READ THE CARDS, even before you memorized them

Have you recently become interested in tarot reading? If you are, then I am here to tell you that it is perfectly acceptable to read your tarot cards BEFORE you have memorized every traditional meaning of each card.

How self-doubt stunted my growth as a beginnner

When I first started reading tarot, I was a teenager who was unsure of themself and just as unsure of the practice. I lived in a constant state of anxiety because I had this unrealistic belief that the whole world was watching and judging me. Because of this mindset, I created rules for myself to protect myself. If I liked a song, I needed to know every word. If I liked a book, I made sure I had every book in the series. Therefore, when I started reading tarot I continued my toxic behaviors and I wouldn’t read for anyone until I felt that I knew the cards enough. It took years for me to feel confident enough to read for anyone outside of my immediate friend group. It wasn’t until a few years ago that this order of operations actually stunted my growth as a tarot reader.

What can you do to build your intuition?

• Keep a tarot journal

  • One of the best things that any tarot reader can do to build their intuition is keeping a tarot journal. I first used a tarot journal to develop my own interpretations of the cards. I would pull a card, write what my eyes were drawn to and what that aspect made me think or feel. This process transitioned into me keeping track of my tarot readings, allowing me the ability to back track and check the validity of my interpretations and add additional knowledge to the reading after the event I had inquired about happened.

• Ask friends/family to pull a card that represents them

  • When I started to gain confidence with myself, I started to ask friends to pull a deck that represents them. In my mind, I figured if that card came up in a reading then I would think how that card connects to said person and how it could be interpreted to fit my reading. This helped me learn how to use my intuition and understand the characteristics of the cards.

• Learn from your mistakes

  • I remember asking an ex-boyfriend to pull a card out of my “Wild Unknown” deck that would represent him. He pulled “The Lovers” card. Obviously as a young 20 year old, this seemed so impactful. On this card, there are two geese and I knew that geese mate for life. I thought that this was an indication from spirit that he was supposed to be the one that I ended up with. After we broke up, I kept feeling like spirit had lied to me. It wasn’t until years later, after we broke up that I realized that this person was a gemini and the Lovers represents Gemini… which was his sign.

Fear prevents growth

Mistakes and misinterpretations will happen, but the most important part is that you learn from them. Don’t let your fear of others judgement prevent you from growing as a tarot reader. Most of the time your interpretation will be close to or exactly the same as the traditional meaning. If you have trouble allowing yourself grace, I freely give it to you here and now. You are capable and allowed to make mistakes. Good luck on your tarot adventure!

Share your experiences, your own tips and tricks, or any other thoughts you might have in the comments below or on our instagram page @thehopefultarot