How to study tarot without memorising endless lists

You read “the Chariot = victory”, close the book and, the next day, cannot remember what to do when the Chariot appears in the “obstacle” position. This is not a memory failure. One word cannot explain how to move from an image and a question to an interpretation. Studying tarot works better when you remember relationships and practise a method you can repeat.

A typical deck contains 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana. Museums describe its structure, but ways of reading it depend on later editions and methods. Learning the 78 cards does not require assigning an everlasting phrase to each one. It requires recognising the card in front of you, understanding how the deck is organised and knowing what question you are trying to answer.

Describe first; do not try to be right

Take one card and cover its name if you can. Write down three visible facts: “there are three figures”, “two face an object”, “the colour fills the upper part”. Then note the title, number and suit. Only after that should you consult your guidebook. Mark which parts of its explanation describe the image and which come from an interpretive tradition.

If you have a Tarot de Marseille deck, many numbered cards will have no people or scenes. Describe the number of suit symbols, their arrangement and any decorative motifs. If you have a Rider–Waite–Smith deck, you can look at actions and gestures; the V&A credits its illustrated Minor Arcana to Pamela Colman Smith. Studying the actual card prevents you from memorising the description of a deck you do not own.

You do not need to produce a meaning in thirty seconds. A note such as “I see four cups arranged symmetrically; I do not yet know what that adds to my question” is more useful than an improvised prediction delivered with confidence.

Study through small comparisons

Learning one card in isolation is difficult because almost any word might sound possible. A pair gives you a contrast. Compare all four Aces to see what stays the same across their rank and what changes by suit. Compare the Four, Five and Six of Cups to look for a progression, or at least a difference. Compare Justice and Strength across two decks and notice how their numbers change.

The rule is to look for one similarity and one exception. If you conclude that “all Tens are endings”, try to find a Ten for which that label works poorly in a particular spread position. A rule that survives a counterexample is more useful than a table learned without testing it.

Avoid studying 78 meanings all at once. Work with a small group for several days and return to it later. The point of repetition is not to recite an exact keyword; it is to explain why an interpretation fits or fails in a particular reading.

A study note that makes you think

Keep five fields for each card:

Edition: the deck's name and the exact card.
Observation: three details another person could point to.
Convention: what the guidebook proposes and where you found it.
Question and position: the context of your exercise.
Interpretation and limit: the idea the card helps you explore and what you cannot claim.

For example, with the Ten of Wands in the “cost of taking on another task” position, note the ten wands and the scene if your deck has one. One interpretation might be “examine my workload”. Its limit is that the card cannot tell you how many hours you actually have or what your employer will say. That limit is part of learning, not a defensive footnote.

A four-week practice plan

Week 1: observable Major Arcana. Choose six Major Arcana cards and describe two per day. On the third day, compare the previous two without looking at the book. On the seventh, do a one-card spread with a specific question and check whether your interpretation uses the image.

Week 2: suits. Work with the four Aces, then with one number across all four suits. Do not search for “the meaning of the Three” before looking at each card. Note what distinguishes Cups from Swords, Wands and Pentacles in your edition and method.

Week 3: court cards. Gather the Page, Knight, Queen and King of one suit. Ask what changes in posture, object or role. Do not automatically assign gender, age or occupation to real people; a court card may represent a role or a way of acting.

Week 4: short spreads. Use two or three positions set before shuffling. After each exercise, write a two-sentence summary: the first connects the cards; the second names a question or a step you can verify. If you cannot connect them, return to your observations instead of drawing more cards.

This plan is a practice suggestion, not a promise that you will master tarot in a month. You can extend a week whenever you feel the deck or book calls for more time.

When your book and your card disagree

Check whether they refer to the same edition or deck family. A Rider–Waite–Smith manual may describe a figure's posture on the Five of Cups that does not appear on your Marseille card. You resolve this discrepancy by identifying the systems, not by memorising both scenes as though they appeared on one card.

Make a table with “what I can see on my card”, “what I can see in the book” and “the general idea I can study”. Keep the general idea only if it helps with your question, and note where it came from. Compatibility between a guidebook and a deck is something to check; you cannot assume it just because both have 78 cards.

How to know you are making progress

Do not ask only how many cards you “know”. Revisit a note from two weeks ago. Can you reconstruct the question? Do you remember what you observed? Can you point to an interpretation you corrected after getting real information? One visible improvement is moving from “the card says X will happen” to “this image led me to check Y, and I found Z”.

This way of studying also helps you spot filler. If a guidebook page repeats appealing words without teaching you to observe, compare or choose between interpretations, it may not be meeting your need. To choose useful material, read which tarot book you need and how to choose a first tarot deck.

When to consult the manual less often

Do not close the book for good as soon as you recognise some cards. First write your own two-sentence reading, then open the compatible explanation and note a visual detail or relationship you missed. If the source offers a useful nuance, add it and record where it came from. If it only repeats your keyword, you need not copy it. The aim is to rely less on lists while staying able to correct your reading with sources.

Sources consulted

Tim Husband, “Before Fortune-Telling”, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Accessed 26-09-2026.
“A history of tarot cards”, Victoria and Albert Museum. Accessed 26-09-2026.