Get the Most Out of Your Card-A-Day Practice

Many people, ranging from advanced tarot pratitioners to casual dabblers, engage in a ritual that involves pulling a single tarot card every day. I did this myself for a number of years, and it was extremely useful in first learning about the cards and their meaning, and later in helping me establish a stronger personal interpretation of the tarot. These days, I'll pull a single card a couple of times a week, and as you might guess, my process is not at all like most of the rest of the world's. But we'll get to my process later.

The basic approaches to card-a-day include meditative, academic, and awareness (or its shadow side, divinatory). Each of these approaches has a different emphasis and are delightfully mix-and-match: you can use the approach that has resonnance for you based on where you are in your tarot practice as well as whatever needs you have in your life.

The Meditative Approach
There are a number of tarot teachers who emphasize "card a day" as a meditative practice. I think this is an excellent approach, especially for the serious student who wants to deepen their personal relationship with the cards. And while it will no doubt be easier to integrate if you already meditate on a regular basis, having the motivation of card-a-day as well as the image of the card to focus on could also serve as a wonderful aid for those who would like to start a meditative practice.

If you don't have a signficant meditation background but want to try this approach, use these easy steps as your framework, and then personalize as you like.

1. Select a time when you will have 15 minutes or so to devote to this practice. It can be longer or shorter depending on what feels right to you.

2. Select a spot where you can be comfortable and without distractions.

3. Do whatever "set up" will help you become focused and centered. This might include lighting incense, dimming the lights or lighting candles, getting pillows or blankets, putting on music that you find inspiring, gathering any items you would like to have nearby. Don't forget your tarot deck!

4. Sit comfortably, but with good posture. You want to make sure that you have good energy flow from the base of your spine to through to the crown of your head. You may also lie down. Yoga's virasana, savasana, and sukhasana poses are very good for meditation. (Virasana is my personal favorite.) But you don't have to be in any sort of "official" pose--you can position yourself anywhere in any way that is comfortable and not energy-blocking, including in a chair, on your bed, in a pile of pillows on the floor--whatever works for you.

5. Feel yourself calm, focused and centered. Take as long as you need to.

6. Now, choose your tarot card. Follow whatever procedure you want to select the card.

7. Look at the card. Try to keep your mind free of judgement. Notice what you notice, and let it go. Let your eyes and mind focus on whatever they focus on. Let thoughts about the card rise up and pass away.

8. Continue this for as long as it feels useful. Depending on your experience with meditation, this could be anywhere from half an hour to 30 seconds.

9. You're done! Come to a new head space and write down any inspirations, revelations, or ideas that came to you during meditation. You may have quite a few packed in, ready to spill out. Or you may not have much to say. Don't worry about it. Take what you get and embrace it.

The Academic Approach
This is an excellent approach if you are just learning the cards, or making the jump from "book" interpretation to a more personally-inspired interpretation. Instead of meditation, this approach involves research and critical thought. Set aside some time each day to look carefully at your daily card and consciously examine it. Make detailed notes about what you see, what you feel, and what you think when you look at this card. Look at multiple interpretations of this card's meaning--this is especially important if you have been relying on a single author's interpretation for most of your readings. Consider the similarities and differences between these interpretations. Finally, write down what the card means to YOU. Remember that writing things down does not make them permanent and unchangeable, it just creates a record for you to see your own progress.

The Awareness or (boo-hiss) Divinatory Approach
Probably the most common among casual tarot users, the awareness approach involves basically drawing a card a day and ideally using it as something of a touchstone during the day, being aware of the energies of the card when the come into play, being on the lookout for situations in which the message of the daily card can be of assistance. Unfortunately, I suspect a lot of users at this level take the less-evolved aspect of this approach to heart, and infuse their card-a-day with predictive influence that it really doesn't deserve, and set themselves up for a most unsatisfactory outcome from their card-a-day practice.

What do I mean? Consider for example someone who draws the Queen of Swords as their card of the day. If you're practicing awareness, you'll notice during the day when you're called on to make tough decisions or to carry some responsibilities that aren't really yours. Because you drew this card, you might consider the benefit of doing so with strength and focus rather than complaining about it or trying to convince the "powers that be" that it's not your job. You might choose to embody the Queen of Swords and power through those situations.

A person who is practicing card-a-day as divination will most likely first freak out at the sight of a Sword card, because "swords mean difficulty." They will then wonder if they're going to meet a difficult woman in a position of power that day, or if their boss is going to be unimpressed with their performance and get them in trouble. They will worry about potential confrontation and unfair situations that have not yet happened. And this will set the tone for the entire day.

By taking the "divinatory" attitude, you strip yourself of power and draw to yourself the situations you are fearful of, by focusing on them and giving them so much energy. It becomes something of a self-fulfilling prophecy; you almost guarantee yourself a tough day ending in mental exhaustion. You will have turned yourself into the shadow side of the Queen of Swords.

Alternatively, if you draw a "good" card and don't have the experience that you believe the card portends, you'll begin to wonder about your interpretive abilities and what you did to keep this positive experience from materializing. The result will just be an unpleasant loop of questioning with very little learning involved.

Now, to my personal process: I draw a single card every few days, but I draw them in the evening after the day is done, and focus on the card as additional information about the day I've just had. It helps me understand confusing situations, points me in interesting new directions for addressing conflicts, and gives me new insight into my own behavior and choices. By focusing on the day behind me, I am able to look at specific things and evaluate them in a different light, and I avoid any tendancy to trip over self-fulfilling prophecy or anything of the sort.

However you choose to use a card-a-day practice, the important thing to remember is that it is supposed to be a beneficial, positive experience. If you find it causing you stress or becoming unfulfilling, change up your approach or give yourself a break and stop altogether! It's only worth doing as long as it is useful!