The Gift

I have to say it's been a long time since I've REALLY used my cards. I try to do daily 1 card readings from time to time and see how the card ties to the events of that particular day. I think of this as a good excercise to "bond" with my deck (a classic Rider-Waite), but it's not all rainbows and butteflies.

Some days it works wonderfully. Other times though, try as I might, I just CANNOT see how the card relates to my day, (e.g. on particularily uneventful days). So I ask myself, maybe I don't the the "Gift". Maybe I don't have that special... thing, that allows some people to See. I do like my [one and only] deck, but I have trouble connecting with it. I've had it for roughly two years but I still sometimes struggle with it, resulting in me leaving the cards in their box for weeks and *sigh* months on end. Any suggestions?

Stop doing daily draws and start doing little spreads. After doing that for yourself many times, try reading for other people (here).

You may or may not want to read some different books on the subject. Might give you some ideas of spreads to try or approaches to take, or whatever. Might not. lol

If you search this topic here (daily readings or draws) you'll see a lot of people have the same experience. It's not indicative of a gift or lack of gift at all. Neither is working with the cards a while and leaving them in the box a while, etc. I'm sure you've got other interests, so what you've experienced so far seems about right to me. It's all part of the process, and tarot's a lifelong learning process, in my view. (It's never all rainbows and butterflies. lol The tarot really encompasses all of life. Life has cycles.)

Personally, I don't think this says anything about your deck either. The longer you work with it, the more the bond will grow. My first deck was my only deck for many, many years. The more you work with the cards (over the years) and bring your life experience to them and vice versa, the stronger the intuitive muscle will grow.

Lighten up about it and keep at it. It'll come, if you want it to.

Best wishes!

I think that you must realize that some days are so ordinary that it will prove really hard to get the card to mean anything, but if you dig real deep into the meaning then the card could indicate some very minor thing like missing your bus, feeling irritable, dropping your lunch on the floor. So, don't always look for the significant or obvious, as nothing major is going to happen to you everyday of your life.

The more you doubt your ability the more problem you will have connecting with your cards, so relax and try not to find a major meaning in the mundane, uneventful days are just that, uneventful.

New Deck?

You might want to try a different deck, one that you can better connect or bond with. Sometimes new images are enough to jumpstart your intuition, "thinking outside of the box".

You might try an extremely short version of the Celtic Cross for a daily spread: the first card is the gift, the second card is the challenge of the day.
Another thing to remember is that sometimes the meanings aren't as "deep" as we try to make them out to be; sometimes they are very ordinary and down to earth. For instance, last week I drew the Ace of Cups. I was thinking it had to do with an overflowing abundance of love, etc. for that day. In reality, the heat index that day was 103 degrees F; later that evening I was in agony and very ill because of heat exhaustion and dehydration. I do believe that card was just trying to tell me to drink lots of water! LOL!

Bodhran

Hi lad,

I know it can be discouraging. Using the cards more, not less, would help. But, that would depend on how busy you are and so on.

There is a nice little spread developed by lark that works as a 'daily' and allows more scope to review at the end of the day (but recall the advice of posters above, some days just are not that memorable!):

lark said:

Lark’s Daily spread

5 cards

1. Work (added by Marion: this can also be 'school' or 'volunteer work')-
This card gives you a peek into your workday. Stay at
home or out in the world it shows the joys or challenges
you might face today.

2. Home- This card shows your home life. Moods of husband,
children, pets. Visitors, deliveries, events. Anything
that happens in and around the home.

3. Unexpected- Just that, those little surprises life throws you
just to keep things interesting.

4. My role- This card usually very accurately predicts my mood,
action, or reaction to things that go on in my day.

5. Outcome- The outcome of my day if I follow on the path as it's
spread out before me. Of course I always have the
choice to change my mood or action to alter the
outcome for the better or worse. This card also
often predicts a lesson learned or an inner
spiritual revelation.

I lay this spread out in a cross shape with the outcome card in the middle. Position 1 on the left. 2 on the right. 3 on top 4 on the bottom.

Click to expand...

I like this spread and find it enjoyable and occasionally very revealing.

Marion