Using Tarot Cards for Manifesting

Don’t you just love tarot cards? They have literally been around for thousands of years and ooze of magical mysteries. Maybe some people have written them off as woo-woo, but I have to say they have made a large impact on my journey.

What do tarot cards tell us?

Do tarot cards tell us the future? Do they warn us of impending doom or predict a new and exciting relationship? I think they can tell us those things, but mostly, I think they tell us what is going on within ourselves. For me, they have usually revealed what path I’m on and the results if I continue on said path.

I’ve done readings on myself which showed me negative outcomes if I were to keep doing what I was doing. This caused me to move into action with great results. I’ve also done readings which gave encouragement to stay the course. Some readings didn’t answer any of my questions, and basically told me that I already knew the answer and to trust myself.

I love using tarot cards for manifesting! However, I have found reading too much reduces the amount of insight I receive. If I depend on the cards to make all my decisions for me, then I will probably not get the answers that I’m looking for. I suggest doing a reading when you want encouragement, insight, or you just want to check in for fun. I do my readings occasionally when I feel impressed to do so. This way, I find I am more in the flow of spiritual alignment, and my readings are spot on!

How to interpret the cards

I’ve had a couple people read tarot cards for me, and each one instructed me to take my time and look at each card before the reading. They wanted me to get a feel for the cards and form my own interpretations. I would look at each one and consider how the image made me feel and what it made me think of. I think this is helpful initially to set the stage.

The tarot cards will reveal what is inside. You want to build a relationship with the cards so your subconscious mind can use them to communicate with you. I also read the little pamphlet that came with my deck that gives expressive words for each card. I use that pamphlet for each reading because those words can be very enlightening, explaining the meaning the card was designed to give.

I think the more comfortable and knowledgeable you are about your deck, the more revealing your readings will be. Mine have become more and more enlightening as the years have gone by. Sometimes in the beginning, readings don’t make a lot of sense. It takes practice, like anything!

Minor Arcana

Minor Arcana include each of the four suits: pentacles, swords, cups and wands. These usually reflect day to day situations and can help us reflect on specific instances in our lives right now.

Money and tarot

The suit of pentacles represents money and the physical reality. These cards can show you hidden beliefs that you may have concerning money, fears you have, or your desires. A reading that I did during a time that I was worried about money and desiring to win the lottery (my true self was definitely not aligned with making money that way), the Four of Pentacles showed up, which represents being a miser, hoarder, and expressing a lack of generosity. This card served as a wake up call for me and who I didn’t want to be!

My favorite tarot card right now is the Queen of Pentacles. She embodies everything that I am striving for. She is prosperity, abundance, grace, magnificence, and a noble soul who is wealthy and generous to others. She showed up as the outcome of my last reading and I keep the card out where I can see it and be reminded of my goal.

Intellect and tarot

The mind and intellect is represented by the suit of swords. Swords can reveal many different aspects from taking a trip, to avoiding emotion, experiencing loneliness, and having a time of rest. I related to many “negative” swords cards during times of unrest, when I was creating wreckage in my life.

Swords can uncover hidden darkness and fears that are expressed in ruthlessness, coldness, and confusion. To counter the negatives are the positive cards of this suit, which constitute regeneration, strength, determination, and adventure.

Emotions and tarot

Cups represent the heart and emotions. These cards can be both beautiful and tragic. The beauty can be shown in a loving family (Ten of Cups), intimate relationships (Two of Cups), happiness and joy (Ace of Cups), and creativity (King of Cups).

The opposite can express disappointment (Four of Cups), lack of love (Five of Cups), living in a fantasy (Seven of Cups), and nostalgia (Six of Cups).

Inspiration and tarot

The fourth suit is wands (sometimes called rods) and is described as inspiration and spirit. Wands represent movement of energy, creation, progress and growth. Many of these cards reveal hidden wisdom and capabilities. They can be very encouraging and relate affirmations to encourage forward movement and overcoming of obstacles.

On the more negative end, these cards can show fears of failure, dissatisfaction, strife, and rushing ahead too quickly. Until we learn to hear our true inner voice, we can confuse some uninspired thoughts as being from spirit. Such was my desire to win the lottery. I wanted it so bad and that strong feeling I interpreted as direction from my higher self to buy tickets, when actually I was afraid of creating value and attracting the money myself. I thought easy money would solve my problems and was misguided by my hidden fears.

Major Arcana

The Major Arcana include cards numbered 1-21 and represent major life lessons, obstacles/opportunities, and change. One of my favorite cards is The Magician, which identifies with imagination, creativity, ability to complete tasks, and ingenuity. Strength is a beautiful card that showed up for me recently. It showed up at the perfect time and was exactly what I needed to encourage me to move forward and not give up.

There were times in my addiction that The Devil was showing up in my readings often, which makes sense as it represents bad influence, ravage, lack of success, and bondage. Death also showed up a few times as I moved through big life changes, healings, and evolved my world within.

Major Arcana contain some truly magical cards and also some scary ones. Always remember that these cards are revealing what is inside, and we have the power to change our relationship to any area of our life. Learning where we have false beliefs and where we are being hung up is helpful and allows us to make peace and create something different for ourselves.

Choosing your deck

I’ve stuck to the same deck since I started doing readings over 14 years ago. I have the Hanson-Roberts Tarot deck, and I loooove her art!! I knew someone who had the deck and I immediately resonated so strongly with the images that I had to have it. The deck has a slight medieval feel, whimsical and magical, with characters that are easy to connect with.

Mary Hanson-Roberts got her inspiration from the classic Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot deck. This one was drawn in 1909! Waite directed Smith to do the artwork. Very popular deck.

The Modern Witch Tarot deck has the same art style as the Rider-Waite Tarot deck, except it has a modern twist. This is an all-female deck, racially diverse, and includes some modern clothing.

There is a beautiful Prisma Visions Tarot deck by James R. Eads that looks interesting. Slightly trippy, very magical, and the artwork is super unique.

These are only a few of the multitude out there. Pretty much, go with what resonates with you. Whichever deck generates an elevated emotional response could be your higher self speaking up.

How to read tarot

There are many spreads you could use in your tarot readings. I have stuck to the Ancient 10-Card spread and it works for anything I’m wanting insight on. Its slightly different than the Ancient Celtic Cross Method, which also uses 10 cards arranged the same way, just in a slightly different order and meaning.

I have preferred to use the same spread because I know well what each position means to me so I think my subconscious is better able to produce cards that relate to those positions. But I don’t read tarot especially often, just when I feel the urge. If you are reading tarot daily or wanting to make a business from it, I can see value in learning a few spreads and practicing them.

Here is a website that I found with spreads for many different areas of interest. Again, there are numerous spreads, so have fun finding the ones that work for you. You can absolutely create your own spread, which could be more meaningful than using someone else’. Ultimately, experience will reveal what resonates.

Tarot reversals

Honestly, I never really got into the tarot reversals. When some people do a reading they leave the card in the position that was drawn in, whether it be upside down or not. Usually the meaning for a reversed card is the opposite of the traditional meaning.

I place all my cards upright when I do my spread. However, when I’m doing the reading, if one doesn’t make much sense in the traditional definition, I will find meaning from the reversed interpretation. Also, if its a highly negative card, I will read the reversal and realize that every direction I take is a choice. There’s always a different choice that could be made instead of the one presented. So therefore, a negative card can be a warning to watch out for a certain thought process, enabling you to make the opposite choice.

How tarot cards assist in manifestation

• Clearing out the blocks– Manifesting what you desire originates from within. Tarot cards can show you what is blocking the energy you want to express. None of us want to see The Tower or the Ten of Swords, but they can reveal our hidden beliefs. Maybe The Tower card is showing that you secretly think that things are too good to be true and the other shoe is about to drop. The Ten of Swords could be warning you of thought processes and beliefs as well. These are not to scare you but to empower you! When you make peace with the demons inside, they no longer haunt you.

• Affirming your journey– Tarot cards help you manifest by encouraging you to continue on your path. Far more of my readings have shown phenomenal outcomes. It might show that I’ve had a rough past, but my future usually has money showing up (my subconscious is on track, baby!). Sometimes getting through those times of doubt can seem daunting. Anything that gets you back into the feeling of your fulfilled dreams will quantum leap you to your desires!

• Giving clarity– Basically, you already know the answers. Your subconscious knows what you truly want, is connected to infinite wisdom, and guides everything you do. Your subconscious expresses when you do a tarot reading, so this is a great way to receive insight as to a direction to go in. I’ve used tarot many times for direction, and usually I end up realizing I already knew the answer. But its still fun! And enlightening. The better we get at interacting with our subconscious, the better we get at manifesting!

Buffing up your tool box

Its best to have an arsenal of tools available for yourself! Situations can be widely different and unique, so don’t think that you need to limit yourself to tools that worked in one instance. Stay creative and above all, have fun! You can’t do it wrong! Everything you experience is exactly what you are supposed to experience. Every “mistake” and “wrong turn” supports you on your quest to your vision!

Hope you find a beautiful deck of tarot cards! 🙂