Signs You're Leveling-Up in your Tarot Practice
Leveling-up in tarot feels like reaching a new peak with its own fresh vista
The initial steps to learning tarot are obvious. First, what on earth are these cards all about? Second, what do they all mean?
Since there are 78 cards to go through, this stage can take some time. But what about that next phase, when you’ve gotten a handle on the cards themselves and are starting to become fluent in tying them together? How can you tell when you’re starting to master tarot?
I have a hunch that this is the time when most people burn out or take a break which is why I’m writing this post. After all, it’s nice to have some affirmation and motivation in this murkier stage of learning to read.
I’d also like to mention that there is no such thing as becoming an expert at tarot. We become more comfortable and fluent, but tarot is truly an art and in-the-moment practice.
We’re never done learning and we’re always on our toes, treating each reading as a new horizon. There are, however, some signs that you’re really getting the hang of things. Here’s a list of moments when I knew my practice went beyond the meanings in the books and into something more personal, powerful, and solid.
You can get the gist of a reading without reasoning through it - You might not even notice this happening (that’s the tricky thing about intuition, isn’t it?) but you’re sensing the overarching theme and story of your reading before your brain can catch up and psych you out with analysis and thoughts like “but is that what my book says about the Ten of Pentacles???”
You don’t look at the cards like they have one “right” meaning - You might find this feels sacrilegious at first. Maybe there’s an itchiness present when you return to the LWB’s write-ups. This is a good sign! You’re starting to see the poetry of tarot and how each card is more of a gateway to worlds of meaning rather than a road that dead-ends at a single destination.
In fact, right and wrong become deeply boring to you - Tarot is meant to expand our understanding. If you’re feeling like an explorer in a new land when you read, you’ve become fluent enough to step aside and let them lead the way out of fear, the desire for control, and the pressure of judgment.
You can call up the images of the cards in your mind - Speaking of fluency, this was probably the biggest moment for me in my practice. I’d test myself to envision the Six of Wands, say, when someone mentioned it. As soon as I could conjure the entire deck, I knew that tarot was woven into my consciousness thoroughly. See if you can bring up the whole deck for yourself.
You see tarot in your everyday life - Now the concepts of the cards are alive and out and about in your life. If you find yourself seeing the themes of tarot "in real life” you’re not just reading tarot, you’re living it. Congratulations!
You begin to develop a personal dictionary of meanings and associations - Rather than sticking to the book, you start to add to it, creating a tarot tome of your own. The experiences you have start to build on your understanding of the cards. Strength becomes not just a symbol of perseverance and self-awareness, but also a container for the times in your life when you’ve had to struggle with yourself. The specificity makes your readings more powerful and personal.
Another note here: there is absolutely no set time in which this can happen. Some of us move fast and others, like me, take a long time to integrate and explore. And, as I always say, you never stop learning tarot, so enjoy the ride and keep seeking!