Tarot reading is a living art. It's not static. It grows with us, expands as we expand, and evolves as our understanding of ourselves and the world deepens. The very first time you pick up a deck, you are holding a tool with centuries of layered symbolism, cultural influence, mystery traditions, storytelling frameworks, psychological archetypes, and ritual power. Tarot is both classic and modern, enriched by the past and enhanced by the present.

This living, breathing, interactive tool means that, regardless of how intuitive, psychic, or seasoned you are, there is always more to learn.

Let's address the question that often comes up in conversations, classes, and (let's be real) tarot community discussions:

Do you really need to read tarot books to be a good tarot reader?
The short answer: No.

However, being well-read, especially about a topic you're passionate about, makes your readings deeper, richer, more confident, and more you. Reading a broad spectrum of tarot books is essential if you ever want to become a professional tarot reader. Professional and personal development never ends, and there are always new things to learn.

Being a knowledgeable tarot reader is not about memorizing someone else's meanings. It's about expanding your relationship with the cards, so your readings become more layered, nuanced, and accurate.

Tarot reading is like speaking a language. You can think of it this way: books are your vocabulary. Without a robust vocabulary, your voice can express only so much. So let's talk about why reading matters, and how to read tarot books in a way that strengthens your practice rather than restricts it.

Different Tarot Perspectives Matter
Tarot is not monolithic. There's no single "official" meaning of The Fool, the Eight of Swords, or Judgment. There are traditions, lineages, and schools of thought, yes, but tarot has always been shaped by the people who read it, create decks, and interpret its symbolism.

When you read tarot books from various authors, including classic scholars, mystics, Golden Dawn ceremonial magicians, Jungian-influenced psychologists, modern witches, queer tarot voices, BIPOC tarot scholars, trauma-informed readers, and intuitive-based authors, you expose yourself to multiple doorways into the same card.

Each author offers a unique perspective shaped by their cultural lens, symbolic interpretation, philosophical or magical worldview, and lived experience. These are different from yours and can provide you with new frames of reference to understand the depth of the cards and how to communicate their wisdom in your readings.

No single person has the full story of a tarot card; however, when you read widely and with curiosity, you start to piece together a fuller expression of each card's meaning, artwork, and archetype.

Reading widely helps you understand why particular tarot card meanings developed over the years and why they endure. It allows you to identify patterns and symbolic threads across different traditions. You'll notice how meanings adapt to modern cultural contexts. This practice enables you to develop your own interpretation instead of merely copying one by rote. Ultimately, reading widely enriches your intuition with context, metaphor, and history.

It's not that one author is "correct" and another is "wrong." It's that tarot is plural. Why wouldn't you want to become as fluent in the language of tarot as you can be?

Classic Books vs. Modern Books (And Why You Need Both)
To fully grasp why the tarot appears, reads, and functions as it does today, it's essential to look at its history, which is a diverse tapestry woven from various esoteric traditions, art movements, mystery schools, and folk practices. However, understanding the tarot also requires acknowledging its current life in the hands of modern readers from diverse backgrounds. Foundational texts by figures like Waite, Crowley, Levi, Colman Smith, Marseille traditionalists, Eden Gray, Mary K. Greer, and early works by Rachel Pollack provide the origins of many of the widely accepted tarot card meanings that we use every day.

Their writings offer Insight into the philosophical and occult roots that shaped the tarot and show the Western esoteric structure upon which the modern tarot deck is built. While these works are foundational, they were created within specific cultural, racial, gendered, and metaphysical contexts. When engaging with the classics, critical awareness is key. Remember to ask yourself questions about the author themselves, their core values that are reflected in their writing, their potential biases, and who they were writing for.

Classic tarot literature was predominantly written by Western, white, Eurocentric occult scholars, often men. This perspective fundamentally influences the material.

Contemporary authors build upon the classics by expanding, challenging, re-interpreting, and diversifying the tarot. Access to modern technology has enabled our tarot libraries to become significantly richer, with diverse voices and diverse points of view. Some of the most significant additional insights we've been given include writing on trauma-aware and trauma-sensitive interpretations of the tarot cards, queer and inclusive re-visioning of the archetypes, and the voices sharing these perspectives.

There are also more feminist, multicultural, and decolonized approaches to tarot cards, tarot art, and tarot readings. Reclaiming divination and spiritual rituals, lessons, and practices from cultures that've had much of their history repressed and accessible language that resonates with today's practitioners.

Reading both classic and modern tarot works allows you to respect the tradition without being bound by it, understand the meaning behind the symbols, and evolve your own tarot voice with agency, depth, and originality. This balanced approach prevents your tarot knowledge and practices from becoming either a dusty relic of outdated social norms or a shallow spiritual aesthetic lacking structural depth; instead, we achieve both roots and branches, grounded and growing, deep and expansive, rooted in history and reaching into the present.

Critical Thinking Is Key
Critical thinking is key when engaging with tarot books; just because something is written does not mean it's a universal truth, as these books offer perspective, not commandments. When reading, ask yourself if the interpretation resonates with your lived experience, how it feels in your body, and whether it contradicts or complements what you've already learned. Furthermore, determine if the meaning is rooted in symbolism, numerology, astrology, cultural tradition, or merely personal opinion. You're not reading tarot books to obey them, but to dialogue with them; your tarot mind is like a cauldron, and everything you read is added to the brew, but you are the witch stirring it.

Forging a Rich, Personal Relationship with the Tarot
Reading tarot books doesn't mean giving up your intuition. It means feeding it. It's how you honor the craft, how you respect the cards, and how you evolve your readings, your magic, and your self-understanding. By engaging with various interpretations and symbolic contexts, you provide your intuitive mind with a richer palette of knowledge to draw from.

The more language you have, the more clearly you can speak. The more symbolic fluency you develop, the deeper your readings become. Think of it as expanding your inner dictionary for the language of the soul. This expanded fluency allows you to move beyond surface-level interpretations and connect with the profound, multi-faceted wisdom embedded in the tarot. Many tarot practitioners, including myself, also read a variety of books that complement our tarot practices, allowing us to develop a larger toolkit and a deeper connection with ourselves and the universe.

Your vocabulary is what enables you to articulate what your intuition is already whispering to you accurately. When your mind has the right words and symbols at its disposal, the subtle promptings of your inner voice can be translated into clear, compelling, and actionable insights for yourself and your querents.

Being well-read does not mean being rigid; it means being resourced. A strong foundation in tarot lore, history, and various schools of thought provides you with a robust toolkit. And a resourced tarot practitioner (one who blends deep study with cultivated intuition) is a powerful tarot practitioner.

If You're Ready to Become a Truly Exceptional Tarot Reader…
Learning, practicing, and reading the tarot is a lifelong journey...it's one I've been on since I was fifteen years old, and I can't imagine not having my tarot decks as the key tool in my personal and professional life. Every tarot reader deserves to feel confident, intuitive, empowered, and deeply connected to their cards. If you are ready to go from reading tarot to embodying tarot, I have something special for you.

My new book, Become an Exceptional Tarot Reader, is my love letter to the craft, a culmination of decades of tarot study, teaching, writing, and professional reading. It will help you develop your personal tarot vocabulary, work with intuition and symbolism together, interpret cards with clarity and depth, and master the art of tarot, not just the meanings. Because tarot isn't just something you read. It's something you live. I look forward to sharing it with you and having the honor of adding my words to your own tarot library.