Tarot 101
So you have been thinking about getting started with tarot cards, or maybe you have a deck or two sitting in a cabinet collecting dust…read this!
Find a deck you resonate with. Don't just focus on what everyone else is doing and the deck that works for them. The cards are a link. They are a link between the physical world and spirit. Find the right link for you! Check out etsy or your local metaphysical store for an aesthetic that speaks to you. My personal experience involved stumbling upon Danielle Noel's work years ago and getting her Moon Child deck. The images just spoke to me. I couldn't imagine holding a different deck. I still don't!
The deck doesn't hold the answers. The deck is just a code, a way for spirit to communicate with you. Clear its energy with smoke (sage/palo santo), selenite wand, charge it with sound, music, AND your voice. Charge it with clear intention (thought and command) and purpose to be the link between you and your Higher Self, to communicate clearly and for your highest good.
Before you begin, check your energy! You do not want to be pulling cards in a desperate and angry state. Raise your vibrations-breathe, dance, walk outside, meditate for 5 minutes, listen to music, raise the quality of your thoughts, your favorite "mixed tape moments" recall exercise. Come to the cards from a place of love with unclouded discernment instead of judgment and resentment.
Develop your own card language. THIS. IS. IMPORTANT. This is the advice from my Higher Self.
"Tarot cards are great if you can assign your own meaning to each card and communicate with spirit that way. Be careful with the mind and ego getting in the way and spinning narratives. There is a thin line between guidance from spirit and mind's processing. When used correctly, it can become a code, like a morse code for you to communicate."
When you are first beginning, you may be tempted to pull a card and immediately read the description in the manual or a tarot encyclopedia. Don't! Connect to the card. What does the image tell you? What sensations, thoughts, images come to mind. The language of tarot involves a lot of dot-connecting and putting all the puzzle pieces together. Be a curious detective. When we rely fully and only on the manuals, we give away power. You have a chance to assign your OWN meaning to it. And your Higher Self will use those specific cards to communicate with you. TRUST YOURSELF!
My example. When I was first starting, one card kept falling out of the deck over and over and over—Page of Wands. I got the book "Around the Tarot in 78 Days," and as soon as I read the description, I started to cry. I finally understood what the message meant. The card itself is linked to the element of fire, Sagittarius; it is about freedom, taking charge, and the big picture vision. When I read the full description, all I could hear and see was, "This is YOU!!!!!" It was me. This card was me. My Higher Self was telling me to be myself, to follow my intuition, to follow my joy, to be more playful and fun, to allow the fire within to burn.
The same thing happened with 2 of Pentacles. That card kept falling out of the deck as I shuffled every other day for 10 weeks straight. It was a message to find balance, priorities, and calm my mind. I was in the middle of meditation teacher training and would meditate for 40 minutes a day religiously. I was forcing those meditations so hard. And I grew to resent them. My mind was not calmer as a result of it; it was more annoyed and impatient. I had to find a new way to calm my mind and ego.
5. Ask clear questions and direct them to the right spirit. You can ask questions, but I would recommend asking from the Hheart and not from the ego. I always ask the same thing, "what do I need to know today?" and ask for basic guidance. I also like to say it out loud in this form, "My Higher Self at Source, I appreciate your guidance and wisdom you share with me. What do I need to know?" Another great one is, "How can I serve today?" And if the answer you receive is "Go play!" trust it! You are of no use to anyone else if you are an empty cup.
Who are you asking? This is important because there are so many energies around you. When I was first starting out, I would ask for angels, ancestors, guides, everyone in spirit form to communicate with me at once. No wonder I couldn't hear anything! Imagine each spirit as a different radio station with a different frequency. What I was receiving was all of them speaking at once! I find that my Higher Self (who has the bird's eye view of this life and every other life past and future) is my best guide. I also find archangels very helpful in advice situations. But you can ask your Spirit Guide team to step forward and the best qualified energy to be the main voice.
6. Pay attention when you shuffle. 99% of the time, a card will fall out of the deck for me while I shuffle, or as I shuffle, I will find myself left holding one card. I hear the voice say, "this is your card!" The days when I ignore the voice and put it back, the same card comes back minutes later. There is no right way or wrong way, but I would recommend not jumping into elaborate spreads until you master the one card a day practice.
7. PRACTICE! Do it daily! Build a ritual around it. Make it your sacred time. Commit! I promise you will begin to see results!
Channeled Message From My Higher Self About Oracle Cards
“Oracle cards are someone else's words. (Sometimes channeled, sometimes their mind's ideas) They are not as powerful as the guidance you would receive if you opened and listened. Instead, you are choosing to trust someone else's limiting words. Spirit can help choose the right card, but then your ego/mind goes into a rabbit hole of trying to decode the message, which most likely didn't come through spirit but the mind/ego of the person creating the cards.
In the whole card, there might be one word we want you to hear/see. They are our least favorite way of communicating with you. (I literally see someone hitting forehead…"not again.…thats not what we wanted her to take away from this card.") It's never a clear message. It's always through a filter. Take every oracle message with a grain of salt. (she is raising her eyebrow..."is this really true? does this really apply?") And when you accept it, because it is an energy of the thought that the card carries, and you accept it, you create a new story, a new filter, a new mask, a new distraction at times. Our advice is to pick some cards out of the deck and assign meaning to them, like a code, charge them with your intention and work with spirit to communicate through them.”
My advice would be to always ask, “What is the message for me here?” Sit with it. Allow for your Higher Self to speak directly to you.