Introduction: Why the Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) Tarot Deck Still Leads the Way

The Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) Tarot isn’t just a classic; it’s the deck that quietly redefined modern tarot reading. Since 1909, its symbolic imagery, intuitive storytelling, and approachable design have opened doors for millions of tarot readers, from the curious beginner to the seasoned seeker. Whether you’re just picking up your first deck or diving back in after years away, the RWS Tarot remains one of the most straightforward and most compelling ways to learn.

But here’s the twist: most beginners who start with the RWS deck hit a wall. Hard. Why? Because they’re handed a list of 78 meanings to memorize—keywords, phrases, reversals—and told to ‘study harder.’ Suddenly, this intuitive tool feels more like a pop quiz.

Let’s change that.

When using RWS Deck it isn’t about perfection—it’s about connection. Think of it as a conversation between your intuition, the images on the card, and the question you’re asking. While traditional meanings have value, we can build a more personal and fluid way to interpret the cards: one that blends structure, symbolism, and story.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through the exact six-step tarot framework I use. It’s practical, intuitive, and designed for anyone who learns best with steps, scaffolding, and a little room to breathe.

Let’s move beyond memorization and start making magic with the cards.

The Real Art of Tarot: Beyond Memorization

You get your first deck. You shuffle with hope, pull a card… and your mind goes blank.

Sound familiar?

Here’s the truth: most beginner tarot advice leans hard on memorization. You’re told to cram meanings, reverse definitions, keywords, upright vs. reversed energy until your brain fries like a wand in the Ten of Swords.

But here’s the secret: Tarot doesn’t live in your memory. It lives in your connection.

Tarot isn’t just a study. It’s a skill, and like any skill, it grows with experience. The cards speak through imagery, emotion, and energy. Memorization can help, but real insight comes when you go beyond that and start weaving meaning through your own lens.

That’s where this framework comes in. It gives you a flexible, intuitive structure. Not a rigid formula. Think of it like a warm-up for your intuition—helping you move from confused to confident, from blank stares to clear readings.

Let’s break it down together, step by step.

A Practical Tarot Framework for RWS Interpretation

The Tarot Flow Framework

I use and teach this structure. Think of it like reading a scene from a story; you’re looking for emotion, movement, and meaning. Learning tarot isn’t just about knowing what each card means; it’s about learning how to read. These six steps guide you from confusion to clarity by combining structure with intuition.

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Step 1: Identify the Card Type

Before diving into symbols or meanings, start with the basics: “What type of card is this?”

This one question sets the tone for the entire reading. It’s like reading the title of a chapter before the story begins. Let’s walk through the tarot categories:

Major Arcana — Life Themes, Soul Lessons

These 22 cards represent the big ideas in life: transformation, growth, inner journeys, and spiritual truths. They ask big questions and speak to the soul.

Examples:

• The Fool – new beginnings, leap of faith
• Death – endings and transformation
• The Lovers – alignment, values, or relationships

Major Arcana cards signal powerful, soul-level moments. They represent life-changing themes, spiritual lessons, and archetypal energies—like transformation, choice, awakening, or surrender. When one appears, you’re being asked to pay attention: something deeper is unfolding. These aren’t just events; they’re parts of your personal myth. The more Majors in a spread, the more profound the message. Always interpret them in the context of your question—they shape identity, not just action. Whether upright or reversed, each Major invites you to grow, release, or evolve. When they show up, your journey is shifting—and tarot is handing you the map.

Minor Arcana — Everyday Experiences and Emotions

These 56 cards are divided into four suits—Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles—each representing a different area of life.

• Wands (Fire): Action, inspiration, creativity, spiritual energy
• Cups (Water): Emotion, relationships, intuition
• Swords (Air): Thought, conflict, truth, communication
• Pentacles (Earth): Money, career, physical health, home

Minor Arcana cards reflect the rhythms of daily life—your thoughts, emotions, actions, and material world. They’re practical, dynamic, and immediate, showing where energy is moving in the moment. Each suit (Wands, Cups, Swords, Pentacles) maps to a different life area, and the numbers (Ace through Ten) reveal stages of experience, from beginning to resolution. Court Cards add depth, often representing people or roles you’re embodying. When these cards show up, they’re not about fate—they’re about choice. They help you see what’s shifting, what’s challenging, and what’s ready for growth right now. Together, the Minor Arcana turns your tarot reading into a grounded, actionable story.

Court Cards — People, Roles, or Evolving Identity

The Pages, Knights, Queens, and Kings often represent:

• Actual people in your life
• Aspects of yourself
• A role you’re being asked to embody or release

Tip: When you pull a Court Card, ask: Who is this? What personality or energy is showing up here? Is it someone else, or me?

Court Cards represent people, personality traits, or roles you embody or are called to. They can point to you, someone in your life, or an energy influencing the situation. Each rank reflects a stage of development: Pages are beginners and messengers, Knights take action and pursue goals, Queens master the inner world with intuition and care, and Kings lead with authority and outward control. The suit adds flavor: Wands are bold and passionate, Cups are emotional and intuitive, Swords are sharp and mental, and Pentacles are grounded and practical. When a Court Card appears, ask: “Is this me? Someone else? Or a role I need to step into?” These cards bring the reading to life with human energy, and help you understand behavior and growth.

This first classification step helps narrow your focus and builds a narrative.

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Step 2: Understand the Core Meaning

Now that you’ve identified the card type, begin with the general or traditional meaning of the card. This isn’t about rigid memorization; it’s about having a loose foundation.

If you’re using the RWS deck, the imagery gives you a lot to work with. Pamela Colman Smith, the artist behind the illustrations, infused each card with visual clues, emotional tone, and symbolic gestures.

All those places you have visited before told you to memorize the meanings. It is helpful for some. But it is overwhelming for others. The card’s general feel or concept is a good place to start. Or a guidebook. The 22 Major Arcana are archetypes that recur when they are just human. They are universal, and someone has researched that. The suits sometimes can be a little trickier. I struggled to tell the difference between the pages for a very long time. They were all basically new things coming your way. This is why having a guide book to support the basics of the Traditional tarot meanings, is helpful if you don’t want to memorize and gradually embrace the meaning of the 78 cards. The Framework is a great tarot beginner guide.

• Start with the textbook (traditional) definition.
• Respect the roots: why the Rider-Waite-Smith deck leans into archetypes.

Let’s take an example:

The Eight of Swords
You see a blindfolded woman, bound and surrounded by swords. She stands in a puddle, isolated. The sky is gray. It screams “stuck,” right?

• Traditional meaning: mental entrapment, self-imposed limitations.
• Key theme: you’re not as stuck as you think—you just believe you are.

Pro Tip: If memorization feels overwhelming, work with a single card daily. Journal what you notice, and refer to a guidebook. Over time, you’ll absorb meanings through repetition and personal reflection.

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Step 3: Look for Symbolism (Let the Image Speak)

Once you’ve connected with the RWS Tarot card’s traditional meaning, it’s time to look closer; this is where your intuition stretches and starts to dance with the image. The Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) Tarot deck is full of deliberate, layered symbolism. Nothing in the artwork is accidental. The colors, objects, gestures, and backgrounds are the RWS Tarot visual language, speaking to your subconscious before your conscious mind catches up.

So now, let’s really look.

Ask yourself:

• What objects, animals, or symbols do I notice?
  (A crown, a fish, a tower, a lion—all have meaning.)
• What is the figure doing, wearing, or facing?
  (Direction and posture reveal energy dynamics.)
• What’s the weather like? Day or night?
  (External conditions often reflect internal states.)
•  Is there something happening in the background?
  (Even the horizon or setting can shift the mood of a reading.)
• What emotion is being expressed through posture or scenery?
  (Sometimes the unspoken mood tells more than the symbols themselves.)

These clues add not just visual interest but layers of meaning. They help you read beyond the surface.

Example: The Six of Swords

Traditionally, this card suggests transition, moving on, or healing after difficulty. Visual story: a cloaked woman and child are ferried across water, choppy behind, calm ahead. The six swords are in the boat.

Interpretation: They are moving on, but the mental baggage (swords = thoughts) is still being carried. The card evokes quiet grief, cautious hope.

Symbolism turns your reading from flat to multidimensional. It bridges what you know with what you feel. It grows with you, evolving each time you return to the same card.

Pro Tip: Try covering the card name and just interpret what you see. Let image lead before intellect speaks. You may be surprised by what surfaces.

This is why letting the image speak first is so powerful, before jumping into memorized meanings. When you start seeing tarot as a symbolic language rather than a static dictionary, your readings will become more alive, intuitive, and insightful.

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Step 4: Contextualize the Question (Anchor the Message)

Now that you’ve explored the card’s type, core meaning, and symbolism, it’s time to bring in the most critical piece: the question. Tarot doesn’t give one-size-fits-all answers; it’s a responsive tool. The same card can carry radically different messages depending on your question and where the card is in the spread.

Context is everything. A tarot card doesn’t mean the same thing in every situation; it speaks differently depending on your question.

Imagine pulling: The Hermit

• In a relationship question, it might suggest space or inner healing.
• In a work reading? A nudge to reflect on your deeper purpose.

Tarot isn’t static; it’s responsive.

Think of the question as the lens you’re looking through. It sharpens the image, reveals hidden details, and clarifies the direction of your interpretation.

Anchor your reading in context:

• What emotional energy is behind the question?
• What kind of question is being asked? (Love, career, healing, clarity?)
• What position is the card in? (Past, challenge, advice?)

RWS Tarot cards are multidimensional; they contain layers of meaning. But when you anchor them to the question, they stop being abstract and start being personal. This is where readings become actionable.

Once you know the context, you can shape the meaning with more precision and empathy.

Context Shifts Meaning: A Few Examples

Let’s look at how one card can shift dramatically depending on the question.

The Hermit

• In a career question: “Take a step back. Reflect before making your next move. You may be seeking deeper purpose, not just success.”
• In a relationship question: “You may need space to reconnect with yourself. This could be a time for healing or reevaluating what you truly want.”
• In a spiritual question: “You’re being called inward. Trust your inner light. This is a moment of sacred solitude and deeper guidance.”

Three of Swords

• In a love reading: “This may reflect heartbreak or betrayal—acknowledge the pain so it can be processed.”
• In a question about personal growth: “You’re being asked to confront emotional wounds that are still influencing your path.”
• In a business context: “Disappointment or miscommunication may be causing setbacks. Honesty and emotional clarity are key.”

Knight of Wand

• In a career reading: “Go for it! This is about bold, passionate momentum—just watch for impulsiveness.”
• In a relationship question: “Exciting, fast-moving energy—could be a passionate connection or someone noncommittal.”
• In a health reading: “Energy may be high, but balance it. Burnout is a risk if you move too fast without grounding.”

Key Questions to Ask in This Step

• How does this card specifically answer the question at hand?
• Does it point to action, reflection, resolution, or challenge?
• Is it speaking to the external situation or the internal experience of the querent?
• What is the tone of the message—supportive, cautionary, illuminating?

Bonus Tip: Refine the Question Before the Reading. Instead of “What should I know?” try “What’s holding me back from trusting again in relationships?”

The more focused the question, the clearer the message.

A vague question like “What should I know?” can yield a scattered response. But “What’s holding me back from moving forward in my career?” anchors your reading in clarity and helps you interpret each card confidently.

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Step 5: Invite Intuition to Speak (Feel First, Think Later)

You’ve studied the structure. You’ve explored the symbols. You’ve tied the card to the question. Now pause.

This is where the real magic begins.

Intuition is your inner compass—the voice beneath the logic. When reading RWS Tarot Cards, intuition bridges the gap between what you know and what you sense. It’s what turns interpretation into insight.

Let intuition lead:

• What’s your gut reaction to this card?
• What emotion rises in your body?
• What memory, word, or image appears uninvited?
• If the card could whisper something to you, what would it say?

Let go of trying to be right. This is your permission to feel first, think later.

This is the part of the reading that isn’t about what you know.
It’s about what you feel. What you sense. What you receive.
Let the logic rest and let the image, energy, and emotion of the card speak to you in its own language.

This step is essential because it personalizes the reading. It transforms tarot from a static system of definitions into a living dialogue between you and the cards.

How to Let Intuition Lead:

Ask yourself:

• What’s my gut reaction to this card—before I think about what it “means”?
• What mood or emotional tone does it carry?
• What word, image, memory, or bodily sensation arises?
• What would this card say to me right now if it could speak?

Let go of trying to be right. It is your permission to feel first, think later.

Try this:

Cover the title of the card. Just look.
Free-write a phrase, impression, or even a micro-poem based on the feeling it gives you.

Example:

“A storm is clearing, but the air still hums with tension. He waits, still holding something he’s not ready to release.”

That’s your intuition showing up. That’s your voice reading the card.

If you’ve done my 7-Day Intuition Challenge, this your playground

If you’ve completed my 7-Day Intuition Challenge, this is where those tools really come into play. You’ve already been:

• Practicing image-based interpretation
• Tracking instinctual responses
• Using sensory recall and dream-like impressions

Now bring those same skills into your readings. Let the card become a mirror, a portal, or a voice that doesn’t need translating.

Intuition is like a muscle—it strengthens every time you use it.

Tarot isn’t just a system; it’s an invitation. You respond to that invitation with presence, curiosity, and heart in this step.

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Step 6: Weave the Story Together (Integration & Message)

Now that you’ve explored meaning, symbolism, context, and intuition, it’s time to weave the story into a clear message.

This is the alchemical moment—the cards stop being individual pieces and become a narrative. They speak as a chorus, not solo voices.

Ask yourself:

• What’s the emotional tone of the spread?
• How do the cards relate to one another?
• Is there a beginning, middle, and end?
• What’s the core message or advice?

The answers might not come all at once, and that’s okay. Allow the message to unfold naturally, like dialogue or poetry. Even with one card, you can uncover a whole story. But when using multiple cards, the real magic is how they interact.

In Multi-Card Spreads, look for:

• Cause and effect – One card reveals the issue, another the advice or outcome.
• Tension vs. harmony – Are the energies clashing or aligning?
• Narrative flow – Is there movement or transformation?

Example Spread:

• Page of Cups → emotional curiosity
• Three of Swords → lingering heartache
• The Star → healing, renewed hope

Try this exercise:

Write the reading like a micro-story:

“Once there was someone who felt ___. Then they faced ___. But they discovered ___.”

Or journal the energetic mood of the spread:
Is it soft, sharp, urgent, or fluid?

Let’s revisit this simple 3-card spread:

• Page of Cups → A new emotional openness or curiosity
• Three of Swords → Heartbreak, grief, past emotional wounds
• The Star → Healing, renewal, spiritual trust

This is where Tarot becomes transformational.
You’re not just reading the cards, you’re telling the soul’s story.

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Reading Tarot Is a Practice, Not a Performance

Using the Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) Tarot Systems isn’t about getting it right, or memorization—it’s about getting real.

This six-step framework is here to give you structure, but the real magic comes from your willingness to show up with curiosity, compassion, and courage. Each card of the RWS Deck is a mirror. Each spread is a conversation. And each reading is an opportunity to connect with your inner wisdom in a way that no guidebook can fully define.

You don’t need to memorize every meaning.
You don’t have to be perfect.
You just need to be present.

Because tarot is a practice, not a performance. And the more you read, the more you’ll realize that the cards are already speaking—you’re just learning how to listen.

So go ahead:
Pull a card.
Ask a question.
Follow the story.
Let your intuition lead.

You’ve got the deck. You’ve got the framework. Now, let the magic unfold, and enjoy the time spent learning your RWS Tarot Deck.

Introduction to the Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS)Tarot System

Anatomy of the Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS)Tarot System: Structure and Symbols