Reading Your Own Tarot Is Easier Than You Think
A great way to learn more about tarot cards is by reading your own tarot. But if you’ve never done it before, it can be hard to get started. And when you compound that with all the weird advice out there about tarot reading, it can be hard to know what you should do.
Lucky for you, I am the most laissez-faire of tarot peoples.
So, all the doom and gloom tarot advice you’ve been given? Forget it.
Overly dogmatic approaches to tarot reading and card interpretation? Not needed.
Baseless fear mongering to scare people away? NOT ON MY WATCH.
There’s a lot of information about the tarot out there, and some of it’s good. Some of it’s bad. And a lot of it won’t apply to you. And it’s with that in mind that I offer you up this post about reading your own tarot.
If this resonates with you, keep it. If not, move on to information that works for you.
Should You Read Your Own Tarot?
I say yes emphatically, but I get why people ask this. At the heart of it, people want to know is it bad to read your own tarot cards.
And I guess that depends on what bad means.
There are a lot of weird urban legends around tarot cards and what they mean and when and how you should read them. Some of them were probably created by people to scare you away from the cards all together, and others may have been created by tarot readers to ensure that you came to them for the answers and didn’t seek them yourself.
I bet you can guess where I think the notion that you shouldn’t read your own tarot comes from.
Overall, I think reading your own tarot is a great way to check in with your intuition when you need it. Sometimes, when I feel a little off, I like to pull a card and see what I need in that moment. Or if I have a question about something I’m working on or feel like I need some direction in my planning, pulling a tarot card can be a good way to bring in a new perspective on the issue.
But knowing when not to read tarot cards is important too. For example, some questions are best asked of mental health and medical professionals. And sometimes, you just need to talk to someone and ask them direct questions rather than just pulling cards to try to figure out what’s going on with them.
So not every question can be answered by a tarot card reading, and never will the cards give you a direct answer. But reading your own tarot is a good way to check in with your intuition about some questions.
Reading Your Own Tarot Can Look Like Whatever You Want It To
Now, even if you decide to read your own tarot, it doesn’t mean that you have to do a big fancy spread every time. In fact, I think if you ask most readers, they’d say they rarely do a full Celtic cross or set up the altar for a spread.
You can read your own tarot cards online with apps like Golden Thread Tarot. If you’re wondering how to do a love tarot reading for yourself, you can totally make it up. You don’t need to use set spreads, nor do you have to follow spreads created by other readers. So figure out what you want to ask regarding love, and pull those cards.
The best part of reading your own tarot is that it’s basically a free tarot reading. You don’t have to pay yourself for the cards you pull. So do whatever feels right. Here’s how you can get started.
How to Start Reading Your Own Tarot
There’s no definitive method for how to read tarot cards for beginners. So, instead, I’m going to suggest a few things that will help you get moving when it comes to reading your own tarot.
001: Get a tarot deck.
Finding a deck you can trust and work with is important, and it’s the first step on your journey to reading your own tarot. Get a good beginner tarot deck, and start working with it as much as possible.
And before you ask, no, you don’t need to have your first deck given to you as a gift. That’s one of those persistent tarot urban legends. So feel free to to snatch one from your favorite online shop or local metaphysical store.
002: Do some research.
I recommend finding as much tarot information as you can. Whether you want to read it from some of the best tarot books for beginners, or get it by finding a podcast or youtube channel that resonates with you, tarot information abounds.
The most important thing to do when it comes to your tarot research is to find stuff that makes sense to you. Everyone has different understandings of the cards, and some people go deeper into jargon than others. I have listened to some tarot podcasts and had literally no idea what the hell they were talking about. There are definitely different planes of existence in the tarot world, and some folks are just not existing on the same one you are.
003: Do some tarot spreads.
So, I mentioned earlier than you don’t need to follow set spreads created by others. You can just do whatever the hell you want. Figure out how many cards you want/need to pull based on what you want to know. Then, determine what each spot in the spread will mean, and pull your cards.
Wanna know how to do a 3 card tarot reading? You do it just the way I said. So let’s use one of my favorite spreads as an example. It’s the past present future spread, and all you do is is pull 3 cards, a card for the past, a card for the present, and a card for the future. But you can do a 3 cards spread for anything, not just the past, present, and future.
Tarot spreads are as varied and detailed as you want them to be, and if you’re interested in having a few more in your arsenal, you can get these 5 free tarot spreads for beginners by signing up for my email list. (It’s a good email list, I promise! And I send out a tarot reading video for the month ahead on the last Saturday of every month.)
004: Record your findings.
Journaling your way through the tarot is the best way to deepen your understanding of the cards and compare what you feel about them to what you’re told by the deck’s guidebook and other tarot resources. That’s why I created the Tarot Card Meanings Journal.
And even if you’re not super into the idea of journaling through each card, recording your daily card pulls can help you see what cards come up at different times in your life. It’s also a great way to see how your understanding of tarot cards can change over time. That’s why I created the Daily Tarot Card Pull Pocket Journal.
Of course, you don’t need either of these things. You can simply grab one of your many blank notebooks and write down the cards you pull each day.
005: Keep up the habit.
Like everything else in life, tarot reading is a habit you build. So if you want to get good at it, you need to do it often. I recommend creating your tarot reading essentials kit, and putting a spot in your calendar every single day for pulling cards. That way, you have what you need to do it, and the time is right there for you.
And before you get too perfectionist about this, just know that all you have to do is pull one card when you have time. You can do that in 5 minutes if you want. So don’t think you need to do a whole big thing. Just do what you have time for and let the habit grow from there.
Do You Like Reading Your Own Tarot?
Do you enjoy reading your own tarot? Do you have any tips for the beginners? What habits or items made the biggest difference in your tarot readings?
Originally published at https://marisamohi.com on April 29, 2022.
