Tarot For Beginners

This is Bright, a professional Tarot reader & teacher, intuitive business coach and spiritual entrepreneur. 

She helps purpose-driven people live an intuitive life with Tarot as a guide.

So, you want to learn to read Tarot? Here are my top 12 Tarot tips to help you, dear Tarot beginner, read Tarot with confidence.

You can learn more here:  Biddy Tarot

1. KEEP IT SIMPLE

It’s easy to get lost in the complex esoteric systems that make up the Tarot, but if you try to learn all of these systems at once, you’ll find yourself becoming quickly overwhelmed.

Instead, make a commitment to yourself to keep it simple. 

Stick to simple spreads, simple meanings and simple techniques. 

You’ll find your confidence grows immensely when you keep it simple.

2. CREATE A PERSONAL CONNECTION WITH THE TAROT

I started learning the Tarot cards by reading dozens of Tarot books and trying to memorise the meanings. Not helpful! Not only did I forget all the meanings, I had no personal or intuitive connection with the cards.

But when I started relating on a personal level to the Tarot cards, my intuitive insights took off!

Look to your everyday life for personal examples of the Tarot cards. 

What card best describes your day today? 

What card represents your best friend? Make it personal.

3. SWAP THE CELTIC CROSS FOR A 1-3 CARD SPREAD

Nearly every Tarot beginner book includes the Celtic Cross Tarot spread. 

It’s a beautiful spread, but at 10 cards, it’s not a great place to start for the Tarot beginner.

Instead, use simple 1-3 card Tarot spreads. 

You’ll be pleasantly surprised about how much insight you can gain from even just a 1-card readin

4. DRAW A TAROT CARD A DAY

The best way to learn Tarot and to create a personal connection with the Tarot is to draw a card a day.

Ask the Tarot each day, “What energy do I need to focus on today?” and proactively manifest that energy throughout your day.

Or, ask the Tarot, “What might I experience today?” 

At the end of the day, match up what happened throughout the day and what you 

know of the Tarot card you drew.

Over time, your ‘bank’ of personal experiences with the Tarot will grow and grow.

5. READ THE PICTURE IN THE CARD

One of the easiest ways to understand what a Tarot card means is to look at the picture. 

What is happening? 

Why is it happening? 

What’s the moral of the story?

Then, relate it back to what you are experiencing. 

What can the story in the card tell you about your life right now? 

What new lessons can you learn?

The best thing about this technique is that you don’t have to memorise any meanings! 

You can simply go with what you see in the picture of the card each time.

This technique is so powerful that I spend almost an entire class on it in my program, TF1: Master the Tarot Card Meanings.

6. TUNE IN TO YOUR INTUITION

I know – easier said than done! In fact, most Tarot beginners really struggle with knowing how and when to tune in to their intuition.

My advice? Put down the books, and simply take in the energy of the Tarot card in front of you. 

It doesn’t matter if you connect with a different meaning of the card from what the books say. 

What you are doing is connecting with your intuitive read of the card – which is often way more powerful than regurgitating book meanings!

7. READ TAROT FOR YOURSELF

Ignore anyone who says you can’t read Tarot for yourself. 

Tarot is such a powerful tool for personal development and self-discovery so make use of it. 

In fact, when you are starting out with reading Tarot, you are your best client!

Make time each day to do a short Tarot reading for yourself. 

You’ll learn more about the Tarot and about yourself. Bonus!

8. FIND A STUDY BUDDY

What I love about Tarot is that each and every reader has a different perspective of the Tarot cards. 

So if you’re open to learning even more about the Tarot, find a study buddy and practice reading the cards together. You’ll be able to teach one another about the Tarot, share your diverse perspectives and support each other’s growth.

We love study buddies so much that we help you find your perfect study buddy if you’re a part of my online Tarot program, TF1: Master the Tarot Card Meanings.

9. LEARN THE BASIC SYSTEMS

One of the easiest (and quickest) ways to learn Tarot is to learn the basic systems that underpin the cards. 

For example, if you learn what the numbers 1-9 symbolise and what the four elements represent, you’ve already got a good sense of the 40 Pip Cards (the numbered cards of the Minor Arcana).

Then, get to know the essence of the Page, Knight, Queen and King, combine it with what you know of the elements and you’ll have learned another 16 cards.

Seriously, you don’t need huge memory to master these simple systems.

10. FORGET THE ‘RULES’

Gosh, if I had a dollar every time someone asked me about the ‘rules’ of Tarot, I would be a rich woman! “Am I allowed to buy my own Tarot cards or does someone have to offer them as a gift?” “Am I allowed to read with just the Major Arcana cards?” “Should I let someone else touch my cards?”

Do you know what the number 1 rule of Tarot is? There are no rules! So long as you are ethical in the way you read Tarot, you can safely ignore all those “shoulds” and “musts”!

11. FIND OUT WHAT THE TAROT MEANS TO YOU

One of the most valuable exercises a Tarot beginner can do is ask themselves the question, “How does Tarot work?”

By reflecting on this question and coming up with your own answer, you’ll have a much better sense of what the Tarot means to you and how you can use this tool in the very best way.

Now, the answer is going to differ from reader to reader – and that’s perfectly OK! 

You may see the Tarot as a predictive tool, a coaching tool, or a fun way to impress your friends.

Once you have your answer, write it out, say it out loud, or post it on your blog.Get clear about what it means to you personally. 

That’s what matters most.

12. USE THE TAROT MINDFULLY

One of the biggest mistakes that Tarot beginners make when reading Tarot for themselves is that they ask the same question over and over, hoping to get a better answer each time. 

Or they do a reading when they’re highly emotional or shut down to receiving truthful insight.

Instead, use the Tarot mindfully. 

Draw on the cards when you have an open mind and an open heart. 

Treat the cards (and yourself) with respect and give yourself enough time and space to truly accept the wisdom they have to offer you.

The Pagan Kitchen Pumpkin Pie

 

Pumpkin pie is popular in the United States and Canada, but in other parts of the world, not so much.

1621 – Early American settlers of Plimoth Plantation (1620-1692), the first permanent European settlement in southern New England, might have made pumpkin pies (of sorts) by making stewed pumpkins or by filling a hollowed out shell with milk, honey and spices, and then baking it in hot ashes. 

An actual present-day pumpkin pie with crust is a myth, as ovens to bake pies were not available in the colony at that stage.

Northeastern Native American tribes grew squash and pumpkins. 

They roasted or boiled them for eating. Historians think that the settlers were not very impressed by the Indians’ squash and/or pumpkins until they had to survive their first harsh winter when about half of the settlers died from scurvy and exposure. 

The Native Americans brought pumpkins as gifts to the first settlers, and taught them the many used for the pumpkin. 

This is what developed into pumpkin pie about 50 years after the first Thanksgiving in America.

1651 – Francois Pierre la Varenne, the famous French chef and author of one of the most important French cookbooks of the 17th century, wrote a cookbook called Le Vrai Cuisinier Francois (The True French Cook). 

It was translated and published in England as The French Cook in 1653. 

It has a recipe for a pumpkin pie that included the pastry:

Tourte of pumpkin – Boile it with good milk, pass it through a straining pan very thick, and mix it with sugar, butter, a little salt and if you will, a few stamped almonds; let all be very thin. Put it in your sheet of paste; bake it. After it is baked, besprinkle it with sugar and serve.

As for our Pumpkin Pie recipe, if you give it a try, we do hope you enjoy it.

Ingredients

Crust

¼cup butter, softened

¼cup shortening

1¼cups all-purpose flour

1Tbsp granulated sugar

¼tsp salt

1egg yolk

2Tbsp ice water

Filling

3eggs

115 oz can pumpkin

½cup granulated sugar

¼cup packed dark brown sugar

1tsp ground cinnamon

½tsp salt

½tsp ground ginger

¼tsp ground cloves

¼tsp ground nutmeg

¾cup whole milk

¼cup heavy cream

Directions

Crust

Beat together butter and shortening until smooth and creamy.

Chill till firm

Sift together flour, sugar and salt in medium bowl

Using a pastry knife or fork, cut the chilled butter and shortening into the dry ingredients until the flour is mixed in and it has a crumbly texture.

Mix egg yolk and ice water into the dough with a spoon then form it into a ball with your hands.

Don't work the dough too much or your crust will lose its flakiness. 

Flakey crust is good crust.

Cover dough ball with plastic wrap to sit until the filling is ready.

Filling

Beat eggs.

Add pumpkin and stir well to combine

Combine sugars, cinnamon, salt, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg in a small bowl.

Stir spice mixture into the pumpkin.

Mix in milk and cream.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

While oven preheats let filling sit so that it can come closer to room temperature.

Unwrap pie dough, then roll it flat on a floured surface and line a 9 inch pie dish.

When oven is hot pour filling into pie shell, and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake for another 50 to 60 minutes or until a knife stuck in the middle comes out clean.

Cool pie, then chill. Slice chilled pie into 6 pieces to serve restaurant size portions. Whipped cream on top is optional but highly recommended.

Here’s a conversion chart, just in case:

If you feel artsy,

you can design a moon and stars pie crust top. 

Cut your design and bake it.

Allow to cool and place on top of your cooled pumpkin pie.

Roasting Turkey Tips

For those of you roasting a turkey for any occasion, here are a few tips...

If you plan on using a brine and you want a simple recipe that will make your turkey especially delicious, here you go...

1/2 cup salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 gallon water or enough to completely cover the bird

Few peeled cloves of garlic

Sprigs of rosemary, sage & thyme

Dissolve salt in a cold or room temperature water, add the sugar and mix throughly.

Add the herbs. 

Allow to set overnight in the fridge or in an ice chest cooler (with ice)

When ready to roast, remove the turkey and throughly rinse off all the brine.

That’s it.

Hello November

November comes from the Latin root novem- meaning “nine,” because in the Roman calendar there were only 10 months in the year, and November was the ninth month. 

The word November was first recorded before the year 1000.