Alright, let’s talk about those cards. My journey with them started quite a while back. Wasn’t really looking for anything specific, just kinda stumbled upon a deck in this little shop downtown. You know the one, smells like incense and old books? Yeah, that kind of place. Picked up the standard Rider-Waite deck, the one in the yellow box everyone seems to start with.
Got it home, opened it up. The cards felt new and stiff. Spread them out on the table, just looking at the pictures. Some made sense, like The Sun – pretty straightforward, happy vibes. Others? The Hanged Man? The Tower? Looked pretty grim, honestly. And that little white book that came with it? Felt like reading stereo instructions, super dry and didn’t help much beyond the very basics. Mostly, I just looked at the pictures for the first few weeks, trying to figure out the stories.
Getting Started Was Clumsy
So, I decided to actually try reading them. Felt a bit silly at first. I’d sit down, try to shuffle these stiff cards – dropped them more times than I can count. Felt like I had butter fingers. Then I’d try a simple spread, maybe just three cards. Past, Present, Future, or something basic like that. Pulled the cards, laid them down.
Then came the hard part: figuring out what they meant together. I’d grab that little booklet, or later, a bigger book I bought, and look up each card. Knight of Swords means this, Four of Pentacles means that. Wrote it all down in a notebook. But it felt really disconnected, like putting together puzzle pieces that didn’t quite fit. The meanings seemed so fixed, and sometimes, they just didn’t feel right for the situation.
- Shuffled the cards (badly).
- Drew three cards.
- Looked up meanings.
- Tried to make sense of it.
- Felt mostly confused.
Things Started Clicking… Eventually
I stuck with it, though. Kept pulling a card now and then, maybe just one in the morning. Didn’t always do a full ‘reading’. Slowly, I stopped relying so much on the book meanings. I started just looking at the card I pulled. Really looking. What’s happening in the picture? What’s the vibe? What does it make me think of?
Like, the Temperance card. The book talks about balance, patience, moderation. Okay, fine. But I started seeing the angel pouring water between cups, never spilling a drop, and it felt more like finding flow, blending things carefully, not just ‘being patient’. It became more personal. It wasn’t about fortune-telling anymore, not really. It was more like using the images to think about stuff going on in my own head.
I remember this one time I was stressing about some work project. Pulled the Eight of Pentacles. The book says something about craftsmanship, skill, hard work. But looking at the guy just hammering away, focused on his bench… it just told me ‘Dude, just put your head down and do the work. Focus on one step at a time.’ Simple, right? But seeing it in the card kinda snapped me out of my panic spiral. It was practical advice, sparked by a picture.
Where I’m At Now
So yeah, that’s kinda how it went. I still have that original deck, though the corners are soft and worn now. Feels comfortable in my hands. I don’t use them every day, or even every week. Sometimes months go by. But when I feel a bit stuck, or just need a different perspective, I pull them out. Shuffle them – I’m better at it now, mostly – and lay out a few cards.
It’s become less about finding answers and more about asking better questions. The cards don’t tell me the future. But they’re pretty good at showing me what’s going on right now, maybe reflecting back feelings or situations I hadn’t fully acknowledged. It’s just a tool, like journaling or talking things through with a friend. Just happens to use these cool, sometimes weird, pictures on cardboard. It’s been a surprisingly practical thing, really. Just took some time to get the hang of it my own way.
