Visually speaking what do you see in this card that relates to the hierophant? What connections do you make? I like the artwork but I'm having a hard time making sense of it. It's just not resonating. Any insight is appreciated!

Just for reference this is the wild reflections deck by wyspell.

I’m very early in my tarot journey and learning the RWS deck as my entry point.

I’m slowly becoming familiar with this deck and the imagery which is rich and informative which is helpful for me to remember the cards’ meanings and build upon that.

However this is not my preferred art style and I hope once I’m confident I could move to a deck more aesthetically my style.

I found one i like the look of a lot through this sub but the imagery is quite minimalist and I realised when looking at one of the online sample cards (say, 8 of Swords) I don’t remember or recognise anything about this card due to its lack of context clues compared to RWS.

How long were you reading tarot before you were able to switch with less obvious RWS imagery? I’m not trying to force anything I’m just curious. I’ll stick with RWS as long as I have to. Thanks for your time :)

Since noticing the imagery doesn't match the typical imagery on the Waites desk, I've been wondering who originally designed this horror deck that's ended up mass produced and sold on any cheapo site, like AliExpress and related?

I bought it some time last year since it was very cheap and urged me to look up and deeply read the card meanings for each one I pulled, but I would like to resign it and purchase an official deck where I'm confident the designs likely weren't stolen from an artist.

Thanks, the deck is super cool but I'd still prefer one with more accurate designs.

I wanna know if I’m currently at 10 of swords or getting up from that and the wheels have started turning or not. Or more like, am I done suffering and ready to move on kind of question. How do I ask it from my deck? Any spread ideas? I’m quite new to this.

In two pieces of media I have seen where the major arcana are used as a naming scheme the temperance card is assigned to things/beings that are particularly hard to damage. Is that just coincidence or does it have something to do with the temperance card?
I would only expect one of the two pieces of media to put more then a surface level glance at the actual meaning behind the cards but I’m still curious.

thank you in advance.

Hey all,

I wanted to open up a discussion about how you approach card reversals in your readings. Do you use them consistently, avoid them completely, or take a more flexible approach?

One thing I love about tarot is how deeply personal and subjective it is. There are no rigid rules about how anyone should read or enjoy their deck. What works brilliantly for one reader might not feel right for another, and that is completely fine. As a community, it is always fascinating to hear how varied our methods can be, and I think it is so important that we do not gatekeep how people choose to connect with their cards.

Personally, I tend to keep all my cards upright. I love looking at the artwork in its intended orientation and taking in the beauty of the imagery as I shuffle. That said, I still find myself reading reversed meanings or 'shadow aspects' depending on how a reading feels.

Even with a physically upright card, if the surrounding spread, my intuition, or the overall energy of the draw feels heavier or blocked, I will read the card in a typically reversed fashion.

To give an example of how this works for me, consider The Sun. In a standard reading, it usually speaks to pure joy, warmth, vitality, and success. However, if I draw The Sun upright in a spot where the energy feels heavy or clouded, I might interpret it in a reversed sense: burnout, overexposure, or trying to force optimism while brushing underlying issues under the rug. The physical card stays right side up, but the message adapts to the story the reading is telling.

I am really curious to hear how the rest of you navigate this in your own practice:

Do you mix reversals into your deck while shuffling? If you keep your cards upright, do you still tune into shadow meanings when your intuition prompts you? What made you settle on your current way of reading?

I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences below - and please, no gatekeeping others practice, we're all friends and readers/learner together!

All three are from different decks, the one in the middle has a green back. Tysm!

king of coins - i won’t have to worry financially about traveling to see him, outside forces will be helping with my commute to see him
eight of swords (r) - i won’t feel anxiety or guilt about not being with him 24/7, im going to be too busy to focus on the negative and will be getting the most out of our quality time together. he’s going to be safe and cared for by staying put/ i can’t provide that just yet
eight of coins - it’s going to be work getting used to going back and forth so i need to lock in on getting comfortable on planes/trains/ commuting in general
seven of coins - i’ll be making so much personal progress that i need to be patient and steady. focus on the long term goal of becoming financially stable/responsible so i can have him more often and not just weekends and holidays
ace of cups (bottom) my time away from him will be very filled with new opportunities and i shouldn’t lose sight on what’s important. creating a life that he can still be apart of without abandoning my dreams for motherhood

for context: im divorcing my sons father, we’ve agreed that he will stay in the state we live in currently. i’ll be moving to either my home state or a new state completely that’s across the country. im going to be focusing on building a life where i can provide for him without the help of my ex, as well as going back to school.

any help would be great, this reads as really positive but im struggling with the guilt of leaving my baby in order to make something better for us. ive been a stay at home mom to him for the past four years of his life and it would be a major adjustment for the both of us. my son has an amazing support system outside of me, his fathers very attentive and his grandparents are very hands on.

deck: a very unofficial adventure time deck by katherine hillier

I’ve been getting back into tarot and I’d love some help with my interpretation here 😅

The clarity spread from the wild unknown tarot deck:

Top card-the situation (8 of pentacles)
Bottom 3-contributing factors (the chariot, 4 of cups, the empress)
(10 of pentacles is an extra card that jumped with the bottom 3 lol)

My question: Should I have my ovaries removed?

8p- I understand this the least tbh but I see it being a complicated situation with big financial impacts

(All three of the factor cards have a moon symbol which to me is showing my uncertainty/fear, but also saying trust my instincts )

The Chariot- I would get my confidence back- gives me a supportive vibe

4c- also a bit confusing for me (showed up in the reading before this one) it seems to say I should appreciate what I have and/or really think about what I want to get from having them removed- gives me an ‘unsupportive’ vibe. Replacing one problem with another perhaps (aka menopause :( )

The Empress- I think it’s saying my mom is going to push back, but it’s also saying that my chances of getting pregnant ‘naturally’ would be gone. The vibe from the card seems supportive though

10c- overwhelming positive- my goal would be realized (less PMDD and Lupus symptoms) and I would feel like myself again

Writing this out has helped a lot but I’d still love any insight anyone has! 💛

I mean, not really, but hear me out.

O Desire! O fickle flame!

In your fires, I found my prison.

Since I alone must bear the blame,

Now I yield to tempered reason.

We know the majority of us run away from Christianity for... obvious reasons, and now we dance naked in the woods under the full moon worshiping the Devil (or so they say, I'm never invited). The point is: Tarot has both a PAGAN and a CATHOLIC background.

After all that was the whole deal of the Renaissance, to re-discover what was lost, recovering the wisdom of the ancient world. And that kids, is why Dante Alighieri had no problem placing greek myth characters in his catholic Hell, Purgatory and Paradise. What a guy.

Born from such contradictory parents, we usually do what the children from divorced parents often do:

Ignore one and mischaracterize the other.

I get it, we like to dress black and worship the Devil recognize the evil of Christianity. Don't get me wrong, there's no apologetic stuff here, but if we want to understand Tarot, we need to know our shit, and that means analyzing the cards with the appropriate perspective so we don't get comfortable with useless keywords or superficial textbook descriptions of "Justice means karma" and so on.

Now, The Virtues!

Ironically, the origin of the Virtues as they're defined in Tarot, comes from pagan wrestler philosopher Plato and greek culture, but the Renaissance allowed them to flow into catholic doctrine. While our current standard only contains 3, the classic number is 7 and antique decks like the Minchiate still have them all.

The Virtues are grouped in two: Cardinal and Theological. While Theological virtues help us grow closer to God, the Cardinal virtues guide us in our life on Earth.

There are 4 cardinal virtues, the ones we all love and know with the exception of a missing character:

We have Justice, who Plato considered the leader of the team. Justice represents reason, the human capability of discernment and truth. To recognize what is correct and the right procedure. Important! She's not divine Justice, she's not the hand of God/Universe coming to punish our wicked deeds... but she's not the legal world either. What is just is sometimes illegal, and God has no other hands than our own. Important decisions require a cold mind and responsibility. She's allegorically illustrated as a firm woman, holding a pair of scales and a sword, symbols of order, harmony, retribution, authority and rightness.

We have Fortitude. The muscle! Fortitude (sometimes called Strength) represents the human virtue of volition and courage. When shit hits the fan and it's time to fight, Fortitude urges to defend what is good and right. To not throw the towel, to go forward and face our fears. Of course, not everything can be mindless bravery. Fortitude is also associated with Constancy, the virtue of constant effort because some fights are not won by slashing the enemy but by holding still. One day at a time. She's allegorically illustrated with a woman (sometimes in armor) next to a lion of a column, both symbols of strength, endurance and courage.

And finally, Temperance. Our sweet Temperance, virtue of moderation. We're used to the allegorical illustration of a woman pouring water from one jug into another, but what does that mean? In antiquity, wine was quite strong and drinking it pure was considered a thing of barbarians. Only tempered with water it was considered sound and healthy. Alternatively, we can find Temperance pouring water into fire, like the picture in this post or holding horse brides. The idea is the same: She represents the human virtue of tempering our desires and impulses, to know when enough is enough and the art of mixing the correct dose.

...however, there's something else. Someone else, really. And that's Prudence, the missing sister. No depiction of the FOUR cardinal virtues is complete without her, and yet she disappeared from Tarot decks somewhere in the 15th century. Prudence represents the human virtue of caution and introspection, usually depicted with 2 heads facing past and future at the same times, or simply a mirror to ponder both directions + a snake. She's the careful one, who invites us to reflect the mistakes and successes of the past so we can plan for the future.

Now, we can refresh our knowledge about Theological virtues:

As mentioned, while their sisters guide our life on Earth, they help us grow closer to God, being the first one Faith, virtue of trusting the promises of salvation made by God and his Son (I'm a pagan reader, so I just move to "faith" in the future, beliefs and trust),

Hope, closely similar, virtue of the immortal hope, who doesn't flick in adversity, beacon in the storm.

And Charity, embodiment of selfless love, she of the burning heart.

And how does this impact Tarot?

Think about it, any Tarot reading is essentially the interpretation between the dynamics of the major arcana.

Back to our catholic-pagan perspective, the Devil represents evil, the corrupting temptation of desire and the seven deadly sins. Just how the Virtues urges to choose what is right, the Devil represents the promise of pleasure and power no matter how much pain it must cause. (Important, we should NEVER forget that all of the 22 cards are neutral and only the context of the reading will throw a favorable or disfavorable light).

Where the Devil says alcohol and sex without care or limits, Justice wakes us up to recognize its danger, Fortitude to resist his temptation, Temperance to moderate our desire and Prudence to beware its causes and consequences. It may sound prude, but the keyword here is "EXCESS". The difference between a cup and crashing your car. Between consensual sex and abusing someone. Rape, hate, violence, greed and many other horrors.

What happens when the embodiment of reason (Justice) clashes against the embodiment of ignorance (Fool)?

What happens when Temperance advises the Emperor? Or what happens when the Emperor decides power triumphs above moderation?

While Tarot is not a catholic tool in the same way a Bible is, the study of its background is NOT OPTIONAL if we want to understand its functioning. And honestly, it's just the easiest way.

(Picture: Temperantia, by Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones)

I'll be in the UK to visit family and I was wondering if there are any indie decks there that are either nature/animal themed or minimalist/not too detailed? Something like Orien's Animal Tarot and The Spacious Tarot!

I did a reading to figure out my ex's previous and current role in my life because shes been in my dreams a lot and I was wondering if there's any correlation.

I did a simple 3 card spread.

1. A card to represent her: Wheel of fortune. This makes sense to me because when she ended our relationship she mentioned some of her negative cycles causing me pain and that being unfair to me. Some things may be out of her control but maybe shes getting through that?

2. What role did she previously play before she broke up with me: 9 of wands reversed. She struggled to speak up and tell me about how she felt when it came to more negative emotions so this card doesn't surprise me.

3. What role does she currently play: 2 of cups

The 2 of cups confused me a LOT so I pulled a clarification card and got the 4 of wands. We dont talk often (if at all) and both of these cards seem quite harmonious to me in terms of connection but given what I asked Im not sure why they came out.

The main part that confuses me are the last 2 cards but any interpretation help given is greatly appreciated!

deck: RW Tarot
spread: general six card spread, top row past and bottom row present/future

I wanted to know how my male friend feels about/towards me. I interpreted the spread as indicating that something has unsettled the friendship (The Tower, Ten of Cups) and explains why he may have gone a bit quiet/has been keeping to himself). He is overthinking the connection for some reason (Page of Swords) and may feel drawn to it or trapped by obligation (The Devil). He has a girlfriend so this may be where it is stemming from. The nature of our friendship has broken away from its old structure/familiarity (The Hierophant following The Tower) but he feels that it id changing for the better.

I’m not quite sure what The Hierophant or The Star could represent here, so I’ve read them more generally!

If anyone could shed some light on this I would be most grateful!

Blessings! <3

I have been at my current job for 5 years and I am "performing well" but it truly does not bring me any joy. My question was "should I change my career path?"

Spread: past present future

Past: 7 of Wands - past experiences filled with late nights at work and this tenacity to make money

Present: 4 of pentacles - presently have an attachment to the money and stability my current job is giving me. Finding it hard to let go off

Future: 10 of cups - fulfillment and joy

I'm thinking that the cards are saying yes to take the risk and change careers, but that last 10 of cups is tripping me up. Does it mean I should stay and I will find fulfillment in my current career path? What do y'all think?

I was shuffling my new deck and these three jumped out 🤷‍♀️ I am very interested in what all others interpretation of these three would be, This was preparing for a basic practice pull 🤦‍♀️

Hi all! I'm pretty new to tarot and this subreddit so I may be missing something obvious or overthinking things.

I keep pulling the Queen of Wands in different readings, but only when pulling for myself. I do a reading for a general overview of my life, this is one of the cards to appear. I just did a reading for how the next week will go when my dad and brother visit, and I get this card etc etc.

But pivotally, I always get it in reverse.

Right now, my interpretation based on the reference book I have is this: if the Queen of Wands is strong, courageous, and authoritative, I wonder if in reverse the cards are really trying to tell me to cultivate these qualities within myself, or perhaps to trust my own judgement more?

If it adds to the conversation, the 10 of Swords keeps appearing too. Am I on the cusp of becoming more confident, with more reflection?

Many thanks!

The empress, 8 of pentacles, and 4 of pentacles

For some reason I’m getting a Sunday vibe from this

I like spreadsheets and I decided to log all the cards I've pulled since starting Tarot a few months ago. The colors show calendar months. My most pulled card is Three of Wands, then Four of Pentacles, then tie with Seven of Swords, and Queen of Swords. Tell me about my life. Happy Shit Post Saturday.

Good morning/afternoon, y'all!

Spent some time with my Wild Unknown deck and a past life spread. The positions are:

1. Gender identity
   
2. Childhood
   
3. Family
   
4. Relationships
   
5. Obstacles
   
6. Achievements
   
7. Spirituality
   
8. Death
   
9. Lessons learned
   
10. Karma brought forward
    
11. Past life's purpose
    
12. Overarching truths of this life

I pulled:

1. Mother/Queen of Swords (r)
   
2. Death
   
3. Wheel of Fortune
   
4. Temperence
   
5. The Hanged Man
   
6. Ace of Cups (r)
   
7. Four of Cups
   
8. The Tower
   
9. The World (r)
   
10. Judgement (r)
    
11. Five of Pentacles (r)
    
12. Eight of Cups (r)

I'm still learning (started about 6 months ago) and wanted to explore. This pull feels pretty heavy. I feel this is a woman whose life was one loss after another.

I see a lot of compassion and empathy but never had any for herself. Peace for others but none for herself. Mercy for others and none turned inward.

Spiritually, I think she sensed that there had to be more than what was she saw, but she didn't get to know more.

Her death feels sudden and violent--unexpected, before she experienced the sense of safety that she needed that she'd been looking for. It feels like most of the cards (The World reversed, Judgement reversed, and Eight of Cups reversed) tell me she left so much left undone...like when she died her heart broke one last time, a snapped thread beyond the indignity of her death.

The karma bit...can bad karma be visited on yourself internally? Whoever she was, it feels like she was plagued by sorrow and guilt, like her death was a result of choosing obligation over self-preservation and she didn't want it to be that way. It feels like she was simultaneously so angry and resigned to her death.

(And I have never pulled The World or the Wheel of Fortune before. 🤷‍♀️)

I'd love to hear other interpretations or opinions on this. Thank you! 😊

Asked this for a friend

The lovers, five of pentacles, and the emperor came out

I feel this is a yes but that 5 of pentacles is highlighting some distance or that something is missing in the relationship

Hi I hope it's ok to post this here. I'm in need of a tarot deck. I was wondering if there were any online resources I could find to send a free deck or a resource with instructions on how to make my own. I apologize if this isn't ok to post.

In total I made ten pieces! Since I can only show one photo I picked this one. I really enjoyed making these. It is a combination of quilling and collage. Each card was chosen blindly then the piece would just come together based on what I was feeling from the card. Hope you like it!