The Reading Process

Knowing the meanings of all 78 cards by heart does not make you a reader. Reading is the process of weaving the card meanings, the spread positions and the question itself into one coherent answer.

Two approaches to reading

Systematic: work strictly from each card's established meaning plus the logic of numbers, elements and positions, starting from a correspondence system such as the Correspondence Table. Its strengths are that it is repeatable, teachable and easy for beginners to pick up. Its weakness is that readings can come out stiff and miss the specific clues the images themselves offer.
Intuitive / narrative: start from the images themselves and read the whole spread as a single picture that tells a story, beginning with the querent's immediate intuitive response. Its strengths are flexibility and closeness to the specific situation. Its weakness is that it can become subjective and arbitrary, and hard to check ^uncertain.

You do not have to pick one. A mature reading usually uses the systematic approach to build the skeleton (what this card is basically saying), then the intuitive approach to fill in the flesh (which detail in the image strikes me right now, and why) ^inferred.

Read the spread, not single cards

A common beginner mistake is to explain the spread as a handful of isolated cards and then simply stitch the explanations together. A better approach:

First look at the overall atmosphere: the ratio of Major to Minor Arcana, the number of reversals, and whether the suits cluster in one element (see Anatomy of a Tarot Deck and Reading Reversals). When judging the share of reversals, a few specific lines of thought help:
- Only a few reversals: treat these cards as the "key cards" of the spread and open them up first. This usually explains more than judging good or bad from the ratio alone, and the positions they sit in are often where the real crux of the problem lies.
- Mostly reversals: rather than digging into each reversed card as its own "crux," read the spread as a whole as "this matter involves many variables and many things still to be sorted out." This keeps you from breaking the spread into fragments.
- All or nearly all reversed: this is easily read too quickly as "completely unfavorable" or even "the querent is resisting the answer." The safer course is to read as usual and simply word things more gently. There is no need to refuse to read because the ratio is extreme, and no need to awkwardly flip the whole spread and read it upright.
Then look at the sideways relationships between cards: whether neighboring cards' elements are friendly or contrary (see Elemental Dignities), and whether any number repeats. At the same time, notice which position actually "sets the tone" in this spread. In some readings the overall direction is driven by the querent's own attitude (positions such as "self" or "hopes and fears"); in others the outside conditions decide things (positions such as "root" or "environment"). Both happen, so do not assume any one kind of position always matters more. Go by the cards that actually came up this time.
Finally, read each position closely, but always put each card's meaning back into the meaning of its position. The same card should be read differently in the "past" position and in the "outcome" position.
To finish, return to the original question and give one coherent answer, rather than a list of ten unrelated card meanings.

A typical beginner mistake is to explain each card fluently on its own, while the querent, having heard it all, cannot put the points together into an overall picture. A more reliable approach is to spend a few sentences at both the start and the end stating the core message the whole spread is conveying. Open with a summary impression, then close by gathering it up again, so the most important points stay with the querent. A summary that comes only at the end is not enough.

A reading also should not stop at describing the present. Even when the cards show something good, the querent often wants to know "what should I do to make it happen?" When the cards show an unwelcome direction, say so honestly, and also look together at where there is room to turn things around and what the querent can adjust. Talking only about "what is" without "what to do" is of limited help to the querent.

Beyond reading each position closely, you can also compare positions in pairs, especially a "tendency" position (such as "possible outcome" in the Celtic Cross) with a "conclusion" position (such as "outcome"). If the two echo each other, read them as a chain of cause and effect. If they contradict each other, go back to other positions (especially the root or foundation positions) to find what stopped the "possible" direction from coming about. The "outcome" card is not the end point either. If the outcome is poor, go back over the spread asking "which cards pushed the situation here?" and look for what the querent can change. If the outcome is good, the same review helps confirm what they should keep doing right.

Using the querent's feedback to steer the reading

A reading does not have to be the reader passing judgment alone and then announcing the result. You can lay out the several possible readings that come to mind and ask the querent directly which one sounds more like their situation, using their response as a check. You can even take the same set of "past experience" cards, assume different starting points, and lay out how the following cards would read in each case, then compare the two versions and see which one the querent recognizes, and narrow the reading from there. This kind of collaborative checking is more reliable than the reader insisting on a single interpretation, and it echoes the sense of boundaries in The Ethics of Reading, which leaves the final judgment with the querent.

Card combinations

Cards that appear in the same draw modify each other's meanings. Some common patterns:

Repeated numbers (for example two Fours): the stage that number stands for is the main theme right now, cutting across the areas of the individual suits.
A cluster of one suit: the heart of the question really does lie in the area that suit stands for (several Swords = problems of thinking or communication are the most prominent).
Upright cards surrounding a reversed card: blocked energy is surrounded by a smooth-flowing environment, usually read as "temporarily blocked, but outside conditions are supportive" ^inferred. This follows the same logic as elemental dignities.

There is also a quick fallback for reversed cards. When you cannot work out what a particular reversed card is saying, look back at the card one number lower in the same suit (if the Five of Swords reversed has you stuck, go back to what the Four of Swords upright is saying) and use it as a reference point for understanding the reversal. The logic is that neighboring numbers in a suit form a progression, and a reversal often means "stuck at the previous stage and unable to move past it," so looking for clues in the card before it is a reasonable stopgap. This is only a supporting aid. It cannot replace a proper understanding of the card's own reversed meaning; for a fuller theory of reversals, see Reading Reversals.

Sound, shape and sense: associating from the suit's name

One unusual technique for opening up a reading is to look for associations in the Chinese name of a suit itself, beyond its element and imagery. The sound of the name, the shape of the written word and its literal meaning can each lead to a line of interpretation. The three can be used separately or layered together. (In Chinese, the Air element is simply called "wind," which matters for the examples below.)

Sound: association through words that sound alike. In Chinese, "wind" (the Swords' element) sounds the same as the word for "mad," which brings out the obsessive, extreme, hysterical side of the Swords. Compared with the usual "communication, thinking, conflict" reading, this comes across as much sharper; which way it goes depends on the overall tone of the card's image.
Shape: association through the form of the thing named. The "sword" as a sharp blade leads straight to images of cuts, incisions and surgery, all connected with sharp instruments. This can support a reading on a health question.
Sense: association through the literal meaning. The meaning of "wind" itself opens many angles. A mountain wind suggests standing aloof and keeping one's integrity. The healing image of a warm spring breeze makes the Swords feel gentle, more than a suit of conflict and harm.

This technique depends on the puns and associations available in the Chinese language. It is a distinctly Chinese way of reading and cannot be applied directly to every suit or every language. Whether it is useful and comfortable varies from person to person. If it does not suit you, leave it aside; it makes no difference to reading with other methods as usual.