I very recently got into tarot cards. I thought it would be an interesting way to reflect on my week or use them to help me think of solutions to a problem I may not have otherwise had. I don’t think Tarot is a way of reading the future or giving exact answers, I think they simply invite you to think of things from perspectives you may not have previously had. That being said, I usually do a reading once a week to give me something to think about throughout the week. I wondered, however, what it would be like to do a reading once a day and have something new to think about every day. I must admit, it was sort of overwhelming. While having an entire week to reflect on a card gives you lots of ways to apply it, significant things didn’t happen to me every single day to fit the card I got, and I found myself either manipulating my day or the meaning of the card to fit my purposes. Here’s how it went day by day:
Day 1:
I started on a Friday, which I know seems weird, but that’s just when the idea came to me. The card I pulled was “The Star”. This card is from the major arcana and therefore has a stronger meaning and in general, has more pull than a card from the minor arcana. The Star means all is well and invites you to rest, heal and focus on the potential in your life. The rest of the week was not always so accurate, but this was just what I needed to hear at the time. Fridays are my only day with no class or work, and I generally use them to prepare for upcoming duties and to re-center myself. I also signed up for a yoga class that day, and when I signed up earlier in the week my main intention was to use it as simply a form of physical exercise. Yet, when I got to the class, the instructor asked us what our intention was to get out of being in the class, and my mind jumped to the first line of my reading: “The Star invites you to rest and heal”, and I realized my intention for the class had changed. I spent the rest of my time there focusing on letting my stress go and allowing myself to channel the healing energy from yoga.
Day 2:
Saturday I pulled the Queen of Wands. She is described as having energy, warmth, generosity, being extremely social and fiercely independent. I have to be honest, she sounds great, but she doesn’t really sound like me. I like hanging out with my friends, but my social clock runs out quickly, I hate doing errands alone and I worked from 7 am-12 pm this day, so I wasn’t feeling particularly energized. I like how the Queen of Wands comes across though, so I decided to work towards being more like her. After work, I went straight to get gas and to get my eyebrows done, two things I usually drag along a friend with me for. Instead of taking my post 7 am shift nap, I went out shopping with my two roommates and helped them clean the apartment. I even cooked a full meal for my boyfriend and myself all by myself, which was especially impressive as I have an irrational fear of undercooking chicken. I think the Queen of Wands helped change the choices I made and the overall course of my day by encouraging me to fulfill what the card predicted for me, which was very interesting to see.
Day 3:
Sunday I pulled the Seven of Cups. This card is about being lost in choices- fantasizing about endless options and opportunities but prolonging actually making a choice or pushing anything into action. This was one of the days it was hard to interpret. What life-changing choices could I be prolonging on a random Sunday? After some introspection, I came to realize my photography business might be it. I spent months saying I was going to design a website, spent all last week designing it, but still, I was nervous to show it to the world. At 6 pm last night I finally posted about it, but still, self-advertising is hard for me. Today I spent a lot of time making choices to advertise to people and reach out to those I normally wouldn’t who I knew needed graduation pictures done. I stopped procrastinating because I thought I would come off as annoying and just did it. I secured new clients because of the push this card gave me, and I’m not sure if I would have been as assertive otherwise or if I just would have sat and waited for people to contact me. The card predicted something about me I wasn’t even consciously aware of, and I was able to better myself from it.
Day 4:
Monday I pulled the Five of Coins reversed. The card’s general meaning is hardship- in finances, health, or relationships, as well as a lack of stability. The reversal of the card calls for a more abstract meaning and can also mean impending change for the better and peace of mind. I pulled this card right before a 7 am-11 am shift and was feeling conflicted. Today is my least busy day of the week and I wanted to enjoy my free time, but I also had the opportunity to work 11-2 and get extra hours. I am not feeling very financially stable at the moment and could definitely use the extra money, but I also did not want the extra stress. Pulling the card reversed gave me some peace of mind that maybe everything would work itself out financially and that I shouldn’t make a choice that would affect my mental health. Later that day, I booked three graduation photoshoots, which will help me out hugely financially. The card’s words ended up being accurate about “impending opportunity.”
Day 5:
Tuesday, I pulled “Death”. I really didn’t know what to do with such a significant card on seemingly such an insignificant Tuesday. It generally means a foreseen ending, a significant end and an invitation to transform. What I was really hoping this meant was the end of my summer internship search, because I waited in a very long line to see my career liaison this day and I thought she would have some good answers. Unfortunately, all she did was tell me to go to a career fair, so the only thing about the card that matched my day was my very dark mood. This is the day I realized I might be looking too much into the readings and causing myself more stress than clarity.
Day 6:
Wednesday I pulled the Five of Swords, labeled “tainted victory.” It has a lot of potential meanings, including a tenuous victory, bullying, shortsightedness and profit at another’s expense. But, I could not relate to any of them. I did not know what to say for today, and I was starting to feel very frustrated. Finally, as I sat down to write, I reread the guide and saw one meaning was “manipulation,” and it finally clicked. I, not consciously meaning to, have been manipulating my days and the meaning of the cards to fit my needs and have had my “victory” of having an outcome to this experiment, but is it tainted? Maybe.
Day 7:
The last day of this project regained my faith in the process a little. While the past few days confused me, this card had some good advice for me. I pulled the Two of Swords, labeled Inner Conflict. It says there’s a conflict between my heart and mind, and while I’m currently managing it, I’ll soon be overwhelmed, and I agree. I’ve been trying to split my time evenly between school, picking up extra shifts, my internship, my photography, my friends and myself. It’s not going well. This card was a good way to end with because it really gave me something to continue to think about moving forward to have a healthier mindset, even if it didn’t relate to an exact event that happened this day.
This was an experiment I did with myself to see if doing a reading every day would give me more to think about and more peace of mind than a weekly reading, and I don’t think it did. I was overthinking and bending the meanings of the cards to mean absolutely anything relevant, and that defeats the purpose. I will definitely be going back to weekly readings, but it was a very interesting journey.
All images courtesy: Dana Sardina
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