FED UP?
How to lose the book and read tarot like a pro.
Overwhelmed and drowning in tarot card meanings? Tired of trying to memorize your tarot cards like they were times tables? Having trouble accessing your intuition? Or just plain don’t know how to begin?
I’ve been there.
That’s why I’m taking care to share my tarot reading method with anyone who’s frustrated, lost, or maybe even pretty darn close to giving on learning how to read tarot cards forever.
There’s light at the end of the tunnel. I promise! And I’ll tell you why.
Soon you too can throw out the book and read tarot like a pro!
Left-Brain vs Right-Brain
I’m sure you’ve heard the term “left brained” or “right brained” when it comes to predominantly using logic or our creative side to problem solve.
Some of us are just hard wired for logic making it super tough to access our intuition. The good news is that you can use free association to access your intuition through the back door without your brain being none the wiser.
This process lets you by-pass your intuition and use logic intuitively . What does all this have to do with reading tarot without a book? Let me explain.
FREE ASSOCIATION
As you gaze upon your Tarot cards the characters and scenes portrayed will speak to you on an unconscious level.
Through these images, you will recall past memories and experiences forming associations with the cards.
These associations will then come to the front of your consciousness and will present themselves to you in such a way as to tell you the “meaning” of each card without you even trying! Imagine that!
In psychotherapy, this technique is known as Free Association.
WHAT’S FREE ASSOCIATION?
Free association is defined as ‘the process by which one word or image may spontaneously suggest another without any apparent connection”.
It is the expression of the conscious without censorship to access the unconscious.
Essentially, as you are prompted by a word or image you will speak or write every thought that comes into your mind without filtering it.
It is then that these unconscious associations are discovered giving you a deeper look into the heart of the situation.
Sigmund Freud developed this process between 1892 – 1898 as a means of exploring the subconscious.
This method of examining the subconscious is said to:
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Reveal associations and connections that are stored in the unconscious
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Bring repressed emotions and memories into the conscious
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Identify thoughts, emotions, and feelings about life situations that are not self evident
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Identify conflict
Free Association is based on the theory of psychic determination.
That everything you do or say is significant and all your thoughts and actions are determined by your subconscious.
Therefore by using Free Association to reveal the subconscious, we are able to connect emotions, words, and phrases that are prompted by the images portrayed across the Major and Minor Aracana. Essentially you are using intuition logically.
An Example
We’ll take the 5 swords for example.
This card depicts a cloaked figure picking up swords from a pile on the ground while the characters in the background are seemingly unaware.
Free Association of this scenario might look like this:
FOREGROUND
- SMIRKING
- SMUG
- SNEAKING
- STEALING
- DECIETFUL
- LONER
BACKGROUND
- AT A LOSS
- SORROWFUL
- LEFT OUT IN THE COLD
- PREOCCUPIED
- DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO
You could be either the victim or the perpetrator in this scenario.
Someone who has been betrayed by another could project the feeling of the cloaked figure as being deceitful and stealing the swords behind the others’ backs.
They may also transfer their feelings onto the background characters portrayed in the card. They may be at a loss, sorrowful, or unaware.
Someone who needs to look out for their own self-interest may see the same cloaked figure as picking up what is rightfully his while figures in the background are consumed with other business.
Both instances are technically correct as there is no wrong way to interpret a Tarot card.
Some traditional meanings of this card are being dishonest and having self-interest.
It is in this way that we can theoretically use the Tarot as Rochester inkblots to reveal the meanings of the cards.
Conclusion
Easier than memorization and more direct than intuition, Free Association is a means of learning the Tarot that is super easy, fun, and requires nothing more than paper, pencil, and your brain.
Cool, huh?
But this doesn’t mean we are completely throwing intuition out the door.
While free association can paint a fairly accurate picture of what each card means to the reader, sometimes keywords generated by free association are a little too free.
When your free association list is scattered, going in more than one direction, or is just all over the place, you’ll want to check in with your intuition to see which direction to go.
You can find out how to uncover and access your intuition with ease in my article Use Intuition To Give A Tarot Reading.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Ready for the next step? New to Reading Tarot? Start Small by Reading one Card at a Time.
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!
Not as confident as you would like to be reading tarot? Learn to Read Tarot Like Boss in 5 Easy Steps! Plus, exclusive pro tips you won’t find anywhere else!
READY TO TAKE THE ULTIMATE SELF-DISCOVERY JOURNEY?
Ready to take your self-discovery journey to the next level?
Let’s face it, its hard work doing all this soul searching and self-improvement on your own!
Let tarot be your guide.
Tarot will hold your hand, hold nothing back, and lead you on one hell of a journey. Now is your opportunity to take the road less traveled: A journey to discover your truest self – the highest, best version of you that you can be!
Check out the The SelfTarot Self-Discovery Workshop today!
