Reading Tarot when You're a Skeptic
When I first started reading tarot I took a great deal of pride in being a skeptic. At the time this was more of a defense mechanism than healthy trait: I wanted to protect myself from being wrong, as if my beliefs might make me vulnerable to criticism.
Of course, this is partly true. Any belief can be subjected to questions. And, in fact, any belief should be questioned in my opinion. However, there seems to be a stark and unhelpful division between intuition and rationality, one that often prevents otherwise sensitive and intuitively gifted people from exploring this side of themselves.
I’d like to tackle this issue head-on because I think it’s long overdue. Now, a note: some people don’t have this issue at all! This post is for those who feel somehow excluded from the spiritual community or spiritual/intuitive practices because they’re not 100% certain what they believe and what’s real. To them I say, welcome!
In all my years reading tarot, I’ve never experienced 100% certainty. In fact, in my entire life I’ve never experienced 100% certainty. You don’t need to have a working theory or understanding of how tarot (or intuition or spirituality) works to work with it.
I’m also suspicious of anyone who boasts of such knowledge. One of the most beautiful things about tarot and intuition is that it invites us to explore and be a part of the mystery. We also don’t need to explain everything to benefit from it.
One of my favorite facets of being a professional tarot reader is seeing how the people who are the most wary of tarot as a practice are actually quite gifted at it. Tarot works best with questions. It’s all about finding patterns, interrogating our beliefs and stances, and looking for new paths forward. It’s meant to open up possibilities, not reduce our lives to a single prophecy or answer. When we engage tarot or our intuition with questions, we probe further into our own wisdom and a larger perspective.
While I’ve been reading tarot for almost twenty years, I’ve found that my practice has not only strengthened my intuition, but my intellect as well. I’m no closer to a unified theory of “how” tarot works or what intuition is. Rather, I’ve learned how to ask better questions. My skepticism has become balanced with the possibility of the unknown. I’ve experienced firsthand that growing this side of myself, letting in intuitive hits or interpretations that I can’t explain, has increased my ability to show up in my life, sharpened my judgment, and made me a more humble (and effective) person.
I like to tell clients that any tarot reading is just one source of information. We rarely make decisions going on one thing alone. When we do a reading or consult our intuition more generally, we’re just getting one voice in a chorus of input. There’s research, advice from friends and professionals, good old fashioned pros & cons, the list goes on and on. Just because we’re consulting our intuition doesn’t mean we’re throwing out everything else, and we shouldn’t. You’re not handing in your “rational human being” card when you read tarot, you’re just letting in an integral part of our identity as humans: intuition.
So, back to the title of this post: Developing your Intuition when You’re a Skeptic. Now, I consider myself a healthy skeptic. I ask questions to probe deeper, not to cover my butt. And I’m also a deeply intuitive, spiritual person who’s a tarot reader. All these facets of my identity combine to make me, at my best, humble, aware, connected, and questioning.
How do I suggest people on the fence at best or hostile at worst (though, if you’re reading this post, I think you’re safely beyond that point… welcome to the fold ;) work with tarot? It’s time for a list:
Use tarot with your current belief system - You don’t need to be a card/crystal-carrying member of the uber-woo community. I’m not and I’m a professional tarot reader! Bring yourself as you are to the cards. If you don’t believe in angels or spirit guides, cool. You might want to treat tarot as a tool to access your subconscious. There’s no set system tied to the cards. You get to choose how you work with them.
Embrace your curiosity - I think tarot is such a beloved tool because it invites us to step outside of our well-worn thought patterns. Have fun with what comes up and allow yourself to play with your interpretations, connections, and ideas. Detaching from the outcome and remembering that your reading is your reading helps. You don’t have to share with anyone unless you’re ready to and feel excited about it.
Experiment with your tarot interpretations and/or intuitive hits - Tarot is a long-winded and poetic tool. It’s not designed to give us clear-cut answers and easy-to-interpret messages (if that’s what you’re into, you may want to try lenormand or oracle decks instead). There’s truly no right or wrong way to read the cards, and 10 pro tarot readers would give you 10 different interpretations of the same cards. So, with that in mind, let yourself run free with your readings. Try interpretations on for size and see how they unfold in real life. You’re not betting on horses - the stakes are low. Even more, you’ll get actual validation for your insights. Even ones that are off the mark help direct you towards your intuition.
Let yourself be wrong - You’re learning after all. (Spoiler alert: you’ll always be learning with tarot! That’s why I love it and have yet to get bored). As I said above, the stakes are low. So long as you aren’t making grand proclamations, quitting your job, or betting your house, you don’t have much to loose. Whenever something’s off, see if you can pinpoint how you felt when making the connection and use the knowledge in the future.
I hope this has been helpful for anyone conflicted or on the fence about tarot and intuition in general. Let me know your experience, ideas, and questions in the comments below. I’m curious to hear from you all and continue this discussion!