It is all fine and dandy when you want to read Tarot cards for someone else. But when you want to do a Tarot card reading for yourself, suddenly, there are a whole bunch of reactions: you are scared, you find that you are drawing a blank, somehow you feel as if you just can’t do it. Trust me, I’ve been there too! However, with a bit of work and some practice it is possible to read Tarot cards for yourself.

Read on to learn about a few simple techniques that can help you to do just that.

Reading Tarot Cards For Yourself: Why Is It So Darned Difficult?

Before we get on to the ‘how’ part, it is very important to understand the ‘why’ part of this scenario.

The way I see it, as Tarot card readers, we are performing the role of interpreters. We see what the cards are trying to say through the pictures, we get these strange ‘feelings’ or ‘intuitions’ that are often sparked by these images and then we end up saying this stuff to the client. As interpreters, therefore, the major involvement we have is in the process of translating all these various ‘messages’ into words that are spoken aloud.

When we read for other people, we are therefore, not vested into the outcome of the reading. Nor are we involved in the actual ‘story’ of what the reading is about. We are just saying what we ‘get’.

But, when we read for ourselves, we are not only involved with the day-to-day events of our life, but we are also vested in the outcome of the reading (what the cards say will happen the future, for example). Thus, we are way too much involved into the reading and its contents and its results.

Think of it as being in the picture and trying to see that picture, at the same time. Sounds like a Zen Koan doesn’t it? 🙂

We are so involved into the reading that we might want to see a particular outcome, or solution for our current problems. Or we might want to see a certain type of scenario unfold in the near future. But when the reading says something else altogether, or totally doesn’t talk about our question, then we get frustrated. And the temptation is: to just shuffle the cards all over again, and lay out a brand new spread altogether.

So How Do You Overcome This?

Having understood the problem (the ‘why’ part) it is thus easy to derive a solution for it (the ‘how’ part). The problem is the involvement – and the solution is distancing ourselves from the reading.

How does one detach oneself from oneself? How does one look at the picture, while still being in the picture? There are some simple techniques that I have used in order to be able to do that.

Method # 1 : Tell Yourself

Before doing a reading, I generally meditate for a minute or so and center myself. It is during that time, I tell myself that I am going to be doing a reading for myself and that I should be objective and rational and detached about it. I say this to myself very firmly. I tell myself that even if I don’t like what I see, or I don’t see what I want to see, I need to pay attention to what the cards are telling me. If a particular question has not been addressed, then I can still do another spread for it.

This technique has worked for me all the time. Telling myself all these things has helped me remain detached from the reading and from the outcome of the reading.

It is not an easy method, but it has worked in the long term.

Method # 2 : Use a Substitute for Yourself

If the first method sounds a bit too difficult, (and at first, it just might), then this method works the best. In this method you use a substitute for yourself. This substitute could be any inanimate object like a pillow or a soft toy – anything that you can keep in front of you, in the place where your client would normally be sitting.

Then during your pre-reading meditation, tell yourself that that pillow or soft toy is you and that you are going to do a reading for that person.

In short, you are practicing for getting yourself psyched up enough to be able to use the first method for doing readings for yourself.

Method # 3 : Say It Aloud

You can use this method in combination with either of the methods mentioned above. While you are doing the reading for yourself, just say the stuff out aloud. Just like you would when you are doing a reading for someone else. This gets you focused on being the ‘interpreter’ and not the ‘interpretee’ (if such a word even exists)… but you get the drift, right?

When you read for yourself silently, you are often just internalizing what you see and ‘get’. But saying the stuff out loud, you are putting it out there and that somehow makes a big difference.

No matter which method you use / prefer, the idea is to detach yourself from both, the outcome of the reading and from being too involved in what the cards are saying. Your involvement often acts as a barrier for doing a reading in a detached manner. And these techniques will help you find that detachment – or at least make the process a bit easier.

Seeing Yourself From A Third Person Point of View

Looking at yourself from a third person point of view is not always easy, but once you start doing that, then many things in life take on a very new meaning.

Believe me, this experience changed the way I saw myself completely.

When I started to learn how to read tarot cards, my whole intention was to read for myself (and save myself the money I spent on getting the readings from someone else)! But, when I, as a Tarot card reader sat down to read for myself, I found myself caught up in the same place as most everyone else. For some time, I simply drew blanks – my mind would refuse to function and the cards seemed like strangers. When I psyched myself to read for myself, it was very tough going for me at the start. But the combination of the different methods mentioned above really worked for me. And over a period of time, reading for myself became fairly easy.

Looking at myself from a third person point of view also helped me see things more clearly. This point of view helped me take decisions in life which were more rational / sane / objective, rather than emotional and helped me find balance and center in my life.

Your Turn

So, what have your experiences been about this? Do you read for yourself? Have you tried reading for yourself? Have you used any of the methods mentioned above? Or do you have any other method that works?

Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments below.