Is it bad luck to read for yourself?

No. That superstition seems to come from how easy it is to read badly for yourself, which is a real difficulty dressed up as a prohibition. The answer to a hard skill is practice and a written question, not a rule against trying.

How often should I read for myself?

Often enough to get better, rarely enough that each reading still costs you something to ask. Daily draws work well for that: one card, one question, no stakes. Re-asking the same important question every day does not.

What if I do not like the card I get?

Notice that, and keep it. The reaction is the most informative thing in the reading. Drawing again until the deck agrees with you is the one habit that reliably ends with tarot telling you nothing.

Should I look up meanings while reading for myself?

Yes, and preferably before you decide what the card means for you. An outside description you did not write is the closest thing a self-reading has to a second opinion.

How to read tarot for yourself

You can, and the difficulty is not the cards — it is that you already know which answer you want. Everything worth doing here is a way of noticing that in time to keep the reading honest.

Most advice about reading for yourself is about mechanics: how to shuffle, which spread, what to say first. The mechanics are the easy part. The hard part is that you are the only reader who arrives already invested in the outcome, and the deck cannot tell the difference between a card that fits and a card you have decided fits. Everything below is about that one problem, because everything else about reading for yourself is the same as reading for anyone.

Write the question down before you shuffle

Not thought — written. A question held in your head drifts to match whatever comes up, and it does so without you noticing, which is what makes it dangerous rather than merely unhelpful. Written down, it is a fixed thing you can hold the reading against afterwards: did this answer what I asked, or did I quietly change what I asked? That single habit removes most of what goes wrong when people read for themselves.

Say what the card means before you say what it means for you

Two passes, in order. First: what is this card about, in general — the thing you would say if it had come up for a stranger. Then, and only then: what does that have to do with my situation. Collapsing the two is how the Tower becomes "a change is coming, which is fine actually" in the space of a second. Reading a card page here is a legitimate way to do the first pass, and using it that way is not cheating — the words were written for exactly this, by somebody with no stake in your answer.

Notice the moment you feel relieved

The most useful signal in a self-reading is not a card. It is the small flush of relief when one comes up that lets you off, or the flatness when one does not. Both mean you had an answer before you drew, and they tell you what it was. That is worth more than the reading — a question you already know your answer to is not a question, and finding out which one you are holding is the whole value of having asked.

Keep the reading, and read it again later

A reading judged the moment it lands is judged by the mood that asked for it. Written down and reread in a fortnight, it is judged by what happened — and the parts that were projection become obvious, which is the only reliable way to get better at telling them apart. This is what saved readings are for here, and it is why nothing is stored unless you ask: the record is useful precisely because it is yours and deliberate.

What this does not tell you

None of this makes a self-reading objective, and it is not meant to. A reading is a structured way of thinking about your own situation, which is valuable and is not the same as advice from outside. When the question is one another person could answer better — a doctor, a lawyer, the person the question is actually about — no amount of care with the cards substitutes for asking them.

Ask something you actually want to know

Cards worth reading about here

Try it on a reading

Common questions

Is it bad luck to read for yourself?: No. That superstition seems to come from how easy it is to read badly for yourself, which is a real difficulty dressed up as a prohibition. The answer to a hard skill is practice and a written question, not a rule against trying.
How often should I read for myself?: Often enough to get better, rarely enough that each reading still costs you something to ask. Daily draws work well for that: one card, one question, no stakes. Re-asking the same important question every day does not.
What if I do not like the card I get?: Notice that, and keep it. The reaction is the most informative thing in the reading. Drawing again until the deck agrees with you is the one habit that reliably ends with tarot telling you nothing.
Should I look up meanings while reading for myself?: Yes, and preferably before you decide what the card means for you. An outside description you did not write is the closest thing a self-reading has to a second opinion.