18 Techniques to get to know your tarot cards

Getting to know your tarot cards can be a fun and enlightening experience. The tarot is a powerful tool for self-discovery, insight, and guidance, and the more you spend time and connect with your cards, the more effective and accurate your readings will be. Here are 18 techniques to help you get to know your tarot cards better:

  1. Daily pull: Pick one card each day to get to know them as individuals. This will also help you focus on the energy of the day and gain insight into your current situation.
  2. Memorize the order of the major arcana: Familiarize yourself with the order of the major arcana cards, be able to recite them from fool to the world. 
  3. Lay out the cards and compare common symbols: Take a look at all the cards and notice any common symbols that appear across different cards.
  4. Shuffle the cards and then try to put them back in order:  This can help you to become more familiar with the cards and the order of the deck to be able to identify them easily in readings.
  5. Lay out the cards and make a story: Lay out the cards in a spread and make up a story based on the cards and their positions. This is a great activity to do with a friend
  6. Lay out two cards and imagine a conversation: Place two cards side by side and imagine a conversation between the two characters depicted on the cards.
  7. Practice a simple three-card spread daily and journal about it: One I like is situation (placed in center), what is helping (placed on the right) what is an obstacle(placed on the left.
  8. Do a 1-3 card reading for a friend: Offer to do a 1-3 card reading for a friend or family member. This can help you to practice your skills and gain confidence in your abilities.
  9. Choose one card to represent each phase of the lunar cycle and use them as guides for your readings and meditations.
  10. Look at the court cards and make a list of people in your life, in a book you love, in a movie etc. who remind you of each one. What qualities do they share?
  11. Draw the symbols in the cards: Practice drawing the symbols in the cards to help you become more familiar with them.
  12. Research a symbol that appears in the cards: Research a symbol that you particularly love or are drawn to and learn more about its meaning and significance.
  13. Make a sheet of 36 emotions, cut them out in to small rectangles and place them on the cards to help you connect with the emotions depicted in the cards.
  14. Gaze at a card for one minute, turn over and write as many symbols as you can remember.
  15. Turn over a card and notice your first impression: Turn over a card and take note of your first impression of it. How did it make you feel? This can help you to connect with your intuition and gain insight into the card’s meaning.
  16. Organize the cards by color: Organize the cards by color to help you connect with the different energies and meanings associated with each color.
  17. Sort the cards into two groups, those with people and those without, to help you connect with the different energies and meanings associated with each type of card.
  18. Notice the directions the characters in the cards are facing. How does this affect the meanings of the cards in a reading?