A question I’ve been hearing is about incorporating tarot in a more intentional way. My clients want to use tarot more in their day-to-day life. They’ve started learning the cards, drawing one or two cards a day, and reading books about tarot. They like it. The art is dang rad. But really, just really WHAT do they do with this thing?
The tarot is a versatile creature. It can give you spiritual and personal guidance. It can tell you about things you might not otherwise know. Like other people’s feelings, future events, and the secret skeleton in your lovers’ closet.
BUTTT If you are caught up worrying about your friends’, exs’, or lovers’ skeleton – or – the possibility of being rich and famous in the future and how exactly will that happen – then are you missing the point.
The point is the place where you stand in the present. Cause surely, overly fixating on unknowns are a sign that you are runnin’ from something.
So, yes, tarot can do all these predictive, spying things (kinda – free will my friends), but tarot really functions best when it’s your friend – not a detective. And you can use the two together, but how about you make friends with the tarot before asking for spy favors?
Tarot is a truth seer. As Benebell Wen stated at the Readers conference in 2018, the Tarot is “a gateway and trigger to open up the unconscious.” In our unconscious are the UN’s. The UN’s are what we are UN-familiar with. They are the aspects of ourselves and our lives that are influencing us – big time – but that we don’t see.
If you can welcome in the tarot as a tool to see your UN’s, then you can build a relationship with trust, and that is the foundation of all good relationships. You can also get to know yourself better. Great! So lets get started on this blog topic already!
So, getting to know the language of tarot in a deeper, integrated with life way. There are many ways to do that. So how, just how, do I build my daily tarot practice?
TIME
Doing anything meaningful in life takes time. Seems obvious, but we all forget to do this. Set aside the time you can to work with the tarot. It might be five minutes in the morning and thirty at night. Figure out what works best for you. The tarot can only give to you if you give the time to it.
You wouldn’t expect your best friend to send you encouraging texts every day, always initiate plans, and bring you special treats weekly? So don’t expect that tarot to make all the effort, either : )
YOU NEED A MAGICAL BOOK
No, this is not a magical book with spells from the store. It’s a this-is-my-tarot bible sort of book you make. In it, you record all of your amazing insider tips and secret conversations with your BF, tarot.
My magical tarot book is part of my book of shadows, which is in a mini-binder. Sorry, yep – it’s a binder. How dull! Forget the leather and lace and fancy branded symbols. For me it’s functional.
With a binder, you can move pages and sections around, add on, throw away, you get the idea. It changes with you.
I would recommend dividing your magical tarot book (or binder) into the following sections, at minimum:
- Tarot card meanings (allotting 1 page for all 78 cards!)
- Tarot spreads
- Reading methods (for writing in new tricks or ideas for reading)
- Tarot Reading Journal
Of course you can alter the above. If you want to get super organized, you can do what I did; alphabetize.
Oh yeah – and people love Evernote. And Notability. You can use these program and get all kinds of crazy organized with these apps. But call me old fashioned, just like I like a tarot card in my hand, I also like the pencil that creates a physical, tactile response to what it is I’m thinking about. Most spells in witchcraft call for handwritten energy – why wouldn’t you want to bring that magical hand to your tarot practice? Obv Your Choice!
PULL TAROT CARDS, DAILY – or as often as you can. And, record and date them in the Tarot Readings part of your magical book!
Now that you’ve got your magical book started, you can add to it! And the best way to do this is through a daily reading.
Some people are into the pull a card per day kinda vibe. If you are going to pull a card a day to learn, I would do so actively. That means, I might choose a card that I think summarizes what I’m presently feeling. I do this by looking at the imagery. Then I journal about this.
If you want to do a reading for what the day will bring, I’d recommend doing at least a basic three-card spread. You can also pull three cards at night for “Gee what happened today?” The reason I suggest three versus one card for events is that a lot happens in a day, and building a narrative from cards is like writing. You need a few sentences (and images) to tell a story.
And oh yeah, maybe when you pull the three cards for the day, you describe (then write) the description of what the card conveys to you? Put those sentences together and you have your story and message! Hot dang!
Also here is a spread I love – which I learned from the Tarosophy certificate class I took online. It’s a daily spread that shows you what happens in various aspects of your life, in one day.
Bottom Row:
Card 1: Morning
Card 2: Afternoon
Card 3: Evening
In an arc, above the bottom row:
Card 4: Friends, Family, Colleagues
Card 5: Finances, Rewards, Work
Card 6: Lesson of the day
Card 7: How to get the best day
Card 8: What to avoid
REVIEW THINGS
Go back and review your notes for tarot cards. Add to them and change them. Another thing I like to do is review my readings. Generally, I will do this weekly (or monthly if I have been slacking).
The purpose of reviewing my readings is to learn even more about tarot, and my life. So what this entails is looking back at your recent readings. I have a highlighter in two colors, which I use to highlight:
- Repeating words, phrases, ideas, or symbols from recent readings
- Repeating cards
Then I might make another entry in my Tarot Readings Journal to summarize what I think all these repeated cards, phrases or symbols mean. I might also add to my card meanings any new findings.
Oh and if you want to get super geeky – you can also start a symbols dictionary section in our magical book and start researching and noting the repeated symbols you see coming up in the cards.
The Tarot as a spiritual tool
We’ve talked about the nuts and bolds of creating a dedicated tarot practice, but how can the tarot actually impact your life?
Drawing tarot cards is a way to understand your feelings, actions, and perspective in a deeper way. By looking at an external image, the internal picture and one’s path forward becomes a bit more clear.
It’s important to start with the intention of tarot as self-awareness. The juicy predictive stuff will come in time.
Let’s look at ways to deepen your spiritual connection to the cards. Earlier I mentioned that you could pull a card to match a present mood or life theme. I do this when I am going through major changes, or when there is an energy I want to cultivate in my life. This is intentional; I look at my cards and purposefully select the card I need.
I place the card in a visible spot (I have an altar) and I make a note to look at it daily. I try and identify one new thing I see in the card every day. I then add these ideas to the page for that tarot card. Or, I do further journaling about the card and how I see its energy manifesting in my life.
You can also use the tarot to manifest something you want to happen. Pick several cards (using the visual images on the cards) that show how you want a situation to play out. Write about what happens, and continue to meditate on the cards and the outcome until it happens.
Another thing you can do is to create a ritual based on a tarot card. You can talk to it. You can use it as a creative muse. You can meditate on the image, or enter the landscape. You can draw it and learn more about the composition and the shapes and therefore, more about the magic it holds. And you can read for other people, or predict, or spy… Once you are on point and standing with your BF in the present – all this and more is possible.