The Complete Beginner's Guide to Tarot: 30 Essential Terms and Concepts You Must Know

The Complete Beginner's Guide to Tarot — 30 Essential Terms and Concepts

1. 30 Words You Need to Know in Your First Month of Learning Tarot

Tarot may seem mysterious, but it actually has its own language system. The 30 terms and concepts below cover everything you need to know during your first month of learning Tarot.

I've organized them in the order you need to learn them.

2. Foundational Concepts (Terms 1–7)

1. Major Arcana

22 cards, numbered from 0 (The Fool) to 21 (The World). They represent the great archetypes and major stages of life.

2. Minor Arcana

56 cards across 4 suits × 14 cards each. They represent everyday situations.

3. Suits

The 4 suits: Wands (fire), Cups (water), Swords (air), and Pentacles (earth).

4. Elements

The 4 elements: fire, water, air, and earth. They correspond to the 4 suits + the 4 energies of life.

5. Numbers

The numerical meanings of the pip cards from Ace through King:

Ace: New beginnings, potential
2: Balance, partnership
3: Creation, collaboration
4: Stability, structure
5: Conflict, change
6: Harmony, generosity
7: Introspection, perseverance
8: Action, mastery
9: Near completion
10: Completion, ending

6. Upright / Reversed

A card facing you is upright; facing away is reversed. Upright = the card's standard energy, Reversed = shadow / internalized / diminished.

7. Court Cards

Each suit has 4 court cards: Page, Knight, Queen, and King. They represent people or personality facets.

3. Reading Mechanics (Terms 8–14)

8. Shuffling

The process of allowing the cards to resonate with your energy. Any method works — as long as the deck is randomized.

9. Cutting

The process of splitting the deck in half and overlapping them. This step helps balance the energy across the cards.

10. Drawing

Pulling a specific number of cards from the deck — this is the "question" of the reading.

11. Spread

The layout of positions for the cards, where each position carries a specific meaning. Common spreads include: single card, three-card, Celtic Cross, relationship spread, and the Horseshoe.

12. Question

The question you ask yourself before a reading. A good question must be focused (not "How will my life be?" but rather "How will my relationship with him unfold over the next 3 months?").

13. Reading

Translating the drawn cards into interpretations relevant to your question.

14. Flipping

Turning the cards face-up — after you've laid them out, you reveal them (they were face-down until this moment).

4. Reading Styles (Terms 15–20)

15. Mystical School

The tradition that links Tarot to the Kabbalah, astrology, and Hermeticism. It emphasizes the "mystical meanings" of the cards.

16. Psychological School

The tradition that views Tarot as a "mirror" and tool for self-reflection, emphasizing personal meaning.

17. Intuitive Reading

An interpretive approach that relies entirely on "what I feel this means" rather than textbook meanings.

18. Systematic Reading

Interpreting cards in a structured, logical sequence: position → element → number → court.

19. Hybrid Reading

A blend of two or more styles, combining structure with intuition.

20. Ethics of Reading

The moral bottom line of Tarot work — respecting the querent, maintaining boundaries, and not making decisions for them.

5. Tarot Schools and Systems (Terms 21–25)

21. Rider-Waite-Smith

The most influential modern deck, first published in 1909.

22. Marseille Tarot

The oldest deck style. Its imagery is less "figurative" than RWS and relies more heavily on symbolism.

23. Thoth Tarot

A deck designed by Aleister Crowley — a classic of the mystical school.

24. The 4 Versions of RWS

Universal Waite, Smith-Waite, Pamela Colman Smith, and others — all reprints or variations of the RWS system.

25. Expanded Tarot

Anime Tarot, Crystal Tarot, Art Tarot, and similar decks that re-skin the RWS or Marseille imagery with different themes.

6. Common Question Domains (Terms 26–30)

26. Love Reading

The most common use of Tarot. Often uses a 5-card love spread or the Celtic Cross.

27. Career Reading

Covers work, entrepreneurship, and decisions. Often uses a 5-card career spread or a 6-card timeline.

28. Financial Reading

Note: Tarot cannot predict specific numbers — it mainly reveals "what the energy around money looks like for you."

29. Spiritual Reading

Covers practice, meaning, and soul direction. Often uses a mind-body-spirit three-card spread or a single Major Arcana card.

30. Daily Reading

One card per day as a "prompt for the day." The most recommended practice for beginners.

7. The 4 Stages of Learning Tarot

Stage 1: Recognition (Month 1)

Get to know all 78 cards by sight and name. Look at the images, familiarize yourself with the artwork, and don't rush to memorize "standard meanings".

Stage 2: Correspondence (Months 2–3)

Begin a daily card practice or single-card journal. Connect the cards with events in your life.

Stage 3: Connection (Months 4–6)

Start working with three-card spreads and smaller layouts. Focus on learning the relationships between cards.

Stage 4: Deep Reading (Month 7+)

Attempt the Celtic Cross and 6–7 card spreads. Begin doing formal readings for friends, or consider a professional direction.

8. Concepts You Might Confuse at First

A. Divination vs Fortune-Telling

Divination = a way of dialoguing with the present, helping you see your current state clearly.

Fortune-telling = a method that claims to predict the future, telling you "what will happen to you."

Tarot is more like divination, because it cannot truly predict (it can't tell you "you'll sign a contract tomorrow"), but it can offer you "a perspective on the present".

B. Fate vs Free Will

Tarot does not deny free will — it is a tool, not a "fate determiner."

The cards you draw show you the current energy + the current possible trajectory, but you can always change direction.

C. Right vs Accurate

Tarot has no concept of "right" or "accurate" — only "an interpretation that is meaningful to you".

100 readers will interpret the same card slightly differently, yet all can be true, because Tarot is a "mirror," and "a mirror can reflect different versions of you that are all real."

D. Mystical vs Scientific

Tarot is not a science, but it has patterns.

This is similar to astrology — our birth chart has no scientific causal link to our destiny, but its language can offer us insight.

9. A Final Note: Tarot Is a Journey

Tarot is not "30 terms + a lookup table for 78 cards" — it is a journey.

Every word, every card, is a part of you. When you dialogue with the cards, you are not "learning a tool" — you are "walking within yourself".

This is why Tarot has endured for 600 years — it is not a cold tool; it is a mirror.

Our Lotus Tarot app was designed to make it easier for you to "use" these concepts — it includes multilingual interpretations for all 78 cards, upright and reversed meanings, and reading tools, so you can learn and practice at the same time.

May you walk through these 30 terms and continue going deeper.