4 Benefits of Experimenting with the Tarot

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Jaymi Elford, author of the new Tarot Inspired Life.

Tarot comes from a rich tradition of correspondences, spreads, schools of thought, and magic. One can spend a lifetime focused around the deeper exploration of a single methodology. I’m here to buck that trend. As a tarot experimentalist, I hope this advice makes you one, too.

Experimenting with cards has many benefits:

1. Create Innovation. Integrating tarot into your passions fosters innovation. Tarot is a tool that can lend support to many aspects of your world. Select something you are passionate about and list ways the cards can enhance it. As you work on various projects, where can you insert a reading, or deck imagery, to help achieve success? When you create innovation with tarot, you challenge the status quo and introduce new insights into the rich tradition of tarot.
2. Learn New Skills. Experimenting with tarot can lead to learning new skills. Tarot was the reason I learned how to sew and crochet. I stack my tarot decks on a shelf in a way that requires them to have nice tuck boxes. Since many decks do not come with boxes, I needed to find ways to provide structure myself. While I could have had my fabric-creative friends help me, I didn’t want to monopolize their free time. I now have three different styles of cases I can sew or crochet on my own and have been known to give them as gifts.
3. Redefine Reading Habits. “Tarot meaning rut” is real and it happens often. You’ve spent time to learn several tarot meanings and tend to use them over and over when giving readings. It’s happened to me and it can affect you. Habits are easy to fall into. Experimenting with card meanings and how we see the cards can breathe new life into our repertoire. The cards teach us how to interpret them, and our readings become more organic.
4. Have Fun! Playing around with tarot is fun. In fact, it’s the whole basis of my book, Tarot Inspired Life. I’m not suggesting you use a scientific method to prove your experiments. Instead, head into tarot with a playful “what if” attitude when you read the cards and view their usefulness throughout your life.

Have I motivated you to incorporate a little bit of trial and error into your tarot life? How has breaking from tradition helped you integrate the cards into your life? Let us know in the comments below.

Our thanks to Jaymi for her guest post! For more from Jaymi Elford, read her article, “How to Use Tarot in Your Daily Activities.”