That makes it sound wayyy more official than this actually is, but I wanted a side blog where I could info dump all of the things I know, kinda like a public grimoire, to help more witches and people interested in the craft.
I know a lot of witches and practitioners do this on here, but I thought, "Hey, what's one more voice in the crowd?"
So here in our very own version of Hogwarts I’m going to be sharing information, personal experiences, tips and crash courses on:
Tarot
Dream Interpretations
Secret Broom Closet Witchery + Polytheism
and learning to hear + trust your intuition
As I grow and become more versed in other topics I’d love to start sharing information, tips and crash courses on those as well.
At first I’ll be gearing this towards newbies, with a 101 course, but as time goes on I’ll be sharing “advanced” information and tips. I’ve been a Witch in the broom closet for over four years now but I won’t pretend like I know everything. Part of being a witch is being a student dedicated to learning forever. There’s always going to be something I don’t know or haven’t researched yet, However what I do know, I know enough to teach. And what I don’t know yet, I’m eager to learn!
These are the next few informational posts I will be posting soon over the next few weeks;
Tarot
➸ Major and Minor Arcana Explained
➸ How to bond with your deck
➸ Who’s answering when you use Tarot
➸ Yes or No cards
➸ Authentic vs Counterfeit decks
Dream Interpretations
➸ Dream journaling: what it is and how to get into it
➸ Tell the difference: Mundane dreams or Prophetic dreams
➸ Different Interpretation Theories
➸ Dream Analysis Tips
Broom Closet
➸ Broom Closet Apologetics: Getting Comfortable with the secrecy
➸ Broom Closet: Digital Spellwork
➸ Broom Closet: Altars, Devotional Items and Sacred Spaces
➸ Broom Closet: Protecting your Sacred Space from nosy family/house members
Intuition
➸ What it is + how to hear it
➸ How to Sharpen your intuition
➸ Intuition: What no one tells you
➸ Meditation: It’s easier than you think
I'll also be reblogging posts from other witches and practitioners which I think will be helpful. {There's gonna be a lot of them 'cause we have a really great community on here!}
If you’d like to learn something not listed here please reach out and let me know either with my “Owl Desk”, comments or DMs. Same goes for if you have questions or suggestions!
I’m really excited to see where this new chapter takes us all!
Welcome to Tarot 101 with Astrid! This is part 5 of my series. If you haven’t read the previous posts yet, you can find them here in the masterlist 🤍
t a b l e o f c o n t e n t s
Misconceptions
Understanding How Tarot Answers
Crafting Questions
Misconceptions
I want to clear the air before we get into how to ask questions, by first debunking the myths around Tarot.
Whether you’re brand new to tarot or you’ve been around the community for a while, you most likely have heard people say these things before:
“You’re not asking the right question.”
“That’s a bad question to ask.”
“Don’t make the questions too broad.”
“Don’t ask yes or no questions with a tarot deck.”
“You shouldn’t use Tarot like that!”
“Tarot is for self improvement, not for being nosy about other people.”
and so on…
Tarot, like all aspects of spirituality and witchcraft, is a personal practice first and foremost.
There is no right or wrong, good or bad way to read Tarot.
But there are a lot of people who think there is a right and wrong way to ask questions, and a good and bad way to use tarot. Sometimes it can be really confusing too, because every person has their own opinion of what is good and bad. One person could swear doing yes or no questions is wrong, while another person loves only doing yes or no questions.
My point is: Your practice is your own.
That’s what spirituality is all about. Even more so, that’s what witchcraft is about: crafting a way of life with rituals that are personalized and unique to you.
And no you don’t have to be a witch to read Tarot, and reading tarot does not make you a witch, either.
Tarot and Witchcraft live separately, it’s just that people associate them with each other because they each have qualities that benefit the other.
So why do people feel so strongly about there being a good and bad, right and wrong way of practicing tarot?
Long story short, it’s their personal beliefs which can be based on limiting beliefs, misinformation, or a lack of esoteric knowledge and studying.
Now, I’m not perfect, I don’t know everything. I’m still young, I am still learning of the esoteric world and I plan to always be learning. But from what I know in my personal practice— in what I’ve learned from reading tarot, channeling spirits, studying the craft and meditating— I know that good and bad are relative terms and that in the art of divination the only good or bad there is, is if you’re being respectful or not.
All the other rules that people make for tarot are unnecessary.
So let’s debunk a few of the most spread beliefs around tarot:
“you’re not asking the right question.”
This gets thrown around so much, it can make you doubt yourself when trying to read tarot and no one seems to offer any explanation or guidance around what they think is the “right” question that you should be asking.
So here’s what they think it means,
Some people think Tarot is like a Genie, with a trickster energy that likes to play with you. They think you have to ask super clear questions, with zero room for mistakes so you get the right answer.
Like how Genie in Aladdin tells him to be careful how he words things because he can “make you a prince” but he’ll really just make a new person who happens to be a prince.
Tarot isn’t like that. Tarot understands what you mean because Tarot knows your intentions. Tarot will answer the question you mean to ask, even if it’s not what you asked with your words. So you’re allowed to ask a question however you feel like asking it.
Here’s what it actually means,
The idea of it being a right or wrong question isn’t about morals, it’s usually about whether the question is clear to understand or if it can be misinterpreted by the deck.
When someone is worried that tarot isn’t going to answer them correctly, it’s because they have this assumption and this fear that they have to be perfect and clear while asking it or else Tarot will answer them wrong.
This becomes true for them because of their belief.
But this is what’s actually true:
Tarot understands everything about you it understands what you want to ask before you even ask it.
Yes, some spirits attached to the decks are comedians and they like to give roundabout answers or “wrong” answers or speak in riddles. This isn’t Tarot though, this is just spirits that haven’t been given boundaries or rules to follow.
This is why it’s important to set an intention with your tarot deck {and all divination tools} so you can create those boundaries and rules.
The intention I like to set for my divination tools is “Please give me honest and accurate answers only, that are clear and easy for me to understand quickly.”
This way, no matter which deck I’m using, which spirit I’m asking, I always receive quick and easy, true and accurate answers. And I’m able to ask questions however they come to mind, I don’t have to agonize over the grammar, intent or if it makes sense context wise. I also don’t have to worry if it’s too broad or detailed enough to get the answer I’m intending.
“don’t make the questions too broad.”
Here’s what they think it means:
Some people think if you ask a question that’s broad, it’ll leave too much room for uncertainty, like the deck will respond with an answer like, “I can’t understand what you want me to say, please narrow it down for me.”
But it won’t. Tarot meets every one where they are. It’ll do it’s best to answer you in a way that you can understand, while sharing information that sometimes may be leagues above your capability of understanding.
Tarot, at the center of what it is, is a database for gathering information that belongs to the divine. Information we can’t understand unless we expand our minds and let go of limiting beliefs.
You can make a question super broad, like “What is happening next year?” And it’ll still answer you.
Now you’re probably wondering how that’s a super broad question, but it’s because there’s about 10 to a million ways you could be asking about next year. Are you asking about what will happen for you? for your dog? in the government? Are you wanting to know about the weather? or are you asking about a basketball team and if they’ll make it to the playoffs next year. But guess what? Tarot knows what you mean even if you don’t. And it’ll answer the question you intended on asking.
Here’s what it actually means:
When people warn you about making questions too broad, they’re more so worried that you don’t understand what you’re asking and therefore you won’t understand what the answer is answering.
They’re just warning you to be clear about it, and narrow it down so 1) you know how to read the cards in relation to your question or 2) the cards don’t go on a frenzy and throw 25 cards out at once and answer you in a spider web of every possible direction you could’ve meant with your question… but again, that’s their personal misconception about how Tarot works and how it answers questions. To them, it may answer in a million directions, but only because that’s their belief and their subconscious’ intention when they asked their broad question.
And here’s the truth:
I ask both broad and detailed questions all the time. Honestly, I prefer broad questions when I need clarity on a situation and I don’t know what I want to know I just know I need an answer to give me direction for my next question.
Tarot, like spirituality and reality, will *always* conform to your own beliefs of how something works. If you assume that Tarot needs clear specific questions or else they’ll throw up a 404 Error Page Not Found sign, then they will.
But if you assume that Tarot is divine, omniscient, and willing to answer all your questions to help you on your quest to enlightenment, no matter how you ask the question, then it will.
If you put limitations on what Tarot can do, how it can or should operate, Tarot will function according to those. The reason being, that contrary to popular belief, the universe doesn’t want to overwhelm you or scare you by giving you knowledge that you’re not ready to accept. Knowledge like, if you’re afraid of thinking Tarot is an all knowing, super intelligent tool with access to every thought, emotion, and event you’ve ever had, then Tarot will show itself to you as a lesser intelligence so it doesn’t scare you.
“don’t ask yes or no questions with tarot.”
What they think it means,
This could be in 2 different ways, some people believe 100% that tarot isn’t made for yes or no questions, going so far to say it can’t answer accurately. And other people just think it’s a waste of time or an insult to ask tarot a question that can be answered with a yes or no.
What it really means,
So some people think it’s an insult because tarot is crafted in a way that offers long form answers. It works to tell a story. The way I view asking tarot a yes or no question is like you’re asking a snow cone vender to give you a single ice cube.
They can give you the ice cube, but they could offer you so much more if you let them. Same thing with Tarot. It can give you a yes or no answer, but it could also give you an in-depth explanation for why it’s a yes {or no}.
And the people who think Tarot can’t accurately give a yes or no… it’s just a limiting belief. Tarot hasn’t shown them that it has that capability yet.
The Truth,
Tarot is a divination tool, you can ask it any thing. In any way. It will always *alwaysss* reply with an answer. Its accuracy is up to your beliefs and whether you have set the intention for the answer to be accurate.
“tarot is for self improvement not for being nosy about other people.”
Here’s what they think it means,
This is what people say when they believe that ethics and morals play a big role in divination, and that they can be punished for how they use tarot.
More specifically, this is when someone is afraid that “spying” on someone else’s energy is evil, or wrong because you’re doing it without the other person’s consent.
The truth is, You don’t need anyone’s consent to look into their energy.
It’s just polite to ask first, but it’s not wrong. And if you aren’t supposed to see their energy, it will be clouded, it will be protected and shielded so you don’t see it and the cards will convey that with their answer.
This goes hand in hand with the idea that love spells are evil because they “take away the person’s free will” but, no it doesn’t. I’ll do another post on debunking love spells but the gist of it is the spell wouldn’t work if it wasn’t meant to. Everyone has protections set up, whether they are aware of it or not, no one can do anything they don’t want to just because a spell was cast on them.
Tarot, is meant to be used in a myriad of ways. It’s a tool, not like a hammer with only one function, but it’s like a swiss army knife. It can do 20 things at once, and that’s just the ways we’ve discovered so far.
Tarot can be used to look into your past, past life regressions. To look into your future, future predictions. To look into your love life. Look at your shadows. To talk to spirits. And it can be used to see the energy of other people. What’s going on in their life, what their future holds, what their past was like, who they will fall in love with, etc.
And you can’t be punished for how you use tarot.
The ONLY way you can abuse Tarot and be punished for it, is if you are disrespectful to the deck or a spirit you’re communicating with through the deck, while practicing. And even then, it’s a matter of how disrespectful you were and to whom, and if the spirit you offended is one that enjoys teaching lessons through punishment.
Other than that, how you read Tarot is really not a big deal, or anything to be afraid or concerned about 🤍
What it actually means,
Meanwhile, other people mean well when they say not to use tarot for snooping into other people’s business. It’s not a warning from them, instead it’s their way of saying you should use tarot to be productive instead of to indulge in gossip and ego.
And while I agree, that tarot is “better” used when we focus on improving ourselves and learning esoteric information, I don’t agree in telling people how to use tarot. I prefer educating and allowing yall to decide how you want to do things from an educated perspective. I think it’s best for yall to have the freedom to do whatever you want while being aware of what’s out there.
The truth,
One of the most beneficial ways of using tarot is to look into the energy of other people.
There’s actually an important part of spirit work in witchcraft or mundane spirituality, where a practitioner needs to “vet a spirit” to make sure the spirit they’re communicating with is who they say they are, and trustworthy… trustworthy may not be the right word but it essentially is what we use vetting for.
And the only way to, in my personal opinion, accurately vet a spirit is by doing so from a sideways approach. By asking another spirit {or the deck itself} about the spirit in question. Because you can ask the spirit in question if they are trustworthy, and they could lie to you… But if you ask a spirit you already know is trustworthy, about this new spirit, they’ll tell you the truth.
And obviously, you aren’t going to get the new spirit’s consent to look into their energy if they’re a malicious spirit or an imposter. So you have to do it without their consent. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
Now, for those of you who dont want to speak to spirits, this works for the living too. I’ve personally have had so many people in my life who have lied to my face about who they were, went behind my back, and talked shit about me. And there was no physical proof of it, but I felt the energy so I did readings on it. And that’s when I learned who was being fake with me and I was able to confront them and get the physical evidence I was looking for.
I think people worry about consent because they equate every kind of consent to being as important or punishable as abuse, but when it comes to energy and checking on it either astrally or with divination, it’s not a sin.
It’s essentially looking at someone with your third eye. You’re not violating them in anyway, you’re simply seeing them the way they truly are, in their true energetic form and you’re seeing the energy around them and that includes their future, past and present because time is not linear, it’s all happening at once so you’re allowed to see it.
The only time you’re not allowed to see someone’s energy is if their spirit team or they themselves don’t want you to see it. They’ll have protections set up, to cloak their energy but it’s not because what you’re doing is wrong, it’s because:
they are either a super important person to the divine, and the divine has extra security around them to protect them and their destiny,
or the person is malicious and doesn’t want anyone to know who they really are.
Understanding How Tarot Answers
All right, so now that you know the reasoning behind the popular misconceptions, and that you can use tarot however you’d like to, let’s get into understanding how Tarot answers questions!
Getting answers from Tarot can happen in a myriad of ways.
Sometimes it can be direct, you can take the cards at face value and the answer is clear as day. Other times, the answers can come thru abstractly, where you’ll need to study the cards and hone into your intuition more than usual to really understand the answer.
What determines how the answers come through depends on a few factors.
your intention
the question asked
the energy answering
your intention
You can set the intention that your divination tool, a tarot deck in this case, will only answer you in a clear, easy-to-understand way, and then it will. I have a few decks where I have this intention set, then I have other decks where I let them do their own thing, because sometimes it’s nice to get advice from the deck itself.
Some people skip this step and that’s what causes a lot of problems and misconceptions around tarot.
the question asked
Without an intention set, some questions can interfere with the simplicity of the answer. As frustrating as this sounds, and may be, it can happen.
Sometimes the way the question is asked can give you a different answer than you intended for it to. But the deck understands what you meant to ask but has to answer the question you actually asked… so it kinda throws both answers at you at once and that can sometimes be confusing to read if the answers contradict each other because of the question.
I’ll give an example for this. Let’s say you are reading for yourself and you’re wanting to know if you/your partner will get pregnant soon… The question you ask is: How soon will I/we become pregnant?
It seems pretty straight forward, you’ll get a timeframe and that’s exactly what you want to know… However let’s say you/your partner are already pregnant, it’s early days, yall don’t even suspect it yet… The cards that come out could probably be the Tower, the Ace of Wands… or Ace of Swords… Moon, 7 of cups, 4 of cups… bonus points if you get the Empress card thrown in there too! And suddenly it all looks a little confusing. Half the cards are saying it’ll happen soon, suddenly.. a matter of days to weeks. While other cards appear to say it’s an illusion and you’re not seeing the situation clearly, that it could also take months.
Suddenly, you’re back to the drawing board trying to figure out what question to ask next to clarify this.
Especially if you aren’t in tune with your intuition or if your anxiety around the situation is clouding your intuition, it could be hard to see that the cards are actually saying: “You are already pregnant (tower, ace of wands, empress) you’ll find out in a few days, (tower, ace of wands/swords) you just don’t know it yet because it’s hidden from you, (moon, 7 cups, 4 cups, ace of swords) but if you listen to your intuition you’ll know.”
This is just a communication issue, and the way to solve this problem is by asking the question we really want the answer to, first, and then trickling down into more details. If the first question you asked was “Are we currently pregnant?” the answer would’ve been straight forward Yes. Then you wouldn’t need the question about timing. Now, if the scenario was different and you weren’t pregnant but you asked this question first, it would’ve said No, but it would be a nudge in the right direction, now you know you can ask about timing and the answer will be direct, and clear.
That’s what we want. We want to ask questions that we can be sure will give us clear and direct answers because there’s zero room for misinterpretation.
the energy answering
Now, we come to the last possible issue, the last pillar where things could go wrong. The energy answering the question.
I talked about who could be answering your questions in part 3, and I explained a little about trickster spirits and imposters… but the other thing to be aware of is, the deck’s personality.
This is only an issue if you haven’t set boundaries and set an intention with your deck.
The deck, or spirits can have a bit of a humor when answering questions, and sometimes they will give you wrong or confusing answers in hopes to have you loosen up a bit. I have a few decks that did this when I was just starting out and I was really anxious and felt like the situation was super serious. They helped me realize no situation is ever that serious and I don’t have to worry about the answer.
Now if you’re not using the deck to channel spirits, and you’ve cut off the deck’s spirit and you’ve infused the deck with your own energy and it’s fully your intuition, your higher self answering your questions, you don’t have to worry about this too much.
However, sometimes, the universe, your spirit team, the deck, and even your own higher self think it’s best that you don’t know everything right now.
There’s divine timing for everything, it’s a law in the universe and divination abides by that law. It’s there to surprise you with something good, or to make sure you’re able to comprehend something that’s shocking, to make sure you can process it, handle it and not feel like your entire world imploded. And so spirits can hide things from you purposefully.
Even if you ask the question in a clear way, even if you did set up intentions, sometimes the cards will lie to you, to protect you from knowing something too soon. And they will make it seem as if it is the truth. You can pull clarity cards, and it’ll all say it’s true.
I know this can be really frustrating to hear, especially when just starting in your divination journey, but there is good news!
There is a surefire way to get accurate and honest answers, no matter what, but it takes a lot of effort on your part. I’ll get into that in a little while. Right now, we need to understand why this could happen, even if you don’t have any spirits involved in your practice except your highest self.
First you need to understand what divination is. And what it isn’t.
Divination is by definition : Finding out secret, hidden, or esoteric information by consulting the divine, spirits, and higher powers.
This means divination can’t be separated from the universe, from the divine. . . and that means it can’t fully be separated from spirits.
Divination isn’t something that exists outside of the universe or outside of the divine’s highest interest for you BECAUSE Divination exists within the system that the universe operates in, and that means operating on divine timing and working for your highest benefit. Which is a good thing.
See, even if you set up boundaries and don’t allow other spirits to talk through the deck, your spirit is still involved. Your highest self. And your highest self is part of the divine, part of the universe. It operates on the same field and wavelength of knowing what is good to know right this moment, and what needs to wait to be known until later. There’s no escaping that.
However, before you run away thinking divination isn’t worth it, let me say that, the more aligned you become with your highest self, the more and more you will always get told the truth by the cards. No matter what.
This is because the more aligned you become with your highest self, the more relaxed you are towards the answers and hard-to-hear truths that would usually be hidden from you if you weren’t balanced in your acceptance of it.
So there is a way to get the truth no matter what, but it’s a journey into yourself, and that isn’t easy. So just be aware that if you want the full, unbiased truth from divination {be it tarot or oracle or shuffle~mancy or any type of divination} you’ll be put on a journey of self discovery and alignment with your highest self.
Which is honestly what divination is all about 🤍
Crafting Questions
So now that we know there’s no right or wrong way to ask a question, I’ll give you the basics to asking a clear question so you know you’re always receiving an answer you can decipher 🤍
The main thing about tarot, and divination in general is: it’s a mindfulness practice, first and foremost.
It’s a practice to help center yourself in the present moment, bring you into yourself, and tune you into your intuition.
Which means the key to asking questions comes from calming your mind, taking your time, and looking within first, to understand what you’re really wanting to know is.
Here are the basics to crafting a clear question:
Set the intention~ so the deck and yourself have a clear understanding of what to expect when you draw cards. Ask for clear, easy to understand answers, that are honest and accurate.
Meditate~ calm your mind, worries, fears. Let go of bias and expectations. Allow yourself to be open to receive the truth even if it isn’t what you want to hear. In the calm, most of the time you will find out what question you want to ask.
but if you still don’t know what to ask…
When in doubt: Zoom out, when you dont know what question to ask, ask yourself “what answer am i hoping for?” This will give you the question it answers, (Most likely, it may be a yes or no question) and now you can ask that question.
Reminders:
Yes or No questions are useful, and there’s nothing wrong with asking a yes or no question in tarot. I do it all the time. The only reason why we want to ask open ended questions more than yes or no questions, is because tarot is built for going in depth, and telling a story. Confining tarot to say a yes or no answer is kinda like asking a snow cone vendor to give you a single ice cube. They can do it, there’s nothing wrong with it, but they could do so much more for you, if you let them.
Yes or No questions are great for clarity, this is what makes it okay to ask them in tarot. And usually when you need to zoom out and look at what answer you really want to know, it’s usually an issue on clarity. Which is where the yes or no questions exist. So don’t be afraid of asking a question that starts with Is, Are, Am I/they, etc.
At the end of the day, Tarot is a tool for gaining insight into your own intuition, and finding answers to questions that haunt you, so you can find peace and comfort. While asking a clear question is useful to you in divination, at the end of the day, the answer will come to you regardless of how you asked the question.
The universe, tarot, your intuition, it responds even when you are desperate. And if you are desperate or struggling with how to ask a question, even after meditating, you can simply talk to the deck. Tell them what you’re thinking about, what you’re struggling with, what question you want to ask but you’re not sure if that’s detailed enough to give the answer you intend the question to answer for you, and then ask the deck to tell you the truth. I do this when I need clarity on days where astrologically my mind is a mess and clarity is no where to be found. And it works every time.
People like to think of divination like it’s something out of reach, something like a higher power that only understands us if we ask a question in a super simple, direct, way— like making a wish to a genie. But that’s not how divination works at all. Divination understands your intention, and it understands your question. It’ll answer your question and it’ll answer your intention, even if both require different answers. Even if the answers contradict each other. That’s why asking a clear question is for your benefit, it’s for giving you clarity, not for making sure the deck answers correctly.
It’s for your benefit so you can have complete clarity on the situation and get that clarity quickly. But there really isn’t a wrong way to ask a question.
At the end of the day, tarot is a tool to help you. So of course it’s going to answer the question you intend to ask no matter how you worded it.
That’s all for this post! If you have any questions or want me to elaborate on something in this post please reach out, either with my asks “Owl Desk 🦉” comments or DMs. 🤍
The next post will be on cleansing and charging decks {since i forgot to write a post on that 🙈} and then we’ll dive into how to read the cards! 🥳
💌 i m p o r t a n t n o t e 💌
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Welcome to Tarot 101 with Astrid! This is part 4 of my series; if you haven’t read the previous ones you can find them here: part 1, part 2, part 3.
c o n t e n t s
What does it mean to Bond with Your Tarot Deck?
Why is it important?
Benefits
How to get started
Casual Bonding
What does it mean to Bond with your Tarot Deck?
So you might have heard other witches/practitioners talk about bonding with their deck— or how you should bond with your deck as soon as you get a new one— while it may sound silly to some, it might just raise a lot more questions for others. Like What does bonding actually mean?
Bonding with your tarot deck is not like a binding spell, you do not join together and become one, with your deck.
Nor is it a ritual or a spell you cast that creates a magical contract between you two, instead it’s actually super simple.
When we talk about bonding with your tarot deck, we mean bonding in the mundane sense.
It’s forming a platonic relationship with your deck. Getting to know your deck’s personality, preferences, strengths and limitations, and what lessons it can provide for you, and more.
In turn, your deck gets to know you too. It learns your energy, your personality, your character, your anxieties and where you feel confident in, and so much more.
Why is it Important?
“Important” may be objective. Bonding with a deck can be the most important thing one practitioner does, and it could be a lost thought, never done, by another practitioner.
Its importance lies in your practice, and in your beliefs.
If you’ve read part 3 of my tarot 101 series, you know that who answers your questions while reading tarot is entirely up to your preference and beliefs. If you choose to read solely based on your intuition, no spirits required, then bonding with your deck doesn’t carry the same weight of importance as say, using your deck as a vessel for other spirits to communicate to you through.
Bonding with your deck, however, can still have its benefits even if you only use your intuition to answer in readings.
I’ll share some of the benefits of both divining from spirits and divining from intuition alone, and you can decide if it’s something you deem important for your practice.
Benefits
divining from intuition
1. it’ll allow familiarity with the imagery
giving you time to look at the cards and see details in the artwork can help you read better
2. gives you time to associate some cards with different meanings
with time and practice, asking random or different questions can actually provide deeper insight and new ideas to what a card means or says
3. you’ll understand how the deck likes to work
some decks give straight answers, some beat around the bush, others strictly speak to you differently than they do to other practitioners. Even if you aren’t an animist, decks have different ways of operating, bonding will help you get a feel for how a particular deck works
4. it’ll build confidence in your personal and professional readings
taking time to bond with your deck during casual readings can help you hear your intuition better, faster, easier, and raise your confidence for other readings that do matter
5. helps you take divination (and life) less seriously
which helps if you have anxiety or trouble with feeling a lack of control in life. Basically bonding helps you feel more connected to spirituality and that helps you feel more at peace with how life happens, and helps you understand that the weight of the world isn’t on your shoulders if you get the answer wrong
divining from spirits (including your deck)
~ all of the above benefits plus these ~
1. helps differentiate who’s answering a question
when you know what the deck sounds like, you can tell when another spirit speaks or uses the deck to answer, because it’ll move differently. This is really useful during channeling sessions
2. helps you identify imposter/trickster spirits
understanding what the deck sounds like, how it moves, how it works, how it speaks to you, will help you know if it’s the deck itself or another spirit speaking, which is helpful after cleansing the deck after a channeling session to verify that the deck is fully cleansed and there’s no other spirit lingering on it.
3. feel a deeper connection to tarot
spending more time with tarot decks and asking random or silly questions opens up a whole new world of intuition where you can hear more, see more, and feel more. Tarot will start looking different to you, it’ll no longer be this simple set of cards, or this out of reach, scary tool, but it’ll feel like your best friend, it’ll become a key that you use to unlock secrets and truths and you’ll feel like you’re one with the deck (but don’t worry you aren’t merging with it and nothing scary is actually happening)
4. feel a deeper connection to spirituality and the universe
bonding with your deck creates an environment of everyday magic, casual magic, and that’s when the universe opens up more to you, showing magic to you in everyday things and you’ll feel more connected to everything around you
5. gain more insight into esoteric knowledge
a lot of the things that i know about the universe, fate, free will, and spirituality actually comes from me bonding with my tarot decks and asking random questions. Spirits love dishing out the tea of what’s really going on behind the veil, partly because they enjoy sharing their knowledge, and they also find it fun to shatter our view of things to give us the truth, some spirits are big fans of tower moments lol and they love causing them if we ask for truths
6. your deck knows how to answer you clearly
the more you bond with your tarot deck, the more it learns how to answer you in a way you understand clearly. if you regularly need to pull clarity cards, it’ll learn how you think and how you see the cards, and it’ll help you understand the answer by giving you cards that you’ll immediately relate to the answer, instead of needing to ask more questions or pull more clarity cards. It learns how to talk to you, and how you best receive answers.
How to get Started?
There’s a lot of ways you can bond with decks and it’s super easy to get started!
I’ll share how I bond with my decks, as well as other ways too, and you can pick what you’d like to do and how you want to start. Just find which of these calls out to you 🤍
What I Do:
Personally, the first thing I do when I get a new deck is cleanse it and charge it with its own energy. This way it’s fully itself and there aren’t any conflicting energies like “love and light” or my own energy to throw off the deck’s own unique energy. I like to make sure I’m getting to know the deck itself.
Then to start bonding, I introduce myself to them.
I tell them my name, Astrid, who I am, a witch and tarot reader. I give them a little background about me, how i became a witch. Just the basics, whatever I can fit into a 15-30second monologue. I do this so they know a little about me and they’re more receptive to answering my questions about them. I treat it like our initial ice breaker.
Then, I get into a small reading. I call this an ice breaker reading, because it’s 10 questions total, split into 2 small readings with about 3-5 questions and then I thank the deck and put it away.
I like to do a small reading for our ice breaker because I don’t want to overwhelm myself or the deck with a lot of questions upon first opening the box. So I start with about 3 to 5 questions and then put them away until the next day and then ask some more. This is because I treat it like any new relationship, you test the waters first, give you both time to process and feel the energy between you and let the friendship build naturally, slowly, over time.
My Ice Breaker Questions:
These are the first 10 questions I choose from to ask, in order of most likely to ask first:
1. How are you feeling right now?
~ They usually tell me how they felt abandoned, lost or hopeless sitting in the warehouse/store waiting for someone to buy them. Then how relieved they are that I bought them, and then their hopes and dreams for us working together. If they don’t share their hopes and dreams I ask them later.
2. What would you like to tell me about yourself? (or simply “tell me about yourself?”
~ this is my favorite question because it covers so much and depending on how comfortable they are with you, they could tell you sooo much about themselves in this one question!
3. How would you identify yourself energy wise, are you more feminine, masculine, or balanced in both?
~ I like asking this question because it gives me a clear idea of the deck’s energy. Pretty much every time I get a new deck I can tell right away if they’re leaning into one gender binary or if they’re balanced, but I like to get their assessment of who they are so I can better find a name that fits them.
4. Would you like a name that is more feminine, masculine, or nonbinary?
~ again, this just helps me narrow down the choices for their name list for them to choose from later.
5. What would you like to tell me right now? It could be about anything
~ this is like a warm up for both of us, to see how we do with a normal tarot reading question and see how we work together to get to the answer.
This is usually where I stop, I thank them for sharing with me, and I let them know I’ll let us both rest and we can talk again later. I’ll put them away and the next day or a couple days later I’ll come back and ask the other questions.
6. Why did you want to be a tarot deck?
~ this gives a lot of insight into their personality, morals, ethics, the way they view the world, the divine, the esoteric, and humans.
7. What kind of readings do you prefer doing?
~ this lets me know their preferences and I’ll learn more about their personality through their answer.
8. What kind of readings do you hate doing?
~ same thing as above, but this gives me a clear boundary for what readings I’ll do my best to avoid doing with them.
9. How do you feel about being used as a vessel for other spirits to speak through you during readings?
~ this is a big deal for me, I never want my decks to feel uncomfortable or silenced so I make sure they are happy or at least content with being used in channeled readings and if they aren’t, I use them for regular readings only.
10. What else would you like to tell me about yourself?
~ I like revisiting this question because we’ve gotten to know each other a little more and they usually feel more comfortable sharing more around this time, or they give really good advice for a situation I wasn’t even thinking of at the moment.
That’s all for the ice breaker reading. After that, it’s free range. I can ask them about anything and everything I can dive deep i can get personal, I can get random and silly because it just feels comfortable between us already.
These are the other questions I like to ask:
How would you describe yourself?
How do you view yourself?
How would you wish for me to view you?
What card would you use to represent you? / What card do you think best represents you and your energy?
How do you view me?
What card do you think best represents me and my energy?
What cards are your favorite because of the art work?
What cards are your favorite because of their meaning?
What cards do you hate/ or not like, because of the art work?
What cards do you hate/ or not like, because of their meaning?
Follow up questions to those:
What do/don’t you like about the art work?
Why do/don’t you like these cards?
What does this card mean to you?
Then later I like to ask silly questions, I can make another mini post about silly questions to ask your tarot and oracle decks, but right now I’ll keep this one post short.
casual bonding
After the interview portion of bonding I like to bond in a more casual way.
Here are some casual ways to bond with your deck:
take them with you when you leave the house, for errands, in your purse or in a backpack.
~ Just being around them and them going on adventures with me makes us feel closer to each other.
get them out of their box, and let them sit or shuffle them while you listen to some music together
let them sit beside you or shuffle them while you watch a movie/tv show together
talk to them when you walk past them on their shelf or wherever you keep them
~ like a casual hi, or tell them a story of what happened just before you got home. basically treat them like a roommate.
other ways to bond
Name them
~ I like letting them pick their name so i’ll gather information around what name they’d like and then brainstorm a list of names for them and then do tarot readings with them on how they like each name until we find their perfect match.
sleep with them under your pillow, or beside you on the night stand
journal with your deck next to you
journal and ask your deck for insight on what you’re feeling, not seeing clearly, give you advice on your day ahead, etc.
pick one card in the morning of every day
~ to either, represent the energy for your day, to give you an energy to focus on during the day, to be a card you’ll learn about for the day, or for any reason, etc.
make a music playlist for your deck by letting it pick of the songs with yes or no answers
play the playlist while you do readings
shuffle the deck whenever you feel anxious, let the shuffling be a grounding technique for you
meditate with your deck
spend time looking at the art work on the cards, finding details that speak to you
take them on a nature walk or walk around your neighborhood with them
give them a special space in your room or on your altar
give them a crystal or charm that is theirs only, like a cute little companion and a gift
make art of your favorite cards in their deck
take pictures of the deck, a cute lil photoshoot to make them feel special and unlock your creativity in taking photos of them
ask them what music they like and don’t like
ask them what they thought about the movie/tv show episode
Long story short, however you wanna bond with your deck, you can, just please be respectful to them. I’ve seen so many people cut up tarot decks just to prove a point to themselves that tarot isn’t some scary object to be terrified of, and yes while nothing bad will happen to you if you cut up or damage a tarot deck… it’s so incredibly rude and heartbreaking to be treated that way. Please at least treat them with compassion even if you don’t believe they have a soul attached to them.
The next post is on how to ask questions and then after that we’ll dive into the meanings of each card and suit and how to read tarot 🤍
If you have any questions or want me to elaborate on something in this post please reach out, either with my asks “Owl Desk”, comments or DMs.
💌 i m p o r t a n t n o t e 💌
I will never message you first asking for money or about booking tarot readings with me, so please be mindful of impersonators!
You can only Book a Reading with me through my Etsy Shop and my Ko~Fi Shop and I only have one of each, all linked here.
Welcome to Tarot 101 with Astrid! This is part 3 of my series; if you haven’t read the previous ones you can find them here: part 1, part 2.
So you’re wondering who or what is answering your questions when you pick up your deck. In my personal beliefs, I think who answers is up to you. You can tell your deck who can and cannot answer.
For me, who answers changes based on what reading I’m doing.
I made a list to explain the different energies you can choose when using Tarot.
c o n t e n t
a. The deck itself
b. Your spirit guides or deities
c. The universe + trickster spirits
d. Your intuition
e. All of the above
f. None of the above
g. How to set the intention
a. The deck itself
This means your deck is conscious. It has a soul. It is consciously aware of itself and the world around you. I personally believe in this because I believe in animism {the belief that everything, including inanimate objects, has a soul.} However, if this belief doesn’t resonate with you, simply let it go.
For those who resonate with this belief, if it is your deck answering, this means when you ask a question and shuffle the deck, the deck itself is giving you the information.
This can either be a positive or a negative thing depending on the personality of your deck.
Each deck is different, because each deck has a different soul, so there’s always a different personality within each deck. Some decks have very blunt energy, they will call you— or anyone you read for— out on any shenanigans and could very well stop letting any cards fly out if their advice and insight is not taken. Some decks are quite emotional in this sense where they take disrespect very seriously and can close up completely— and it can take a great deal of apologizing and changing your behavior before they are open to doing readings again. Other decks have a more forgiving energy where they will patiently continue giving the same advice in new ways to help you register it.
Then there are the tricksters. Now trickster energy does not mean they are malicious or ill-intended, it simply means they may not share the honest, whole truth 100% of the time. Now each deck is different. Personally, I have a deck that only shares what I absolutely need to know and hides the rest away from me so I can enjoy life’s surprises.
Some people may not like this. Especially when you’re not aware they are hiding the whole truth from you. But this deck is actually a dear friend of mine and I appreciate her desire to shield me from what is unnecessary to see in the current moment.
However, this is why I have multiple decks, so I can then ask another deck who is blunt and 100% honest to tell me what the she didn’t share for any questions that I really want to know everything on.
Now, for the fun— or not so fun— part about decks having personalities… they can have a mix of all of these and more. I’ve met grumpy decks, emotional decks, kind decks and fairly rude decks as well. This is also why some readers will give their used decks away and claim “Our energies just didn’t match well.” or “I never quite clicked with this deck like I have with my others.”
However, what makes this fun is getting to know your deck! It’s also very possible for a deck to change personalities after you’ve bonded with it and have respected their boundaries— and vice versa.
I have one deck that, when we first met, was super sweet and would have 20+ cards fly out during every reading— but as I stopped doing readings she felt neglected and desired to leave the deck and reincarnate where she would be used more often. While she felt neglected, her personality changed. She stopped “talking” as much. When I’d do a reading she wouldn’t let any cards pop out and I also didn’t feel intuitively drawn to pull any cards because she didn’t feel like she had anything to say to me. It wasn’t until I asked her what was wrong, and she told me, that things got better. As I put in more effort to do regular readings with her and show her I wasn’t neglecting her out of malice, she slowly returned to her original personality.
This is what I love most about divination and spirit work because it really is just like any other relationship! It takes patience, effort/devotion, and care to develop a healthy working relationship.
b. Your spirit guides or deities
This means that your deck is a vessel for your spirit guides or deities to communicate with you.
You can specify which deities or spirit guides can communicate with which deck you use. This is useful if you have multiple decks or if you don’t feel comfortable with certain deities or spirit guides and you want to take things slow by having only certain deities/spirits come thru.
If your spirit guides or Deities are answering, this means when you ask a question and shuffle the deck, either your spirit guides or a Deity is giving you the information.
I specifically bought and have a deck to use as a vessel for spirits to use when I do readings. This makes it a lot easier to get a clear answer from a spirit if I’m doubting my clair senses while channeling because then I just ask them to use the deck to talk to me and they do.
This is incredibly useful if you want to communicate with Ancestors, or any spirit really. I find that spirits have a lot of wisdom and comfort to share, and some simply want to speak directly to you rather than having the deck pick up on their energy and relay the information that way.
However, if you also believe in animism, it’s important to note that not all decks like to be used as a vessel. Many of the decks I own prefer to be used as themselves, each have their own reasons for why but some reasons are:
1. they dislike not having control over themselves and which cards come out
2. some spirits lie/don’t share the whole truth or share too much, and this can go against the deck’s personal preference which makes them feel uncomfortable
3. some decks just prefer to be used as themselves since they chose to reincarnate as a divination tool to help share insights
4. some decks are afraid of spirits not leaving once they take hold of them.
However, the deck I use as a vessel is very understanding of the importance of asking spirits directly and feels confident in his ability to banish spirits from him if they ever tried to stay beyond their welcome. This is just an important thing to consider if you do believe in animism and I personally believe the questions “How would you like to be used?” and “Do you feel comfortable/How do you feel with spirits using you to answer questions in a reading?” should definitely be something to ask all decks when you’re getting to know them.
c. The universe + trickster spirits
If you don’t have a specific deity, spirit or entity that you want to ask your questions to, you can have “the universe” answer. This could be Source, or you could simply ask “the universe” to answer.
Now, no matter which option you choose from to have answer your questions in readings, there is always the importance of your intention and belief.
Some practitioners believe that when you ask “the universe” for help— or a question— that it leaves the forum open to any and all kinds of spirits to offer their help or answers. Meaning you could get a response from an ancestor, Source, or the fair folk, or any other species of spirits.
Each of these could have their own intentions for offering their help or an answer. Some could be doing so out of kindness, pity, or malice. Others could be telling the honest truth, while others could be blatantly lying to you because they just want to have fun.
Now, just because this is a belief some practitioners have does not make it true for your practice. When you call upon the universe, you could very well have only benevolent spirits who have your best interest at heart, or Source themself answering you.
What happens is all within what you believe and your intention when you call on the universe.
Personally, I believe calling on the universe without intention could warrant any spirit to respond, but when I talk about or to the universe in my practice, it is only the beings of upmost benevolence and care for me that I am speaking to, because I have set that intention long ago.
Having the universe answer your questions can have its perks but it comes with fine print. The fine print is what you believe and the intention you put into asking your questions. The universe itself, Source, knows all and can share all… if it feels like it. Just remember to specify that you want the whole truth, if that is what you want.
d. Your intuition
Now, if you don’t believe in animism or you don’t feel comfortable conversing with any kind of spirits— or if you’re new to witchcraft— here’s the next option of what could be answering your questions when you do a reading: Your Own Intuition.
If it is your own intuition that is answering you, it is simple.
It’s you looking at a mundane deck, asking yourself the question while shuffling the deck and it is you who finds the answer by simply looking at the cards and interpreting them based on how your intuition speaks to you.
This is probably the most widely used/accepted belief in the witchy communities I have seen. I think it’s because it’s the most beginner friendly of them all. You don’t have to subscribe to a new belief system, you don’t have to worry about setting up boundaries or learning the intricacies to spirit work and channeling, all you have to do is work on understanding your own intuitive pings.
But while this is the most widely used option, it is not free of its own complications.
Now, it can be hard to listen to your intuition or hear it, especially if you are just beginning on your journey. This could lead to frustrations, self-doubt, or even giving up on the art of reading tarot.
However, all the other options are based on the detail that you can hear your intuition, and trust it. Spirits don’t talk to us the way live humans do, we cannot hear them with our physical ears so we use our clair senses— and our clair senses are based on our intuition. This isn’t to discourage you but to inform you of the truth of what it is to read tarot.
The good news is that when it is your intuition answering you, you don’t have to worry about being lied to, being manipulated, upsetting your deck, or having to build a relationship with any kind of spirit.
The good news is, your intuition always has your best interests in mind, your intuition is your higher self nudging you and guiding you to where you need to go and keeping you safe from harm. So this really is the best, beginner friendly option— for now, until we discover a new one!
However, just like with the other options, there is quite a bit of effort to put into reading tarot. This isn’t because this option is just as difficult but it’s simply because Tarot is difficult to grasp, because divination is complicated today.
The world we live in, especially in today’s age, is manufactured to separate us from our intuition, to cloud our judgement, to overstimulate us til we’re exhausted and can’t find our center. Why? Because it’s easier to keep people under control if they can’t regulate their nervous system and hear their intuition and know ways to live free from oppression. (There’s more reasons of course but we can get into that in a later post if you’d like.)
For this reason, it can take quite a while to hear and trust your intuition. Some of us may be faster at it and others may seem like they’re a natural at it, but this shouldn’t discourage you if you need to take more time and put in more effort to trust your intuition. Instead, take pride in how exciting your journey will be! You’ll get to practice more and enjoy the journey to uncover the noise and perhaps trauma that is clouding your intuition.
Taking time to learn your intuition is not a sign that you’ve done anything wrong or that you’re any less of a spiritual being than others. It is a sign of how far our world has gotten from our natural order. It is a sign of how much you’ve endured and have been told to disregard the way your body feels and the voice of your intuition. It is a reminder that we need to put in effort to teach others and the generations to come to spend time listening to their intuition to strengthen it so this doesn’t continue happening.
No matter the amount of time before you can fully trust your intuition, tarot is a really great way to learn and strengthen it!
e. All of the above
Now, a fun thing about divination is you can mix and match who answers your questions. This includes when you read tarot as well.
For my personal practice, I have my decks themselves answer, and I also rely on my intuition to interpret their cards and hear their insights.
I also have a handmade deck I made myself that I use to strengthen my intuition. I don’t ask the deck itself, I ask myself while I shuffle.
Then for my divination shop, the decks themselves answer until a client wants a channeled message, then I use the vessel deck.
So if more than one of these options resonates with you, know that you can mix and match with your readings, even mid-reading.
I still ask my vessel deck to answer questions himself! Sometimes I ask him to answer the questions first then I’ll have the specified spirit enter him or vice versa, but I find it faster to have him answer first because cleansing him after he channels a spirit can vary times for each spirit.
So really it is up to you who answers and when.
f. None of the above
Now, that we’ve gotten thru all the options I know of, here’s this one! It could be none of these.
If you find a new way to read tarot and find answers from something that isn’t a spirit or the deck or yourself, trust it! Trust yourself.
Tarot, like anything in the occult is really just personal gnosis turned into verified gnosis when it reaches a certain level of popularity or enough time has passed where it is now part of the myths and lore.
So if your journey takes you on the path of finding a new way, use it! And perhaps share it here if you feel comfortable, in the comments or reblogs so we can all learn your way too!
The beauty of tarot and the occult is: it is personal. What resonates for me may not resonate for you, what works for you may not work for others. It is all just each of us finding our own unique spin on a practice with lots of different options all passed down from people’s personal preferences and insights on the subject.
So have fun with your journey and have fun reading tarot in your unique way!
g. How to set the intention
Here’s the fun part! So now you know the different options for who or what can answer your questions, but if it all rests on setting the belief and intention, How do you set it?
Well, it varies… because it’s personal.
I’ve seen people complicate the idea of setting an intention, and I think that can make it really hard for beginners to understand what exactly setting an intention is, and means, and does.
It could be an elaborate ceremony where you light a few candles, maybe write it down on paper and pass the paper thru a flame. Or it could be more simple, you could set the intention by affirming while meditating for a few minutes, or it could be really quick while you’re dusting your fingers off from a snack you just gobbled up before grabbing your deck!
Each one of these— and any way you want to set the intention— is just as valid and concrete as the next!
I think the confusion around setting intention, comes from people’s desire to make their practice fun, so they add more steps or they take away steps but then share it as “the only true way” to set an intention and this causes the confusion.
So what exactly does it mean to set an intention?
Setting an intention is simple at its core. It’s you declaring either why you are doing something, or what you are doing, or what is happening.
In the case of tarot readings and setting the intention of who is answering your questions, setting the intention is essentially saying “This is who is allowed to answer me. No one else, nothing else. Just this.”
This can be done in any way that feels comfortable and true to you.
It can be as simple as thinking it once, “My deck answers me.” or it can be an affirmation you say every time while you shuffle your deck before a reading. Or it could be lighting a candle and affirming it with the energy of the flame to help you feel that your intention is solidified.
There is no wrong way to set an intention.
The only caveat is that you have to believe it and it has to be true to you.
Think of it as you swearing your reason for doing something in the court of universal law.
Let’s say a mundane example. You’re texting a friend, asking about y’all’s plans tonight. Your true reason for texting them is because you’re hoping they want to cancel because you want to stay home, but when they ask you why you’re asking, you lie and say you just wanted to confirm it was still happening. It’s not a lie, but it’s not fully honest and this can cause confusion and potentially an argument based on the miscommunication when the truth comes out later.
Setting an intention in anything magic related is the same way.
Let’s give a magical example now. Say you’re casting a spell. If you say the reason you’re doing a spell is because you want problems in your love life to be fixed but really you’re true reason for doing it is because you want someone to love you forever. Well now the spell is confused. It doesnt know whether it’s healing your karma and love life to bring you the best version of love to you, or if it’s simply bringing someone, anyone, into your life who will end up attached to you so they don’t leave you— perhaps in an unhealthy way— so you can have what you want.
This is usually the cause for why spells “don’t work” or “backfire.” It’s the lack of clear and true intention setting.
This is why it’s important to know yourself. Honestly. Either you can hear your soul and know instantly, exactly why you’re doing something, or you meditate and sit with the feeling until you know why you want to do something before you set the intention.
However you do it, you need to know your true reason behind doing something and then declare it, that is what setting an intention is.
So no matter which option you choose for your tarot practice, make sure you’re setting the true intention of what you want, to make sure you’re actually being answered by who or what you want.
If you have any questions or want me to elaborate on something in this post please reach out, either with my “Library of Owls”, comments or DMs 🩷✨
💌 i m p o r t a n t n o t e 💌
I will never message you first asking for money or about booking tarot readings with me, so please be mindful of impersonators!
You can only Book a Reading with me through my Etsy Shop and my Ko~Fi Shop and I only have one of each, all linked here.
Links
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Welcome to Tarot 101 with Astrid! This is part 2 of my Tarot series. If you haven’t read pt 1 you can find it here. This part continues where we left off. I’ll be explaining the advantages of reading with the Major or Minor Arcana and how to determine which is right for you.
c o n t e n t s
Their Advantages
Tarot Spread Specific
Choosing for Yourself
Their Advantages
Reading Tarot is like anything else in the craft. You can customize it to fit your practice better. Although a standard Tarot deck holds 78 Cards, you can read accurately with less.
While the Major Arcana explains the big picture, the Minor Arcana explains the details.
This is why both Arcana’s are useful and this is why some readers read with all 78 cards. However, there are advantages to using just one Arcana or just one suit.
Advantage One: Easy or Detailed Answers
Let’s say you’re feeling ready for a big change in your life, you know what you want to do: change careers, move across your country, find your forever person this year, etc.
It wouldn’t be useful to do a tarot reading with the major arcana because it’ll just tell you in a really broad, vague, way what you already know you should be doing— but what you really need to know is, hOw do you get there?
This is when you separate the arcanas, and use the Minor to explain the path to take to reach your desired “big change” in detail.
What things do you need to let go off?
Pride, defensiveness or over planning— Wands.
Greed or excess materials for your big move— Pentacles.
What’s the next step? What to focus your mental energy on at this time? What to be on the lookout for? So many other detail oriented questions can be asked and answered easily with the Suits.
And vice versa.
Let’s say you’re feeling stuck in your everyday life. Everyday is the same and it’s not getting better. You need to change something but you’re just not sure whAt to change?
Looking at the Minor arcana is just going to give you more to worry about. It’ll be detailed, showing you everything you have to fix, let go of, attract and embrace into your life for that healthy change you’re looking for. Instead save yourself the headache of overwhelming information and read with just the 22 cards of the Major arcana.
Find a new adventure, take a leap of faith and do something you’ve always wanted to do but didn’t have the guts to?— The Fool
Create something, pour your creativity into something fun with your own hands— The Magician
Focus on the positives in everyday, keep a gratitude journal, maybe do some inner child work— The Sun
The Major arcana makes it easy to see what you should do without overwhelming you.
Advantage Two: Familiarity and Easy Learning
Similar to the above, splitting up the deck into Suits and the Major arcana can make it easier to read and understand the cards.
Instead of having to learn 78 new card meanings, you can choose to start with 22. Just read the Major. Familiarize yourself with them and their meanings. When you’re reading switch to reading just the Suits.
56 cards may seem like a lOt but once you understand the numerology of the cards 1-10 become easy all across the Suits because each number means the same thing, now you’re just reading what it means based on the element. Then it’s just the Page thru the King you have to figure out. {I’ll be sharing the numerology definitions and Page thru King meanings in another part 🩷}
Advantage Three: Learning New Interpretations
When you split the deck into smaller sections and read regularly with just that section, you’re pushed into digging deeper into what the card that fell— flew or you drew out— means.
The Empress becomes more than just a Divine Motherly Figure, she becomes sensual, fertile, drawing you in to look at what you can create with just your desires and passions.
The 8 of Cups is no longer just leaving a bad situation, it’s becoming disgusted with what once made you happy, something that once made you feel whole. it’s gaining a new perspective to find what really matters in life.
Spending more time with just one arcana and doing readings and studying the cards to pull more answers out will also help build your intuition.
What does the card really mean? What does the imagery suggest? What about the cards that came before this one in the same Suit or Arcana?
It opens you up to dive deeper and to learn more to fully connect with the deck and it’s meaning; not just for your current reading and situation but now you have that new meaning for next time.
Tarot Spread Specific
You may have seen Tarot spreads online or in books before where they call for just the Major Arcana. They call it something like Karma’s Coming Back Around or Safe Passage.
Sometimes they’ll have you shuffle the deck and then pull cards out like normal in a spread with specific answers for each placement but other times it’s that you shuffle and then look for a specific card in the deck.
For instance, with Karma’s Coming Back Around, you’d shuffle the 22 cards of the major arcana while asking what is needed to rebalance the scales and what it’ll look like when Karma/Dharma is served. Then when you feel like the 22 cards have been shuffled enough, stop, flip the cards over and look for the Justice card. The card behind the Justice is what is needed to rebalance the scales, and the card in front of Justice is what will be served.
One example would be the order: Chariot—Justice—Death. You or they may need to take responsibility for your/their actions, maybe apologize, but either way quickly make efforts to turn “the carriage” around and do better. The Karma/Dharma served will either be an ego death, or a positive change and renewal of a relationship now that fast active change has been made to do better.
This is a really good example of when it’s both easy to find a quick answer {since you’re only shuffling and looking through 22 cards for your answer} and looking deeper for the interpretation, and why it is a positive thing to split the deck up.
Choosing for Yourself
So, now you know some advantages to splitting the deck into sections, and why some Tarot Spreads make it a point to only use one Arcana for it, but how do you know when to do this? Or which Arcana to use?
Choosing how you read Tarot and how you practice divination in your craft is something inherently personal. It might not be easy to know right away which one is beneficial until after you take a guess and start practicing with it. However, here are a few tips to get you heading on that path.
Ask yourself:
Are you looking for details or a broad answer?
Broad = Major Details = Minor
Do you think you’d benefit from studying one Arcana for a few weeks worth of readings?
If yes, which Arcana do you feel less confident in? Go with that one or go with the one you feel more familiar with so you don’t get discouraged easily.
Are you overly anxious about the situation? Use the Major Arcana to keep your worries to a minimum while you do readings on and through the situation 🩷
Would you benefit from looking at archetypes or elements?
Archetypes = Major Elements = Minor
Archetypes are characters that evoke a specific feeling, idea or story that you can draw from to form an interpretation of the cards.
Elements focus on emotions ➸ cups
thoughts, ideas conflict ➸ swords
physical items/materials/wealth ➸ pentacles
passions, creativity, adventures ➸ wands
If you have any questions or want me to elaborate on something in this post please reach out, either with my “Library of Owls”, comments or DMs 🩷✨
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Welcome to Tarot 101 with Astrid! This is part 1 of my series. To keep each post as short as possible these will be bite sized. This part will explain the basic anatomy of the Tarot Deck and a brief explanation of its origin.
c o n t e n t s
Anatomy of a Deck
Why so many Cards?
Major vs Minor
A n a t o m y o f a D e c k
Let’s start with breaking down a tarot deck.
A tarot deck has 78 cards. It’s split into two big groups, the Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana.
➸ Although some styles of tarot decks may have additional cards that act as oracle cards, the following 78 cards are what are known as the complete Tarot deck.
The Major Arcana has 22 cards. Starting from 0: The Fool and ending with 21: The World.
The Minor Arcana has 56 cards, but it’s split into four smaller sections. These smaller sections are called “Suits”
The Suits are The Pentacles, The Wands, The Cups and The Swords. Each Suit has 14 cards. Starting with the Ace going to Ten, then we have a Page, Knight, Queen and King.
➸ If you’re familiar with Playing cards for poker or solitaire, the Minor Arcana in a Tarot deck is numbered just like the Playing cards, just that the “Suits” are different. In playing cards, there are clubs, spades, diamonds, and hearts. Now back to Tarot.
Below is a graphic of the cards of a Tarot deck split into the Major and Minor Arcana and Suits.
W h y s o m a n y c a r d s ?
The reason for the number of cards in a Tarot deck has to do with its history. Tarot is historically believed to have first been created as a secular Card Game in the 15th Century in Italy.
At the time card games had 52 cards. 4 Suits of 13 cards.
It’s thought that during the 1440’s, Tarot was created when the Duke of Milan asked an Artist to make a variation of the common card game. He asked to add cards to it and the artist Bonafacio Bembo added the 22 cards that make up today’s Major Arcana and added the Queens to the court cards of the Suits. Making each suit filled with 14 cards.
In conclusion, the 78 cards we have in today’s modern Tarot were made as a cure for boredom.
It’s important to note this because knowing the history of Tarot will help you in your journey when you decide how you will use Tarot in your practice.
I know some practitioners who think of Tarot as a sacred tool and they don’t like to leave any cards out while they shuffle and read cards.
I want to include this because I believe Tarot like any form of magic shouldn’t have fear of change attached to it. You should choose how to practice based on what resonates with you.
Some practitioners like to omit the major arcana or forgo the Minor Arcana in favor of using only 22 cards from the Major Arcana. Either way you practice is fine, just remember that the way you practice should bring you peace, not fear.
However you choose to practice Tarot, know that it is valid 🩷
Personally, I like to read with all 78 cards unless I’m using a Tarot Spread that calls for just one Arcana or Suit. I'll explain this more in depth in a later post!
M a j o r v s M i n o r
So if you don’t have to read with all 78 cards in a Tarot Deck, why do they exist and why do some Readers use them all? What’s the difference?
Well, Tarot is a divination tool so it’s here to make it easier to hear your intuition or view a situation from a different perspective. Knowing this, each card has a unique meaning behind it. A definition assigned to it both historically, or over time as Tarot entered the occult.
Although the Major and Minor Arcana’s have different meanings there are similarities between some cards.
The 22 cards in the Major Arcana tell a big picture story of a protagonist— The Fool— who goes through life’s joys and complications. However, the 56 cards in the Minor Arcana tell the same story but on a much more detailed view.
I like to think of it as the Major Arcana is the bird’s eye view of a situation and the Minor Arcana is the situation under a microscope.
For example, let’s say you ask Where you need to focus your mental energy on at this time?
Let’s say in two different readings you get two different cards.
One from the Major Arcana and one from the Minor.
From the Minor, You get the 8 of wands.
This could be interpreted a lot of different ways but for the sake of this post we’ll say this means you should focus on the finishing touches needed in order for you to propel forward in your passionate adventure. Whether this is starting a business or asking out your crush.
Now, in a separate reading, you ask the same question, you get The Chariot from the Major Arcana.
This could translate into you need to take the reins of your life and just go for it, with less thought to the tiny things “We’ll figure out the details when we get there!”
Both readings say the same thing but their advice is different.
One tells you to look at the big picture, this needs to get done the sooner the better, take the reins and have fun with it, we can worry about the details later. While the other warns you to think things through, work out the kinks in your plan but do it quickly so you don’t lose momentum.
This is why both Arcana’s are useful and this is why some readers read with all 78 cards. However, there are advantages to using just one Arcana or just one suit.
But how do you know when to do that? We’ll look into that in our next part 🩷 since this post is getting long.
If you have any questions or want me to elaborate on something in this post please reach out, either with my “Library of Owls”, comments or DMs.
𐐪𐑂 My Etsy Divination Shop | My Ko-Fi Divination Shop
𐐪𐑂 Follow my Shop’s Tumblr @stardustedreams222
𐐪𐑂 Follow my Personal Tumblr @withloveastrid
𐐪𐑂 Support me on Ko-Fi for $3 a month to get exclusive readings ✨
