How do you connect tarot cards to tell a story?
At the heart of a good Tarot reading there’s a story and it beings like: Once Upon A Time… Well, not really. For instance some stories have changed history and even mindsets. It’s time yours took its place in the world.
Why is connecting tarot cards to tell a story so important?
Just copy and pasting generic definitions from the little while book isn’t going to sound right for starters.
WHY TELLING THE STORY IS IMPORTANT
Like a picture book the tarot is a series of images. Without the story to connect the pictures to the plot you lose the context.
For instance, it’s like having one word on each page to describe each picture. Without context there is no story, just words.
What’s the point of reading the story if each page only has one word on it?
In fact, you wouldn’t be able to understand the story.
Therefore it is so incredibly important to connect the cards to tell a story.
Without the story your missing out on why you even did the reading for in the first place! To gain insight or guidance.
An incomplete reading gives only hints or clues as to what is for our highest good. We need the whole story!
Thus the purpose of this article. Let me show you just how this can be done.
If you haven’t read about expanding your tarot vocabulary read here first.
Expanding your tarot vocabulary will help you bring the elements of the story together in a more descriptive and dynamic way.
Without expanding your tarot vocabulary, the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog is just fox jump dog.
CONNECTING THE CARDS TO TELL A STORY
First we’ll start by revisiting our basic formula for a three card reading.
*With three cards we will view the middle card as the subject. The first card will describe the subject. Lastly, the third card will be the action or result.
*Keep in mind this is not a past, present, future spread, but just a few cards laid out to give a general reading.
The subject will be A RELATIONSHIP that is described as TRAPPED and MISERABLE with action of causing FEAR and DESTRUCTION.
You are currently in a RELATIONSHIP (LOVERS) where you feel TRAPPED(DEVIL) and are MISERABLE(DEVIL) .The foundation of the relationship is UNSTABLE(TOWER) and is about to fall.
Now comes the creative part.
With a bit of finesse and using your now expanded tarot language ( Expand Your Tarot Vocabulary:Give Exceptional Readings) this reading could go a bit like this:
The FOUNDATION(TOWER) of this relationship has WEAKENED(TOWER).
You FEAR(DEVIL) you have LOST CONTROL(TOWER).
The RELATIONSHIP(LOVERS) you are in right now makes you feel TRAPPED(DEVIL) and MISERABLE(DEVIL).
You desire a HARMONIOUS(LOVERS) and JOYFUL(LOVERS) relationship which your current relationship is not providing you.
It is no longer meeting your needs.
This is just a sample break down how a reading may go. Remember to always check in with your intuition for confirmation before you finalize the message the story is telling.
BUILDING A FOUNDATION
As you build a deeper relationship with your cards and gain more experience you will find it becomes easier to connect your tarot cards to tell a story.
Also, cross referencing the relationship between cards can help make your reading more descriptive and meaningful. See tips on finding and applying relationships between cards in my article Master Reading A Tarot Spread In 5 Minutes.
Remember you will get better with practice.
These simple beginnings will become a foundation for you to further build upon.
The best way to get practice for learning to tell the story of your reading is to… tell a story!
Imagine the tarot are pages of a picture book and you are telling the story.
Who are the characters? What are they doing? Can you predict the out come of their actions? Would you give them advice?
Practice filling in the blanks.
CONCLUSION
Connecting your tarot cards to tell a story is an integral part of every tarot reading.
You will add layers of depth that will not only tell a clear story but reveal the heart of the matter and how to best continue forward.
The more information you are able to pull from a reading the easier it will be to see the story.
The more information that’s in the story, the more fulfilling the reading will be.
After all it is the story that we read the book for in the first place.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Be sure to take account of your progress in your Tarot journal!
Not only will it provide you with your own personalized card meanings, but you will also see how much you grow as a Tarot Reader over time.
Learn more about Keeping A Tarot Journal. You’ll be glad you did!
Why not try one of the dozens of FREE tarot spreads available in the SelfTarot Tarot Spread Archive?
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