How To: Read tarot cards for beginners

Ready to stop going threw life blind? Try to get a glimpse of the future or at least a use these as a reflection of what's happening in your life with your own tarot cards. Tarot cards can provide endless hours of entertainment.

Learning how to read these ancient cards may help you divine the future – or at least amuse party guests.

Step 1: Get a deck

Get a deck of tarot cards.

Step 2: Learn each card's meaning

Read the booklet that comes with a new deck to learn the standard meaning of each card.

Major arcana cards are usually marked with Roman numerals; minor arcana cards are divided into four suits: wands, cups, swords, and pentacles.

Step 3: Shuffle the cards well

Shuffle the cards well; then cut the deck as the person whose fortune you are about to read asks the first question.

Step 4: Lay down four cards

Lay down four cards in a diamond pattern. The top card represents romance; moving clockwise, the next card relates to finances, followed by the card for health and happiness and finally the career card.

Step 5: Turn over the first card

Turn over the cards and note the direction of the picture. If it's facing the reader, it's a positive card, representing good things. If the design is upside down or reversed, it's a negative card, representing conflict.

Step 6: Get the whole picture

Interpret the cards. Don't just analyze what the cards mean individually, but what message they convey when viewed as a whole.

Major arcana cards carry more weight than minor arcana, which are meant to clarify the bigger picture.

Step 7: Practice

Keep a record of your readings. It helps you refine your craft by keeping tabs on when you were right and when you might have misinterpreted the cards.