Learn how to read the tarot for yourself and use it for everyday advice and clarity.

One of the most important rules about reading and using tarot for yourself (and for others) is that tarot is something that exists FOR you, it’s not something that happens to you. Tarot doesn’t exist to freak you out, to intimidate you, or show you some fixed foreboding future. It’s here to highlight where you are on your journey and show you options for growth and new ways forward. 

How to read tarot for yourself

Reading tarot for yourself can be both a wonderful way to learn about the cards and to learn more about yourself. While you are biased about yourself and the outcomes and motivations the cards suggest, the cards can help you see the truth in clearer terms, if you choose to open your mind to it.

Creating a daily or weekly tarot practice that includes tuning in, pulling a card or doing a spread and journaling with the cards, can be a great way to check in with yourself. You can use it for self-exploration (“What’s going on under the surface for me today?”), for prediction (“What can I expect today?”), and for creating a life that lights you up. You can use tarot to help you with work, creative projects, and with navigating and showing up to your relationships in a more holistic way.

If you’re interested in all the technical aspects of reading for yourself like cleansing your deck, creating a ritual around it, finding trusted resources, and tapping into your intuition, read my post: Reading Tarot for Beginners: How to start reading tarot. 

What about future predictions? 

While the tarot can predict an outcome (aka “read your fortune”) based on your current circumstances — which can be super useful — each card also carries a lesson to help you course correct or shift your perspective.

The cards acknowledge that you have free will and each one provides a different invitation for you to make changes or pay attention to certain aspects of your life. The cards can show you options and honest perspectives that will help fuel positive change and a life that’s more in alignment with who you truly are.

So while future predictions are useful and intriguing, they aren’t the end-all be-all of reading tarot. Tarot can, in fact, be used as a tool for creative living, problem solving, and co-creating a more full life. 

Use the tarot to live more creatively

The cards can be used to: 

• Check in
• Track your progress and healing 
• Unearth strengths
• Determine what kind of self-care you need
• Nourish yourself
• Find the root of a problem/what’s underneath a situation
• Write a newsletter or post
• Create a new offering for your business
• Guide you through a difficult conversation
• Pinpoint what’s holding you back 
• Learn something about your inner world
• Help you think about a situation differently
• Weigh your options
• Remind you to reroute your negative thoughts
• Discover a more aligned way to approach your work, relationships, day-to-day energy
• And yes, predict an outcome

How can you use the tarot to help you with these themes? 

By asking the right questions. You can do simple 3-card readings for any of these areas. 

For something like writing a newsletter you can pull 3 cards and knit a narrative together by seeing the way they interact and the themes the cards bring up. Or you could ask three separate questions like: 1. What should the theme of this newsletter be? 2. What is the unique spin I can bring to this theme? 3. Any extra flair. 

For a more internal issue, like feeling stuck, try this 3-card spread: 1. Where am I right now? 2. What’s holding me back at this moment? 3. What’s the next right step I can take? 

You can also download my 44 Questions to Ask the Tarot pdf for more ideas for questions in the areas of relationships, self-care, creativity, and more. 

Creating your own tarot spreads

I encourage you to create your own simple spreads around the issues you face and experiment with it. Think about what you most want to know about an issue and how you can work through it and use those queries to guide you. 

You can also start with one card on the topic and use that as inspiration for the rest of your conversation with cards. Often one question will lead to another. For example, if you pull the 5 of Cups about an issue, a card signifying loss, grief, feeling your feels, and also still having options when you’re ready to see them. Your follow up question could be: What is the silver lining I can’t seem to see right now?

You can let it be a more fluid experience or plan out your spreads in advance (or a combination of the two). Reading for yourself creates a space to try out new things, find your own style, and discover what resonates for you.

Sign up to learn more more about my course Tarot Foundations for reading the cards with intuition, context and connection.