The Fool is the lighthearted adventurer, welcoming one and all to the world of tarot reading. He is bold, enthusiastic, and carefree. He holds no expectations, and goes where the winds carry him. All he brings with him is his flamboyant clothing, his knapsack on his wand, and his faithful dog, nipping at his heels.

What can you learn from the Fool when tarot reading? Here are some areas to consider:

Tarot Lesson One: Bring Only the Necessities

What do you really need when tarot reading? A deck of tarot cards, a journal to record your readings, and a pen to write them down. That’s it. While reading books is helpful, the true tarot reading experience doesn’t begin until you examine the cards and draw your own conclusions from them. Which leads you to…

Tarot Lesson Two: Let Go of Expectations

Naturally, you all have ideas about why you want to read, and where your tarot path will take you. This excitement is refreshing, and part of what makes tarot reading so thrilling. However, the real thrill is when you discover new avenues that you never imagined you’d encounter while reading tarot. If you adhere too rigidly to your beginning expectations, you’ll miss out on new experiences.

Tarot Lesson Three: Take the Leap

You will only learn how to read the tarot by reading the tarot. Don’t allow nervousness and perfection to stop you from reading for yourself, and others. Dive right in, and have fun! Use the tarot cards at every opportunity, and remember that there is no “wrong way”, only “your way” along the tarot path.

Foolish Tarot Exercise: The Three Card Sentence

Participate if you’d like! Share your results in the comments!

To introduce yourself to the basic concept of tarot reading, try this exercise to learn how to craft a narrative with tarot cards. Shuffle your tarot deck, and choose three cards. It does not matter if you’ve never read the cards before! Use the imagery in the card to give you ideas. Lay them out in a row, and make a sentence out of them. A simple format is this:

Card 1: Who (A noun)
Card 2: What (A verb or action)
Card 3: Where (A location)

So, let’s see this in action. I’ll choose three cards, and form a sentence.

Card 1: The Emperor – A man
Card 2: The Lovers – Chose a lover
Card 3: The Star – Next to a river.

A man chose a lover next to a river. See? Easy peasy.

If the cards you drew don’t lend themselves to an easy sentence, you can either make up your own sentence format, or draw different cards! It doesn’t bother me any, I won’t tell. You can try this as many times as you’d like, and with as many combinations as you desire. Try switching the order of the same cards, to see what happens when they are in different positions.

Let’s try shifting these cards a bit.

Card 1: The Lovers – Two people
Card 2: The Star – Poured water
Card 3: In a throne room.

Two people poured water in a throne room. These sentences can be silly or serious, it’s up to you!

What does the Fool card make you think of when tarot reading? Have you learned how to have fun with the tarot cards? Any fun tarot exercises that you like to do? Share your ideas here!

~Kimberlee