Intention:
Intentional Tarot
We can take the concept from the previous chapter of Proactive Activation one step further and skip the traditional tarot reading altogether. I call this Intentional Tarot.
In a traditional tarot reading, the querent wants to learn something of benefit to their question at hand. In Intentional Tarot, we want to do something of benefit to someone or some situation. Instead of beginning with a question, we begin with a solution. We envision exactly what we want to manifest, to alter, or to protect. Cards are selected face up with clear intentions. Our focus, as we look at and contemplate the cards, is not to interpret their meaning but to project our understanding of their meaning outward with intention to the universe or whatever deity you may relate to.
We practice Intentional Tarot in the belief that we are actually nudging the course of the universe. We are tangible bits of the universe. Our actions are the universe acting. Our actions may be just a pebble tossed in a stream or a butterfly’s wings in the breeze, yet when you use Intentional Tarot you are being an active force that is influencing the course of the universe’s unfolding. While the querent gets a response in the time it takes to lay down the cards and listen to the reading, with Intentional Tarot we act without expecting an immediate return. We are casting a pebble into a stream, which might possibly change the course of a river. Yet it is an action with a goal.
Where Is the Universe?
I use the phrase “sending energy out to the universe” often in this book. These words shouldn’t give the impression that the energies are going out far away among the stars. Perhaps there is a similar misconception if someone pictures Heaven as being far away up in the sky and beyond the clouds. In this section I want to briefly describe a quick mental exercise that I hope illustrates the concept of the word “universe” as it is used in this book.
First, we might picture the universe as all the stars in the night sky. However, this image is too cold and distant to represent the intimate energies we feel when we work with the tarot. Gradually we bring the sense of the universe closer. Picture a universal boundary floating above the Earth’s atmosphere, then picture a layer of universe settling down right at the cloud level. Next, the edge of the universe extends to the roof of your house or apartment. Then imagine it as suspended just below the ceiling of whatever room you might be in. Look up! The universe hovers there, only a few feet away. Then imagine the edge of the universe suddenly flowing over you and reaching down to the center of the earth. The universe is all around us and within us. It grounds us and makes us all a part of one unified field of energy.
When I activate the tarot and send energies out, I sometimes picture them as glowing all around me, extending from my heart directly and physically to both the object of my current goal and to the people or things that can influence the outcome I’m seeking. The universe connects all of us into one thing.
The same is true for the energies that come to us from the universe in a traditional tarot reading. We are receiving energy and information related to our questions, but the source is all around us and within us, not even inches away. As they say in the movies, the call is coming from inside the house.
Vocabulary
As with any new concept or procedure, we need new words and phrases to use when we talk about it.
Precant: I use this word to refer to the person selecting cards and sending intentions out to the universe. I selected this word because it ends in -nt like querent and has a similar-if-opposite meaning to that word. Querent means “one who seeks” and precant is an old, rarely used word that technically means “one who prays.” While not everyone would consider sending out energies to the universe as a prayer, in many ways it could be seen as such, and so I thought the word could be appropriated for this purpose in an Intentional Tarot context.
Spread: Obviously, this is not a new word to the tarot community. However, I’m adding slightly to its meaning for the sake of communicating about Intentional Tarot. In this chapter I’m using “spread” in places where I might use “reading” when talking about traditional tarot concepts. In traditional tarot, the event that involves laying out cards and drawing an interpretation from them is called a reading. In Intentional Tarot, the event that involves laying out the cards and sending out intentions to the universe is called a spread. The word is used here with two meanings at the same time. The first is in the way that tarot folk use “spread” to mean laying out the cards. The second is in its normal verb form meaning “to open out something” as in “spread the news,” or “spread your arms,” or “spread the peanut butter.” We are spreading or extending our intentions out to the universe.
To summarize:
• In traditional tarot we have a reader and a querent (which could be the same person) receiving energies from the universe. They “do a reading” with randomly selected cards and interpret the meanings found in them.
• In Intentional Tarot we have a precant (sometimes more than one) who is sending out their energy to the universe. They “do a spread” with deliberately selected cards and their intention is to influence how the universe unfolds.
Change, Protection, and Manifestation
In a twist on a traditional reading where we start with a question, with Intentional Tarot we will start with an answer. If you were to ask a question in a reading, what would you want the answer to be? Start with a mental picture of that goal being manifest, instead of asking for information and advice about it. This can be a proactive approach to personal concerns and can help you feel more in charge of your own destiny.
The domain of Intentional Tarot, however, is much broader than the types of questions we might ask at a traditional reading. In addition to the querent-
focused topics listed at the end of the previous chapter, Intentional Tarot expands the influence of our energies to a much larger scale. In a traditional reading we could ask questions about a threatening situation such as a forest fire, but with Intentional Tarot we can proactively send energy and protection to those involved in controlling the fire. From breaking news events to general cultural shifts to planetary concerns, we can be active on a national and global scale, even if it feels like we’re just a tiny spark in the distance.
Practicing Intentional Tarot in order to benefit someone or something often comes down to sending out energy for change, protection, or manifestation. Sometimes things are not going well, so we want to change them for the better. Examples of this might be sending out intentions for improved health or greater cooperation and peace between conflicting groups. At other times things are good or perhaps are in a precarious situation. In those cases, we want to protect them from harm or from conditions getting any worse. An example of this would be asking for safe travels for an upcoming road trip. We also might want to manifest something new or positive in our lives. This could mean sending out intentions to attract a romantic relationship or to do well at a presentation or job interview.
Intentional Tarot often involves specific everyday, real-world concerns. Most parents want their children to work hard and be successful. Many of the specific examples in Chapter 4 reflect parental good intentions. Our concerns for those we love are broad, sometimes to the point of being busybodies. What if our desires and the things we ask for don’t match with the desires of those we are concerned about? In that case, I think we have to assume that our good intentions will be conveyed to the universe, even if the details about the outcome may change. Intentional Tarot can be used anytime you are wishing someone well.
Many people in the tarot community agree that we shouldn’t do traditional readings about other people without their permission; “Will Pat and Chris get married?” I would suggest that you also shouldn’t focus your Intentional Tarot energies on specific outcomes like this either. Expressing a goal like “please make Pat fall in love with me” would be improper. However, I think a goal structured as “please help open my life to romantic love” would be in the appropriate spirit.
Select the Cards
When we purposely select cards for a spread, we are taking an active step toward our goal and claiming our agency in the situation at hand. The deck you use for Intentional Tarot spreads is important because you need to feel connected to the images and determine the role of each card in what you are about to do. (I will use the word “you” here but if you are helping another precant with a spread, you should just guide them in selecting their cards for their goals.) Each card selected must mean something to you related to the situation or to how you are feeling about it. Selecting cards based solely on the images is perfectly fine as long as they mean something to you in that moment.
Some example methods for selecting cards include:
• Use your psychic insight as to the meaning of the card.
• Consider the concepts and associations in the classic interpretations found in your favorite resource materials. The example intentions in Chapter 4 and the card theme words in the appendix can help with this.
• Choose based on an immediate gut response to the image on the card as a whole.
• Select cards based on elements in the image. For example, you could pick out all the cards that have a cat or a lion in them, regardless of the classic meanings of the cards. Or if the woman in the Strength card looks like the person you are concerned about, you can forget about the lion and the title of the card and just focus on her.
As long as there is nothing random about how you are selecting the cards, you will be presenting the universe with your own energy and your own creation. You can select the cards by fanning them out face up to see them all at once, or by looking through them one at a time, or by any other non-random method that works for you. Be mindful that this is your effort and your action.
You will probably find yourself frequently choosing many of the same cards for different spreads. Round up those kings and queens! Go for those aces! Ten of Cups, Ten of Pentacles, all the “good” majors are yours if you want them. They represent powerful intentions and can be useful in many situations. If you are using the Intentional Tarot spread described as follows, you may find yourself pulling the more “negative” cards for the “My Understanding” position. That’s where I often choose to put the Tower, the Nine of Swords, the Five of Pentacles, and so on. These images help me articulate exactly what it is I’m actively working on changing or helping.
In some cases, you may feel that you want to focus on more than one aspect of a certain card, or perhaps the imagery on the same card from different decks reflects your full intentions. You might want to pull that card from more than one deck to use in more than one position in your spread. For example, you may be activating Universal energies for a political leader whom you associate with the King of Wands. You could place that card in the “My Understanding” position to represent your impression of them as a person and as a candidate, then the same card from another deck in the “My Goal” position could be the focus of your will for their success in the polls or the election. A final King of Wands in the “My Gratitude” position could reflect your appreciation for the service they have already provided the community.
Because you will be choosing specific cards, you might want to keep a deck in order by major and minor arcana, so you can easily find what you want. Intentional Tarot might also be a good use for a majors only deck that contains just the twenty-two major arcana cards.
Lay Out the Cards
As with a traditional tarot reading, the placement of the cards in an Intentional Tarot spread will add depth to the focus of your intentions. The right card in the right position of your spread can help you visualize what you are trying to express to the universe.
You might want to begin by using a single card for your spread. Focus on your intentions, the images on the card, and how the meaning of the card embodies or enhances your goal.
The Intentional Tarot practice discussed in this book usually involves sending out energies to the universe for the benefit of someone or something. In a two-card spread, one card could represent the subject (perhaps yourself) and one card could represent the change, protection, or manifestation you are actively seeking on behalf of the subject.
Moving to a three-card spread adds another dimension by allowing you to “set the stage” and clarify your understanding of the factors around the change or protection you are seeking. I find the “My Understanding” position helpful when I’m frustrated about something and want to express my frustrations to the universe.
The four-card spread on the following page includes the concepts of personal actions and gratitude. In this spread, the “My Understanding” position would then include card(s) that represent both the subject and the background of the spread. For some people, including a promise for action will provide a sense of balance when weighed against the benefit we are trying to achieve. The offering or promise for action in the “My Promise” position provides room for acknowledging further actions or attitudes that you can contribute to the desired outcome in addition to the spread itself, something beyond “thoughts and prayers.”
In addition, many traditions put an emphasis on thankfulness and gratitude. You can round out the Intentional Tarot experience by indicating something you are grateful for that’s related to the spread. I have chosen to call this layout the Intentional Tarot spread:
In practice, it can be difficult to choose just one card for each position. When I look through the deck, I tend to find several that fit my intentions, so I set them all aside until I have gone through the entire deck. Then I select no more than four for each position and place them in columns, but you don’t need to have the same number of cards in each position. The card(s) in the “My Goal” column will be the major focus for the universal energies.
You don’t need to fill these positions in any particular order. Often the whole spread will evolve as you go through the cards, feeling for the ones that seem to fit your intentions. Adding to your goals can prompt you to put down another promise card. Similarly, clarifying what you are grateful for can give you tools for enacting your promise. It’s not unusual to keep refining the “My Understanding” position as you carefully consider cards for the other concepts in the spread.
Used separately or together, different combinations of these positions can themselves become different types. Some combinations include:
• My Understanding and My Goal: A brief spread for a desired outcome, with some background to help you visualize the full situation.
• My Goal: Just a single card that captures the essence of what you desire.
• My Understanding: When used without a specific goal, the card(s) in this position represent general good will for the people or situation you intend to represent here, almost as one might use a blessing.
• My Promise: Something you intend to do for your own betterment. That which you are focused on is implied by what you intend to do, such as selecting the Ten of Pentacles and sending out the intention “I will research life sustaining models for living on this planet in better union with it.”
• My Gratitude: You can select cards that represent something wonderful in your life and radiate a grateful energy of thanks.
Chapter 5 has additional example spreads.
Reversals
As mentioned in Chapter 1, in a traditional tarot reading, when a card appears in the upside down or reversed orientation, many readers choose to apply an alternate or adjusted interpretation of the card. With Intentional Tarot, the precant can choose to place cards in the reversed orientation as well, if that enhances their intention for selecting the card.
Since the cards are selected based on conscious intentions, it’s not necessary to place them reversed as long as the card is fulfilling its role in the spread. If you are trying to manifest a bank loan, you might put down the Four of Pentacles in the “My Goal” position with your intention focused on releasing funds instead of grasping them tightly. If you are concerned that you are not working up to your potential, you might select the Eight of Pentacles in the “My Understanding” position to indicate your desire to start working as hard as the person on the card. In these examples, the cards could be placed upright or reversed, whichever orientation feels right to you for the meaning implied.
Present Your Intentions to the Universe
This step will be as unique for each precant as a traditional reading is for each reader. As with meditation or prayer, Intentional Tarot can be a deeply personal experience. How people communicate with their deity or other greater aspects of existence is often a private and intimate relationship. Like prayer, Intentional Tarot also can be done collectively. The participants, the setting, and the moment will all affect how the energies in an Intentional Tarot spread are released to the universe.
As you select the cards for the spread, imagine that your energies are charging up. I usually go through the whole deck and end up with a group of cards that is virtually crackling with the energy of the feelings and desires I want to express. When you place the cards in their positions, feel this energy leaving your hands as you let go of each card. Releasing the cards is the first step in releasing the energy of the moment to the universe. When all the cards are before you, look at the spread as a whole and continue sending out the energy of your intentions for the change or protection of the subject, or whatever it is that you are working toward.
How you proceed through the spread and how you communicate your energies to the Universal pool of energy need to be a purely personal process at this point. Your relationship to whatever will be receiving your energies will be totally unique to you.
Don’t let an exhausted spirit prevent you from sending out your energies through Intentional Tarot. You may find that the more energy you give to the universe, the more you will feel coming back into your life.
Example Intentional Tarot Spread
I am thinking today about a good friend who is having surgery. I’ve looked through the entire deck and pulled out the cards that seemed appropriate. My goal is for my friend to heal from his sudden injury. Here are the cards I’ve selected for the spread:
Below is my thought process for selecting each card.
My Understanding:
• The Tower: My friend’s injury was sudden and could be life-changing if surgery and recovery don’t go well.
• Three of Swords: The swords made me think of surgery and the heart says he is a good friend.
• Eight of Swords: This represents what I imagine my friend’s wife might be feeling; distress with few options.
My Goal:
• Knight of Wands: This jumped out because of the red and orange colors and the feeling of movement. It felt like an intense battle was being waged with courage.
• King of Swords: My friend has always been a King of Swords type, and this also represents his surgeon.
• Strength: This represents the effort that will go into rehabilitation to get strong again.
My Promise:
• Eight of Wands: I will make sure to get updates from his wife, who is also a dear friend.
• Four of Wands: I will visit when appropriate and maybe bring them something to eat.
My Gratitude:
• Six of Cups: These people have been my friends for more than thirty years, and we have a lot of shared memories together for which I am grateful.
When I study the spread, I’m not reciting any certain words or phrases. I’m reflecting on the cards, and dozens of memories, thoughts, and impressions are running through my mind about my friends and the accident. But eventually I focus on the King of Swords card and just think “Please help him get better” for a while. I’ve left the spread on the table and occasionally refocus my intentions whenever I glance over to it.
Method Summary
The following steps can be used as a guide for working with the cards in Intentional Tarot.
• Focus on your intentions
• Select cards face up to present to the universe
• Lay them out face up
• Meditate on the full spread and on individual cards in their positions
• Send out your intentions however and to whatever you feel appropriate
• Close in some way that acknowledges the energies of the moment
I usually put the cards away with the main card from the My Goal position at the face-up end of the deck. Somehow this feels like the spread is sustained even after the deck is put away.
Actively turn the tarot tradition around and have the energy of the experience come from you and reach out into the universe. Remember that the universe is inside your skin and in the air you breathe; it encompasses whatever you are manifesting, changing, or protecting and all those with influence in the situation. In this sense, all things are one thing. Know that this is an action on behalf of the subject of the spread.
Being Intentional with the Tarot
This section will give you some additional ideas for using Intentional Tarot to nudge the course of the universe. You might need extra tarot decks for some of these ideas since the cards used might not be returning to their decks. This would be a good use for those decks you’ve collected that don’t really resonate with you as much as others. Even if the artwork on the cards isn’t your favorite, you can still picture the essence of the meaning of the card mentally as you focus on the spread.
Group Energies
Just as a march with hundreds of thousands of people united in support or protest of an idea feels powerful, working with Intentional Tarot as a group can elevate the energy of our goals. There are several ways you can work together as a group, including the following scenarios:
• A leader invites the group to participate and they articulate the intention of the spread. The group focuses on the leader’s words, perhaps with their eyes closed, perhaps while laying out the same cards in front of themselves, perhaps while looking at the leader’s cards being projected on a screen. The leader explains why they are selecting the spread and the cards. They talk about the spread or invite silent meditation if they feel moved to.
• The group decides on a theme and perhaps the spread to use. Each person pulls the cards that feel right to them and they concentrate on the same topic collectively yet individually. If the group is small enough they can explain the cards they selected. This can have the effect of compounding the general thought by hearing of intentions and solutions from different perspectives. This could lead to a lively discussion in general as people will often have differing understandings of and solutions for the situation. This could even be done on a coordinated nationwide scale.
Intentional Tarot with Movement
• Think of a card that epitomizes your intention. Arrange your body in a way that reflects how you feel about that card in your favorite deck. Create ways to flow into and out of that static posture as you focus on sending out your energies to the universe for the outcome you seek.
• If you are using Intentional Tarot for better physical health and are able to exercise or do physical therapy, bring a card that represents your intention with you on a walk or to the gym or to the therapist. It may feel awkward to keep track of the card, move it around with your water bottle, or have it in your hand when you want your hands free. But every time you put your attention on the card you can connect your desire for better health with the energies of the universe.
Constant Focus
• Some religious traditions use beads as a concentration focus for repetitive prayer. You can bring this intense focus to your Intentional Tarot work as well. Find three to five cards that represent your Intentional Tarot goal. Lay these cards out in a triangle or circle and concentrate on them one at a time consecutively and repeatedly any number of times that you feel appropriate. Additionally, you could use an actual string of beads and either look at the cards as you touch each of the beads or bring up mental images of the cards as you touch each one. Either way, you should concentrate on the essence of that card and why you selected it for your focus as you send out your energy to the universe.
• Think of a card that epitomizes your intention. Place this card in your home where you will walk past it frequently. Every time you see the card, focus on the essence of your goal. If you want to pull this card from more than one deck you can spread several copies of this card around your home. If you feel artistic, you can make a small representation of this card in your own style and spread copies of that in your home. You could even put a number, letter, or symbol that represents the card on small blank stickers and stick them all over your house. For example, if you think of the Empress card as symbolic of your desire to have a child, and there is a sticker with the letter E on your bathroom faucet, you can connect with the universe on this goal every time you brush your teeth. Or open the refrigerator or flip a light switch or pick up the TV remote, if you have stickers in all of these places.
Intentional Tarot with Art
• If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a tarot card is worth ten thousand. Make an art piece that invokes the cards that represent your Intentional Tarot goal. This may seem to be creating an extra layer of distance between you and your goal, but it can really help you think of small touches and associations related to your true intention, deepening your experience with the Intentional Tarot activity.
Intentional Tarot with Music
• Develop a chant or a musical tone that helps you mentally review the cards that represent your goal.
• Sing a song that fits with the cards you’ve selected for your spread. This adds an additional layer of nuance and meaning to your Intentional Tarot practice since the song interprets the cards and the cards help you articulate your goal.
Intentional Tarot in Daily Life
• A card that represents your desire for safe travel could be kept in the glove compartment of your car.
• A card that represents your goals for a better financial situation could be put in your wallet.
• A card that represents the goal of getting more focused on your studies could be used as a bookmark in a textbook.
• A card that represents sending out energies to attract more stability in your life could be hidden near a strong tree.
• A card that represents Universal energies focused on good medical test results could be kept with any paperwork you might be saving about your treatment.