Tarot cards had been something I wanted to study for years. Like many hobbies, the idea first took hold during lockdown, as before then I had never really found the time. Lockdown seemed like the perfect opportunity to finally do it. However, like many people, my lockdown experience took some dramatic twists and turns, and it never quite happened.
In my ongoing bid to reclaim joy, I have decided to dust off the tarot cards and start again. I have been following various tarot readers on Instagram for inspiration. My favourites remain @moon_chola, who combines her readings with astrology. She is so accurate I swear she has my house bugged. Then there’s the incomparable @micheleknight, an astrologer, tarot reader and manifesting queen. You can watch general readings via Instagram posts and Reels, browse their websites, or book private readings online. For me, though, you can’t beat a one-to-one reading in real life. I dream of having the skills and knowledge to read for friends or strangers myself, but one step at a time.
I signed up for a beginners’ course and found myself at the beautiful Brighton home of my teacher, Fiona Coffey, aka Tea and Tarot Brighton. Fiona runs courses, private tuition sessions, readings, and tarot experiences for groups and parties. I am not usually one for visiting strangers’ homes, but her warm welcome immediately put me at ease. Before long, we were tucking into homemade vegan cake and cups of tea before the studying began.
Laid out on the table were all 78 cards, waiting for us to choose one we felt drawn to. There is something incredibly special about a tarot deck. The imagery is bold, rich with symbolism and open to interpretation. These days, you’ll find a tarot deck themed around almost anything imaginable. Yet nothing quite beats the classic early twentieth-century Rider-Waite deck. Its imagery has transcended the tarot community and become embedded in popular culture. Even those who have never had a reading or picked up a deck have likely heard of what Fiona affectionately calls the “bad-ass cards”, Death, The Tower and The Devil.
Tarot’s growing popularity may feel like a modern trend, but it is anything but new. Tarot has existed in one form or another for centuries. It has long been used as a tool for reflection, creativity and self-exploration. Today, celebrities and brands are embracing it for much the same reasons: seeking inspiration, spiritual guidance and fresh perspectives. Fortune telling, it is not.
During the beginners’ workshop, Fiona’s assistant for the day, Lucie, was also on hand to help. A former long-term student, it was fascinating to hear about her tarot journey. Having taken this very course, along with several others, two years ago, Lucie now gives tarot readings herself and regularly posts informative Reels about card meanings via @thetarotreels. She also offers readings for Charlotte Tilbury customers at @ctbrightondarlings, using tarot to help shoppers discover beauty products with a little added whimsy.
What Fiona teaches is not a rigid system of memorisation but a way of looking at the cards and developing an intuitive response. By carefully studying a card, or even sketching it, you begin to notice intricate details and subtle messages. Colours, symbols, actions, inaction, seasons and backgrounds all contribute to the story a card is telling.
Fiona recommends working with the Radiant Rider-Waite deck, as its vibrant colours make divination and interpretation easier for beginners. Once you become familiar with the Major and Minor Arcana, their meanings and the significance of reversed cards, you can branch out into more contemporary or non-traditional decks. For now, I am building a daily practice with this deck, but I can already see how collecting different decks could become my next obsession.
Fiona’s guidance has been a huge inspiration. She instils confidence, shares her knowledge generously and makes tarot feel both accessible and exciting. I cannot recommend her highly enough.
If you are looking for something a little different, Lonely Planet has recently brought out Travel Tarot, a deck designed to inspire your next adventure. Blending the art of divination with the spirit of exploration, it invites readers on a journey of self-discovery, mindfulness and wanderlust. It is certainly a fun way to decide where to head next.
The tarot cards are colourful, beautifully illustrated and cleverly use the traditional Major and Minor Arcana to represent destinations and landmarks around the world. For example, the Justice card depicts the Peace Palace in The Hague, a fitting symbol of fairness and international law.
This modern twist on a traditional deck may help shift tarot’s reputation. For many people, the words ‘Tarot Cards’ still conjures images of the occult, fortune tellers or something a little too “woo”. Yet those assumptions increasingly feel outdated. More and more people are discovering tarot as a tool for self-reflection, creativity and personal insight. Whether you believe in the cards or not, there is something undeniably powerful about taking time to pause, reflect and listen to your intuition.
And as for me? I think I can already feel the magic.
