SynTAROTis

Journaling prompts

Tarot cards are excellent tools for journaling and reflection. Try the prompts below, drawing a card for each ellipsis.

When you have drawn a card, look at it carefully, consider what it seems to say (and/or consult the book for the card's meanings), and try to relate that to something you recognize as true.

I failed to ..., but ...

I was too afraid to ..., but ...

I was so embarrassed when ..., but ...

I felt humiliated when ..., but ...

I have no ..., but ...

I will never be able to ..., but ...

I like myself when ....

I am good at ....

I successfully ....

I find joy in ....

... gives me peace.

... gives me hope.

Here is an example. For the last of the prompts above (... gives me hope), I draw the Eight of Cups:

Knowing that I can leave all my past mistakes behind, gives me hope.

Your turn!

Rewriting the past

Ever wished you could do something over? Erase a traumatic event, or obliterate that time you made such a fool of yourself?

Well, you can, in a way. You can retell the story and change how you feel about it, if not literally go back and change things.

Learning from past mistakes means that we must reach into our minds and drag those uncomfortable memories to light. Not play the memory over and over in our minds, but really look at it.

Something wonderful happens when you do that: the memory loses its sting, and you discover how much you have grown, and how deep the wisdom is that you acquired.

This spread¹ helps you look at an emotional event in an analytical way.

1. The event you want to reconsider. What really happened.
2. The consequences of that event; what went wrong, and is still not resolved.
3. Now we let the imagination draw a different picture. What could have been? What if … had happened? In your mind’s eye, replace the event in card 1 with whatever the third card calls up for you. How different would things have been? Is it a negative or positive event?
4. Moving back to the original event, what if your response to the event had been …? How would this alternative path have influenced the situation? What difference would it have made to the consequences of the event?
5. Lessons learned: What can you do differently if it happens again? What different path can you take? Is this the same as in card 4, or would you have done something completely different?

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1. Thanks to my husband, Thomas (Learning in vivo), who helped me fine-tune the spread.

Lessons learnt

Most people deal with unpleasant and upsetting memories by either trying to suppress them, or wallow in them to the point where they cause depression and anxiety in the present. The ‘Lessons learnt’ technique will help you gain a clearer perspective on the memory and turn it into an opportunity for learning. It works well as a journaling exercise.

1. Focus on the memory of an event that you found upsetting for some reason. Try to recall as much about the incident as possible, but not to the extent that the memory leaves you depressed and in a negative mood.
2. Shuffle your Tarot deck and draw a card at random.
3. Note the strengths and positive qualities associated with the card. (For this exercise, ignore any negative connotations of the card, or translate them into positive qualities.)
4. If you had the strengths and positive qualities represented by the card, how would you have handled the upsetting event?
5. If you wish, draw several cards and repeat the exercise with all of them.
6. What can you learn from this exercise, how to handle similar events in the future?

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Image: Lonely playtime by Jason Parks, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Draw cards on a memory

Tarot cards are good tools for journaling. Here is one method:

In your journal, describe an event briefly. Shuffle your Tarot deck, and draw a card.

1. What then? What can this card tell you about the event?
2. What for? Draw a second card. What is the most important thing about this event?
3. What about it? Draw a third card. What is this event saying to you? (You can also interpret the third card as “Lessons learnt” or “What to do about it.”)

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Image: journal by Urban Muser, © by-NC-ND 2.0.

So is this true?

Can a sceptic use Tarot cards for introspection? Of course! (You knew I was going to say that, didn’t you?)

Many people use journals to reflect on themselves, their actions, thoughts, beliefs and motives. Others may want to examine their role in a particular situation. One of the problems is: where to start?

Tarot reading can provide a good starting point, either through divination, or through “divination” the sceptic way.

The difference is that whereas the diviner assumes the cards hold the truth, which must be considered, the sceptic reflects on what the cards “reveal” when card position and card meaning are combined.

The diviner starts with an external source of truth or inspiration, while the sceptic works purely from within.

Note that for those who use the cards for divination, the technique described in this post offers a different—but useful—way to approach the cards.

The sceptic way

To a sceptic, reading the cards means delving into the cards to find what is true about the situation; this blog contains several examples of reading for introspection that do not involve magical means.*

In contrast, with the technique described in this post, you seek the truth by applying one meaning to the cards, then decide how much you agree or disagree with the result.

How it works

You can use any spread for this exercise, but don’t include spread positions such as “outcome” or “advice.” You want to reflect on a situation and its various aspects, not predict a probable future or receive advice. You can, however, include a “probable outcome” card if you want to reflect on the possible consequences of the situation. An advice card can be added later if you wish to consider the next step.

Shuffle and draw the cards as usual, and lay them out.

Once you have the cards on the table, you need to decide on a fixed meaning (one keyword or phrase) for each. You can use a keyword traditionally assigned to the card, a keyword used by a particular author or deck, or make up your own.

Now put card and spread position together, and ask yourself: “In this situation, is it true?” Your answer might be one of the following:

• Yes, it is true.
• No, this is not true at all.
• True, but what is also true, is …
• True, but why is this true?
• Somewhat true, but it more like this …
• True, but I would like to change this.
• Not true, but I like certain aspects.
• I wish! Why? Why isn’t it true? How can I make it true?
• True (or not true), but it reminds me of …

Using your answer as inspiration, start the reflection or self-exploration exercise.

The image is the Wheel of Fortune from the Fantastic Menagerie Tarot (Magic Realist Press).

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* See for example Another way to look at the problem is …, Grieving: a sample reading, Reading the cards in context: how the cards influence each other, and Using Tarot cards to explore a problem.

Learning from the past: Tarot spread

1. Problems or obstacles I faced
2. How I dealt with them
3. What I could have done better
4. Lessons I learned
5. What I still need to deal with
6. This I hold true …