Tarot 101 - The Simply Witchery Podcast Episode 5

Intro

Hello witches, diviners and cosmic beings. I’m your host Laurel and welcome to the Simply Witchery Podcast. Where we discuss witchery ritual the divine and magic of all sorts.

This week I’m talking all about the tarot! I’ll cover everything you need to know to get started: how to pick a deck, how to do your first reading, and touch on tarot ethics. This week in Magic and Me I discuss using the cards in rituals and magic and then do the usual readings for the collective and a lucky listener in Tarot Time. This week’s new addition is the Meditation Station where I’ll talk about this weeks meditation.

Tarot 101

Hello, hello everyone. Let’s get into talking about tarot shall we? Tarot is a subset of cartomancy. Cartomancy is defined as divination through a random selection of cards. All you need is a deck of cards and a willingness to learn and to receive a message from something outside yourself, be it the divine, the source, a spirit, the universe itself, or anything else that you wish. Today we’re just going to talk about Tarot but know there are several other cartomancy systems.

In the beginning tarot can be a daunting thing. There are a lot of cards with a lot of complex meanings. Its a lot to remember and a it often feels like you’ll never do it the right way. Let me be clear that there really is no right way to read tarot, just like there is no right way to be a witch or a pagan. There is only the way you are lead to do it. The way you do it just as correct as the way I do it even if we do wildly different things in our practice. So use your intuition and make up your own mind about what’s right for you.

I remember feeling like I was going to do everything wrong and ruin my life. Try to keep yourself grounded in the present. That’s not going to happen even if you horribly botch the reading. You’re also not going to summon any demons or open any gateways while reading tarot. It takes a whole lot of intentional action to do that and just pulling cards and asking question won’t cut it.

Now with that little disclaimer let’s start at the beginning. How do you pick a deck? I always advise folx to pick a deck based on what kinds of imagery they are attracted to. Do you love fairies, angles, horses, cats, pop culture, or plants? There is a tarot deck out there centered on just about everything you can think of. Google it you’ll find something. Make sure the deck you decide on comes with a good guide book. Trust me it’ll make your life so much easier in the long run.

If you’re a budget witch and you want to make sure you like reading the tarot before you invest the rider-wate system is available for free online. I printed my first deck out on card stock and started doing readings that way. Then when I was sure it was something I wanted to peruse I bought a deck. The internet also doubles as a guide book but make sure you’re critical of your sources. Remember that there is no one right answer or interpretation of the cards.

Little side note: It’s a myth that your first deck needs to be a gift from someone else. That’s just straight up bs. Your ability to effectively read cards is based only on how much effort you put into it and nothing else.

Ok so now you have your new deck in hand. Now what? Make sure your guide book is close and just start pulling cards and asking questions. I’d recommend starting out by keeping the questions you ask about yourself but some folx struggle with reading for themselves so feel free to ask others if you feel like you need to, just be sure you’re upfront about your experience level. I started out reading for others by doing free readings on tumblr in exchange for feedback.

Don’t feel like you’re a bad reader just because you need to use the guide book when you’re starting out. We all start there and it take a lot of time and effort to memorize a few key words for each card much less paragraphs of interpretations and correspondences. Other than just doing readings a great way to connect with your deck is to sleep with it in your bed with you, doing interview spreads, and just playing with or holding the cards.

When I do readings for myself I’m fairly casual these days. I think tarot should be fun and relaxing and so I make it a fun and relaxing thing to do. I don’t do anything special to prepare for personal readings. I don’t usually put anything on my altar when I do them either. That’s a thing for deities and clients expect in special circumstances where I really feel like I need it.

You may feel called to light a candle, give an offering to the universe, do a self cleansing ritual, ground yourself, put up wards to protect yourself and your space, or do all or none of these things. Any space is sacred if you decide it is and you don’t even necessarily need a sacred space to read tarot. It’s up to you and what you feel called to do in your own practice.

Once your space is set up the way you want it, its time to shuffle the cards. I shuffle hand over hand three times and then shuffle using the bridge method three times after that. In my experience of the community the way a reader shuffles is as diverse as the readers themselves. Try as many different ways as you can and do what feels right to you.

There are also a lot of ways to draw cards. Obviously you can draw from the top of the deck but you can also cut the deck and take cards from there, you can spread the cards into a line and choose intuitively, you can even draw from the bottom of the deck. I draw by holding the deck in one hand and drawing my thumb along the edge of the cards with the other and picking cards that give me what I can only describe as a hot, tingly feeling when I touch it. Then you interpret the cards. I recommend you take notes so that you can look back on your past readings and see your progress as you get better. Its a good way to boost your confidence.

Now for some study tips. My best tips is to create a list of key words for each card so that you have a quick reference guide to refer to that still allows you to exercise your intuition. Read the passage in your guide book for a specific card and then pick out key words from the text and create a list. I made a chart in word so that I could print them out and glue them into my grimoire for easy reference. If you’re interested in seeing the key word spread sheet that I made as a baby tarot reader hit me up on social media or email me and if there’s enough interest I’ll put it up somewhere where you all can download it.

Other than the key words and practice the best advice I have for new readers is to know yourself, think about how you learn best. Are you an auditory, visual, reading/writing, or a kinesthetic learner? Lean into the way that you learn best. There are no rules in learning and tarot expect for the rules you make for yourself and the boundaries of ethical practices. If you aren’t sure what kind of learner you are there are plenty of resources as well as some quizzes you can take online.

Personally I’m a reading/writing learner which means I learn best when I read something and then write it down in my own words. So I make it a point to take lots of notes and read as much as I can about tarot and anything else I want to learn about. An auditory learner will probably like podcasts or lectures best because they learn best by hearing, a visual learner might learn best from YouTube videos so that they can see the thing they are learning about, and a kinesthetic learner will learn best by just doing the thing they want to learn. No matter what kind of learner you are make your life easier by doing what’s easiest for you and don’t confine yourself to the way other people learn things.

Over time you will come to a point where you’re fairly comfortable doing readings, you know what works best for you and how to put those things into practice. You’re ready to take the leap and leave the guidebook behind or at the very least stop using it as much. Always remember that there is nothing wrong with looking up a card no matter howl long you’ve been practicing tarot. Just because you put the book down doesn’t mean its gone forever. Go back to it when you need to.

Remember in the beginning I advised you to pick a deck based on the imagery that you are attracted to? This is why. Draw cards as you’re called to for a reading. Once you have them all out in front of you look closely at them. What is in the image on the card? What do the things you see make you think of? How does the image make you feel? If its a minor what suit is the card? What element does that suit represent and what is the nature of that element? What number is the card and what does numerology tell you about that number? If its a major what symbolism does the name of the card invoke in you? Do the cards you’ve pulled have individual messages or a single, united one? These are the question I generally ask myself as I’m pulling cards and intuitively interpreting them. If I draw a blank on the card I’ll then refer to my key words and that usually will solve my problem. In the rare case where it doesn’t I’ll crack open the guide book and read the creator’s words so that I can gain some insight into their thought process and that helps where all else fails.

This process can feel pretty daunting because you have to trust yourself and your intuition but its a great way to expand your intuitive gifts and to gain confidence in them at the same time. If you get something wrong in a reading don’t worry about it. We all mess up sometimes, just realign yourself with your intuition and the source and try again.

Now, I want to shift gears a little bit and talk about tarot ethics. It is very important to practice ethical tarot. When you do readings for others they are putting their faith and trust in you as a reader. If you are not motivated by the right things and do not consider the consequences your words will have on your querent then you could possibly do some very serious, perhaps irreversible damage to that person. The cards all have a truth in them sometimes that truth is difficult for a person to accept but you as a reader never have all the answers or a complete perspective on a situation.

This is why I have rules when I do tarot readings even when I’m getting paid to do them. I don’t do 3rd party readings. It is unethical, in my opinion, to read cards on a person who has not consented to it. Its an invasion of privacy pure and simple. Aside from the consent issues I find it difficult and sometimes even painful to touch the energies of others that are not openly projecting their energies to me. As a tarot reader when I do readings for other I as using a blend of my own intuition and the energy of the querent to gain insight from the source. Without the energy of the person who the question is about it is difficult to get accurate insights.

Another rule I have is that I don’t read for time lines. In my practice tarot is a tool used to gain perspective so that the querent can make choices and changes to support the outcome that they want in a given situation. I do not believe that tarot is actually capable of giving time lines. I believe that the free will of humanity makes it impossible to accurately predict. Every choice we make changes the trajectory of our lives and experiences and nothing is ever set in stone. I have used other methods to predict time lines but I always preface those readings by saying that the answer I give is only true in the moment that I give it and something in the next moment could change the outcome.

There are of course many other readers who feel differently than I do and I urge you to turn to one of them if this perspective doesn’t resonate with you. I do however ask that you turn within as well and ask yourself why you feel the need to have a timeline in which something will happen to you. Is your high self asking this question for the betterment of your whole self or is it your ego demanding that it gets what it wants in a timely manner? Whatever you choose to do moving forward I ask that you be careful and consider the consequences this line of questioning may have on you.

Up next in magic and me I’ll give you some insight on how I use tarot in magic outside of doing readings.

Magic and Me

This week I want to talk about how you can incorporate the tarot into spells and rituals. One of the most amazing things about tarot is that it is so multifaceted and universal in its study on the human experience and all the things beyond us. No matter what you’re going through in life there is a tarot card to represent you struggle. The tarot grows and evolves as we do as a society and our understanding of it changes as our values and focus as a collective changes. Because of this beautiful, wonderful fact tarot can be used in a multitude of different ways other than reading the cards.

Keeping a card out on your altar or in your sacred space can have a powerful effect on you as an individual, your practice, and on your magic. I use tarot cards to represent qualities I want to embody, energies I want to invite into my life, representations of deities that I’m working with, and as pillars of power in spells and rituals.

For example, if I was putting together spell to expand my intuition I would grab the High Priestess out of one of my decks and place it on my altar with my spell components as a signifier of the area of myself that I wish to expand. For a binding spell I might use The Devil, for a self love ritual I would pull Nine of Pentacles, and for a healing spell I would call on The Star. There are boundless different ways to use the tarot in spell work. Think about the meanings of each of the cards and place them on your altar with intent. I’ve created whole spells using only a tarot deck and visualization techniques.

Here’s my favorite Tarot Ritual to preform. It a manifestation ritual that can be tweaked to manifest just about anything. The ritual I’ll share with you is a ritual to manifest emotional balance.

First choose what tarot deck or decks you’d like to use mixing and matching based on what decks have your favorite art work is a great way to make the ritual personal to you.

Pull The Magician, The Star, Justice, Two of Pentacles, Ace of Cups, Knight of Cups, and the Knight of Pentacles. You can arrange the cards how ever you like on your altar but I like to use the majors as overarching themes and then get specific with the minors. I Would Space The Magician, The Star, and Justice in a line at the top and then place the Knight of Pentacles under The Magician, the Knight of Cups under the Star, the Two of Pentacles under Justice, and the Ace of Cups on its own beneath the second line of cards.

Once your cards are placed get comfortable and bring yourself into a meditative state or prepare to do some energy work in whatever way you usually do in your practice. I will sometimes use a wand here to draw the energies of the cards I’ve chosen into one point. Take some time to gather the energies you’ve called upon into yourself. Seek the blessing of the universe, the source, the divine, or whatever else hold power for you, to guide you in your endeavour to cultivate balance in your emotions. When you are finished thank the powers you’ve called on including the tarot and close out your ritual.

This is a great way to do rituals on a budget and to go deeper with the tarot as you learn. Let me know if you put together any tarot rituals yourself. I’d love to see your ideas. Next up is the Meditation Station.

Meditation Station

This week’s meditation is an affirmational meditation. This meditation consists of 22 ‘I am’ affirmation statements. Each statement is based on a card of the major arcana. I really wanted to encapsulate each card in one sentence so that this meditation could be multi-purpose. You can use this meditation as an affirmation meditation where you internalize the medicine of the statement or speak the affirmations into reality. The other use for this meditation is to use the statements to understand the energies of each card in a more personal way so that you can apply that knowledge in your readings.

I wanted to give you a little bit of insight into what I was thinking as I crafted these affirmations for the meditations and ruminate on the major arcana with you a little as well.

The Fool.

I adore the fresh, new, naivety of The Fool. I think naivety gets a bit of a bad rap. I think its important for us to be conscious of the dangers that are present in life but I don’t see anything wrong with trusting in people and in the universe. That’s what inspired The Fool’s affirmation:  I trust the universe to guide me down the path to my highest good

The Magician

The creative, magical energies of The Magician often inspire me to do and try things that I have never considered possible before. Its a card all about power and potential and so I made the affirmation for this card: I have the power to manifest all that I desire.

The High Priestess

The High Priestess is all about intuition and higher knowledge that comes for somewhere outside ourselves but that we must find by turning within. Its an energy that connects and receives understanding from the source and the universe in a deep, integral part of ourselves. That’s why in the affirmation for the High Priestess is: I hold within me the knowledge of the universe.

The Empress

The Empress is a powerful, no nonsense nurture. She guides and creates and holds life and death in the palm of her hand. Its by her choice that all things come into being and this truth is reflected in the affirmation: I have the ability to breath life into the world around me.

The Emperor

The Emperor has an energy of control, sometimes gentle sometimes not, but always in command of everything. There is a raw power in this card that I really love. This is what inspired the affirmation for this card: I am in control of myself and my response to the trials of life.

The Hierophant

The Hierophant is traditionally about organized religion and wise mentors. My view of it has shifted in the last year or so to be more about the structures that we create for ourselves to keep us safe and happy. Its a much more pleasant idea and it removes the baggage that this card used to have for me. It was this shift that inspired the affirmation for The Hierophant: I create structure and stability according to my own inner wisdom.

The Lovers

I went the traditional and sort of obvious route with the affirmation for The Lovers. In its most simple form its about love in all its forms, platonic, romantic, familial, and otherwise. Love is hopefully the guiding force of everything we do. The best of us love truly and deeply without reservation. This is what inspired the affirmation for this card: I am a reflection of the unending love of the source.

The Chariot

The Chariot has an energy that screams intentional action to me. Its all about grasping the reins of life and moving forward with purpose and direction. Its a different kind of control than The Emperor in that The Chariot feels more joyful and less about keeping things safe through action. The affirmation for The Chariot is: I determine my own fate through steady progress towards my goals.

Strength

Strength is pretty self explanatory as far as I’m concerned. It represents the strength it takes to live the life we’re given, take hold of ourselves, and take action to make those things take the shape we want them to. Its about persevering and trusting yourself. That is what inspired me to give space for those qualities to manifest in this affirmation: I exude self confidence, courage, and positive energy.

The Hermit

The Hermit is about retreat in order to gain perspective. Its an intentional choice that we must make throughout our lives. It is usually learning process that we go through so that we can learn to recognize the times when the retreat is necessary. The affirmation for The Hermit is: I pause to reflect on my life and my actions when it is needed.

Wheel of Fortune

The Wheel of Fortune speaks to inevitable change and the passage and progression of time. Life goes no not matter how we strain and scheme against it. I often find it to be a caution against stagnation caused by the fear of change. I release any expectation I have for the way my life will go in order to gain the experiences that are best for me is the affirmation for the Wheel of Fortune.

Justice

Justice is abut surety and the balancing of the scales. In it we take swift action to ensure that there is reason, honor and justice in the world around us. These ideas brought the affirmation I am perfectly balanced in mind, body, and soul to me.

The Hanged Man

The Hanged Man is a call to change our perspective. If the change doesn’t happen by choice life and source will humble us by force if needs must. It is a reminder that our experience is not the only experience and that there is much to be gained by listening to and understanding the perspective of others that are different from us. These values inspired the affirmation for this card: I am willing to listen to others so that I may gain new perspectives and understanding.

Death

Death contain the energies that rule rebirth, new alignment, and the release that must come before new blessings come to us. It is as inevitable as the Wheel but demands a different kind of respect and processing. It is the idea of letting go to gain something better even when we don’t know what is to come that inspired this affirmation: I release all things that do not serve my highest good and greatest progression.

Temperance

Temperance is the blending of energies, the power of compromise, and creating the collective experience and conscientiousness. It reminds us that we are not alone in this life and that while our internal world is important and must be tended to. We cannot be passive in the collective external world. These ideas helped me form the Temperance affirmation: I join with others to blend our energies in order to create a joyful collective experience.

The Devil

The Devil is a revelation that we often forge the chains that bind us and as such we have the power to slip and break those bonds. It demands that we stop looking at the powers and pleasures around us and confront the things that hold us back and keep us down. As such, I break the bonds of self-harm by making self love and care a priority in my life is affirmation for this card.

The Tower

The Tower brings to us a change that feels sudden and unexpected. It rips the rug out from under us and says this is how things are now. We cannot escape it and we cannot control it all we can do is accept it and move through it. This inspired the affirmation: I accept unavoidable change and welcome new things in life with an open heart.

The Star

The Star breaths life and healing into us. It honors and respects our limits as well as the work we continue to do to ex[and. It reminds us that as we keep hope in the forefront of our minds nothing is impossible. The affirmation for this card is: I heal myself by cultivating peace, harmony, and hope

The Moon

The Moon opens our eyes to the mysteries of the universe and the deep knowledge of those mysteries that we all have within us. It breaks down barriers and shatters the illusions that we bind ourselves with. These qualities inspired this affirmation: I see through illusions in order to grasp the deep, esoteric knowledge of the universe

The Sun

The Sun is a celebration of ourselves in our fullest, deepest happiness. Its the space in which we recognize how far we’ve come and how much we’ve done and revel in it. This inspired the affirmation: I am fulfilled by simple happiness and a great joy for living.

Judgement

Judgement brings the accomplishments we celebrate with the Sun before the collective, the source, and the universe. It asks us to deeply examine ourselves, our beliefs, our action, and our choices. In its power we make the final adjustments to our current experience of life. With this in mind I wrote the affirmation: I am reborn with ever new change that I make.

The World

The World is complete, fullness. It is the end of a cycle and the finishing of a chapter. It is the culmination of ever struggle, every success, and ever choice that is made on the path that we have walked. It is that which makes the struggle worth while. The affirmation for this card is: I am liberated by the knowledge that I am whole and complete within myself.

I hope that this little meditation Station has given you some insight into this week’s meditation. You can find it in the feed of wherever you listen to this podcast or on the Simply Witchery youtube channel. Next up is Tarot Time.

Tarot Time

For this week’s collective reading I felt called to pull cards from the Angelarium Oracle of Emanations. I pulled three cards, Remph Angel of Time, Zadkiel Angel of Mercy, and Phanuel Angel of Truth.

I love the art work in this deck very much. The problem with it is that its almost beautiful beyond words. Bear with me as I attempt to describe the figures depicted in these cards. You can check out my blog for pictures of the cards.

Remph takes the form of a creature that sits on the slop of a jagged, shining, green and bronze rock that bursts up from a source we cannot see. The figure has white skin. Its shoulders look almost feather like and its head is reminiscent of the curve of a question mark. The ever burning fire adorns its head and shoulders. Clouds are lit by the light of the sun behind this figure and a half circle curves there as well adorned with symbols.

Zadkiel’s form is that of a four armed creature with horns, dark skin, and bright green eyes. In two of its hands it holds a burning flame, in the third a sword, in a fourth a single scale that also holds a green flame. Golden gauntlets adorn each writs and its chest is covered by armor of the same color with a green gem glowing faintly in the center of it’s chest. It is surrounded by lengths of golden cloth and the green fire also surrounds it.

Phanuel also takes the shape of a many armed creature. In one hand it holds a bowl of fire held up toward the sky. Its other arms lay relaxed in a meditation pose. Its legs are crossed at the ankles in front of it. It is draped in white and black robes and a sphere light shines brightly just its head. Behind it several floating objects can bee seen in the distance. The float above brown and golden hills that roll away into the distance.

Remph reminds the collective of ever passing time. Moment by moment our lives continue moving. Time moves us along with or with out our consent or the need for us to be conscious of it. Its a reminder that life is finite. This however is not meant to be a reminder that causes us to fear. It is a concept we simply must accept and then move forward with its truth in the forefront of our minds.

Zadkiel asks us to bear our souls to those that we have wronged so that we can be given the blessings of mercy. We are all human and we are all flawed. What’s done is done but we much own the consequences of our actions. Those that we have wronged will have justice one way or another. We can heal the wounds we have caused or vindication will. It’s our choice.

In concert with Zadkiel, Phanuel reminds us that truth always wins out. If not in this life then in what comes after. If we choose to embrace truth in this life it will clothe us like armor and be a guiding beacon in our lives. If we reject it in life. Its light will be shed on us in death and we will deal with what the truth reveals then.

I hope these words help to guide you to your highest good where peace and blessings flow.

This week’s listener question once again comes from instagram and the querent asks: ‘What should I focus on to have a successful career?’ I pulled three cards for you from the Welcome to Nightvale Tarot for you today, the Six of Wands, the Eight of Swords, and the Two of Pentacles.

The Six of Wands depicts six red books being head aloft from the flames that surround them by six people we cannot see. It asks you to be confident in yourself. You have what is needed in order to succeed. As long as you keep trying and doing your best there is no such thing as failure for you only chances to learn and do better when things don’t go your way.

The Eight of Swords pictures eight nodes connected by gold line on a green background. Its very reminiscent of a micro chip.  wants you to remember that when you are unsure of what to do that you must not give away your power. Trust the little voice that whisperer to you in the back of your mind. Its knows the way.

The Two of Pentacles is a picture of a clock who’s inner workings we can see through it’s face. The hands point at what would be one o’clock but it has eights in every position. The hands are each tipped with a five pointed star. It councils you to cultivate balance and adaptability in your work life. There are hills and valleys in all things and you will experience each of them. When you are at a high point cerebrate yourself, the work you’ve done and how far you’ve come. When you are in a valley remember that its not forever and another peak in on the horizon as long as you keep moving and trying things will work out.

Thank you dear listener for sending in your question. It was my pleasure to read for you and I hope the reading resonates with you. Love and luck to you in everything you do.

Outtro

Here we are at the end of this weeks episode. Thank you so much for listening. Please subscribe where ever you get your podcasts and ratings and review would be greatly appreciated. If you would like a transcript of the episode please visit our blog at simplywitchery.wixsight.com/home. You can find daily oracle readings, magical tips, and spiritual musings at Simply Witchery on Instagram and Twitter. Check out our YouTube channel for guided meditations and lots of other magical goodness. If you’d like to receive a reading for yourself on a future episode send your question to simplywitchery@gmail.com or send me a direct message on any of my socials. The music in this episode is Where Was I by Lee Rosevere. Love and light to each and everyone of you and I’ll see you next time. Bye.