Dd1 would like to learn to read tarot cards

[lucysmam]

I'm looking for recommendations for how's best to learn? Which cards are good for an absolute beginner?

She looked at some yesterday in town but I'm not keen on spending £20 straight off, on something that may be a fad.

(& yes, it probably is all bollocks, but she'd like to have a go do I'm happy to spend a few quid so that doesn't matter :) )

Does she want to learn tarot cards, or "just" divination cards? You don't say how old she is - is she old enough to understand that the death card doesn't mean that you're going to die, and that the hanged man isn't bad, and to deal with sex and addiction? Those are themes that will turn up in Tarot, as well as violence, and I'd steer most under 18s away from Tarot, if possible.

(I read semi- professionally, for context).

There are nice divination cards that are fun and light for a younger audience. Angel cards - there are several Angel decks by various authors, can look quite grown up but all be nice positive messages suitable for a younger audience. There's a puppies and kittens one for very young audiences, and there's unicorns and dragons decks, and all sorts.

Tarot cards - come illustrated by a variety of different artists, but all have the same cards. Like a pack of playing cards always has the same cards but might look different. If after reading my advice above you think she is mature enough to deal with tarot, the Ryder-waite deck is the standard basic deck that most people start off with.

Divination or other cards don't have the same structure and they can vary in number etc. Pulling an angel card for the day every morning is a nice and gentle way to get into it.

Hope that helps.

Haindl tarot cards are lovely and the book explaining them all very good. You are not going to find decent cards for less than£20.

Have a look on Amazon, they stock some nice decks with books that explain the meaning of the cards, and simple spreads to learn. I regularly do tarot for myself & friends.

Second the Ryder-Waite suggestion. It’s the basic and most common set, you can probably get them cheap off eBay or Amazon.

The Marseille Tarot Revealed is meant to be very good.

@BillyTodd thank you, that's very helpful. She's 14.5, but is quite mature. That said, maybe divination cards would be more suitable for the moment. I'll have a look myself over the next few days, as well as with dd.

If it does turn out to be more than a fad then we can always look further together.