Now that you're warmed up, let's move on to some heavy lifting with my ten fave Tarotcises to wake up your intuition and get you reading like a boss!We've discussed what intuition is and isn't. We've covered the basics of keeping a journal and meditation. Now let's work on developing those psychic muscles!
Let's start by warming up. A few simple intuitive stretches first and then some Tarotcises that combine cards and sixth sense! Let the games begin!
Playing cards: For this drill, you'll need a regular playing card deck. Shuffle the cards thoroughly. Then, lay them facedown on the table in front of you. Take the first card in your hand, and without turning it over, focus on what you're feeling. Can you guess which card it might be? Is it the Ace of Hearts? Or the Seven of Clubs? Maybe a King? Turn the card over. Were you right . . . or not? Go through the entire pack, keeping track of which guesses are correct or not. (This is a great game to do with children or when you're bored on the plane. Much better than solitaire!)
Phone home: Whenever the phone rings, take a moment to tune in to who might be calling. No peeking at caller ID! Pick it up and see who's on the line. Did you guess correctly? More phone fun: in the morning, write down the names of anyone you think might call you. It's uncanny, but when I do this, almost 90 percent of the time I will receive a call from that person. One twist on this: I'll put names of clients I haven't heard from in a while. Sure enough, within a few days, I get a call! Telepathy through telephones! Ha!
Picture this: This exercise is best done with a group. Everyone brings pictures of people they know well, but others may not know. Each member will take a minute to study the image and then write down any impressions that they are getting. Those insights can range from notes on the person's personality to something that might be going on in their life. Encourage a “no filter rule”: tell folks to simply write down first impressions without stopping to “correct” them. After everyone has had a chance to write down their thoughts, take turns sharing their ideas with the group. The person who brought the picture can confirm which guesses are correct . . . or not.
You can do this exercise on your own by studying people in the news. Notice what you feel about them. Do they feel happy? Cruel? Are you picking up on some event that might be happening in their life? Make notes. A few days or weeks later, do a search on the internet to see if you can find any confirming information.
Gifted: When someone gives you a gift, see if you can guess what it is. Do not do this in front of the giver! I'm so good at this that my husband has now resorted to doing things to distract me (which usually involves getting me mad) to throw me off the scent!
Good Morning: At the beginning of the day, write down something random such as “white horse” and then see if it shows up in your life in some way that day.
Cappucin-know: If you're in line at the coffee shop, see if you can guess what the person behind you—or in front of you—will order. It's like being a psychic barista!
Billets: Do you remember the Carnac the Magnificent skit on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson? Carson played a mystic in a huge feathered turban who would divine the answer to a question in an envelope. Although the skit was humorous, billets are my all-time favorite intuition exercise, hands down.
A billet (pronounced bill-ay) is a slip of paper with a question written on it. The billet is dropped into a bowl or hat and is then drawn randomly. The person who pulls the billet will take a moment to hold it without looking at the question. Instead, that person tunes into the subject and shares any impressions they receive. Next, the billet is opened and the question read. This exercise loosens people up and often freaks people out when they correctly answer a question—which happens more than you might expect.
Billets can also be funny. I was teaching a class in Detroit, and we were using the billets exercise. A volunteer pulled out a billet, sat quietly for a moment, and said, “I feel sick to my stomach. Something is wrong. I'm queasy.” She opened the slip of paper, and the question was, “What was Kanye West thinking when he met Donald Trump at the Oval Office?” As you can imagine, this cracked up the whole room.
Another twist on billets is to write down a name instead of a question. The name should be someone who is known by the person writing it down. Or, in some cases, you may want to use the names of celebrities or well-known media figures. Once again, the billet is drawn randomly, and the participant takes a moment to hold it and share impressions. Once this is done, they open the paper and read the name.
Billets are effective in groups of all sizes. It's especially cool when someone picks their own question and answers it. Often this produces some gasps when the participant turns it over and realizes they just answered their own question. And sometimes this gives them just the insight they needed!
I was doing billets with a large group when one man pulled his own question. As he held the note in his hand, the messages “hard work” and “long road to go” came up. He seemed nervous about being wrong and perhaps offending someone else in the room. When he opened the billet, his question was about a new business he was just beginning to pull together. He laughed out loud and said it was true since he had only started with the planning stages.
If you don't have a group to work with, you can still do this solo. Here's how: write down a lot of questions. Perhaps twenty. Fold them up and put them into a bowl. Randomly pick one and, just like above, feel the answer. Then open the billet and see how your insights worked out. I also recommend doing this when you have a bunch of questions that you are having a hard time finding answers to. Your intuition knows what's up. You might discover billets are a fab way for your sixth sense to kick in with the goods when your common sense doesn't want to cooperate.
These little exercises are simple but effective. If you do them often enough, you'll find that you will become more confident in your psychic abilities.
Now that you're warmed up, let's move on to some heavy lifting with my ten fave Tarotcises to wake up your intuition and get you reading like a boss!
For these exercises, you'll need:
Sit comfortably. Take a cleansing breath. Shuffle your tarot deck.
Ask yourself an open-ended question. Something like:
Select a card. Set the card in front of you. Soften your gaze. Sit quietly for a few minutes, letting your eyes move about the image. What thoughts arise? What symbols catch your attention? What do you feel the card is trying to tell you?
Take your time with this meditation.
After a few minutes, write down any insights that you may have received.
Sit comfortably. Take a cleansing breath. Shuffle your tarot deck.
Ask yourself an open-ended question (see Tarotcise #1 for a few examples).
Select a card. Set the card in front of you. Looking at the image, begin telling a story. (You can do this out loud or by writing the story in your notebook.)
I like to start with, “Once upon a time . . .”
As you continue to spin your tale, notice how it might be related to your question or situation. What does the story tell you about the card? What does the story tell you about yourself?
This Tarotcise is excellent if you're feeling stuck and unable to get anything from the cards. Storytelling can jog your intuition. As you begin narrating a tale inspired by the images, you may receive epiphanies on what the card means in the context of your question.
Same preparation as before. Sit. Breathe. Shuffle. Ask a question. Pull a card.
This time, instead of pondering the card's meaning inside your head, and instead of writing a story, just start writing . . . anything. Pen to paper: go! Write automatically without editing or censoring yourself. You can begin with a phrase like “The first thing I noticed was . . .” or “I think this card means . . .” or any other phrase that comes to mind.
Write for a few minutes. Let the words spill out. Don't worry if your writing doesn't seem to make any sense. Let it flow!
When you're done, review what you've written. Any insights? If not, consider revisiting what you've written the following day after sleeping on it. How about now?
Shuffle your deck. This time, fan out the entire deck on your desk or table, faceup, so that you can see all the images.
Let your eyes wander. Do you see a card that seems to jump out or catch your eye? Select that card.
Place that card in front of you. Clear the others away.
Now, look even closer at the card. Closer. Annnnd closer. Find one small detail on the card that intrigues you. Perhaps a tiny snail. A single flower. A bird far away in the background. A wrinkle in someone's cloak. Maybe the oar of a boat.
Focus intently on that one specific piece of the image.
What thoughts arise? What do you feel that one little detail is trying to tell you?
Write down any insights that you may have received.
Did you ever see the movie Memento? The film tells the story of a man who is trying to solve the murder of his wife, but he has a rare disorder that creates short-term memory loss, which means he needs to relive the situation backward to piece the whole story together.
You can use what I call the “Memento technique” in your next tarot reading. For this Tarotcise, you'll want to do a multicard spread, like the Celtic Cross.
(No idea what I'm talking about? Skip this Tarotcise for now. We'll revisit the Celtic Cross and Memento Tarotcises under “Sample Readings” in the “First Things First” chapter on page 201.)
Starting with the card in the “final outcome” position, interpret backward, card by card, until you come to the first card in the spread. Basically, you're reversing the order in which you would typically interpret your cards. This is a very cool technique that may provide unusual and unexpected insights!
Super-easy, but so effective! For this Tarotcise, it's all about moving quickly and not overthinking anything.
Shuffle your deck. Don't worry about asking a question. Just pull out a card. Look at it. Say the first word that comes to mind.
Pull another card. Look at it. Say the first word that comes to mind.
Move on to the next card. Repeat. (Continue as long as you'd like!)
Feel free to write down each word—or certain words that feel especially important—if you want to. Later, you can look up each word in a dictionary, a thesaurus, an etymological dictionary (to find the Latin root, Old English root, and/or original meaning of the word), or in a guide to idioms (common sayings and phrases.)
Doing this, do you receive any additional insights?
Maybe one word that came to mind during your Tarotcise was jealousy, but then after looking up that word in an etymological dictionary, you discover that the word jealousy originally meant “enthusiasm, love, longing, devotion.” Aha! Zing! Maybe, with this new information, you have an entirely new perspective on a particular card and how it relates to your life right now.
This Tarotcise is my favorite method to build speed. Turn over two cards and then choose a word that describes the scenario. Here are a few examples:
Try this Tarotcise by yourself or with a friend. It's great fun and sure to get your tarot brain working faster.
Here are some combos to explore:
1. Queen of Wands—Queen of Cups =_________________
2. Wheel of Fortune—Ten of Pentacles =_________________
3. Strength reversed—Seven of Wands reversed =_________________
4. Two of Cups—Three of Cups =_________________
5. Three of Pentacles—Ace of Wands =_________________
6. Page of Swords—Six of Wands =_________________
7. Six of Cups reversed—Five of Cups =_________________
8. King of Swords—Ace of Swords =_________________
9. Justice—Eight of Swords reversed =_________________
10. Knight of Wands—Eight of Wands =_________________
Possible answers:
1. Girlfriends
2. Gambling
3. Surrender
4. Polyamory
5. Promotion
6. MVP
7. Funeral
8. Surgeon
9. Acquittal
10. Adventure
Do you see how I got those? What about you? What words might you choose instead? Journal your answers.
This Tarotcise can be done alone or with one or more friends. Here's how: one person will describe a situation (or the plot of a movie, television show, lyrics, etc.). The other person(s) will guess the tarot cards that most closely fit the situation. Let's look at a few examples:
See how that works? It's like charades . . . for tarot!
Don't have a buddy to work with? Try out these examples:
1. Your boo pops the question.
2. Someone starts an online war.
3. A woman graduates from law school.
4. You are recovering from the flu.
5. A man is in a coma.
6. There is a home invasion.
7. You give birth to twins.
8. You're attending a Jay-Z concert.
9. You get a divorce and begin reentering the dating scene.
10. You're going on a trip to a place you've never been to before.
Here are some possible answers:
1. Ace of Cups, Two of Cups, or Page of Cups. All three have energy around a love offering.
2. Five of Swords, Five of Wands, Ace of Swords. Each of these cards carries an element of conflict.
3. The World, Four of Wands, Six of Wands. These cards show graduation or celebration.
4. Four of Swords, Nine of Swords reversed. Both cards indicate rest and healing.
5. Once again: Four of Swords.
6. Seven of Swords, Five of Swords, the Devil, Tower. This combo shows theft, danger, and upheaval.
7. Empress, Ace of Wands, Two Pages. The Two Pages is key!
8. Four of Wands, Three of Cups. We're having a great time!
9. Three of Swords reversed, Five of Cups reversed, Six of Swords, Ace of Cups. Healing a broken heart and opening up to something new.
10. Eight of Wands, Eight of Cups, the Moon. The Eights show travel; the Moon is a change.
Those are a few examples. Which cards might you pick for those scenarios? Why? Take a minute to journal your answers.
Shuffle the cards and think of a question. Or you may want to focus on general guidance. Now, pull a card but do not turn it over. Sit with the card a few minutes and then journal whatever comes to mind—basically whatever you're feeling from that card without turning it over. No peeking!
Next, leave it alone for the whole day. No matter how curious you are, resist the urge to turn it over.
At the end of your day, sit down with your tarot journal and turn over the card. Which card did you pull? Did it match up with what you wrote? How did the energy show up in your day? Take time to write your notes, including any insights that are coming in.
This is one of my favorite Tarotcises and a great way to start “feeling” the card rather than relying on the image. Play around with it and see what you discover. It's great fun!
As I mentioned before, billets are folded slips of paper with questions written on them. The billets are chosen randomly and—without opening them to see the question—you “feel” the answer. It's a great way to work with your intuition.
Here's a tarot spin on it:
Write down a whole bunch of questions on different slips of paper. Fold them up and put them in a hat or jar. Mix them and then randomly pull one out. Hold the note without opening it. No. Peeking. Allowed. Don't read the question inside; just feel the energy.
Grab your tarot cards and shuffle them. Cut the cards. Pull three cards from the top of the deck. Gaze at your cards. Write down your interpretation.
Open your billet and read the question inside. Then look back at the three cards that you pulled out and the interpretation you wrote down. Does your interpretation seem to match the question?
With practice, you might be really surprised by what comes up!
I recommend doing this Tarotcise with a small group of friends—say, around the table at a dinner party. You could each take turns holding the billet, pulling tarot cards, and interpreting. Open the billet after everyone has spoken. This often leads to amazing aha moments! (Or at the very least a very entertaining and memorable dinner party!)
Revisit these warm-ups and Tarotcises often. They will help you become a better, more intuitive tarot reader. So now that you're all nice and stretched, let's put it together.