A set of playing cards used in tarot games and in fortune-telling or divination.

The first thing to write would be that I am by no means an expert in Tarot. In fact, I know very little about it! It recently came into my life at a time where I should have felt like I was achieving all that I set out to achieve but something didn’t feel quite right. I didn’t know what this was and I didn’t know who to ask or where to find the answers I needed. Tarot helped me know where to look.

At this time, I had achieved a lot of personal goals, but I was not feeling great about it. What was next? What did the next chapter hold in store for me? I felt that I needed someone to tell me what was coming next, what to prepare for, what to look forward to even. Tarot was not on my radar. My perception of Tarot at the time was that it was an activity that people sometimes did on the side of the boulevard on holiday for a bit of fortune-telling funsies. 

One day, as I was aimlessly wandering through a nice bit of Central London (a favourite pastime of mine in this directionless phase), I saw a Psychic kiosk. Something pushed me to walk in (not literally!) and I made a 30minute appointment. It was not cheap, so this represented a surprising investment in my future. 


The Tarot reader was a well-dressed, friendly-looking middle aged lady and as soon as I walked in I could tell she had such great instinct and intuition, something I was sorely lacking back then. She asked If I was ‘successful’; likely this is a form of flattery they dole out to all paying customers! She asked me to pull cards from 3 different decks and told me what they represented for my life, whilst asking clarifying questions to ensure she was on the right path. 

The main card I pulled was the Magician card – I was told that this meant that I had all the tools needed to get where I wanted to go. I also pulled the Fool card which she interpreted as taking a leap of faith. I also pulled lots and lots and LOTS of sword cards! These represented harmful patterns of thinking – self-sabotage if you will. 

The most powerful part of the session was where she showed me the detailed imagery on the cards and interpreted these images in relation to my life. She asked me to notice the Magician’s red cape and tools laid out on the table as well as the happy, bright yellow background. She also made me stand in the pose of the magician – I felt like such a tool doing it but so, so powerful too. 

I also pulled the death card. It was terrifying as I have been through periods of poor health in the past year. I started freaking out, probably visibly! The Tarot reader was quick to reassure me that she felt that Death here likely represented the end of a chapter of my life rather than you know, the end of the whole thing. This removed a lot of my fear of Tarot and encouraged me to think about trying it again! 

I didn’t come out of the session feeling like I had all my answers. But I came out feeling capable, accomplished and knowing that I had to work on the unhelpful thought patterns I had created in my head. I felt like I had started my journey to knowing myself better which was healing in itself. Most importantly, I realised that the answers I was looking for are inside me.

This experience reminded me of an episode of Modern Family where the matriarch Gloria takes her sceptical science-obsessed niece Alex along to the psychic to communicate with her dead grandmother. Although Alex entered the process a sceptical cynic, she left recognising the power of intuition and the healing nature of mystic experiences. Sometimes maybe that’s what people need.

I recently bought a deck of Rider Waite Tarot cards, semi-regularly pull cards and see how they make me feel. I think it helps me know myself better and get in touch with my intuition which has been severely corroded over the years. I appreciate the artistic imagery and feel of the cards in my hands. I know this one’s not for everyone but if you’re interested, I dare you to give it a go.