Drawing a Tarot Card Every Day: Worth the Effort!

Today's Tarot Card of the Day

About a week ago, I finally stopped being lazy & started drawing daily cards in the morning. While drawing them at night was a nice twist on the practice, the benefit of a morning draw for your day has proved very insightful so far.

Morning Drawing Method:

1. In the morning (usually while I’m waiting for my flat iron to heat up), I’ll draw 2 cards, one from my Tarot deck (Mystic Dreamer) & one from my oracle deck (Enchanted Oracle). While shuffling, I repeat: “Tarot/Oracle card of the day, guide me & show me the way.”
2. After picking my cards, I write them down in a small note book. For example, today’s entry looks like “5/8/09 Friday – 4 of Wands & Emerald Princess”
3. If I’m unclear as to the meaning of my oracle card (the names can be so random) I’ll read the page about the card and go on about my day.
4. In the evening, I’ll go back to my notebook and jot down events, thoughts & goals that happened that day and explore how they correlate to one or both cards, which has happened in surprising ways.

So far, I’ve found that by drawing 2 cards, I gain insight to 2 different areas of my life. Recently I’ve noticed that the Tarot card I draw usually refers to external events, interactions with other people, things at work, etc whereas my Oracle card often reflects things that I’m thinking about or working on internally.

Do you draw cards daily? From what decks? How do the cards reflect what’s going on in your life?

Oracle Decks: What’s the extent of their usability?

Currently I own 2 sets of oracle decks: the Goddess Guidance Oracle & the Enchanted Oracle. I bought the Goddess Guidance Oracle because I wanted to work with various Goddess aspects & get to know them. However, when the Enchanted Oracle came out, I honestly couldn’t help myself: I bought them because they were so darn pretty.

I haven’t seen much online about different ways to use the cards, so let’s come up with some on our own!In an effort to integrate these lovely sets into my daily practice, I wanted to brainstorm a few ideas for reasons to use these cards to their full potential.

1. Mediation – Draw a card & meditate on it. What senses does it evoke? Is there a subject on the card? Who are they? How do they feel? Do they have something to share with you?
2. Journaling – This is a good idea for those that would love to keep a personal journal but feel uninspired as to what to write about. Draw a card, and write about it. Does it relate to something happening now? Maybe it reminds you of someone you know? If you’re a creative writer, you could write a narrative about the subject of the card (if there is one) – who are they & how did they come to this point? Where are they going?
3. Spellwork & Ritual – For practitioners of magick, oracle cards (like Tarot cards) can be a great visual representation of your goal or the meaning of the ritual. If you do this often enough with a variety of cards, this adds a brand new layer of meaning to the cards – when you draw a card that you’ve done ritual with in the past that card now holds more personal meaning for you. Perhaps you need to re-visit that ritual, perform it again, or maybe it means that your work has come to fruitition!
4. Draw cards daily – When I was good about this sort of thing, I used to pull one Tarot card and one Oracle card a day. This may be a bit much to keep up with though… Perhaps subsituting an Oracle card a day instead of your usual Tarot deck will be a refreshing change to your morning card draw?

Seems like pretty much anything you can do with Tarot you can do with Oracle decks. The exciting thing is, since every Oracle deck is uniquely constructed & designed, working with Oracle decks could be an exciting prospect if you’re burned out on Tarot or the Tarot doesn’t inspire you.

What do you use your Oracle decks for? Do you own any? Why or why not?

Garnet’s Tarot Card a Day Method a.k.a “Tarot for Night Owls”?

It’s probably because I’m lazy, but I don’t do one of the most helpful Tarot techniques ever concieved – I don’t pull a “card-a-day” in the morning. I LOVE this idea, but jeez I am just NOT a morning person. I barely get up on time for work and I’m so rushed I’m not in the right mental place to pluck a card, think on it, journal it, or any of things I’d like to do. This is something I will work on because I’d love to do it.

However, I still pull a Tarot card (and an oracle card) every day. I have a separate journal in which I record the date, which cards I pulled, my immediate reaction when I see the card, etc.

When does this happen? At night, before I go to bed for the evening.

Before I get ready for bed, I get my decks, a pen and my journal and ask the cards to show me what I need to take from the day’s events. Did I learn a lesson? Was there an issue I had today that the cards can clear up? I’ve been doing this for a few weeks and I find that the cards will often give clarity about a situation or thought that happened that day and tell me what I need to think about as I prepare for the next day.

I said earlier I pull a Tarot card and a card from my oracle deck (the new “Enchanted Oracle”). While this certainly isn’t for everyone, I find that the two cards will either show different perspectives on one situation or they will clarify two separate instances or feelings – maybe one speaks to a work situation and the other card will speak to a discussion I had with a friend. If you don’t have/don’t prefer an oracle deck, try pulling two (I even know several readers that pull three) a day instead and record your results.

When I record my daily cards, I also note what the cards may be referencing as well as any other big events that happened that day – like leaving Mercury Retrograde yesterday or a significant idea or discussion I had. You’ll quickly find that this journal will quickly become the diary you thought you’d never keep

A side benefit of pulling cards nightly vs. morning-ly is that if you get a “bad” card (ex: 9 of Swords) you won’t be fretting all day about “OMG how is this card going to play out today?” Rather, pulling that card in the evening will be more likely to represent how the day transpired for you – “yeah I really was feeling this way”. Once you’ve identified your thoughts and seen them from this perspective, you can use that knowledge to your benefit.

What’s your daily Tarot practice? If you’re a morning Tarot person, I recommend reviewing your card or spread to see how the cards ended up playing out for you. But like I said, no method is inherently superior. You should try different ways of encouraging your daily practice and do what works for you. The point is, you’re working daily with your cards, even if just for the 10 min you can spare, which is a great way to learn and grow with Tarot.

Tarot Reading Routines and Rituals

Right now I’m reading “Simple Fortunetelling with Tarot Cards” by Corrine Kenner (a review post is forthcoming as I finish the book). In the book, she has a section on ideas you can use to establish your own routine or style of conducting readings. Based on her suggestions, I’d like to begin to implement my own reading routine.

Why establish a routine? I’ve never really had an established reading routine – a process that I always do when I read. I think by trying to create a routine – a ritual, really – will help me conduct a better reading and connect better on many levels.

A Tarot Routine: (I’ll be trying this routine out too)

1. Gather your materials. For me, this will include the deck I’ll be using, a tarot cloth, a candle, and a lighter/matchbook. Kenner also offers the idea of adding tokens of the four suits/elements, such as a candle, seashell, incense and a crystal. I’d like to do this too if I can find good representations that’ll travel well (which shouldn’t be difficult). Think of it as a mini-altar-to-go for those of the pagan persuasion (or not – they can still help!). Also consider some nice background music (a small, cheap boombox? iPod and computer speakers??? ) and something to you can record your reading (a journal, a tape recorder?)
2. Clean your reading area – physically and spiritually! Clearing out your space will alter the energy of the area and prep you for your reading. Methods include envisioning the room filled with white light, burning incense, ringing bells, playing music, etc.
3. Prepare your space – set up everything you’ll need in a pleasing way.
4. Ground and center.
5. Light the candle – a signal of your intent for the reading to begin. This would also be an appropriate time to pray to the Divine for guidance during the reading.
6. Clarify and state your question – if applicable. Include a time frame if you need to be more specific.
7. Shuffle the cards. Kenner offers shuffling seven times for thoroughness (plus 7 is a very magickal number). Cut the cards yourself or have the querent cut the cards.
8. Conduct the reading. Kenner recommends turning the cards up as you come to them.
9. Conclusion: extinguish the candle.
10. Wrap up your recording – whether you wrote notes or spoke in a recorder, go ahead and give any final thoughts to return to later.
11. Clean up your area and your deck. Pick up your things and store them safely for the next reading. Consider psychically “cleaning” your deck by smudging the deck with burning herbs (like sage), visualizing the deck purified by white light, or sorting the cards back in numerical order.

What’s your Tarot reading routine/ritual? Does it change? Are there things you always do? Share it in the comments of this post!