Where To Start With Tarot
Dear Friend,
I really want to break the narrative that Tarot is some magical, witchy, shit. Tarot is just a tool to help you learn how to start listening to your own intuition. You don’t need to memorize all the card meanings or be super spiritual to start using Tarot in a way that can benefit your life.
Don’t buy into any fear you’re feeling about Tarot. Fear is a false narrative, one we’ve all been conditioned to believe because it keeps us out of touch with ourselves. True power and resilience comes from within, it comes from showing up everyday even when our lives are a mess and the world is crumbling around us.
I’m open to the idea that maybe I’ve just created my own reality SO hard that the comfort Tarot brings me is unique to me. So don’t get me wrong, if this doesn’t resonate for you, that’s okay. Your tool probably just looks different, but keep looking for it, keep trying new things until you find the tool that speaks to you and the place you’re at right now.
If you’re here because Tarot does excite or elicit some kind of curiosity within you then welcome and I hope you find some helpful resources here.
So where do you start?!
First and foremost, if you don’t own a deck yet, I encourage you to go out and buy one. There’s a silly little superstition out there that you need to be gifted Tarot…that’s cute, but nobody has time to wait around to be randomly gifted a Tarot deck. Take matters into your hands! Have some fun with it and find a deck that you’re enamored with. Maybe the artwork on the deck sings to your soul or maybe you want to start with a deck that is more universal so you pick a Rider-Waite deck. No matter what deck you choose, that will be the right one for you.
The next step is to have fun with it. Get rid of any rules in your head around Tarot. Lay out all the cards face up, put them all in order, or immediately shuffle and pull randomly.
NO RULES - JUST HAVE FUN.
Imagine Tarot as a solo card game you’re playing with yourself. The goal of the game is to simply get to know yourself better and the images on the card are going to shake things awake inside you. You’re going to pull a card and see something on that card that you just keep looking at…maybe it’s a bird, a flower, or the figure on the card - whatever the thing is, just sit with it. Keep looking at it. Ask yourself questions about it.
For example, today I pulled the 2 of Pentacles in my daily check-in with SELF and here are the things that stood out to me:
Ethereal Visions Illuminated Tarot Deck
by Matt Hughes
For context, I pulled the 2 of Pentacles to signify the current state of my “Emotions”. The first thing I noticed on this card was that she’s standing on one foot. Immediately, what comes to mind for me is that she’s doing a balancing act. This could definitely relate to how I’m feeling right now emotionally, it does feel like I’m juggling my emotions and at risk of any minor slip that might make me lose my balance. Sometimes that initial interpretation is enough of a meaning and we move on. But if we choose to sit with it a bit longer…new things start to surface and connect in our minds. For me, I felt like there was something else there, so I sat with it a bit longer and then it clicked. The posture of her foot reminds me of what my feet do when I dance hula. Emotions are meant to be expressed. When we don’t express our emotions in some way, they’re apt to take over other areas of our lives and cause havoc. I danced hula this week for the first time in years, and I take this card as validation that movement of my body is a healthy balance and breath of fresh air for my emotions.
The other thing on this card that keeps tickling my brain is those 4 tendrils of hair. The hair makes me think of my choice in the last few years to stop straightening my hair and letting my natural curls just exist. I have some really deep rooted shame around my hair that I’m still unraveling. Growing up I really related to that scene in Princess Diaries when they straightened her hair and suddenly she becomes a “princess”. I started straightening my hair not long after watching that movie. I was very much attached to what others thought of me and I was desperate to “fit” in and be a normal “pretty” girl. This is where you have to go deep, if you can, and keep asking yourself the “why” questions. WHY did I feel unlovable with curly hair? WHY did I feel ugly or othered with curly hair?
It took me years to face the truth of the why…but I know now. The WHY for me is rooted in my own complicated relationship with my inherited genetics, because my hair is connected to my Hawaiian ancestry and for a very long time I believed that was shameful. My parents never said this or taught this, but growing up on the islands it was implied in a lot of ways that native people were just less than…less educated, less money, etc. Colonization and systemic racism at its finest. And I fell for it. I was not proud to be Hawaiian back then. I simply wanted to fit in, not stand out.
This is where I invite you to reclaim pieces of yourself with me. Because I’m reclaiming that narrative I wrote myself about my hair - fuck THAT. I am SO proud to be Hawaiian now. I am so blessed to have this be my journey and path in life and I’m not going to let anybody take that from me anymore.
Hopefully, this example gives you a new perspective into how Tarot can be used. Don’t overthink it, let the image speak to you and whatever comes up, even if it feels unrelated, is meant to. This is truly all about creating the time and space in your day to pause long enough to hear your own inner voice and thoughts speak to you. What are they trying to say?
