Tarot-Heritage Tenth Anniversary Roundup: Reading Tips

Celebrating my website’s tenth anniversary: 174 blog articles and 42 website pages on tarot history, reading with non-scenic pips, and decks of historic significance. Throughout the summer, I’m going to group the most useful articles by topic and send out links in a series of blog posts.

We’ll start the series with tips to get you started reading cards with non-scenic pips.

If you’re new to reading with the Tarot de Marseille and other non-scenic pip decks (NSPs), if you feel intimidated, don’t know where to start, or would like some structure to your studies – there’s an entire section of this website just for you. Rather than spoon-feeding you card meanings, I’ve created a structured set of exercises in the Cartomancy Section to help you develop a personal relationship with the cards and devise card meanings relevant to your deck.

Below are some articles to inspire your daily tarot practice.

Read the Cartomancy Section with your deck and a notebook handy.

Here’s how a Card of the Day Practice can deepen and personalize your understanding of individual cards.

Setting Up a Tarot Journal shows how the trends in your cards-of-the-day reveal your special relationship with the cards.

Reading a Trump-Suit Combo describes my favorite method of getting two cards for my cards-of-the-day, and how I see trump and pip cards interacting.

When I read for myself, I rarely use just one deck. Comparative Tarot shows how to lay out your readings in two or more decks, then gives a sample reading.

Reading Techniques in Action is where I do a reading for myself that uses a couple of my favorite techniques.

Illustration: Tarot Pierre Madenié 1709, restored by Yves Reynaud, 2016.