telling the future. It is a valued tool for meditation. A reading or meditation will often give you as much, if not more, information on the past and present. It isn't just a parlor game; the tarot is a very powerful tool that, when used properly, can be very illuminating.
An abundance of a particular suit in a reading usually identifies the major themes in operation in a querant's daily life.
An abundance of Court Cards in a reading can indicate that the querant is being influenced by a number of different forces or individuals. The cards around each court indicate how this influence is affecting the querant, whether it is positive or negative. (Understanding the astrological signs associated with the Court Cards can provide even further detail around the timing or the individual involved.)

Astrological Signs in the Minor Arcana

Knights are not included as an astrological sign but indicate the beginning of a cycle, according to the suit.

Card	Sign	Vibration
King of Wands	Aries	wanting
Queen of Wands	Leo	being
Page of Wands	Sagittarius	seeing
King of Cups	Cancer	desiring
Queen of Cups	Scorpio	feeling
Page of Cups	Pisces	believing
King of Pentacles	Gemini	having
Queen of Pentacles	Libra	balancing
Page of Pentacles	Aquarius	using
King of Swords	Taurus	knowing
Queen of Swords	Virgo	analyzing
Page of Swords	Capricorn	thinking

Click on each of the following links for more insights on Reading the Tarot

The Key Signs and Symbols, the Archetypes

Spreads, Card Lay-outs

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Major Arcana

Minor Arcana

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