Reading Tarot in Layers: A Conversation with María Alviz Hernando
Photo Courtesy of Maria Alviz Hernando
There is a difference between someone who reads tarot and someone who treats it as a lifetime study. María Alviz Hernando falls into the second category. She bought her first tarot deck as a teenager with whatever money she could scrape together. Twenty-something years later, she hasn’t put the cards down. She turned curiosity into an impressive full-time career as a reader, teacher, and co-director of the World Divination Association, and she has just released her first book, Tarot Tableau Revolution, which teaches her signature reading method.
Tarot Tableau is where her work gets interesting. It’s an approach to reading that combines traditional tarot with European cartomancy techniques. The result? Readings that are sharper and more grounded because they’re built on years of actual practice, not trend cycles. And with her new book, she’s finally putting that entire framework into the hands of readers who’ve been wanting something that cuts through the noise.
Congratulations on your new book! We are excited to hear more about it and about your journey. When did you first discover tarot, and what about it made you keep coming back?
Thank you so very much! I am thrilled by the reception the book is having and very grateful to have been invited to this space.
My journey with tarot began when I had more curiosity than sense. I was fourteen, just about to enter the fascinating world of questionable life choices with my very first Toxic Relationship™ and my first spiritual crisis, when I was pondering a change of faith. I was both afraid and intrigued by the esoteric, and then I discovered that the girlfriend of one of my friends read tarot, and, surprisingly, crucifixes weren’t turning around or anything. So, armed with that encouragement, I gathered up whatever little money I had, and I went to buy a tarot deck. The only “advice” that I had received when it came to choosing a deck —and now I know it was questionable advice— was that The Lover’s card had to represent my vision of love. And I went on to pick a deck in which the two bodies emerged from the same two legs. (Yes, the cringe of it all.)
Anyway, I jumped straight into prediction. I didn’t make the best or the healthiest use of tarot in those early years, though what can you expect from an undercooked prefrontal cortex, and I didn’t put my cards down. That was what fascinated me. The way that they were a window into things, past, present, and future, that I couldn’t have tapped into otherwise.
Has your favorite card in the deck changed as your practice has evolved?
My favourite card has shifted throughout the years, and for the last few, it has been the Nine of Pentacles. It represents a space that I feel very comfortable in and that I feel that I am embodying in some capacity at the moment. It is a space of enjoyment, of accomplishment, and the kind that is thoroughly enjoyed privately.
It represents a state of self-sufficiency, though I would like to point out that I consider myself far from self-made. I have received plenty of help and kindness in many formats that have contributed to my achievements, and that has led to a point at which I can maintain that kind of stability and bask in doing what I like most all day, every day, which I am immensely grateful for.
For readers unfamiliar with your work, can you explain what Tarot Tableau is and how it differs from traditional spread reading?
Tableau is French for canvas or painting, and this is a good way to describe what Tableau reading is.
Visualize a blank canvas and then the process that it goes through before it becomes an image that your eyes can interpret. There are many layers of paint, there’s a background, there’s a main figure, and there are details. Many colours, many strokes, many techniques are involved in creating that final result.
Sometimes, with positional reading (I call positional reading to what would be the spreads as we know them, for instance, the Celtic Cross), we focus too much on individual cards locked in their position, without paying attention to the whole composition, which can lead to interpretations that may not be entirely consistent with the situation.
Photo Courtesy of Maria Alviz Hernando
Tableau reading is intrinsically layered (positional reading can be, too; there are many techniques that can be applied to positional reading if you want to), which means that the individual meanings of the cards are just a portion of the interpretation, and that there is an interaction between the internal and the external context of the spread. The internal context is that of cards that are (or are not) on the table and how they interact with each other, the elemental considerations, the numeric aspects, the pictorial cues, and other factors. And the external context is the question, the querent’s needs and state, and the method used.
Tableau reading approaches interpretation in layers: What’s present on the table? What’s missing? What patterns do we have? What do the directional cues that we see on the cards point to? And what do these cards mean in this particular context?
This makes readings more precise and relevant because it creates a unique environment in which the reading lives for as long as it’s on the table, which is very specific to the querent’s particular situation.
You’ve been teaching this method for years. What inspired you to finally write the book?
Truth be told, my students (or my padawans, as I call them), in particular, a very special one who is responsible for having created the table of contents and assisted with the structure of the book. I have always wanted to write a book, in a sort of abstract way, but she was the one who helped me shape it.
The idea for the book was born in 2020, but the opportunity to make it happen didn’t arise until 2023. The inspiration, though, is completely owed to her. She said, “You’re going to write the book that I need to have”, and so I did. By the way, she’s an excellent reader, who you can find as Tarot Moderna (@tarotmoderna) by all means, check her out!
So, the main inspiration is her, along with the rest of the students, who convinced me that this was worth putting out there, and that I was able to convey it in an easy-to-understand and easy-to-apply way.
Who is this book for? What kind of reader will get the most out of it?
This is not a book for a total beginner, but I would say that anyone who has a grasp on what the cards mean can benefit from it in one way or another.
Tarot Tableau Revolution is not a book of meanings; it’s a book of reading technique, and so, it requires some prior knowledge of the cards, or at the very least, an additional source of tarot meanings so that they can work on their learning with both resources.
I believe that, while readers of all levels can get something from it, it will make a particular difference to those who are in an “in-between” stage, in which they have a fluent knowledge of the cards, but they struggle to compose a consistent narrative that works in all contexts.
As for the takeaway that I hope people get is that any question can be answered with tarot if you know what to look for in the reading, that context is half of the reading, and that there is a reliable method that they can use (whether they use it as is or tweak it to suit their own style) to keep growing their skills.
How did your experience as a teacher shape the way you wrote Tarot Tableau Revolution?
By the time I wrote Tarot Tableau Revolution, I had already taught this several times and in different formats, which was rather useful. I had the opportunity to walk students through the method through individual mentoring, speaking at conferences, in video-recorded courses, and in live group courses, too.
This prior experience allowed me to see how it landed better, what people struggled to understand, or in which way I could explain a concept to make it as clear as possible. So, by the time I had to write, I had a good grasp on what worked and what I might need to insist a bit more on.
There are many examples in the book, which is one of the things that I understood made my students understand better, along with explanations of my train of thought. If I had written the book earlier on, I might have made it more concise, and I might have skipped the examples and explanations, thinking that they were redundant or uninteresting, when, in reality, having the prior experience showed me that it was the opposite.
Can you tell us about your role at the World Divination Association? What drew you to that work?
My experience with World Divination has been one of the most enriching things I have encountered in my career. I met my brilliant friend Toni Savory in late 2019, after both of us taught a summer class at an event, and it was totally a one-thing-led-to-another kind of situation. I first got involved as a Tarot teacher, and things simply grew from there.
If I had to point to a particular inspiration point that encouraged me to keep going, those were friendship (I have met some of the best people in my life there) and a love for teaching.
Our goal at World Divination is to offer quality learning that is accessible and to facilitate community. Learning any method of divination can often be an isolating experience, and, depending on where you are located and the kind of environment that surrounds you, developing a passion for any means of divination can be not just daunting but also lonely. Community is a pillar of World Divination, and we believe in teaching, sharing, and building up each other as part of the experience.
So, when you ask about what impact I’m hoping to make, that is fostering community for those who are interested in developing as diviners and teaching. I am deeply sentimental (or downright cheesy) and have been known to ugly cry because I’m touched when I see that my students have done something superb. If I have some part in that, then the impact is made.
You’ve created several oracle decks. Is there one that feels especially personal or connected to your own journey?
Yes! I have this running joke that The Thinning Veil Oracle should have been many sessions of therapy instead. This is a deck inspired by the loss of my grandmother, Julia, and the immensity of the legacy that she gave to me. Her passing sparked a need in me to find ways to connect with my ancestors and to develop some means of communication with the other side, which is how the deck was born.
While the deck is deeply personal, I believe that the experiences that it walks people through are pretty much universal, and it tends to a need for that kind of connection that other people also have, and that is what made it work.
Outside of tarot, what brings you joy? What do you do when you’re not reading or teaching?
The honest answer is probably procrastinating a great deal! But, aside from that, which is a flaw and not an actual hobby, I find great joy in my cats, my friends, books, and jewellery.
I am a collector of antique jewellery, though, cheesy as I am, I like to refer to myself as a caretaker of memories. I love the searching, finding, rescuing, cataloguing, and, of course, the wearing and preserving aspects of collecting such pieces.
Jewellery is deeply personal and often deeply meaningful, and I absolutely love being the one who gets to take care of something that was once important and meaningful for someone that’s no longer here. I have a special inclination for Victorian jewellery as well as the Art Deco period, though I’m not picky! My inner magpie is pretty happy with anything that shines.
Now that the book is out, what’s next for you?
Photo Courtesy of Maria Alviz Hernando
At the moment, I’m in a moment of pause when it comes to projects. I know that Tarot is my thing and what I want to keep doing. I aim to do a lot more teaching; there will be another book at some point, and I love deck creation too, so I’m sure that those will come in due time.
However, in terms of “what’s next,” I’m not particularly pursuing something concrete, but in a moment in which I aim to take some time to enjoy where I’m at before I keep moving forward.
You can find me online, and I am pretty reachable (if forgetful sometimes!) I am on Instagram as @thesibylstarot, and you can find me on my website www.thesibylstarot.com.
Additionally, I send out a newsletter two to three times a week in which I share tarot tips, experiences that I have had that week that may contain teachable moments (or simply comedy, because there’s a lot of comedy too!), musings, new offerings, subscriber-exclusive perks, and a bit of everything else.
Any readers who are interested in receiving my e-mails can go to www.thesibylstarot.online and sign up, also getting The Quick Guide to the Nine Card Tableau upon signing up.
As a last thing, readers who have purchased a copy of Tarot Tableau Revolution can download the companion workbook for free in the store on my website, following the instructions in the description until December 31st, 2025.
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