🚨Defund the Tarot Police

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Hi there Tarot Friends,

I'm off to MN this week with my brother for a stay on lake Minnetonka. I'm looking forward to being able to see the stars!

The second and last eclipse happens next week so hang in there! There are some lovely trines happening in the skies now and through December so be ready to leap once opportunity presents itself.

Date with Tarot-Second Meeting

Missed the first meeting? Find it here.

The Snapshot Method

Objective: Practice connecting with your eyes. Learn to take in the image on the card without jumping to meaning.

Note: Tarot decks vary in their imagery. Therefore, the information contained in the 4 of cups, for instance, is going to vary from deck to deck. Remember, we are putting definitions aside for the duration of the course. So just go with it!

Step 1

Look at a card from your daily draw.

👀Describe what you see. [Not what it means. What you see.]

• Is there a person? What are they doing?
• What objects stand out?
• What’s the vibe of the colors, the shapes, the scene?

Write down 2–3 sentences as if you’re narrating a picture book.

Example:

That’s it. You just did it.

I can’t because:

• I’m not good at describing things.
  • Keep it simple. “A man holds a stick” is enough. The goal is noticing, not writing the great American novel.
• I don’t know what I’m supposed to be looking for.
  • There’s no “supposed to.” Start with shapes, colors, people, objects — anything your eyes land on.
• My deck is confusing / has weird images.
  • Perfect! Every deck is different. Weirdness strengthens your ability to really see.
• I already know the meanings, why bother describing?
  • Observation is your raw material. Like gathering ingredients before you cook. Without it, intuition has nothing to build on.
• It feels silly to just list what I see.
  • This is how you build your Tarot eye. Athletes practice drills. Musicians practice scales. Intuition flows through the 5 senses.
• I don’t have time to journal every detail.
  • A quick sketch or one-line list is enough. Remember this is just practice.
• What if I miss something important?
  • You’ll always see enough. Tomorrow you’ll notice even more.
• My words don’t capture what I see.
  • They don’t have to. This is for you, not an audience. Any words are fine if they remind you what you noticed.
• I feel like I’m just making stuff up.
  • Newsflash — you are making it up. It feels awkward at first, like learning to ride a bike. The wobble means you’re moving.
• I’m not good at seeing symbols or patterns.
  • You’re not looking for symbols. Just say what’s on the card like you’d explain it to a 5-year-old.
• I don’t know what the images mean.
  • We’ll get to meaning later. For now, “what you see” is the practice.
• I’m scared I’ll miss something important.
  • There’s no “right” detail to catch — whatever you notice is the important thing.

Something to Consider

All the different Tarot decks in existence are just riffing on the cards that came before them. If Tarot cards and “definitions” are finite, static, and immovable, how is that possible?

And if it’s okay to riff your own Tarot deck, why would it not be okay to riff your own “definitions” or correspondences?

Step 2

Now take one element from your description and use it to title the card you are looking at.

Examples:

• “Valuable find at the market”
• “Choosing among many beautiful things”
• “Recognizing what I like”

The title is not a “definition”.

It’s a way to discover the card using your own senses.

This anchors the image in your memory without memorizing a definition list.

It’s one way among many to create your own Tarot card correspondences, your own keywords to pull on at a moment’s notice.

How to measure success

• Got out your notebook = 1 pt
• Wrote a description of the card = 1 pt
• Gave the card a title = 1 pt

That’s it. 3 points max.

Step 3

Continue to pull a card or two at the beginning of the day and write 2-3 lines about the card(s) you pulled. Use this lesson as your guide.

Go back and reflect at the end of the day writing 2-3 lines about what you encountered in your day. Don’t worry about matching anything up with the cards. Just write it down.

Summary​
This week is like going on a second date. You’ve gotten over the nerves, and now you’re actually looking across the table at who Tarot is.

Sometimes Tarot shows up mysterious, sometimes obvious, sometimes a total trickster. But you don’t have to figure it all out yet. Just notice what’s in front of you.

How many times did you pull cards last week? Even if it was zero, it’s not to late to start your practice.

See you next week, where we’ll keep building the habit of the daily draw and deepen the conversation.

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-Cassandra the Card Reader
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