Tarot readers work with a fixed deck of 78 cards, laid out in a spread and read in relation to each other. The structure is the point: the cards give a shared vocabulary and a shape to the conversation, which is why tarot suits questions where you are weighing something rather than looking for a single fact.
What a reading involves
You name the question, the reader chooses a spread and lays the cards, then reads them as a sequence rather than one at a time. Expect to be asked what a particular image lands on for you. A three-card spread answers one question in about twenty minutes; a fuller Celtic Cross or a year-ahead spread needs an hour.
Prices
$40 to $80 for a short reading, $80 to $150 for an hour in most US cities. Events and shops run 15 minute readings for $25 to $40. Phone and video readings are common and are usually billed by the minute.
Choosing a reader
Ask which decks they use and whether they read reversals, since both change the tone of a session. Ask what they refuse to read on. And read the reviews for specifics: a client who says the reader was blunt about a job decision tells you more than a five-star line with no detail.
If you read for yourself
Plenty of clients also keep their own deck. Our guide to the new moon spread gives a five-card layout and a way of keeping notes that is worth rereading a month later. For questions about timing rather than choice, an astrologer works from your chart instead.