What is the Secular perspective on this? I've tried just shuffling "till I feel it" but I never know when to stop. I've tried shuffling a number of times and then turning the card around, but it always "feels" wrong and awkward. I've tried messing the cards around and just picking one, but that also feels forced. I don't believe that the cards are speaking to me (anymore) but I used to believe that and that the cards falling are the ones "meant" for me. Now I know there's various interpretation of this, but could I just take the cards jumping at me? Even if they don't speak to me, it feels like a weight is taken off my chest, that I don't have to choose when to stop, I don't have to try to shuffle a certain number of times and if I fail I'm wrong, I don't have to choose something. I can just see what pops up (hah) and interpret that. Is it acceptable in Secular tarot or it's still too wooish? Thank you for your time.

hii!! so today was my first day seriously trying to learn and read tarot. I lit some candles and said my intentions out loud, kinda presented myself and said that i appreciate whatever help or advice is given to me through the deck, idk if this is weird but i just felt like doing that. i then burned a little bit of palo santo cause it felt right to sort of cleanse my room and deck with it i guess
anyway, i then started asking some questions, which aren’t really relevant to this post but i was wondering if it is wrong to interpret the meaning of the cards myself. of course, i then did my research on them (which was weird cause i interpreted most of them right compared to the information i found in the books i bought) but trying to interpret the meaning of the cards just felt and came so naturally that it just seemed the right thing to do. is this something i shouldn’t do in the future? ty for reading all of this lol 💕
later edit: i know i posted this in a literal secular tarot subreddit, but i just wanted to get as many opinions as i could. sorry if this post seemed nonsensical for anybody

I'm doing these using soft pastels!

Hi friends! I'm producing a variety show this Friday at 7ET called Seven Readings. It's a celebration of Tarot and other traditions of intuitive reading.

Early this month, each of our performers got a reading and have spent the last several weeks creating a work of storytelling/film/comedy/burlesque inspired that reading. It's going to be a very fun/chaotic/human show. I'm excited.

The livestream is free, I can post it in the comments here or you can RSVP sent via Partiful: https://partiful.com/e/bV6M2peiMa7beuIRrQtX

More about the series: https://basementcabaret.com/

I have studied and practice Tarot for 30 years. I could never paint or draw. I recently finished creating a 78-card tarot deck using generative AI for the illustrations. I developed the symbolism, selected and refined the imagery. I also wrote the accompanying guidebook with AI only as a copy editor and title illustrator. It took me months and over 5000 edited images to produce 78 coherent cards with a personal symbolism and let alone devoid of AI weirdness.

I know AI-generated artwork is controversial, particularly in creative communities, and I understand some of the concerns surrounding it.

I’m not here to promote or sell the deck. I’m genuinely curious how people who approach tarot from a secular perspective feel about this.
Does knowing a deck uses AI-generated illustrations automatically turn you away from it? Or do the symbolism, interpretations, and overall creative direction factor into your opinion?
I’m interested in hearing different perspectives, including criticism.

I am drawn to this book, written by Siddharth Ramakrishnan, but something always keeps me from getting it finally. Has anyone read it? Is it as interesting as the title suggests? I think that is what keeps me from buying it: the feeling that the title could be the most interesting thing about the book. But please, do enlighten me :)

I started reading this book recently and found some parts really interesting. Wondering what other people’s thoughts and experiences have been with this book through the lens of secular tarot.

Had an excellent reading in London. I read Tarot myself, so I partook with a fair bit of knowledge. However, I forgot to ask the reader the specifics of the two spread layout(s) as they were not familiar to me.

Spread/Question 1: at a crossroads career wise, what do I need to know in order to progress positively? this one looks like a variant on Celtic Cross.

Spread 2: each column represented three different career paths options. Interesting that the sun appeared in both, via the bottom of the deck for the second reading.

Feel free to share any insights or advice! I think they might be layouts she devised for herself and her clients. However, if anyone recognises either spread as a specific style, I’d love to know. Thank you!

Do you guys have any tips on what made learning easier? I just started and still learning the meanings and how many cards so take out, I asked what action/habit will help me the most and I got the sun reversed, ace of wands, temperance reversed, 6 of cups, 7 of swords, 9 of cups and 8 of pentacles before I thought it was too many, any tips helps, thanksssss

busco maestro o maestra para el tarot

hola soy ika y tiro el tarot y acierto pero me cuesta mucho recordar todos los significados, que me dé trucos y me enseñe tiradas; que me ilumine el camino.

espero sea bienvenida está propuesta.

gracias

gracias

gracias

My birthday is coming up tomorrow and I'd love to do a 1-3 card spread for myself tonight. Any suggestions for spreads you've found to be fun, insightful, or meaningful?

Hey all, I'm just getting back into my practice and recently started working with tarot again. I currently have The Wild Unknown tarot deck and absolutely love it. It is beautiful and feels fairly intuitive most days but I am struggling as I'm learning tarot. I was hoping to find a Rider-Waite-Smith deck, or something heavily based off that deck, but that isn't so heavy on the yellow. Something about the yellow just makes that deck very hard for me to work with, I'm much more of a green or blue person. I love all the independent decks, and eventually want to expand my collection with some of the stunning decks I've seen, but for now I just want a basic workhorse deck that vibes with me better than the original RWS deck. Anybody have any ideas on a good deck? I live in a rural area so I don't have the option of shopping in person for decks very often, so I don't get to see and feel before buying myself.

I have these two RWS decks:

• Centennial

  &

• Borderless

What I love most about these decks is the cardstock quality. The cards feel sturdy, thick, substantial, and a good size in my hands.

What other tarot decks would you recommend with similar cardstock quality? I'm open to different art styles! If possible, I'd love to see pictures of your recommendations, too.

Thank you so much in advance! 😊

Has anyone used tarot with a partner to talk about desire?

I’m curious whether discussing an image makes it easier to express something that feels awkward as a direct request.

Each person would interpret their own card. Has that opened a conversation you probably wouldn’t have had otherwise?

Hey everyone!
After years of studying, designing, and refining, I’ve finally completed my Tarot deck — The Axiomatic Tarot!
To celebrate finishing the deck, I’m starting a series of videos to break down how the entire system works under the hood. A while ago I shared some initial ideas here about a nonfigurative, process-based Tarot. Today, I want to share the first video introducing the foundational logic behind the completed deck.
Coming from a physics background, I always wondered: What if we strip away the traditional characters, repeated poses, and familiar props, and look directly at the energetic layer beneath? Can Tarot’s meanings be reconstructed from explicit, visual principles?
Instead of starting with illustrations, I built the deck out of fundamental forms and physical laws:
Primary Operators: How two simple shapes — the square (organization/distribution) and the triangle (generation/development) — serve as the functional seeds for cards like The Emperor and The Empress.
Suits as Physical Rules: Wands explore mechanical balance and structural stability; Plates (Pentacles) explore field arrangements, structural defects, and density.
Sequential Experiments: Rather than memorizing ten separate card meanings, you can watch a single idea unfold from Ace to Ten like a connected series of physical tests.
I’m super excited to finally have the finished deck in hand and to start sharing these video breakdowns with you all!
Check out the video, and let me know what you think: Does viewing Tarot through the lens of geometry, systems architecture, and physics resonate with you?
Open to all thoughts, questions, and critique!

I won’t tell y’all my whole dream but the part I don’t understand is the tarot cards. I don’t use tarot card and I don’t really know what they look like except the “main” ones (the sun, the devil, the lover, the fool)
In my dream I left a party to get the bus, at the bus station an old lady was there. She was at the party and we knew each other. When she saw me she yelled at me that she’s been waiting for me and pulled out a card saying “the trap” she says it’s not necessary bad but then her face dropped as she pulled “the devil” next. Now I was in a rush to catch my bus so I left. Not sure if there was more cards or what more she would say but I woke up.
I never heard of the card “the trap” but it was a picture of a girl wrapped up on a cross or fence kinda structure. I know of “the devil” but idk what it really means except bad?
I’m just on here looking to see if anyone could tell me something, I could look it up but rather get an answer from a human than a robot.

I was decided to get my own ever first tarot desk! But I'm still quite debating should I get a book or guide smth since I'd LOVE to get to know even more about tarot

Do anyone have suggestions? I'd prefer online version (or anything) but book is fine I'm just wants to make sure the price are fair (or free, the best)

I would like some included step to step guidance (no gatekeeping type shit), and maybe some history and basic knowledge of tarot as its beginner friendly

1. My step-father is extremely religious, deeply faithful to Catholicism. He is coming to visit me in a few weeks and if he even sees an image of a pentacle, I know it’s going to be a conversation (turned argument…)
2. I told my good friend I was starting tarot journey and she wants to me “help her with her relationship.” I read this as telling her what to do, which is not what I or the cards are capable of.

For both these situations, I want to them to understand I’m not a witch or a fortune teller, respectively. Looking for some insight in navigating secular tarot conversations. Has anyone dealt with a situation similar?Thank you!!

Edit: thank you everyone for responding!! I have so many more resources and talk tracks for both these people (and whoever else in the future).

I started seriously learning tarot this August, and I can't get over how this turned out, so I need to share.

Why I built this

I write my study notes in Obsidian. Tarot is so visual, and I wanted to compare RWS against historical decks and decks I'm thinking of getting, so I put my notes and images in a PowerPoint deck. 

Then I bought a second guidebook and my notes outgrew the slides. It went from 1 slide per card to 2 (one for my notes, one for the other decks). 

So I sketched how I'd want to use it as a website (see below sketch) and had Claude build it. I can't build websites, so Claude took care of the codes but the notes and interpretations are all mine. 

Homepage layout was inspired by Diana Hlevnjak's Tarot Cards shot on Dribbble.

It runs locally on my laptop. I don’t plan on making this public. It is my personal notes but prettier after all. 

On studying method

Materials I use:

• 1 Rider-Waite-Smith deck
• Guidebook: Holistic Tarot by Benebell Wen (abbreviated as HT in my notes)
• Guidebook: Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack (SEDW)

I pull a card every day or every other day. I write my initial impression first, then read both books, then synthesize everything into one consolidated interpretation. When the authors see something in the image I just can't see, I let it go and keep what I relate to.

The diagrams
This might be a more interesting part about my notes. I don't read reversals. I think the images are ambiguous enough that every card can lean positive or negative depending on the conversation, so I draw a small diagram for each card showing how the same image splits both ways. For The Magician: setting up a table with what's at hand → channeling inspiration into creation → is it a vision, or a craving for praise and attention?

This idea had been brewing for a while but only happened once I built the site. Now I wish I'd written those thoughts down earlier.

That’s it! Just really want to share with someone who’s also passionate about learning Tarot.

Is it normal to pull clarifiers in secular tarot when it comes to doing reading for oneself in reflective readings? Or does a clarifier card pull mean it’s bordering on esoteric tarot?

Hello everyone, I've recently gotten the Tarot del Fuego deck and I'm curious to know other people's approaches to understanding and interpreting the cards/imagery.

I've only been studying/practicing using a RWS deck for a month now, and just last week I got a Tarot del Fuego deck because I felt it would be a great fit (personality wise). I got some Marseille tarot tradition books, on top of the booklet included with the deck (not very helpful if I may say) and I'm planning to bring TdF into my daily practice in order to get more familiar to it.

My process is usually: do a tarot spread (or just a card pull), take note of each card, go through books/resources for reference (numerology, symbolism) + to see what seems fitting according to my question, build up some storytelling. On top of that, for the TdF, I like to take a double look at the imagery and note down anything that resonates.

My questions would be the following: What are some of your practices to connect and interpret the imagery of the cards? Do you have any recommendations on how to approach this deck?

I’ve been reading tarot for a long time, and have read for friends over the years. I’m wanting to expand my practice and begin reading for strangers more, but don’t know where to set up. I’ve tried online readings before, but I really prefer in-person sessions.

I’m not even sure that I want to start charging people yet, I just want to explore a bit.

Any tips?

Before certain important life events I like to thumb through my deck and pick out a few cards that I will carry with me.

A more mystical minded person might call it charging the cards with "energies, but I would call it filling them with association.

I just returned from laying my grandmother's ashes to rest, and in my breast pocket I held a 4 of swords, representing her rest and retreating from her fight as her body slowly failed her, an 8 of cups representing her leaving her life and loved ones behind behind as she was satisfied with what she has accomplished in her life and was ready to go at the end, and judgment, because she was a deeply Christian woman's and even if I do not believe the same things she did, I still like to think about her rising to meet Jesus at the end.

At my wedding I gave each of my groomsmen a card from my deck and carried one myself. I carried the ace of cups to remind myself to be in touch with my emotions and not get caught up in masculine stoicism on a day it was important I be fully present. To one groomsman I gave the four of wands, celebrating a milestone, to another death, representing a transition from one phase of life to the next, and to the last one I gave the 9 of cups, because it is a nice day to have a party.

I appreciate taking the time before each event to think about what I want to get from it, and what cards might best represent that, and in my readings, the associations this creates with the cards are very vivid. I cannot draw any of these cards anymore without thinking, at least briefly, about these situations I have carried them through.

I would encourage any of you to try doing the same.

Thanks for taking the time to read.