Tarot is a practice that lends itself to a lot more than just one-on-one divination and fortune-telling.

zoltar speaks. zoltar and tarot cards — *It doesn’t have to be this way*

Personally, I’ve found the cards to be useful and great fun as a myriad of games, ice-breakers, creative prompts —you name it.

Learning the cards well should be a fun and never-ending process, and you really don’t need to devote your time and brainpower to studying any books on it (though I encourage feeding your curiosity and reading books, just don’t feel compelled to memorize “meanings”. It’s all confetti). Instead, accept the ages-old invitation the cards extend, and play.

Card games are systems based on art, numbers, and the randomization of it all. I once heard on a podcast that there are more possible card combinations in a Tarot pack than there are atoms in the universe. Don’t take my word for it, but let the image blow your mind if it serves you. Once you start playing with a pack of cards, the possibilities are endless.

Here are the most enjoyable ways I’ve honed my own practice, and which might serve you to either get the ball rolling or see your well-worn cards in a different light:

Learn some history

Ok, I know I kind of just dissed books, but this really isn’t the same thing. Learn a little bit of card history. It will humble you and your readings to know where it really comes from (hint: no, Tarot is not an ancient Egyptian divination practice). Do some digging and learn about famous fortune-tellers, cartomancers and card-makers from before your time. Discover for yourself how it went from a rich Italian thing to an artisanal French thing to an esoteric British thing. Maybe it’s just the nerd in me, but I find it awfully fun.

portrait of mademoiselle marie lenormand court of napoleon — *Mademoiselle Marie Lenormand, someone you might recognize if you learned a lil history*

Deck interviews

This is something I did when I was first starting to practice reading cards. I don’t find it as useful now, but back then I was too shy to practice on other people and didn’t want to read for myself alone. There are many deck interview layouts out there, but they all revolve around the same idea of humanizing your deck and reading on the cards themselves. If you want your cards to speak to you, then why not ask them questions?

rider waite smith tarot cards laid out on floor spread with incense and plants — *Back in my Rider Waite and Witchcraft days*

Gastromancy

Go to some restaurant or café, really anywhere that serves food, and bring a pack of cards. This works best when ordering something you’ve never eaten before. If you’re having trouble choosing what to eat, pull some cards to see which option you’d enjoy best. If you’re certain of what you want, pull a card anyway, and try to compose a little food review before they actually bring it to you. Afterward, eat mindfully and see how you can tie in the card(s) to the flavors, textures, and after-tastes. I tend to be spot-on when doing this for patatas bravas at a new-to-me tapas bar. This works with cocktails, too!

Musical deep dives

When Fiona Apple’s Fetch The Bolt Cutters came out in 2020, I was immediately obsessed. I genuinely had trouble sleeping at night for listening to the album over and over again, dissecting the lyrics and sounds in my imagination night after night. This has always been the case for me with Fiona’s music. What was different this time was that I had a pack of cards and literally nowhere to go.

So every day I would zone in on one of the thirteen songs and pull a card or two or three to do a reading on the track. I gave each reading a good deal of thought and after writing something up I’d share it on social media. Not only did it satisfy my obsessive craving for the music, but it also gave me a much-needed project during lockdown and helped me understand the songs and the cards that much better. It even led to writing a review for a popular indie music magazine at the time, which had always been a dream!

Next time your favorite artist drops an album, start shuffling.

A compass made of cards

My friend Edgar and I were out at a language exchange, our respective packs of cards burning in our pockets and excitement intermingling with nervousness. We’d both been learning cartomancy only recently and felt like the rest of the world hadn’t quite caught up yet. At this event surrounded by strangers, we couldn’t help but feel a bit of a disconnect, like we were floating away in our own sealed bubble. Where was the excitement, what strangers should we talk with in order to maximize our fun?

*You know it’s adventure time when someone whips out the compass*

Edgar started laying cards on the table in the shape of a compass and suddenly we could glimpse into what each little group of the crowd might offer us. Truthfully I do not remember which card we followed or how the night shaped up. But I remember how much fun that layout was and how it strengthened my relationship with the cards (and my admiration for my friend).

Poetry and tarot

Similar to the musical deep dive detailed earlier, only this time we’re using poetry.

I was in the midst of this project in April 2021 when I came up with my method. I credit my poetry month challenge for opening my mind to much more creative interpretations based on imagery rather than memorized card meanings. By doing tarot readings for poems (and challenging myself to one per day during the month of April) I grew comfortable reading with Marseille-type decks instead of Rider Waite.

book, tarot cards, coffee, dorothy parker poetry, colorful socks — *Poetry and Tarot is best enjoyed with a big hot cuppa*

Enough about me, though. Grab your nearest poetry collection and pack of Tarot cards, and get practicing. I like to read the poem out loud while shuffling, more than once if it’s not too long, and then lay out anywhere from one to three cards and start connecting the dots. I highly recommend Louise Glück and Sylvia Plath (the latter had a tarot pack of her own and was said to have used it in her own writing process).

TV Tarot

Some TV shows lend themselves perfectly to card readings. Love realities where there’s heavy focus on one-on-one connections (Love is Blind, The Ultimatum), as well as crime dramas where most of the episode is set in an interview room (the “Criminal” series, Mindhunter) have both proven themselves as excellent practice arenas for my method.

Fortune tellers get insecure, too. When I’m not feeling at my most powerful to make predictions for clients, I turn to the TV and try to predict what will happen next in my favorite drama. It’s good fun and I am a better reader for it. Give it a go! It’s such a safe way to learn from your mistakes, too. If your prediction was a flop, make sure to take the time to look back and see how the cards could have meant something different.

The possibilities are endless, and I’ve got plenty more tricks in my bag, but let’s wrap this one up here for today lest I run on endlessly to an audience of none. I’d love to hear your own ways you’ve thought of playing with the cards, or how these methods have suited your practice. Above all, I hope you have fun with it!

Fun ways to practice tarot