MAKE THE CARDS SPEAK TO YOU
So you’ve taken the LEARN TAROT IN A DAY. You’ve learned about the cards and the spreads – YOU GET IT. Now what? How do you digest and retain the information? Better yet – how do you really relate to the Tarot?
There is one tried and tested method I recommend to all my students. It is the same method I, myself, used to learn about the cards. As a matter of fact, I use the same method till this day to get a heads up on my day.
It is quite simple. I call it A TAROT A DAY – and it is quite simple.
ENTER THE TAROT JOURNAL
- Before starting out your day – you can do this while having your morning coffee or Chai Tea Latte – ask yourself a question of the day. It should be simple; something like – “What should I know about today?” or “To what should I pay attention to during the course of the day?
- Shuffle the deck and pick a card at random. It is important that you DO NOT consult a written guide at this point – make it intuitive!
- The first thing to do is to understand the mood and feel of the card. Does it fell happy or sad? Dynamic or slow? Don’t overthink it – just feel it and write down the first thing that comes to mind in your Tarot Daily Journal (feel free to download my .pdf journal page or make up your own).
- Now start to examine the pictures. After all, Tarot is a visual tool – every picture means something! What do the pictures say to you? How about the colors? What story do they tell?
- Finally, apply what you have learned in your course. If it is a Major Arcana Card – conjure up its archetype – or perhaps the place in the Fool’s Journey you’ve assigned to it. For the minor arcana – apply the numbers (ranks) and suits.
- Based on A, B and C – what do you think the card is telling you? What’s the important take away of the day?
- Do ‘check-in’ with the card in your at least at one point during the day
- At the end of the day, think about what situation the card was trying to explain to you. In what way was it correct? In what way did it hep? Which part was more accurate than others.
- Write down all your impressions in your journal.
AFTER A WHILE THE CARDS WILL START TO REPEAT.
Certain repetitive situations will emerge from which you will assign your own meanings to the cards. For example, let’s say every time you choose the THREE OF CUPS you get an invitation to an event – it can be a wedding, a party a simple family or even an impromptu office meeting – but an event nonetheless. For you, the THREE OF CUPS, then, will become a messenger of event invitations. Do ensure to use the same deck- at least for the first few months of this process. Seeing repetitive images will help you relate to a particular deck better.
After the first month, examine the patterns not only in any individual cards – but in the emergence of repetitive cards over the course of time. Are you getting predominately Court Cards? Are you getting all Major Arcana cards? Did any one particular suit dominate your month? What does all this mean to you?
Again, you can use the free printable tarot journal supplied on this site or create your own. What is important, however, is that you thoroughly examine the patterns in your life and start to understand when and how they emerge. After all – forewarned = forearmed.
The whole daily process should not take you more than fifteen minutes each day. As you become more and more familiar with the cards – it will be two to five minutes tops! What will start to happen is that you will recognize not only the cards’ meaning, but your own personal relationship with the Tarot.
