Intuitive Tarot Tip #2: Symbolism in Tarot

One way to read Tarot intuitively, is to learn how to read the language of Tarot’s symbols.

A.E. Waite once wrote, “Tarot is symbolism: it speaks no other language and offers no other signs.”

When I first read this, it struck me deeply. Tarot doesn’t hand us clear, literal instructions like a road sign saying “Turn Left Here.” It doesn’t shout its meanings at us in direct words. Instead, it speaks in symbols – layered images, colours, archetypes, and subtle energies that invite us to pause, reflect, and interpret.

When Waite says Tarot “offers no other signs,” he reminds us that the cards are not simple indicators that tell us in plain language what we need to know or do, nor are they external omens we can point to with certainty. They are symbols that open pathways within us – pathways to intuition, insight, and understanding beyond logic.

This is the heart of reading Tarot intuitively: learning to hear the language of symbols, to sit with their mysteries, and to trust the wisdom they awaken within us.

You can use your tarot deck as a tool to wake up your intuition, dust off those cobwebs, and strengthen your intuitive muscles.

Theresa Reed, The Tarot Lady

What Are Tarot Symbols?

Tarot’s symbols are the individual elements that are used to make up the full image that is displayed on each Tarot card.

Think of each Tarot card as being the equivalent to a chapter in a book, with each symbol being a paragraph in that chapter.

Tarot symbols are images, colours, objects, and scenes found on each card that carry deeper meanings. Think of them like the illustrations in a storybook – except instead of just showing what’s happening, they also represent ideas, feelings, and life experiences.

For example:

• A mountain (card 1 below) on a card doesn’t just show scenery. It might symbolize challenges to overcome or goals to reach.

• A river (card 2 below) can represent the flow of emotions or life’s journey.

• A crown (card 3 below) could symbolise authority, wisdom, or personal mastery.

• Jagged white clouds (card 4 below) could symbolize confusion being blown away, clarity.

1. What feeling or meaning do these symbols add to the image on the card?

2. What does this image stir within you today?

3. What truth is it reflecting about your life right now?

Tarot symbols don’t tell you literal facts. They act more like metaphors or clues that your mind and intuition interpret to find meaning in your life situations.

The key to truly understanding what these symbols mean is to intuitively explore what these symbols mean to you, instead of relying on traditional or universally accepted meanings, and then using your intuitive meanings consistently every time you read the cards.

Have you ever watched Tyler Henry’s shows where he does Psychic Medium readings for his guests and clients? In one episode, Tyler Henry showed his personal journal of symbol meanings. He explained that ever since he began having these visions, he would record the symbols he saw in his visions along with the meaning each of these symbols has for him in this journal. It’s his personal Grimoire of Symbolic Meanings that he uses every time he does a psychic reading.

Starting your own personal Grimoire of Symbolic Meanings for the symbols you read in Tarot cards is one way that you can develop both your intuitive and psychic Tarot reading skills. All you need is a blank journal and a pen to begin!

Reading the Symbols in a Tarot Card

Below is the image containing 4 Tarot cards from Weiser’s Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot Deck. I’ve listed some pointers below to help you identify the main symbols in each card, and some questions for you to answer that will help you practice your intuitive reading skills.

Card 1: the 10 of Cups (keywords: creativity, intuition, emotion)

1. What overall feeling does this card give you?

2. What story does this card tell?

Symbols and a few examples of their traditional meanings:

• The river - happiness, joy, flowing emotions

• The children dancing - playfulness, joy,

• The couple - love, commitment,

• Upraised arms of the couple - gratitude, noticing and appreciating their blessings

• The rainbow - joy, happiness

• The gently rolling hills - small challenges that are easy to handle

• The cottage surrounded by trees - tranquil home life, establishing a cozy partnership

Card 2: the 4 of Swords (keywords: rest, integration, recalibration)

1. What overall feeling does this card give you?

2. What story does this card tell?

Symbols and a few examples of their traditional meanings:

• 3 swords hanging above the knight’s - the swords are point to and opening up the Knight’s third eye (intuitive and psychic centre), their throat (communications), and their solar plexus (deep knowledge centre)

• 1 sword lying below the knight - meditation

• The reclining knight with their arms bent and hands palms together over their heart - rest, relaxation, sleep, meditation

• The figures in the stained glass window - one figure kneeling suggests blessings received, one figure standing suggests blessings being given

• The suit of armour on the knight - the end of an inner battle

Card 3: the Emperor (keywords:structure, leadership, sovereignty)

1. What overall feeling does this card give you?

2. What story does this card tell?

Symbols and a few examples of their traditional meanings:

• The ankh-shaped scepter - eternal life

• The Emperor’s armour - assertive, courageous

• The red cloak - worldly and knowledgeable

• The crown - authority

• The ram heads - daring, courageous, confident

• The rocky mountains - endurance, major challenges overcome

• The stone throne - rigidity, endurance, solid

• The Emperor’s white hair and beard - wisdom and maturity

Card 4: the Hermit (keywords: reflection, solitude, clarity)

1. What overall feeling does this card give you?

2. What story does this card tell?

Symbols. What do these symbols mean to you?:

• The grey cloak

• A hermit

• Mountain peak

• The lamp

• The 6-pointed star in the lamp

• The staff

• The white beard

Symbols are metaphors that awaken something within us. They hint, they suggest, they evoke. They don’t declare or dictate. A symbol invites you into a conversation with your intuition by asking:

✨ What does this image stir within me today?
✨ What truth is it reflecting about my life right now?

When we read Tarot, we aren’t looking for direct signs or literal predictions. We are listening to the language of symbols, learning to interpret their metaphors and integrate their wisdom into our lives.

This is where the magick of Tarot lives – not in telling us what will happen, but in showing us what could happen, and revealing the deeper currents shaping our journey.