Alright, let’s talk about getting into tarot. It wasn’t something I planned, honestly. Years back, things felt a bit stagnant, you know? Like I was just going through the motions. Saw a tarot deck in a quirky little shop while waiting for a friend. Didn’t think much of it, but the images kinda stuck in my head.
So, a few weeks later, I actually went back and bought one. Just the standard Rider-Waite-Smith deck. Nothing fancy. Came with that tiny white booklet. Felt a bit silly, bringing it home. Like, what was I even going to do with this?
My First Awkward Steps
First thing I did? Opened the box and just looked at the cards. Spread them all out on my table. Felt a bit overwhelmed. Seventy-eight cards is a lot! Tried reading that little white book that came with it. Honestly? Mostly confusing. The descriptions felt vague, kinda dramatic.
I decided to ditch the book for a bit. Instead, I just picked up one card each morning. Didn’t try to “read” it in a mystical way. Just looked at the picture. What did I see? What was happening? Sometimes I’d jot down a word or two about the feeling it gave me. It was slow going. Some days it felt pointless, other days a card’s image would weirdly resonate with something happening that day.
After a while of just looking, I got a slightly bigger, basic guidebook – not one promising secrets, just explaining symbols and common interpretations. That helped a bit more than the tiny booklet. I started trying to connect the book meaning with what I saw in the picture. Sometimes they matched up, sometimes my gut feeling was different.
Trying Actual Spreads
Felt brave enough eventually to try a simple spread. Started with just three cards: past, present, future. Or situation, action, outcome. Kept it super simple.
- Pulled the cards.
- Looked at each one individually, thought about its position.
- Tried to see if they told a little story together.
My first few attempts were clumsy. Really clumsy. Sometimes the cards seemed totally random, making no sense together. Other times, though, connections would jump out. Not like predicting the lottery, more like… highlighting something I already kinda knew but hadn’t focused on. It felt more like a brainstorming tool, or prompts for thinking about things differently.
I made sure to write things down. Just a small notebook. Date, cards pulled, my initial thoughts. Looking back at those notes later was interesting. Sometimes my interpretations were way off, sometimes surprisingly insightful. It showed me how my own mood or situation influenced how I saw the cards.
Where I’m At Now
So, that’s how it started and how I kept going. I still use my cards pretty regularly. Not for predicting the future, heavens no. It’s more like a tool for self-reflection. Stuck on a problem? Feeling confused? Pulling a few cards helps me look at the situation from angles I hadn’t considered. It’s like having a conversation with a different part of my own brain, prompted by pictures.
It’s a practice, really. You just start, you fumble around, you keep doing it. You get familiar with the images, find your own way of connecting with them. There’s no magic initiation, just the process of spending time with it and seeing what comes up for you. It’s been a surprisingly practical addition to my routine.
