My Experience Using Tarot In Decision Making
In last week’s The Little Chapters podcast episode, Jess and I talked about ‘Woo’ – the beliefs and practises we hold that aren’t governed by empirical science or logic, and are perhaps a little ‘out there’. During this episode, I talked about how I’d started using a tarot app regularly to help me to tune into my intuition and make sense of my thoughts. Cue a deluge of shocked messages from people who never in a million years thought they’d hear me talk about tarot!
In case you haven’t yet listened to the episode, here’s a quick rundown of my brief history with the cards. My first encounter with tarot was on a Jonathan Creek episode that I was probably too young to watch, so for most of my life I have thought they were something occult and dangerous. In the last year, tarot has started to nudge it’s way into my life through Being Boss podcast episodes and following the work of Susannah Conway. Although I now knew that tarot didn’t have to be about occultish prophecy, I still very much thought that is was definitely not something that I would be into. I just wasn’t ‘the person I am’ and I stuck steadfastly to that, even when listening to a podcast episode on tarot and thinking ‘this sounds like something that would be really useful for me, but I’m not going to do it’.
In case you haven’t yet listened to the episode, here’s a quick rundown of my brief history with the cards. My first encounter with tarot was on a Jonathan Creek episode that I was probably too young to watch, so for most of my life I have thought they were something occult and dangerous. In the last year, tarot has started to nudge it’s way into my life through Being Boss podcast episodes and following the work of Susannah Conway. Although I now knew that tarot didn’t have to be about occultish prophecy, I still very much thought that is was definitely not something that I would be into. I just wasn’t ‘the person I am’ and I stuck steadfastly to that, even when listening to a podcast episode on tarot and thinking ‘this sounds like something that would be really useful for me, but I’m not going to do it’.
In the end I downloaded the Shadowscapes tarot app at the beginning of the year and began half-heatedly pulling cards every now and then – what I saw was interesting, but I wasn’t doing it with focus or intentionality so wasn’t seeing a lot of results. Then I read this article, and was drawn to the description of The Celtic Cross spread (a way of analysing a situation through the symbolism of the cards) and something clicked in my mind, as if the idea of this spread unlocked what might be a direction for me and tarot.
A quick side note – I’ve always been big into symbolism. I did an English Literature degree and my dissertation was about the symbolism of colour, and then went on to do an MA in History of Art to learn about symbolism in paintings and about visual meaning. So I think it’s important to say that a part of me has always been very drawn to, and found a lot of meaning in, symbolism – which is what tarot is all about.
What I have found in the tarot is a way to bypass my conscious over-thinking brain and get to the heart of what I really, intuitively, think and feel about a situation. Some people can meditate around it, some people can journal, but for me the symbolism and story of the tarot helps me to connect with myself. Looking at the images and reading the meanings somehow helps me to interpret my own life and thoughts. It doesn’t matter what card you pull, because whatever it says your subconscious will show you what you need to see in that moment – like modern art, the meaning is held in the experience of the viewer.
I didn’t actually do my Celtic Cross Spread until weeks after I read the article. Having a clear intention and question to ask the tarot is a crucial part of it – I have idly drawn cards when I’m bored but not found meaning from them because I didn’t have a specific situation to analyse or question in mind when I pulled the card. So I waited until I had a specific dilemma, and I felt drawn to use the spread to answer it. And one rainy night in a candlelit bath, the moment came.
After I did the spread I wrote it all down in a notebook (which is quite unlike me!). I’ve reproduced what I wrote that night below – I included what each card represents, the card I pulled and it’s meaning, and then how I interpreted the situation in light of the card.
The Question:
How should I direct my business in the future?
I’d come to a real crossroads in the business. I was toying with the idea of my new digital products and wondering which courses I should run this year. I was also in the midst of deciding whether to take on a VA, and had to say yes or no to an agency who were interested in representing me. A lot of decisions were converging at the same time, and whatever I decided would dictate what my work and life would be like for the next 6 months. I was seeking clarity both over what to do with these decisions, but also the greater question of what direction did I want to be going in.
The Cards
You – this card represents you
CARD: THE TOWER
Change, crisis, revelation
Necessary disruption to the status quo
Upheaval to break through established patterns
Severing for the past, re-examine belief structures
The chaos and crisis I’ve been feeling and dealing with is necessary in order to make real change and play big. More than just business model, this is deep seated beliefs and behaviours that need to be torn up to move forward. No more self-limiting -> and change fast.
Crossing – this card indicates the conflict
CARD: THE LOVERS
Determining values and struggling with choice
The conflict is very much that I’m at a crossroads, both in terms of tangible options but also my attitude and ambition. They are not even binary decisions, each has pros and cons and all are mostly positive.
Foundation – this card illustrates the basis, or foundation, of the situation
CARD: PAGE OF CUPS
Longs for time and space for pleasures
Listens to intuitive voice and believes in the impossible
At the heart of the conflict is my desire for more space and time both for living and for the pleasures in my life. To dream big and follow what feels intuitively good.
Past – this card shows influences from the past that are affecting the present situation
CARD: PAGE OF SWORDS
Honesty and truthfulness
Dominated by logic
Agile and analytical mind guides her purpose
When starting out I saw myself as analytical and following data and strategy, which also guided the direction of the business. I followed what I thought I should do to grow the business, ignoring intuition and my true self.
Immediate Future – this card illustrates what is likely to happen next
CARD: THREE OF PENTACLES
Teamwork, competence, achieving beyond the expected
Support of others is required to reach your goal
Taking on support to work with me is the route to achieving beyond what’s expected, play big and get that space and time (fulfilment). You can’t expect to do everything by yourself.
Crown – this card represents the outcome you desire most in this situation
CARD: ACE OF CUPS
Ripple that spreads in expanding rings
Understanding and inner knowledge
To have a big impact from a small input – be a starting point of inspiration from afar that is not a part of the finish point. Greater self-understanding and inner peace.
Editorial note – at the time I really didn’t understand this card, and still don’t really! I think this is because it relates to the thing that I desire most, and that even my intuition is struggling to know what that is. Looking back on this now, a month or so after first doing the spread, I can see I was trying to be very literal here – but the Ace of Cups is not a literal card. I now feel it’s more about self-awareness and self-trust being the outcome I most desire, rather than anything external.
Ruined slate cottages on a misty hillside
Yourself – this is your self-image – how you see yourself in the present situation
CARD: STRENGTH
Courage, composure, patience, managing impulses
Have faith in success, unshakeable resolve
Having trust in the process, no sudden movements, no blinking. Keep slowing allowing things to unfold and don’t force it. PULL NOT PUSH!
Environment – this card represents the influences of those around you; it can show how others see you in this situation
CARD: ACE OF WANDS
Challenge to step forwards with courage and confidence
A spark has been lit
Seize this wild opportunity and glory in the blaze
Others see me as on the cusp of some great change, perhaps of moving to play bigger. The challenge to have what I want is already here in my environment if I choose it – and when I light the fire the conditions exist for it to burn.
Hopes and Fears – this card indicates either what you hope for or fear the most in this situation
CARD: FIVE OF PENTACLES
Spiritual poverty, material troubles
Neglecting body’s needs, feeling of disconnect and loss
Salvation is not far off if you see past mental and physical barriers
My fear is that things won’t work out financially , but also that this change won’t help the personal things. I want change. This card reminds me, however, that this is all in my control and I can choose to make it happen.
Outcome – this card indicated what is likely to happen if nothing changes
CARD: FIVE OF CUPS
She has sent her hopes out to sea, wondering if they will ever return
Wallows in regret and loss, wishing for what might have been
This is my chance! If I don’t take these signs at face value and continue to self-limit I won’t see my ultimate dreams fulfilled and will regret it. I won’t become what I’m meant to be.
After doing this spread I took action on all those things in my dilemma – I signed the contract with the agency, hired my VA, spoke publicly about my new product offering and started creating it. I’d been seeking clarity, yes, but most of all I’d been seeking permission, and this spread enabled me to give that permission to myself. The spread helped me to connect with what I really thought about the situation, outside of the noise of my logical brain, and I’ve honestly never felt more clear or trusted myself more than I did on this night.
There are no right answers – you may draw the exact same cards and interpret them completely differently. I’m sharing my spread as an example of what using tarot might look like practically, and it’s certainly not a model of how it should be done. What you see depends on your individual, intuitive truth – and that is the absolute beauty of it.
