Learning to Read the Tarot Tableau

UPDATE: The first half of the video series is available on IGTV (Instagram) and Facebook. That covers all the steps of the Basic method. Advanced techniques and alternative considerations will be coming later, in a month or so.

The tableau method that I introduced in Tarot Tableau: The Fool’s Journey earlier this year can be read for simple readings as easily as complex ones, but it takes a little practice, and some of you all have asked for help in learning to read the tableau for yourself.

To that end, I’ve started a video series on IGTV/Facebook (and soon YouTube) going over the basics in five videos. I’ll add be posting the next four videos over the coming two weeks before diving into more advanced techniques and some alternative considerations in the near future over five (or more) videos.

You can see the first video on IGTV and on my Facebook page. When the YouTube video is available, I’ll post that here too.

Much like the book, the video series goes over the concept behind the layout and then each of the steps in turn using an example tableau from a real querent (used with permission). There’s obvious overlap with the book, and the series assumes some familiarity with the book and method, although if you haven’t started the book yet, the videos are a fine place to start. The series doesn’t go over all of the tips and tricks that the book offers; nor does it explain all of the advanced techniques or alternative considerations, but it will cover plenty to help you get a sense of how to layer the advanced techniques into a reading for more detail. The video series doesn’t include the reference tables, so those who buy the book have access to a lot more of the method’s full potential.

Additional videos will be linked here as they become available:

One of the the alternative considerations that you’ll see me cover in a later video is the 7x3, Fool Out layout. It’s one of the alternative layouts that I describe in appendix A of Tarot Tableau, and while I don’t normally use it for standard tableau readings, I do find it very helpful when reading a tableau with the Spirit Keeper’s Tarot by Benebell Wen. Why? Well, that deck uses the structure of three septenaries (sets of 7) along which the Fool (the Initiate or Seeker) travels, so a 7x3 grid with the Fool off to one side works out perfectly.

Using the Spirit Keeper’s Tarot (SKT) with my tableau system has been popular enough (and powerful enough) that I wanted to create a worksheet to help you use the SKT if you have it. Bonus: even if you don’t have the out-of-print deck, you can make your own copy because its creator, Benebell Wen, has generously offered a free download of the 22 major arcana and a guidebook for understanding how to properly use it. The only tweak that you’ll need to make will be to create your own Seeker card in place of the Initiate (or just pretend that the Initiate is the Seeker); my worksheet uses the SKT’s Seeker card as its Fool.

The worksheet that goes with the SKT is available as part of the “All worksheets” ZIP file. If you purchased that file—even when it was just a ZIP of the “alternative” worksheets—but don’t have this update, send me an email. I’ll look up your order and send a new link from which you can download the updated ZIP file. (There were also very minor style edits made to all the worksheets, so it doesn’t hurt to download them all again.)

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