A 30 day tarot challenge gives you one short prompt each day, so that by the end of a month you've met every part of the deck, practised reading single cards and small spreads, and built a daily habit. Each prompt takes about ten minutes: draw or lay out the cards it asks for, look properly, and write a few lines. You don't need to know any meanings before day one.
The month is split into four themes: meeting the deck, the suits and numbers, the Major Arcana and court cards, and finally spreads and your own voice. All 30 prompts are below, followed by a sample day, what to do when you fall behind and where to go after day 30.
What you need before day one
- A deck. Any 78-card tarot deck works. A Rider-Waite-Smith style deck is easiest for beginners because every card has a full scene to read.
- A notebook. Paper or an app, as long as it's one place. Write the date, the prompt, the card and two or three sentences. Our guide to keeping a tarot journal has a simple layout to copy.
- Ten minutes at the same time each day. Morning coffee and the evening wind-down both work. Pick the slot you'll actually keep.
- A guidebook or a meanings site, for the days that ask you to look meanings up. Not before.
No deck yet? You can do most of the first week with the free daily tarot card, and buy a deck when you know you're enjoying it.
The 30 daily prompts
Week 1: meet the deck
| Day | Prompt |
|---|---|
| 1 | Look through the whole deck face up, no guidebook. Pick the card you like most and the one you like least, and write why. |
| 2 | Sort the deck into the 22 Major Arcana and the four suits of 14 cards. Notice what each pile looks like. |
| 3 | Draw one card. Describe only what you see: people, colors, weather, objects. No meanings yet. |
| 4 | Draw one card and tell its story. What happened just before this scene, and what happens next? |
| 5 | Draw one card, look up its meaning and rewrite that meaning in one sentence of your own. |
| 6 | Draw a card for "What do I need to pay attention to today?" Check back in the evening. |
| 7 | Review the week. Which card was easiest to read, and which was hardest? |
Week 2: the suits and numbers
| Day | Prompt |
|---|---|
| 8 | Lay out the four Aces. What does a beginning look like in each suit? |
| 9 | Lay out the Wands from Ace to Ten. Tell the suit's story in five sentences. |
| 10 | Do the same with the Cups. What feeling runs through the whole suit? |
| 11 | Do the same with the Swords. Where do you see thinking, talking and conflict? |
| 12 | Do the same with the Pentacles. What does the suit say about work, money and daily life? |
| 13 | Put the four Fives side by side. What do they share? Try the same with the Tens. |
| 14 | Draw three Minor Arcana cards. Name each card's suit and number before you read it. |
Week 3: the Major Arcana and the court cards
| Day | Prompt |
|---|---|
| 15 | Lay out The Fool to The World in order and read the 22 cards as one long story. |
| 16 | Draw one Major Arcana card and turn it into a one-line affirmation for the day. |
| 17 | Pick the Major card you find hardest to like. Write three things it could be good for. |
| 18 | Lay out the 16 court cards. Choose one that's like you and one that's like someone you know. |
| 19 | Draw a court card. How would this person handle your day? |
| 20 | Draw a card and read it reversed. What changes, and what stays the same? |
| 21 | Review the week. Which card do you most want to understand better? |
Week 4: spreads and your own voice
| Day | Prompt |
|---|---|
| 22 | Draw three cards for past, present, future. Write one sentence that links all three. |
| 23 | Draw three cards for situation, obstacle, next step. Choose one action. |
| 24 | Draw two cards: what I want, and what's in the way. |
| 25 | Ask a real, open question about your own life and do a three-card reading for it. |
| 26 | Find a card from earlier in the month you'd read differently now. Write the new reading. |
| 27 | Draw a card and read it with no guidebook at all, only your notes. |
| 28 | Read one card for a friend (with their permission) or for a character in a favorite book. |
| 29 | Read your journal from day 1. Which cards came up most, and what did they have in common? |
| 30 | Invent your own three-card spread with positions you choose, and read it. |
How the four weeks build on each other
Week 1 is about looking. Most beginners rush to the guidebook. These seven days slow you down so you notice the pictures first, which is the habit that makes later readings feel natural rather than memorized.
Week 2 is about structure. Once you see that each suit has a theme and each number has a role, 56 cards turn into four suits and ten steps. Our overview of the tarot suits and their meanings is a good companion for days 8 to 12.
Week 3 is about the big cards and the people. The Major Arcana carry life-sized themes; the court cards are personalities and roles. Day 16 pairs well with our list of tarot affirmations, one line for each Major card.
Week 4 is about putting cards together. Single cards become sentences, and by day 30 you're designing spreads yourself.
A sample day, start to finish
Day 13 asks you to put the four Fives side by side. You lay them out: the Five of Wands (five people swinging staves at each other), the Five of Cups (a cloaked figure mourning three spilled cups, two still standing), the Five of Swords (a smug figure collecting swords while two others walk away) and the Five of Pentacles (two people in the snow outside a lit church window).
What they share: something has gone wrong or got harder. Conflict, loss, a hollow win, hardship. But most of them also hold a way out: the two cups still standing, the two figures walking away from a fight not worth winning, the lit window. You write: "Fives are the bumpy middle of each suit. Something gets harder, and there's usually a door nobody's looking at."
That's a good day's work. It took ten minutes, and you now understand four cards better than you would from reading four separate entries.
If you miss a day or get stuck
- Missed a day? Pick up where you left off. Don't double up; two prompts in one sitting tends to rush both.
- A prompt isn't working? Skip it and come back at the end. Days 7, 21 and 29 are good catch-up points.
- A card means nothing to you? Describe the image, look up the meaning, find one place it touches your day. If nothing comes, write "nothing yet" and move on.
- The same card keeps appearing? That's more common than it feels. Our piece on why the same tarot card keeps coming up explains the arithmetic and how to read it.
After day 30
Most people finish the month with a habit worth keeping. Some next steps:
- Keep a daily single card with a standing question, and read it again in the evening.
- Add a weekly reading. Our weekly tarot spread gives the week a theme in five cards.
- Learn the cards you still skip. If certain cards still send you to the guidebook, our guide on how to memorize tarot cards has an eight-week plan.
- Reread your journal at day 60. Seeing how your readings have changed is the best proof that you've learned something.
Questions readers ask
Can I do the 30 day tarot challenge with an app or online cards?
Yes. Any prompt that asks you to draw a single card works with an online draw. The prompts that ask you to lay out a whole suit are easier with a physical deck, but you can do them by looking up the cards in order on a meanings site.
Do I need to memorize meanings before I start?
No. The challenge is designed for complete beginners. The first week deliberately avoids meanings so you learn to read the pictures first.
Should I use reversed cards during the challenge?
Only on day 20, unless you already read them. Most beginners find upright meanings plenty for a first month. You can add reversals in a second round.
How long does each day take?
About ten minutes. The suit days in week 2 and the review days can take fifteen. If a day runs much longer, stop at fifteen minutes and finish the thought tomorrow.