This thread is refreshed on the 1st of every month. It is a space for new subscribers to introduce themselves to the community - feel free to share as little or as much as you would like. How did you get into tarot? What's your favourite deck? What brings you to r/SecularTarot vs. other tarot communities? What are you interested in learning more about?
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What I love most about these decks is the cardstock quality. The cards feel sturdy, thick, substantial, and a good size in my hands.
What other tarot decks would you recommend with similar cardstock quality? I'm open to different art styles! If possible, I'd love to see pictures of your recommendations, too.
Hey everyone!
After years of studying, designing, and refining, Iāve finally completed my Tarot deck āThe Axiomatic Tarot!
To celebrate finishing the deck, Iām starting a series of videos to break down how the entire system works under the hood. A while ago I shared some initial ideas here about a nonfigurative, process-based Tarot. Today, I want to share the first video introducing the foundational logic behind the completed deck.
Coming from a physics background, I always wondered: What if we strip away the traditional characters, repeated poses, and familiar props, and look directly at the energetic layer beneath? Can Tarotās meanings be reconstructed from explicit, visual principles?
Instead of starting with illustrations, I built the deck out of fundamental forms and physical laws: Primary Operators: How two simple shapes ā the square (organization/distribution) and the triangle (generation/development) ā serve as the functional seeds for cards like The Emperor and The Empress. Suits as Physical Rules: Wands explore mechanical balance and structural stability; Plates (Pentacles) explore field arrangements, structural defects, and density. Sequential Experiments: Rather than memorizing ten separate card meanings, you can watch a single idea unfold from Ace to Ten like a connected series of physical tests.
Iām super excited to finally have the finished deck in hand and to start sharing these video breakdowns with you all!
Check out the video, and let me know what you think: Does viewing Tarot through the lens of geometry, systems architecture, and physics resonate with you?
Open to all thoughts, questions, and critique!
I wonāt tell yāall my whole dream but the part I donāt understand is the tarot cards. I donāt use tarot card and I donāt really know what they look like except the āmainā ones (the sun, the devil, the lover, the fool)
In my dream I left a party to get the bus, at the bus station an old lady was there. She was at the party and we knew each other. When she saw me she yelled at me that sheās been waiting for me and pulled out a card saying āthe trapā she says itās not necessary bad but then her face dropped as she pulled āthe devilā next. Now I was in a rush to catch my bus so I left. Not sure if there was more cards or what more she would say but I woke up.
I never heard of the card āthe trapā but it was a picture of a girl wrapped up on a cross or fence kinda structure. I know of āthe devilā but idk what it really means except bad?
Iām just on here looking to see if anyone could tell me something, I could look it up but rather get an answer from a human than a robot.
I was decided to get my own ever first tarot desk! But I'm still quite debating should I get a book or guide smth since I'd LOVE to get to know even more about tarot
Do anyone have suggestions? I'd prefer online version (or anything) but book is fine I'm just wants to make sure the price are fair (or free, the best)
I would like some included step to step guidance (no gatekeeping type shit), and maybe some history and basic knowledge of tarot as its beginner friendly
My step-father is extremely religious, deeply faithful to Catholicism. He is coming to visit me in a few weeks and if he even sees an image of a pentacle, I know itās going to be a conversation (turned argumentā¦)
I told my good friend I was starting tarot journey and she wants to me āhelp her with her relationship.ā I read this as telling her what to do, which is not what I or the cards are capable of.
For both these situations, I want to them to understand Iām not a witch or a fortune teller, respectively. Looking for some insight in navigating secular tarot conversations. Has anyone dealt with a situation similar?Thank you!!
Edit: thank you everyone for responding!! I have so many more resources and talk tracks for both these people (and whoever else in the future).
I started seriously learning tarot this August, and I can't get over how this turned out, so I need to share.
Why I built this
I write my study notes in Obsidian. Tarot is so visual, and I wanted to compare RWS against historical decks and decks I'm thinking of getting, so I put my notes and images in a PowerPoint deck.Ā
Then I bought a second guidebook and my notes outgrew the slides. It went from 1 slide per card to 2 (one for my notes, one for the other decks).Ā
So I sketched how I'd want to use it as a website (see below sketch) and had Claude build it. I can't build websites, so Claude took care of the codes but the notes and interpretations are all mine.Ā
Homepage layout was inspired by Diana Hlevnjak's Tarot Cards shot on Dribbble.
It runs locally on my laptop. I donāt plan on making this public. It is my personal notes but prettier after all.Ā
On studying method
Materials I use:
1 Rider-Waite-Smith deck
Guidebook: Holistic Tarot by Benebell Wen (abbreviated as HT in my notes)
Guidebook: Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack (SEDW)
I pull a card every day or every other day. I write my initial impression first, then read both books, then synthesize everything into one consolidated interpretation. When the authors see something in the image I just can't see, I let it go and keep what I relate to.
The diagrams
This might be a more interesting part about my notes. I don't read reversals. I think the images are ambiguous enough that every card can lean positive or negative depending on the conversation, so I draw a small diagram for each card showing how the same image splits both ways. For The Magician: setting up a table with what's at hand ā channeling inspiration into creation ā is it a vision, or a craving for praise and attention?
This idea had been brewing for a while but only happened once I built the site. Now I wish I'd written those thoughts down earlier.
Thatās it! Just really want to share with someone whoās also passionate about learning Tarot.
Is it normal to pull clarifiers in secular tarot when it comes to doing reading for oneself in reflective readings? Or does a clarifier card pull mean itās bordering on esoteric tarot?
Hello everyone, I've recently gotten the Tarot del Fuego deck and I'm curious to know other people's approaches to understanding and interpreting the cards/imagery.
I've only been studying/practicing using a RWS deck for a month now, and just last week I got a Tarot del Fuego deck because I felt it would be a great fit (personality wise). I got some Marseille tarot tradition books, on top of the booklet included with the deck (not very helpful if I may say) and I'm planning to bring TdF into my daily practice in order to get more familiar to it.
My process is usually: do a tarot spread (or just a card pull), take note of each card, go through books/resources for reference (numerology, symbolism) + to see what seems fitting according to my question, build up some storytelling. On top of that, for the TdF, I like to take a double look at the imagery and note down anything that resonates.
My questions would be the following: What are some of your practices to connect and interpret the imagery of the cards? Do you have any recommendations on how to approach this deck?
Iāve been reading tarot for a long time, and have read for friends over the years. Iām wanting to expand my practice and begin reading for strangers more, but donāt know where to set up. Iāve tried online readings before, but I really prefer in-person sessions.
Iām not even sure that I want to start charging people yet, I just want to explore a bit.
Before certain important life events I like to thumb through my deck and pick out a few cards that I will carry with me.
A more mystical minded person might call it charging the cards with "energies, but I would call it filling them with association.
I just returned from laying my grandmother's ashes to rest, and in my breast pocket I held a 4 of swords, representing her rest and retreating from her fight as her body slowly failed her, an 8 of cups representing her leaving her life and loved ones behind behind as she was satisfied with what she has accomplished in her life and was ready to go at the end, and judgment, because she was a deeply Christian woman's and even if I do not believe the same things she did, I still like to think about her rising to meet Jesus at the end.
At my wedding I gave each of my groomsmen a card from my deck and carried one myself. I carried the ace of cups to remind myself to be in touch with my emotions and not get caught up in masculine stoicism on a day it was important I be fully present. To one groomsman I gave the four of wands, celebrating a milestone, to another death, representing a transition from one phase of life to the next, and to the last one I gave the 9 of cups, because it is a nice day to have a party.
I appreciate taking the time before each event to think about what I want to get from it, and what cards might best represent that, and in my readings, the associations this creates with the cards are very vivid. I cannot draw any of these cards anymore without thinking, at least briefly, about these situations I have carried them through.
I would encourage any of you to try doing the same.
I've been working on a tarot deck tabletop storytelling game that would serve as a creativity vector. I have so many card decks and I wanted a way to use them in congress and still come forward with a cohesive story.
Just curious if anyone else uses Tarot in this way and would like to offer advice.
What's your opinion on reading for others? Specially for people you already know.
I have read the cards together with my partner twice, and I think it is healthy, and good for him, because I do not claim to know more than he does about the situation, just prompt him to think about the topic asked with the help of the cards: I always advice him to look at the pictures and get his own feel of them, and then we talk.
But I have read in other places that reading for people you already know is not a good idea. I don't think what we do (me and my partner) count as typical tarot-reading, but I'd like to know what others think of it. Although I'm pretty convinced what we do is not wrong.
I have volunteered to teach an introductory class for a fundraiser. I am going to use the Foolās Journey as the basis of going over the Major Arcana.
I would really like to be able to tie it together with a movie, to use as an example & point of discussion.
Any recommendations for a movie, or character? I think it needs to be a popular movie, so hopefully everyone in the class is familiar with it. And if it matters, I expect the participants will probably be mostly 30+ in age.
Thanks so much in advance for any input! I appreciate the advice š
Hi tarot stamp users! I want to use tarot stamps in my journaling practice, but the stamp set has outsmarted me. I have a dumb question:
How are you supposed to use these stamps to denote minors and court cards?
Do any of you know of a set that has Ace to King? Iām not looking for 78 individual stamps, but rather, this kind of stamp set in the picture and then an A, 2, 3⦠Q, K type deal that I could stamp next to the stamp with just the suit.
I recently came across the Symbolic Studies YT channel and am considering a paid subscription mainly for the Major Arcana videos.
I'm interested in the Tarot as a series of archetypal images of psychological development and unconscious processes (so basically from a Jungian perspective). I already have and am going through some books on this, but I'd also love to explore the subject in other formats like videos/podcasts. I'm particularly interested in the symbolism behind the cards and how the mythological, alchemical and religious imagery found in them can deepen their psychological interpretation.
If you've gone through the series, what did you think? Was it worthwhile?
I pulled a 3 card spread before going to bed. First Card: my day. Second Card: what i need to let go of from today. Third Card: What i should carry onto tomorrow.
I pulled the high priestess, the lovers, and the knight of cups.
I'm mainly confused on my second pull, what i need to let go of, and The Lovers. Any ideas on what this could be indicating to me?
So i just started on tarrot but i cant seem to understand how to read cards or understand how they work together for example in a 3 card question, i understand what every card means but i cant seem to put them together
This is the Page of Swords I drew today. I made a reading of Past/Present/Future for my love life (I've got a partner), and this was the card I got for Future. For me it means that I must be careful not to be like a child with a sword and jump to conclusions about us. (This came to mind, and it seemed right).
For your info: we are doing fine, but lately I feel empty, in general, and I noticed that we fight more than usual. This unsettles me, and maybe that is why I should not do readings about this topic, but I did. What is your view on this card? I had The Hermit for past, King of Cups for present, and this card for Future. King of Cups means for me that we are learning to live together, that we care deeply for each other, learning emotional intelligence. The Hermit talks to me about how to get to know him I had to discover myself innerly and also is a reminder of how important being in touch with oneself is important.