Guide · 8 min read
How to Read Tarot Cards: A Beginner Method From Waite's 1910 Instructions
To read tarot, ask one clear question, lay cards into positions with set meanings and read each card for what its position asks. A. E. Waite taught this in 1910 with his ten-card Celtic method, and today's spreads still follow its outline.
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Key finding: Waite's 1910 Pictorial Key gives one ten-card method step by step (shuffle and cut three times, then cards that cover, cross, crown, lie beneath, behind and before the Significator, plus four in a line), and the 78-card deck breaks down as 22 Majors + 4 suits x (10 numbered + 4 court cards).
How do you read tarot cards?
You read tarot by asking one clear question, shuffling, laying cards into a spread where each position has a set meaning, and reading every card in the light of its position. Start with one card, move to three, and keep the ten-card Celtic cross for bigger questions. The position matters as much as the card.
That is not a modern shortcut. It is close to how A. E. Waite, who devised the 1909 deck that the artist Pamela Colman Smith drew, described the practice in The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910). This guide quotes his instructions word for word, shows where today's readings differ from them, and then gives you a three-step plan to start reading on your own.
What is in a tarot deck?
A tarot deck has 78 cards: 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana. The Minor Arcana split into four suits of 14 cards. Each suit holds ten numbered cards, Ace to Ten, and four court cards: Page, Knight, Queen and King. Across the four suits that makes 40 numbered cards and 16 court cards.
| Part of the deck | Cards | How the count is built |
|---|---|---|
| Major Arcana | 22 | The Fool (0) to The World (21) |
| Minor Arcana | 56 | 4 suits x 14 cards |
| Numbered cards | 40 | 4 suits x 10 (Ace to Ten) |
| Court cards | 16 | 4 suits x 4 ranks |
| Whole deck | 78 | 22 + 40 + 16 |
The structure is good news for a beginner, because you do not have to learn 78 unrelated meanings. Every Minor card combines a suit with a number or a rank. The suit sets the theme: Wands for energy and drive, Cups for feelings and relationships, Swords for thoughts and conflict, and Pentacles for work, money and home. Learn the 4 suit themes, the 10 number steps and the 4 court ranks, add the 22 Major Arcana cards, and you are working with 40 building blocks rather than 78 separate cards. Our guide to numbers in tarot covers the ten number steps.
Expect to see Majors often. In a three-card reading, the chance of at least one Major Arcana card is 1 - (56/78 x 55/77 x 54/76) = 63.6%. So most three-card readings include one, and a reading without any is not unusual either.
How did Waite say to read tarot?
Waite's main method is the section he titled "An Ancient Celtic Method of Divination", the spread now called the Celtic cross. You pick a card to stand for the person or question, called the Significator, shuffle and cut the rest of the pack three times, then lay ten cards around and beside it, naming each position aloud.
He introduced the practical part of the book by setting aside the more involved systems, because, in his words, experienced readers believe:
"the way of simplicity is the way of truth" (A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1910, Part III, section 6)
His setup is short:
"Having selected the Significator, place it on the table, face upwards. Then shuffle and cut the rest of the pack three times, keeping the faces of the cards downwards." (A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1910, Part III, section 7)
Then each card is turned and spoken over. The first one reads: "Turn up the top or FIRST CARD of the pack; cover the Significator with it, and say: This covers him." Waite uses "him" for the person asking, whoever they are. Here are all ten positions in his words, next to the same position on our free reading:
| Waite's card | His words | What it shows (Waite) | Same idea on our spread |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | This covers him | "the atmosphere of it in which the other currents work" | Card 1, the heart of the matter |
| 2 | This crosses him | "the nature of the obstacles in the matter" | Card 2, what crosses you |
| 3 | This crowns him | "the Querent's aim or ideal in the matter" | Card 5, what you aim for |
| 4 | This is beneath him | "the foundation or basis of the matter" | Card 3, the root |
| 5 | This is behind him | "the influence that is just passed, or is now passing away" | Card 4, the recent past |
| 6 | This is before him | "the influence that is coming into action and will operate in the near future" | Card 6, the near future |
| 7 | Himself | "its position or attitude in the circumstances" | Card 7, yourself |
| 8 | His house | "his environment and the tendencies at work therein" | Card 8, your surroundings |
| 9 | His hopes or fears | "his hopes or fears in the matter" | Card 9, hopes and fears |
| 10 | What will come | "the final result" | Card 10, the outcome |
Cards 1 to 6 form the cross. For the rest, Waite writes: "The next four cards are turned up in succession and placed one above the other in a line, on the right hand side of the cross." He asks the reader to focus hardest on the tenth card, and if it is unclear, he suggests a second round:
"it may be well to repeat the operation, taking in this case the Tenth Card as the Significator, instead of the one previously used." (A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1910, Part III, section 7)
How is a modern tarot reading different from Waite's?
The skeleton is the same: a question, a shuffle and fixed positions. Four details have changed. Most readers now skip the Significator, number cards 3 to 5 of the Celtic cross differently, pick court cards by personality rather than coloring and age, and treat the reading as reflection rather than fortune-telling.
- No Significator. Waite took one card out before shuffling. Our tools leave all 78 cards in play, so any card can land in any position.
- Cards 3 to 5 move. In Waite, card 3 crowns, card 4 sits beneath and card 5 is behind. On our Celtic cross reading, card 3 is the root, card 4 the recent past and card 5 what you aim for. The ten ideas are the same; only the numbering differs, as the table shows.
- People by temperament, not looks. Waite matched suits to hair and eye color, and ranks to age and sex. His age rule reads oddly today: "A Knight should be chosen as the Significator if the subject of inquiry is a man of forty years old and upward; a King should be chosen for any male who is under that age". He did leave room for judgment: "You can be guided on occasion by the known temperament of a person". Our guide to tarot court cards goes further.
- Reflection, not prophecy. Waite listed fortune-telling meanings for every Major card, then wrote that what the divinatory art extracts from them "is at once artificial and arbitrary, as it seems to me, in the highest degree." A reading is a structured prompt for thinking, and that is how we present ours.
What advice did Waite give for reading the cards?
Waite's book gives three practical habits that still hold up. Fit each meaning to the actual situation rather than reciting it, scan the whole spread before reading card by card, and set a definite question before you shuffle. His contributor also warned that reading for yourself is harder than reading for a stranger.
On fitting meanings to the case, he wrote that "all official and conventional meanings of the cards may and should be adapted to harmonize with the conditions of this particular case in question". On reading order, he advised readers "to run through the cards quickly, so that the mind may receive a general impression of the subject", then start again card by card.
His "Notes on the Practice of Divination", which he credits to another writer, open with this:
"1. Before beginning the operation, formulate your question definitely, and repeat it aloud. 2. Make your mind as blank as possible while shuffling the cards." (A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1910, Part III, section 8)
The fourth note adds that "it is more easy to divine correctly for a stranger than for yourself or a friend", because your own hopes color the meaning. If you read for yourself, which most people do online, write your question down first and note your first reaction to each card before you read any meaning. Our guide on how to ask tarot questions shows how to word a question that the cards can actually open up.
What is the best way for beginners to start reading tarot?
Build up in three steps. Draw one card a day until the suits and numbers feel familiar, then move to three cards in fixed positions, then try the ten-card Celtic cross for a question with many sides. Each step adds positions, so you practice reading cards in context instead of memorizing a list.
Step 1: one card a day
Draw a daily tarot card each morning and ask one thing: where might this show up today? In the evening, write one line about what actually happened in your tarot journal. After a couple of weeks you will have met a spread of suits and numbers, and you will start to notice how broad each card really is.
Step 2: three cards
Move to a three-card tarot reading in the classic past, present and future order. Read each card in its slot first. Then look across the row: do two cards share a suit or a number, is there a Major, does the story move from difficult to easier or the other way? Our guide to tarot card combinations explains these patterns and how often each one turns up by chance.
Step 3: the Celtic cross
When three cards feel easy, try the ten-card cross on a question with several moving parts. Follow Waite's own order of attention: read the cross (cards 1 to 6) as the situation, the line (7 to 10) as you, your surroundings, your hopes or fears and the outcome, then go back to card 10 and ask how the other nine lead to it.
Decide on reversed cards before you start. Our tools include upside-down cards by default and let you switch them off; our guide to reversed tarot cards shows that Waite gave a reversed meaning for 77 of the 78 cards, and what to do with them.
How do you read one tarot card?
Read a single card in four passes: the position it sits in, the picture, the suit and number, then whether it is upright or reversed. Ask what the card says about your question in that position, not what it means in general. The written meaning is a starting point you adapt, as Waite himself advised.
- Position. A card in "what crosses you" describes friction; the same card in "the near future" describes a trend.
- Picture. Notice what the figures are doing before you read anything. The 1909 images were drawn to tell a scene, even on the numbered cards.
- Suit and number. Place the card on the map: which area of life, and which stage, from the start of something (Ace) to its fullest form (Ten).
- Orientation. If it is reversed, ask where that energy is blocked, delayed or turned inward.
Keep health, legal, pregnancy and money decisions with qualified people. The cards can help you think about how you feel about a situation, never what will happen in it.
Questions
Can you read tarot cards for yourself?
Yes, and most people do. Waite's notes warn that it is easier to read for a stranger, because your own hopes color the meaning, so write your question and first reactions down before you read any card meaning.
Do you need to memorize all 78 tarot card meanings?
No. The deck is built from 22 Major Arcana plus 4 suits, 10 numbers and 4 court ranks, so about 40 building blocks cover all 78 cards. Card pages fill in the detail as you go.
What is the easiest tarot spread for beginners?
One card a day, then a three-card past, present and future spread. Move to the ten-card Celtic cross once reading three cards in their positions feels natural.
Do I need a Significator card?
No. Waite chose one card to represent the person before shuffling, but many modern readers, and our tools, leave all 78 cards in the deck so any card can appear.
Sources
- A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1910 (public domain), Part III, sections 6 to 8 and the divinatory meanings of the Trumps Major: https://sacred-texts.com/tarot/pkt/index.htm
- Probability of at least one Major Arcana in three cards: our own Python calculation: Computed October 2026
- Celtic cross position order on this site: /celtic-cross/
Spotted a mistake? hello@orbitarot.com.
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