Tarot Truths Revealed: 7 Myths You Can Finally Ditch

“You must be gifted your first deck.”

What?! Years into self-study and practice, I was confronted with this “rule” from a respected reader. You’d think my years of experience would let me just shrug it off. Nope.

Instead, this turned-out-to-be common saying made me question myself. Not the myth; myself. Did I start the journey wrong? Can I still be gifted a deck? Am I a fraud?!

There's no truth whatsoever to this silly saying. The exact origin of the myth is unknown. Perhaps it was started in efforts to differentiate between authentic readers and frauds. Maybe it’s just gatekeeping. Afterall, like all myths about the cards, it served the purpose of keeping people from exploring Tarot.

The Debunked Myths You Can Ignore

Myth #1 – One Fixed Meaning

“I’ll never be able to memorize 78 card meanings!” There may be 78 cards in a traditional Tarot deck, but there are way more than 78 meanings among them! Each card represents a particular theme or aspect of human life. The exact meaning of each is tricky to work out because of the complexity of context.

For example, the Death card doesn’t represent someone dying. Rather, it can mean a major transformation, the need to see the beauty in a loss, the end of a challenge or lifestyle, or even a need to acknowledge the grief of others. 

Yes, learning the Tarot can be intimidating at first. But memorizing exact meanings of cards is missing the intuitive part of the practice. Tarot is a tool, not laws set in stone.

Myth #6 – Must Shuffle One Way

Again, just no. I’d been happily reading Tarot for well over a decade before anyone told me I needed to stop riffle shuffling my cards. I shuffle Tarot cards this way because that’s how I learned to shuffle playing cards. I didn’t even consider that there could be other ways to do it!

By the time I was critiqued, I had, of course, been exposed to a host of different ways of shuffling. These certainly come in handy when dealing with tiny oracle card decks of only 20 or 30 cards. But my Tarot decks just don’t feel properly shuffled without that riffle! How can I be expected to trust that the next reading I give is accurate if it doesn’t feel–to me–that the deck is shuffled right?

Shuffle your cards the way that makes sense for you. You may find you shuffle differently depending on the size or cardstock of the decks. Or you may be committed to only using decks you can shuffle your way. Tarot is your tool. Do you.

Myth #7 - Rigid Rituals Required

Smoke cleansing, crystals, candles, ten‑minute meditations, tea ceremonies, special prayers—none are universal mandates.

Although most professional readers will swear by a particular set of rituals prior to readings, no two readers have the exact same rituals. Whether you’re reading Tarot just for yourself or for others, professionally or not, you aren’t limited to the rituals you have. Do what feels right for you to activate the mindset you need to feel in the moment and present for the reading. Experiment with it until you find what works for you and change it when you feel a need. The only real ritual is the one that connects you to your intuition.