Can someone explain how tarot cards work?

[Bing2456]

I'm really confused as to how the cards work. I understand that the reader pick the cards at random...but isn't that just by chance?

[Leogirl0808]

From my experience, they shuffle the cards be before taking your card or why you are asking your question and then pull 3 cards or so to explain what is going on or what will be happening.

[member60636366]

Cards are by deck.
Tarot deck has generally 78 to 79 cards depending on the reader. Some readers will add an extra 'unknown' card.
The way a tarot reading works depends on whether all of the cards are used and how the reader uses them. There is no set way to read cards. There is a set meaning to the cards based on the symbology of each card. The combination of the cards and the interpretation of the spread has first to do with the question being asked. The mediumship of the reader is going to depend on their skill, experience, and ability to read pictures and numbers, and the really excellent readers, which are few in number, will have extensive knowledge of the tarot. Most use books and are amateurs, even tough they say they have been at it for a while.
Just because a person says they are experienced doesn't mean they know what they are doing with the cards.
I got a tarot reading the other day and the advisor said she had been reading for over 30 years but didn't know what the 4 of pentacles meant! Got it completely wrong. I chortled and won't wont call her again.
The spreads are whatever. Basic spread is like this:
shuffle cards. Cut deck into three stacks from left to right using the left hand.
Left Middle Right stacks
Left stack is past
Middle is present
Right is Future.
This is a basic spread.
then there are many other types of spreads depending on the reader. There is one that is called the astrological spread. It is not helpful if the reader has little background in astrology though. There are some who will say they know astrology when they know nothing about it and therefore the astrological tarot spread is not accurate either.
If you can get an answer with 3 cards, that's the answer. It won't be any different with more cards or a different spread, just more complicated and murky.

I'm really confused as to how the cards work. I understand that the reader pick the cards at random...but isn't that just by chance?

[jendadd@yahoo.cm]

The cards are only a psychic tool.  They themselves are not magic. The cards are infused with the Psychics energy and then the psychic uses the cards to get a deeper intuitive insight. While the cards themselves have general meanings, the reading of each particular card can change depending on the situation at hand.  Which is why Tarot is so much better than Oracle. 

[copperhead]

Cards are by deck.
Tarot deck has generally 78 to 79 cards depending on the reader. Some readers will add an extra 'unknown' card.
The way a tarot reading works depends on whether all of the cards are used and how the reader uses them. There is no set way to read cards. There is a set meaning to the cards based on the symbology of each card. The combination of the cards and the interpretation of the spread has first to do with the question being asked. The mediumship of the reader is going to depend on their skill, experience, and ability to read pictures and numbers, and the really excellent readers, which are few in number, will have extensive knowledge of the tarot. Most use books and are amateurs, even tough they say they have been at it for a while.
Just because a person says they are experienced doesn't mean they know what they are doing with the cards.
I got a tarot reading the other day and the advisor said she had been reading for over 30 years but didn't know what the 4 of pentacles meant! Got it completely wrong. I chortled and won't wont call her again.
The spreads are whatever. Basic spread is like this:
shuffle cards. Cut deck into three stacks from left to right using the left hand.
Left Middle Right stacks
Left stack is past
Middle is present
Right is Future.
This is a basic spread.
then there are many other types of spreads depending on the reader. There is one that is called the astrological spread. It is not helpful if the reader has little background in astrology though. There are some who will say they know astrology when they know nothing about it and therefore the astrological tarot spread is not accurate either.
If you can get an answer with 3 cards, that's the answer. It won't be any different with more cards or a different spread, just more complicated and murky.

I'm really confused as to how the cards work. I understand that the reader pick the cards at random...but isn't that just by chance?

The most 'basic spread', or common spread is the Celtic Cross, which can be used for a general reading or a question. Then there are as many spreads as there are readers.
And no, you do get different readings if you go into more details than 3 cards. And the 3 cards can be past-present-future, but also different things, depending on how the reader decides to do it (for example, pro/cons/possible outcome). The three cards are for a quick question. For a true reading, better do a larger spread, like the Celtic cross or other things.
How the cards are chosen also depends on the reader's preferred method.
And meanings, for the same card, could change depending on the deck (the Fool in the Raider Waite is completely different from the same card in the Tarots of Marseilles)
Tarots, if interpreted by a talented, knowledgeable reader, can be extremely accurate.

[maroonlight]

I won't describe the process of using them since others already have, but if you believe in tarot and psychic ability and what not, then the cards would not be chosen by "random," instead they would deliver a psychic message.

I use tarot cards myself, and as ridiculous as it is, I've found doing my own tarot cards to be much more accurate than calling any of these psychic readers.

[member60636366]

Yes, this is what Tipple Moon Goddess said.

The cards are only a psychic tool.  They themselves are not magic. The cards are infused with the Psychics energy and then the psychic uses the cards to get a deeper intuitive insight. While the cards themselves have general meanings, the reading of each particular card can change depending on the situation at hand.  Which is why Tarot is so much better than Oracle.