Ten years ago, Instagram would have you believe I was a fabulous young fashion attorney living her best life in Los Angeles. In reality, I was burnt out, unfulfilled, and completely confused. One weekend, after looking everywhere else for answers, I finally unsealed the deck of tarot cards that was sitting on my dresser for months...and I never looked back! How did it help? Here are five ways reading tarot has helped me reconnect with myself and completely transform my life, and how adopting the practice can help you do the same.
How does tarot reading work?
The 78 cards in a tarot deck reflect the lessons, emotions, and experiences we all face at some point in our lives. When we ask our tarot cards a question, the traditional meanings of the cards combined with our intuitive interpretations can offer invaluable guidance to lead us to self-discovery and self-empowerment. In fact, many modern tarot practitioners like me are moving away from using tarot to predict the future, using it instead to better understand the present – and ourselves.
How Reading Tarot Cards Helps Me
Reading tarot cards allows me to shush my ego and connect with my true self.
When we let our ego steer the ship, we run the risk of chasing goals that don’t matter and creating a life that doesn’t align with our true values because we’re busy trying to impress others. That’s exactly where I was a decade ago!
But my tarot cards helped me reconnect with my true self and relearn what actually matters to me and what kind of life I really want. For example, turns out a corner office at the firm (King of Pentacles) doesn’t mean much to me. What lights me up most is teaching (the Hierophant) and creative self-expression (Queen of Wands). These tarot-inspired epiphanies moved me to quit my legal career to become an English professor and have more time to write.
Reading tarot for myself has taught me how to listen to my intuition.
The complex reasoning we learn in school is necessary for rational problem-solving and critical thinking. But this type of left-brain cognition isn’t the only way of knowing and navigating this world. Even Rory Gilmore couldn’t pro-con list her way into deciding between Harvard and Yale!
Humans are also intuitive creatures. And the art of interpreting tarot cards takes right-brain intuition, imagination, and emotional discernment. Working with tarot invites us to honor and listen to that often fuzzy and inexplicable inner voice that many of us have been taught to discount.
Reading tarot helps me make better decisions.
Consulting my tarot cards helps me gain clarity when I’m wracked with indecision.
When a combination of pandemic-related cabin fever and teaching-related burnout led me to book an exhilarating and impromptu trip to London last year, my social anxiety almost talked me into cancelling the whole thing.
Completely torn and coming up against the refund deadline for my Airbnb, I sat down with my tarot deck and took a few slow, deep breaths. I drew a card to represent the energy around going on the trip and got the Three of Wands – a card that represents adventure and leaving your comfort zone. I drew a second card to represent cancelling the trip and got the 10 of Wands – a card of overwhelm and burden.
My higher self was telling me I work hard and deserve adventure! Who was I to refuse?
Working with tarot helps me sort through and process my emotions.
I'm generally terrible at exploring my emotions. In fact, my therapist officially banned me from responding with, “I don’t know, annoyed?” to her all-time favorite question, “And how did that make you feel?”
A symbolic and image-based language, tarot taps into our subconscious and emotional world. Colors and symbols speak to us in ways words can’t, and the psychologically rich imagery of a good tarot deck acts as a prompt or catalyst for us to dig deeper and connect with how we’re feeling.
When I know I’m having an intense emotional reaction but I can’t quite place it, I find some quiet time to myself and pull two tarot cards: the first to represent what I think I’m annoyed or angry at, and the second to let me know what I’m actually angry about. (For somebody as admittedly disconnected as me, they are often not the same thing!)
Tarot helps me accept and honor the various phases and experiences of life.
Tarot offers us a wise yet simple truth: If there’s a tarot card for it, it’s a totally normal part of life. And guess what – there’s a tarot card for everything!
Sure, I may still grimace when I turn over the Tower or the Three of Swords, but the rich tradition and wisdom in each of these cards is also a comfort. I’m not the first person in the world to pull the Tower, and tarot can help me navigate the situation with a little more curiosity, grace, and self-compassion.
If feelings of burnout, confusion, or unfulfillment have you feeling stuck, working with tarot cards to tap into your intuition and reconnect with your authentic self is a beautiful way to start getting yourself unstuck.
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Header image via Los Muertos Crew / PEXELS
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