The Top 3 Mistakes Tarot Learners Make

Are these super common slip ups holding you back from moving to the next level?

Hi friends!

I hope you're doing ok, wherever the hell you are, amongst all of this wildness that is happening in the world right now.

Have you been turning to your tarot cards for guidance and grounding?

I hope so!

As you've dove back into your cards, I have to ask: have you hit any roadblocks?

Over the last twenty years, I’ve had the pleasure of working with people from all walks of life and all levels of tarot experience.

One thing I’ve noticed is that even though some people have been trying their hand at reading cards – some of them even for a LONG ass time! – many practitioners still struggle to do a basic reading without relying on the little white book that comes with every deck of cards (or, in 2023, googling each card meaning, let’s be real; I’m looking at you, people with Biddy Tarot on speed dial).

These folks are all BRILLIANT amazing people, dedicated to their spirituality, and passionate about reading tarot.

Yet they still struggle to take their tarot readings to the next level, to have them be actually clear, life changing, and meaningful in a way that catapults them to their best next steps.

So, where do they go wrong?

I’ve noticed a few common mistakes, and I am gonna share ‘em with you so you can eliminate them from your own practice, if you want to! ;P (Hey, it’s up to you, LOL! You do you!)

I’ve also got some suggestions for what to do INSTEAD.

Trust me – switch these three things up, and your readings will become SO much better.

Let's get started!

Mistake 1: Choosing the Wrong Deck

This one is huge! I see it all the time when I teach tarot, and when I consult with new learners to help them improve what they’re doing.

Keen folks often choose a deck whose imagery doesn’t make sense without deeper tarot knowledge, and then blame themselves for their inability to decipher it.

This is a recipe for disaster – confused readings, and a massive hit to already fragile self-confidence.

There are so many absolutely gorgeous tarot decks out there – trust me, I know, I own more than twenty of them myself – but unfortunately, not all decks are helpful when learning to get good and solid hold on our tarot skills.

Often, deck creators – bless their hearts – are motivated more by aesthetics and creating gorgeous imagery than by accurately and effectively depicting and communicating the essence of what a particular card is all about.

Many deck creators don’t even know that much about tarot! More and more deck creators just see it as a fun money-making opportunity, and don’t do much research on the cards before starting.

Unfortunately, that can lead to tarot learners blame themselves for not being able to understand cards that are confusing as hell (and often inaccurate) in the first place.

Ideally, as we learn we’d like to move away from memorization and towards having an intuitive understanding of the cards.

Intelligent, clear illustration can help us move away from the desire to memorize and regurgitate. Instead of going for something really abstract or funky, if you’re a new reader (or having difficulty with your readings), I recommend going back to basics: the Rider Waite Smith. Not a variation, just the classic old deck itself. I love the Rider Waite Smith deck because the imagery in each card is so clear – even if you don’t know anything about tarot, there’s so much symbolism, gesture, and colour to help even the novice tease out card meanings with more ease.

Sometimes, in order to expand and be prepared to go out on a limb, we need to get a good handle on our roots first. This deck will help!

Mistake 2: Being Generic

Often, tarot readers – especially new ones – are afraid to be wrong in their interpretation.

A common way I see people coping with this (and trying to hide their inexperience or confusion) is through using incredibly generic, boring, vague language in their readings.

I’d like all tarot readers to remove the words ‘abundance’ and ‘prosperity’ from their vocabularies – especially if that’s the extent of their interpretation of a card which alludes to these qualities.

These types of words may be nice and comforting to hear (“I see love in your future!”), but what the hell do they MEAN?!

Who the fuck knows! It can mean anything!

They’re generic, vague, and incredibly hard to either prove or disprove. If it’s vague and non-specific and doesn’t really mean anything, don’t say it.

It’s not useful to anyone and whoever you’re reading for (maybe it’s you!) will be even more confused than they were to start with, and we really don’t want that. EVERYONE will have SOME kind of love in their future – whether it’s from family, a sexy lover, a romantic partner, a best friend, or even from our cat. Or ourselves. So, the ‘love in your future’ thing is completely useless.

Any good tarot reader would never ground a reading in something so vague.

Instead of saying you see “prosperity,” point out WHERE exactly you see that, and WHY. Is it around work, income, and career expansion, or is it really about finding abundance in deeply felt roots in community? T

here will always be enough information in the card itself to let you know how to interpret it. Is the figure alone or with others? Are they surrounded by pentacles (coins) or by plants?

Each of these visuals are distinct and specific, and their meanings are different, even if it’s all in the earthy realm. Instead of being vague, be fearless, specific, and direct.

Commit to a specific interpretation, and stick to it.

It’s better to commit to your impression (and be wrong as you learn) than to not have enough trust in your impressions to write it down.

Mistake 3: Relying on Memorization

This may seem a little counterintuitive, since I would recommend that everyone who reads tarot become familiar with numerological symbolism, as well as symbolism around the different suits, what elements they’re associated with, and why.

Yes, that base is super important, but memorizing all that shit does not a good tarot reader make.

If you’ve got a paragraph in your head memorized about what the two of pentacles means – and you rely almost entirely on that, or the little blurb in the white book – it’s not gonna help you read that one card for a variety of situations.

The two of pentacles, for instance, is a card I read VERY differently depending on the context.

Has the card been pulled to represent one of two choices? Or is it an advice card which depicts the best next actions to take in a situation? Is it in a reading about love and romance, or is it in a reading about jobs and career? (Or, even weirder, was it pulled in a reading about connecting more deeply to one’s spirituality?)

Same card, SO many different paths and implications all rooted in the card’s core meaning, and spoken through the lens of the deck itself.

Memorizing also doesn’t make room for how each deck has a slightly different take on each card – with illustrations that may minimize or expand certain aspects of the card’s meaning.

So, if you start by relying only on memorization, that will end up biting you in the ass later as you seek to deepen your practice and expand into reading with more decks.

Instead, get to know the cards on a spiritual, intuitive level. Let them speak to you.

They are beings, with their own energy.

Our readings always improve when we take a moment to connect with the spirit of our tarot deck, and allow our interpretations to be inspired by a deeper energetic understanding of the cards.

This can only develop when we have the courage to throw the little white book out the window!

I hope this was helpful y’all.

How many of these lil mistakes were you guilty of?

Hit reply and let me know!!

Honestly, if you stop doing even one of these things and I PROMISE you that your tarot readings will improve immensely.