So you’re doing a reading, you shuffle, you ask your question, you lay down the cards and…it makes absolutely no sense. What happens now?
It can happen, sometimes we can stare at a spread until we’re blue in the face and it just doesn’t add up or doesn’t feel right. When this happens, we can do a few things, read on to see how I tackle tarot confusion.First, check in with yourself.
How are you feeling? Are you tired, in an altered emotional state, sleepy? Have you had food or water? If you’re feeling a bit ungrounded or overly emotional it could have interfered with the energies of the cards. Have you ever tried to study, read a book, or focus on anything when you were hungry? How did that work out? Not great for me, I’ll tell you that much. Try doing something grounding; eat something if you haven’t eaten, have some water, take some deep breaths. Center yourself and then come back to the spread, still not making any sense?Check in with your deck.
Just like we do, decks need maintenance too! Sometimes it’s just a matter of stagnant energy in your cards. I try to cleanse my decks regularly to avoid any interference of lingering energy from previous readings. If you would like to see how I cleanse my tarot cards head over here to read more. about keeping your deck ready for any reading.Clarification cards.
If my deck has been cleansed and I’m feeling just fine, and I still can’t make sense of a spread I like to draw a clarification card or two for specific cards that don’t seem to have any relevance to my question. Try not to draw too many cards, this might get even more confusing. Drawing a couple of cards will usually help bring some clarity and context to the base cards. I sometimes even like to mix it up and add an oracle card to the reading, the messages usually start to make sense after this. But what if they don’t?Is it a sign?
If after making sure I’m centered and drawing clarifiers the cards still seem wrong, either leave the reading for another time or I start over. Since this doesn’t happen often, I will usually I’ll take it as a sign that I’m not meant to be doing this reading at this time. For whatever reason, the universe doesn’t think I’m ready for these answers. When readings don’t work out it’s good practice to take note of it in a journal. Record your question, how you were feeling, and even the cards you drew [who knows, it might make sense later!] reflect on why you did the reading in the first place, dive deep, you might find that you already had the answer within you all along. Maybe pull the High Priestess out for inspiration.So there you have it, some of the ways I tackle tarot confusion. I hope this little checklist helps if you ever feel blocked during a reading. How do you deal with tarot blocks? Let me know in the comments below!
Much Love,
Liliana x
