The idea of using Tarot as a tool for self improvement may strike you as odd, even if you are already a Tarot reader. However, I assure you that there is more to Tarot than gypsies, moonlight rituals, and divination. In fact, the Tarot is quite useful, even if you think those other things are bunk.
There are hundreds of books about Tarot that will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about the meanings of the cards, the history of Tarot, and even doing rituals with Tarot. If you are already a Tarot practitioner, then you will know these things and it will influence how you approach the Tarot. If you are not a Tarot practitioner, then don’t worry about it; in order to use Tarot as a self improvement tool you only need to have three things: 1. A deck that works for you; 2. Time to do a reading; and 3. A creative imagination.
A Deck That Works For You
There are hundreds of Tarot decks with hundreds of artists and lots of themes. There are fairy Tarot decks, dragon Tarot decks, fantasy, Di Vinci, even erotic decks – you name your interest, there is more than likely a Tarot deck with that theme.
Spend some time examining decks. There are several sites online that will show you selected cards or all the cards. I would strongly advise only considering decks that have illustrations on all 78 cards, called Rider Waite or Rider Waite clones. Other than that, choose a deck that appeals to you. There will probably be many that you will look at and like, but maybe there is something not quite right. At some point you will find one that is right for you and you will know it. You may find several and choose to become a collector, like I am. However, all you need is one deck, but it must be a deck that you like a lot and really “speaks” to you.
Time To Do A Reading
Looking at a Tarot card and examining it is called “doing a reading.” If you do a reading with multiple cards, they are laid out in a pattern (if only a straight line); the pattern is referred to as a “spread.” I generally stick to do readings of 1, 2, or 3 cards. This takes about 30 minutes. Using more cards of course takes a longer period of time.
In addition to time, you will need a quiet space. In order to let your creativity fully express itself, you will need to be free from distractions. When you lay out your card or cards you can use any sort of surface. Over the years, I gotten a few cloth mats for the purpose, but a towel will do. Whatever provides a clear background and keeps your cards from getting scratched, dirty, or sticky (presuming you will want to do this).
A Creative Imagination
Using Tarot for self improvement involves examining the pictures on the cards and seeing how they relate to your life. This requires a level of creativity. For instance, say the card has a picture of a castle in the distance on the top of a steep hill. You may think this means that you will have a hard climb ahead of you, but comfort and safety at the end.
Most decks with pictures have a lot of detail which will give you a lot to look at. However, if a particular card doesn’t have a lot of detail, this may be meaningful as well. Say we have the same card with the castle. If there are no clouds to determine the weather, no flags on the castle, or trees at the base of the hill, you may interpret this to mean your life right now is stark and hard without any sunshine to brighten your path. There is no wrong interpretation, it is all up to you.
The Tarot works as a self improvement tool because it forces you to think about your life and the different aspects of your life in a different way. It requires the right side of the brain instead of the analytical “figure it out” left side. I’m always amazed at how the Tarot helps me “see” things I hadn’t before.
Doing A Tarot Card Reading For Self Improvement
The most important thing to remember is that Tarot tells you about your life now. I don’t believe that the cards tell the future, except in the sense that they can give you an idea of what will happen if you keep doing the same thing. Through looking at the pictures and deciding what they mean to you, you will get insight into yourself and your life. It’s really that simple.
Most decks come with the numbered cards in order when you first get them. Before you do your first reading, you will need to shuffle thoroughly. Before every reading you will need to shuffle as well, but the first one needs to be especially good. There is no right way to shuffle. You may find that it works to shuffle like you would an ordinary deck of cards. When I shuffle I do it face down in the “mixing” technique that kids use sometimes. This is because I don’t want to bend my cards, and most of them are too large to shuffle the traditional way easily.
When you shuffle the cards, you can think of a particular part of your life you would like clarity on. However, if you would rather think about your life in general, the cards will still be effective. Choose whichever way works the best for you.
Once you have shuffled the cards, choose however many you want off the top of the deck: 1, 2, 3, or more. Then, take the time to examine each card in turn and how it relates to your life. You can either think about the cards as individuals, or think about how they relate to each other. Is each card a different book, or do the cards represent multiple chapters in the same book? It’s totally up to you.
A Real Life Demonstration
The above may make sense to you, or it may still be a little fuzzy. I always find demonstrations helpful, so I will do a one card reading to show you what I mean. I’m using the DruidCraft Tarot. This is one of my favorite decks among the 15 I have collected so far. After shuffling and restacking the cards, I pull of the first card and get the Ace of Swords. I didn’t think of any particular issue in my life, just concentrated on shuffling the cards well.
Ace Of Swords
The first thing I notice is the hand holding the sword out of the water. This reminds me to the stories of the young king Arthur. This makes me think that something I am destined for, that is “perfect” for me will be coming shortly. I notice the bird flying over the water, this seems to mean that I’m being watched over, perhaps by the Divine.
In the back ground the hills part and there is bright sky beyond. This indicates either the start of a new day, or perhaps a clear horizon just ahead. Either way, it shows me that better times are to come.
There are ripples on the water from the arm. Aside from the correspondence with the name of this blog, this appears to me to be showing that the perfect thing for me (perhaps a new job?) will be the start, and other things will come from that, as the ripples come out.
This idea is further reinforced by the first flowers on the vegetation in the forefront of the card. The idea of something new starting also comes from the fact that this is an ace card, or one, the first number.
The hills themselves are lush and green which indicates to me that even though there are tough times ahead, before I reach the break, those times aren’t all bad, there are softnesses. This fits with what I’ve discovered about myself and the past hurts I’ve been able to heal while unemployed over the past several months.
In conclusion, I can see that my time of unemployment is coming to an end. I’m not quite there yet, but the end is very close. Also the job I do get will turn out to be good for me. This tells me that it definitely won’t be a job in insurance. It also gives me hope that the job I really want, with the cable company, is going to come through. But, whatever happens, it will be something new for me.
Wrapping Up
As you can see, the above analysis is based solely on the picture on the card. Given that I know more about Tarot, I could also interpret the card based on elemental correspondences, the suit correspondence, or numerology (beyond just the ace being the first). However, as you can see, you don’t need any of that information to get useful insight from the card.
As I said above, the Tarot isn’t really a divination tool. While my interpretation does talk about the future, I know that recently I’ve been in better spirits. I’ve healed some hurts, gotten my depression under control, and gotten some good feedback on my financial health. The interpretation of the card reflects this hope and upbeat attitude.
I hope this tutorial has been helpful to you. If you have any questions, need clarification, or would like make any comments, please do so in the comments below.
