The 'Just drawing a card...' problem.

euripides

Although sometimes I use it for writers block as well. That might sound silly, but I like writing stories and if I am stuck either I will draw one card or a series of them and it does help at times.

not at all. I have a writer friend who has a deck just for her writing. Brilliant idea, I think!
 

danieljuk

I like "what do I need to know today?" I think you do have to make them general with daily/ weekly / monthly / annual reading. or you can ask "how will this event go?" for specific things.

When I was learning tarot in my early days, I did a tarot card of the day for about 2 years. It was such a great way to learn because you really see the energy of the card match the day and the learning experience was trying to make it fit the day. Sometimes it was the general energy or vibe of the day and sometimes it was a very specific literal event that happened.

I don't think you need to ask anything though, just take one with an intention of the day! These days I just get a card of the day from an app, it's the lazy way of doing it but still look at the energy of the card every day :)
 

Amsonia

something different would be to pull the card, and don't relate it to yourself...try to find that person or situation out in the world that day...like a scavenger hunt! I think you can find multiple examples for each card...see how many you find...

draw the chariot...maybe you see your boss working herself to death to get a promotion up the ladder, or maybe you see someone walking a black dog and a white dog, or someone determined to catch the subway so they beeline it past everyone on the street, or maybe you see a kid in a wagon...

this is also a great way to learn the cards with the daily draw with something more concrete than simply 'thinking' about the card...

it's fun
 

euripides

draw the chariot...maybe you see your boss working herself to death to get a promotion up the ladder, or maybe you see someone walking a black dog and a white dog, or someone determined to catch the subway so they beeline it past everyone on the street, or maybe you see a kid in a wagon...

oh I love this idea! I love that it gets me out of my own head and relates Tarot to the world around me. Thanks for sharing.
 

Barleywine

something different would be to pull the card, and don't relate it to yourself...try to find that person or situation out in the world that day...like a scavenger hunt! I think you can find multiple examples for each card...see how many you find...

draw the chariot...maybe you see your boss working herself to death to get a promotion up the ladder, or maybe you see someone walking a black dog and a white dog, or someone determined to catch the subway so they beeline it past everyone on the street, or maybe you see a kid in a wagon...

this is also a great way to learn the cards with the daily draw with something more concrete than simply 'thinking' about the card...

it's fun

Nice idea! You could always just use the court cards and ask "Who should I contact (or watch out for, or schmooze, or pick on) today?" :)
 

SunChariot

How do you do your daily draw? Do you have a question? A direction even, what you should focus on, what you should avoid?

I've had a tendency to just 'pull a card' without thinking about what I was actually asking.

As a flipside to my 'can't always get what you want' observation about reading, this results in a 'could be anything you want' reading. Without a position in a spread, without a question (a bit like the old 'clarifier', really) the 'just pulling a card' could be read as a warning, an invitation, it could be us, it could be someone else... it could be anything, really.

I feel an intuitive reader might suggest that we should, intuitively, understand what the message is. And perhaps so. But I think part of the whole point of using Tarot and its traditions is to give our insight some boundaries and focus.

So when I 'draw a card for the day', what am I actually asking?

I've personally never really done the daily draw thing.

I tried it once or twice then got bored with it and just started doing one reading per day on a topic that interested me. I found so many topics that interested me to ask about, there was no shortage for me. If nothing was going on in my life on a given day I went on to the philosophical ones: like what I am meant to learn in this lifetime, what is the nature of destiny, HOW are we all connected, ...etc and so forth. The questions about the meaning of life and how it works have always always been my favourites.

That said, I think that if you are going to pull a card a day then you need to have a question in mind. If you pull a card without even thinking what you are asking, I know for me that would not work. UNLESS I had told the cards at the start that I am going to pull a card each day from now on and the question I mean for them to answer is: "X" (question).

I believe that you need to be focused to read,a daily draw is a reading. And ideally you need to be thinking of the question, or at least ask it.

There is always a question technically. If we don't have anything in mind, then the question is something like "Tell me something I need to know right now." That is still a question, as you are asking the cards to do something, to tell you something.
But there is always a question. Like if I querent has no question in mind, I still ask the cards what they most need to know right now. And the cards should tell them that. I never try to read without a question in mind.

To me, if you just hold the cards in your hands and flip a card over without asking anything at all then it is not a reading. If it is not a reading , then just random cards will come up. I think you have to at least SAY to the cards inside yourself. I am going to pull a card now, please tell me something I need to know.


That is my belief on that. At least I know, from my own experience, that for me nothing would happen if I did not ask a question. Meaning that just random cards would come up with no meaning.


Maybe if you draw a card a day the question is something like "What can you tell me about today?" of "What do I need to know about today?"

Or you could try asking something like: "What do I need to know about today to live my best day (or make the most of today)?" or "Tell me something joyful about today?" or "What can I rejoice in knowing today?" or "What can I learn today that it would improve my life to know?" or "How can I be my best self today?" or "What would be really fun for me to do today?" or "What can I look forward to about today?" ....but then maybe those are more than daily draws? But those are the kinds of questions that I find fun.

Babs
 

headincloud

I think it's easier to learn tarot by formulated questions or positions for the cards because this is how our intuitive faculty develops, later, once we've grasped the nature of how the tarot responds to us in my experience we feel less need for the boxes.

If we don't ask a question then we learn how the tarot reflects our drives, energy, mood, health, etc but if we direct the tarot mentally through questions it truly comes into it's own through interaction and to me this is the fast track but each to their own.
 

geoxena

I don't do a daily draw.
 

Farzon

I do three card readings for a daily draw. I focus on the day ahead, work, friends my private life, whatever I have planned. And I really just try to get the meaning down to a few sentences, like the daily horoscope in the newspapers. Sometimes the message holds true, sometimes not.

It's a great practice and fun to do but more important are my weekly draws where I will ask about strengths and weaknesses, drives and blocks and so on. They are more helpful.
 

teomat

I really like the idea of doing daily readings, but in reality (when I inevitably pull a not so nice card) it can really make me feel low. I know you can put a positive spin on any card, but starting off your day on a bum note isn't very nice. Not having any expectations, hopes or fears is a much more positive way to start the day IMO.

I also agree with SunChariot in that I need to have a question to focus on. There should be a real intent behind why I'm consulting the cards, and it's usually when I have a burning issue on my mind that the cards really speak to me.