Tarot for the Unruly
Tarot charmed me from the start.
I've been completely enamored with this oracle of 78 pieces of paper ever since I got my very first blue box tarot set with a Waite-Smith deck tucked inside, reading the cards and teaching classes about tarot ever since.
When I'm not reading tarot, I enjoy reading tarot books, perusing a tarot blog or two, and watching an occasional tarot vlog.¹ I genuinely love learning about how people's personal approaches to tarot as well as the history behind some of our most beloved tarot spreads. Tarot is a point of connection, conversation, and, if the flow is right, a lot of clarity.
One of the things I love most about Tarot is that inherent in its tradition is an encouragement to deviate from tradition. What started as a fancy parlor game for nobles (full of humorous and slightly seditious imagery), shared roots with the developing game of playing cards, and soon found its way into becoming something that might predict the future (be it by the reader's intuition or some spirit behind the cards) or at least provide for an entertaining evening with friends. And that's not mentioning all the modern development of excellent memes that have expanded the tarot lexicon.² Through all its transmutations, tarot is one of the few traditions I've come across that is a comfortable home for both the precious rule-collectors and the gleaming-eyed rule ignorers.
As it's been a while since I wrote a general post about tarot instead of a specific sort of spread, I wanted to share with you some of the ways we can embrace the unruly, tradition-redefining, and new-guidelines-creating energies that tarot offers. Most of the suggestions are meant to be approached with a sense of play, a bit of adventure, and as much of a nonchalant attitude about the results as can be mustered. Additionally, a lot of these suggestions are meant to be breaks from your normal - more of a "vacation" practice to stir up fresh energy in your tarot routine rather than trying to adopt a new fixed approach to reading. Have fun! Play with friends! Allow your deck to breathe and tell you new stories! Let yourself approach tarot with the intensity of someone who's very excited but has no knowledge of tarot and even less interest in doing things "right." It's all made up anyway so participate in making-up of it all!
background image via @efsane17
Don't write it down.
I actually think that writing down your tarot readings and interpretations as you're learning the tarot is pretty invaluable (and especially the writing bit or maybe even an audio-to-text option rather than typing). And then there are moments where it can be helpful to take a break from writing any of it down - including to do a reading, interpret it, and then forget about it.
One of the ways we hinder ourselves as readers is not letting there be enough time for the cards to be interpreted. I'm not suggesting marathon, multi-hour readings, but taking a gander at the cards, having your initial interpretations arise, and then not doing anything else with the cards for a bit, especially if a reading feels unclear. You can even announce to yourself (and your guides if you work that way) about reading a spread, "Thanks for the reading! Let me know if you have anything else to add later!" and then let new insights arise over the next few days, with a relaxed intuitive gaze instead of trying to go out and find answers. A relaxed intuitive gaze is a good muscle to develop as readers, not just for reading cards, but for approaching the unknowns in life with a healthy dose of respect and appropriate distance.
Don't look it up.
Now this suggestion only works for those of you who actually read your tarot books, whether a deck's accompanying little white book (LWB) or a 1990s feminist tarot tome that can double as a brick, and not my wee feral friends who immediately traded their LWB for a biscuit.
I love reading a tarot creator's thoughts and intentions behind a card's styling, especially when it's filled with personal story, and I've learned so much over the years from these types of books. But I think that there is a benefit to doing readings without picking up the guidebook, if only for a short period of time, before looking up correspondences again. If you feel like you don't know what a card means or you're interpreting it wrong - that's great! It's ok to feel reasonably uncomfortable as you stretch out into a new way of connecting with your tarot deck.
But if you really, really want to use a book in your readings, then check out my next suggestion.
image via @gopinathgopu
Look it up, but in the wrong place.
Congrats! You can pull a book out during your readings again!
But it can't be a book on tarot. Better yet, it should be, at least on the surface, far removed from the world of tarot. Your great-aunt's tofu extravaganza cookbook from the 1970s? Perfect! A collection of medieval graffiti? Go ahead! A memoir of a crayfish veterinarian? You're on the right track!
To use your book of choice, choose a card to read for and then open your book at random. Read for your interpretation, letting whatever funny little intuitive insights pop-up to help you along your way!
Pigeon readings only.
Instead of doing readings for yourself I want you to get real nosy about your neighborhood pigeon's work-life balance. Or do a daily draw for your favorite tea mug. If you want to read for people, recruit your friends or participate in social spaces of tarot communities where folks practice their spread reading skills.³ Mostly, I want you to either choose a time frame (such as a full lunar cycle) or a certain number of readings (13 readings for others) before you start reading for yourself again. Here are the some suggested guidelines:
You're not aiming for grand intuitive breakthroughs (especially not for pigeons, they hate that), but just slinging cards in a way that's not about you. You can even preface your reading given to others by letting them know that this reading will be a very unserious, but always kind endeavor.
If you never read tarot books when doing readings, pull one out for this practice, and vice versa.
Pay attention to the cards that you're emotionally attached to, that bring up big feelings for you, even when you're reading for your coffee mug.
background image via @micheile
Interpret first, cast cards second.
Have a question you really need an answer to? Looking for clarity on an issue? Choose your spread and before you cast a single card, write down all of your interpretations for each card position. These interpretations can be:
Super serious where you're trying to actually tap into your intuitive gifts.
Super silly where you're trying to actually tap into your intuitive gifts.
Trying to predict what you want the cards to say.
About facing your fears and writing down what you don't want the cards to say.
If you feel overwhelmed by the idea of writing an interpretation without something in front of you to interpret, choose lyrics from songs you've been listening to lately or let yourself be truly absurdist in your approach and start reading descriptions from items in your pantry. Remember, we're not trying to be Pythian priestesses - we're aiming for the street market energy outside their temple.
Once you've completed your interpretations, cast your cards, and compare notes. Where is there overlap? Where is there strange synchronicity? Where is there dissonance? Be open and curious, comfortable with the fact that it may appear to be more of a jumbled mess than a coherent casting. It's more of a practice of paying attention to where you're already at before you cast a spread.
Lose your cards and find your answer.
So this takes a bit more effort and the willingness of a few friends (preferably magickally-minded), but it's a lot of fun. You need to be willing to know that you're going to be losing a few tarot cards in the process or you'll need to plan ahead and print out or draw pictures of a deck ahead of time. Choose a spread, give your friend(s) your tarot deck (or pictures of tarot cards), and sit back and relax. Here's what your friend(s) will be getting up to:
They'll choose a starting point in the designated area that the spread will be cast - this could be a block or two, your neighborhood street, your college campus. Basically, where it is safe enough to wander about a bit looking for tarot cards.
When they've chosen the place for the spread to begin, they'll shuffle the deck, choose a card for the first position, and post it there.
They'll find another place based on vibes or something meaningful or because there's shade and they want to have a little sit down. Shuffle again and post a card.
Your friend(s) will repeat this process until the spread has been cast and all cards posted.
Now, they can choose to make a note of where every card is posted, but eh, it's not so necessary. The next most important step is to let you know that the spread is cast, the cards are in the wild, and whether you choose to try to find them right now or over the next few days is up to you.
Are you likely to find them all? Probably not, but that's part of the magick of a Lose Your Cards approach - you have very little control over the whole thing, but a lot of opportunities to participate in a game of noticing and finding as part of gaining clarity for whatever question you may have asked.⁴
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I hope you found these less common recommendations for your tarot practice to be a fun exercise in imagining ways of bringing in more playful, challenging-in-a-good-way, and maybe even a little unruly energy to your practice. While tarot is a lot of things, it can be an incredible tool of insight and storytelling, helping us to explore some of the more tender parts and shadowy edges of our experiences. We try to find clarity where there's confusion and insight when the path ahead seems murky - and a practice like that needs interjections of play and plenty of opportunities for expanding our perceptions in order to be sustainable.
If you're looking for more tarot resources, have fun perusing my tarot archive where I have tarot spreads for the cycles of the season, both terrestrial and celestial, as well as castings that are a bit more experimental.
For all of my tarot friends - the ones with the rules and social contracts that keep us humming along and the ones who show up with strange and noisy suggestions that might just work - I hope your castings are as surprising or comforting or revelatory whenever you need them to be.
This post was made possible through patron support.
❤︎ Thanks, friends. ❤︎
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1. Please bring back webrings on a grand scale so I can enjoy traveling through tarot-based websites like that again.
2. The "DUMP HIM" meme is an early viral favorite and just communicates the energy of certain readings in a way that only a visual medium can do.
3. I don't have a connection to Moonlight World or the folks behind it, but let me tell you that this is what I thought the internet would look like in the future when I was a kid. I think it's a really clever set-up and I love that they're growing the social aspects of the site in a way that is connection-driven, not algorithm-based.
4 One of the most magickal qualities about tarot, in my opinion, is it’s ability to create a third space wherever a deck is brought out (or a card is spotted) - take advantage of that energy!
