Tarot cards can be confusing. They might make no sense at all, or they might seem to have one meaning when there are many others. If you’re reading the cards for yourself or someone else, it can be frustrating when a card comes up with an unclear message. Here are some tips for figuring out what to do when the tarot card’s don’t make sense.
Tarot cards do not always make sense.
First of all, recognize that sometimes the cards will give you a picture that doesn’t quite fit with what you know of the person you are reading for. It may say something hard to make sense of because there aren’t many details.
Often you’ll be trying to figure out what kind of advice your cards are giving and you’ll find yourself grasping at straws for an explanation—and then a thought will come out of nowhere that makes total sense! Other times it may take the whole reading for the meaning to reveal itself as well as how it applies to you and the situation.
Understand that you don’t have to know everything right away, and in a weird way it can be helpful not to. There may be a pattern or context behind what seems strange at first glance. Also some things are inexplicable beyond their surface appearance. That is the wondrous thing about the tarot, how uncanny and inexplicable it can be.
Look for themes. Is there a repeating pattern?
As you’re shuffling and drawing, look for patterns. If a certain card keeps coming up, or if it keeps appearing in the same position, that might be a clue that it has meaning for you. For example, if you keep getting the Two of Swords, it might be that a theme is relevant to your situation. Here is an example of repeating cards.
Two of Wands – Knight of Wands – Two of Wands
This could mean that there is still uncertainty about the journey ahead.
There is also an interesting connection between these three cards because they all contain wands! This could be another clue about what the situation means.
Try to find a wider context that may give you insight.
If you’ve got a card that doesn’t seem to fit, try to find a wider context that may give you insight. Think about other cards in the reading. Are there other cards that share common themes? If two or more cards have similar themes, consider how those could influence one another.
Think about what’s next to this card. Pay attention to cards near your main concern to determine whether there might be extra influences on your situation.
Consider its position in relation to other cards. Is it at the beginning of an arcana sequence? In the end? If so, what does this tell us about our current situation?
Think about what parts of your life are not in your control right now.
We don’t often realize that we don’t have control over everything in our lives. Even if your job seems very secure, you can still lose it at any time—and most of us get laid off at some point in our lives. There’s always something out of your control happening somewhere in the world. This applies to the tarot too. You shuffled the cards and these are the ones that came out, deal with it.
If you’re doing a reading for someone else, remember that their interpretation might be different from yours.
It’s important to remember that tarot cards are subjective. If someone else were doing your Tarot reading, their interpretation of the cards might be different from yours.
It’s important to remember this because when we do a tarot reading for someone else, we want a positive result from the cards. Sometimes no matter how hard we try or how much effort goes into our interpretation there is still room for error in our readings. It is best to be open-minded and non judgemental about what comes up during your readings.
Consider where your card falls in relation to other cards in a spread.
If you have many positive cards (like Cups) surrounding it and then one negative one (like Death), chances are good that a card like death can indicate that these positive energies are temporary, and that change will occur soon. You might also want to look back at any previous cards that came before your current position; some decks include short descriptions of each position so you can see if any themes are emerging from earlier positions that could shed light on what is happening now.
Try looking up the original meanings of the card.
If you find that your card doesn’t seem to fit the situation, look at the original meaning of the card. There is no shame in looking up a card meaning in a reading for someone. The cards are often given their meanings based on traditional tarot lore, which has been handed down through generations. You may be considering a meaning that is outdated.
Also realize that the original meaning can have interpretations that are not obvious at first glance. There could be an image or a symbol found in the background of the card can be explained in books that could be helpful.
Conclusion
So there you have it! Hopefully, I’ve given you some insight into how tarot cards can be interpreted, and what it means when they don’t make sense. It’s important to remember that tarot cards are tools for communication with the divine, which means they can sometimes be difficult to understand because they may be showing us something we need to learn about ourselves instead of providing answers right away.
The tarot is a guidepost for our spiritual journey rather than a concrete path towards enlightenment – so try not to get too bogged down in trying to figure everything out immediately. Instead, keep moving forward and trusting that those messages will become clear over time!
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