Tarot for Fools — Episode 0: Getting Started with Tarot (History, Structure, and How Tarot Really Works)

If you’ve ever wondered what tarot actually is, where it came from, and how the cards really work in a reading, this episode of Tarot for Fools is your starting point. I’m Martin — The Tarot Bear — a professional tarot reader based in Ireland, reading for clients online and worldwide. This podcast is my study journal and (hopefully) yours: practical card meanings, spreads, and reading tips, plus deeper dives into the Western esoteric traditions behind the cards.

What we cover in this episode

• My approach: from sceptical psychology to a more mystical, symbol-led practice — why I think an honest tarot card reader can embrace both.

• History vs myth: tarot’s real origin as a Renaissance card game, how it later picked up esoteric layers (via Court de Gébelin, Etteilla, the Golden Dawn), and why the Rider–Waite–Smith deck changed everything by putting the symbolism on the surface.

• The structure of a deck: Major Arcana (big archetypal shifts) vs Minors (everyday stories); the four suits and elements (Wands–Fire, Swords–Air, Cups–Water, Pentacles–Earth).

• Pips vs Courts: why Aces–Tens describe situations, and Courts describe people/roles/attitudes — Page (learner), Knight (doer), Queen (inner mastery), King (outer leadership).

• Elemental courts made simple: Page=Earth, Knight=Fire, Queen=Water, King=Air — how that “element of the rank” flavours each suit in readings.

Who this episode is for

• Beginners who want real tarot foundations without fluff.

• Readers who’ve memorised “book meanings” but want to deepen their tarot reading by understanding the symbolism and esoteric thinking behind the images.

• Anyone looking for a trustworthy tarot reader who balances grounded practice with genuine esoteric study.

Why this matters (and why I care)

I read for myself and others for years using the "standard" or "book" meanings — and they worked. But once I explored the philosophy behind the cards (Hermetic Qabalah, astrology, numerology) my readings sharpened and I could really let my intuition free reign.

A tarot reading stopped being a memory test and started being a spiritual experience. That shift is what I want to pass on — not as the “best tarot reader in the world telling you what to think,” but as a real, honest tarot card reader showing you how to think with the cards.

Episode highlights

• The useful myth: the “secret images rescued from the Library of Alexandria” isn’t historically true, but the function of tarot as a vessel for hidden wisdom is true in the way we use decks like RWS today.

• Majors vs Minors: Majors feel like a window into fate and your spiritual path; Minors show the terrain under your feet. A Major-heavy spread often signals turning points; Minors tell you what to actually do.

• Is the Queen of Cups always your mum?: These archetypes are modes of power, not fixed genders. Read them as roles, attitudes, and levels of maturity.

• Elemental shortcuts that help in reads: how to combine rank elements, suit elements and court roles to connect the court cards to people / personalities in your life...

Resources and references

• You'll need a Rider–Waite–Smith tarot deck (by Arthur Edward Waite & Pamela Colman Smith) or a deck based on this system.

• The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn — source of many modern correspondences linking tarot with Kabbalah, astrology, and alchemy.

• Coming up: the Four Worlds of Qabbalah and how the Tree of Life structures the symbolism of the Rider Waite Smith deck.

What’s next on the podcast

In Episode 2, we start peeling back the esoteric layers: starting with the Qabbalistic Tree of Life and how each system shows up in the cards and how to use that knowledge in an actual reading for yourself or others (without needing a classics degree).

Join the community & support the work

If this episode helped, please follow/subscribe on your podcast app and leave a quick review — it genuinely helps more people find the show. And if you’d like a reading with me, you can book online for Zoom, recorded video, or TikTok Live sessions. I keep pricing accessible because tarot should be learnable and available — and you deserve guidance you can trust from a professional, online tarot reader.

Much love,

Martin — The Tarot Bear