How to Actually Learn Tarot (Not Just Memorise Meanings)

The TOT Deck

Why I Don't Teach Tarot the Way You Think I Do

If you've ever bought a Tarot deck, watched a few videos, maybe even bought a little book of card meanings — and then quietly put the whole thing in a drawer — I want you to know something first: it wasn't you. It was the method.

Most people are taught Tarot as a memory test. Seventy-eight cards, seventy-eight fixed meanings, and the unspoken expectation that if you just study hard enough, one day it'll click and you'll be "fluent." For most people, that day doesn't automatically happen. Not because they're not intuitive enough, or spiritual enough, or whatever story they've told themselves — but because memorising someone else's meanings was never going to teach them to read.

The problem with the list

Here's what actually happens when you learn Tarot from a list of meanings: you get very good at recalling facts, and no better at reading cards.

You can know, technically, that the Three of Swords "means heartbreak." But sit down with real cards in front of you, in a real reading, about something that actually matters to you — and that fact sits there, flat and borrowed, while the moment asks for something else. It asks you to actually look. To notice. To trust what you're seeing, not reel off what you memorised.

That gap — between knowing definitions and actually reading — is why so many beautiful decks end up gathering dust on a shelf.

What I do differently

In my six-week Intro to the Tarot course, we build things the other way around.

Before we ever talk about what a card "means," we talk about what you actually see. Colour. Number. Gesture. Direction. The story an image is quietly telling you, before any standardised meanings gets drawn in. We move through the Major Arcana as what it actually is — the Soul’s Journey, a story of a life being lived — so that each card connects to something real, not abstract. We do the same with the Minor Arcana, using the logic of suits, elements, and numbers so you're building an understanding, not cramming a list. And by the time we get to spreads, in week six, you're not reading from a script — you're reading what's actually in front of you.

It's a small difference in approach and a huge difference in outcome. Students walk away not with seventy-eight memorised definitions they'll forget, ornlose because they are too stagnant, but with a way of reading that's genuinely theirs.

Who this is for

You don't need any experience. You don't need to already feel "psychic" or spiritually gifted — that's not a prerequisite, and it never was. You just need a Smith Waite Tarot deck, a willingness to actually look closely at your cards, and 90 minutes a week for six weeks. And because it's entirely live online, it doesn't matter whether you're just down the road or joining from Melbourne, Sydney, or anywhere else — you're in the room either way.

The details

Intro to the Tarot runs live online, Tuesday evenings, 6:30–8pm, for six consecutive weeks starting 22 September 2026. It's a genuinely small group — capped at 12 people — so you get real support along the way, it’s not a pre-recorded course - that is available but this is not that. In this course, after every class, I’ll email you a handout with a recap on the class and home practice you can do, so the learning keeps building between classes.

It’s $380 for all six weeks.

If you've been meaning to really connect with your deck and learn how to read your cards in a meaningful way — this could be the moment. Spots are limited, so if you're curious, don't sit on it too long.

Book your spot here or email me if you have questions — I'm happy to help you figure out if it's the right fit.

As always, warmest to You,

Karen

Go Deep & Stay Wild