Up: [[Tarot]] Course: The Art of Tarot Interpretation with Alyssa Polizzi Created: 2026-02-14 Updated: 2026-02-18 Reading tarot requires **combining** the skills of two of tarot’s major arcana — [[2 - High Priestess]] for tapping into [[intuition]] and the unconscious, and [[5 - Hierophant]] for knowing and working with the structure and definitions of the tarot system. > [!Orbit] [[Alyssa Polizzi]] > To read tarot is to become a storyteller of the psyche. Tarot is both symbolic and narrative. Symbolic because all cards are are archetypal symbols, each with both light and shadow qualities. And also narrative, with a story to be told for each card and a larger, more comprehensive and helpful story when the cards are seen in relationship to one another. There are many factors to take into account when reading tarot. These include: - the question you are asking. See [[Tarot Questions]] for what to do and not do when wording a tarot inquiry. - context of the reading, meaning what’s happening in your life - your conscious point of view about the cards, context and question, and your unconscious insights - the cards that are drawn, and the positions they are in if you have done a spread - any patterns such as of numbers, suits, colours, etcetera Given all of these complexities, it is understandable that so many of us start as apprentice Hierophants, opening the guidebook and reading card by card. But in the class that I did with [[Alyssa Polizzi]], she shared a three step process that makes working with that complexity much easier. #### Step 1: What do you notice? Look at all of the cards you’ve laid out and see what jumps out at you. Are there repeating symbols? Repeating colours? Because Majors are the strongest archetypally, any [[Major Arcana]] in a reading will usually dictate the overall theme and/or energy of the reading. With the [[Minor Arcana]] notice which suits are represented, over-represented, or missing. #### Step 2: Go card by card Examine each card individually in relation to its position in the spread, asking yourself how each one *responds, challenges, or deepens the inquiry* into your initiating question. #### Step 3: Tell the story Using all of the information you gathered in steps 1 and 2, consider how the cards relate and flow from one to the next. Consider all of the cards and in all directions, not just adjacent cards in one direction. Identify the central themes and energies, along with any points of progression, tension, or resolution. See if you have any further questions that might benefit from an additional card pull.