Tarot rules: do I need to follow them?

Are there any tarot rules that you absolutely have to follow? I don’t believe so. As Rachel Pollack suggests in her book, Tarot Wisdom, “you are free to create your own methods.” Yes many of us choose to follow certain “rules” but that is through choice not because there is a universal set of rules that we have to adhere to. Unfortunately, that doesn’t stop people from implying that there is.

All too often I come across people presenting their approaches as things that you should do rather than things you could do. Many beliefs, like, “You can’t buy your own tarot deck” seem to be falling away but sometimes the way creators represent their ideas/approaches/rituals etc makes it seem like that is THE way, rather than their way.

Do I disagree with authors sharing their approach? Gosh no. I really enjoy reading about how other people work with and interpret tarot. It’s why I love guidebooks. Where I do take issue is when rituals and practices are presented as if they are something that you must do.

I have a collection of nearly 300 decks because I like working with multiple decks. And, since I have been collecting crystals for nearly four decades, I have them on my desk and my book shelves. I also like having a routine that helps me cycle through my decks so each morning I choose a random deck from my shelves and write about an individual card for ten minutes. Although for the last two days that has changed. I have been art journaling about the chosen card instead.

I also love burning incense while I work and I have a dedicated room to read tarot in. Finally-ish, my reading journals are all made from premium, full grain, buffalo leather with eco-friendly, handmade, unlined paper recycled from cotton that I write in with black Pentel Energel metal tip 0.7mm pens. Yes, it’s all very specific.

Do you need any of that — NO! Of course not.

My choice to burn incense, have crystals on my desk, and work with multiple decks is exactly that, my choice. I also acknowledge how fortunate I am to have a room dedicated to tarot. Although lately it is also the jigsaw room and the grandkids homework space. I don’t feel it has lost any of its magic. If anything I feel the space has benefitted from its new roles.

Furthermore, often when I read for others, I don’t burn incense before or during the reading because I know some people are highly sensitive to smells. I always check first. To date it has never stopped me from connecting with the cards laid before me. I don’t need a particular smell in the air before I can read my cards. For others a specific ritual conducted without change every time may be an important part of their practice and that’s fair enough.

Watch enough tarot on You Tube and you will see all sorts of approaches. Some tap their deck, others say a prayer, some scry, some have crystals, others burn candles, some riffle, others shuffle for jumpers. Others read a particular card in a very different way to the standard meanings. Some do light readings, others do shadow work. Some focus on love readings. They can do as they choose. You can agree or disagree with what they do. It doesn’t make their practices right or wrong — it just makes it theirs.

I am happy to share what I do and what works for me but one of the driving forces behind this entire website is to promote tarot as a tool that is accessible to everyone. You don’t have to follow the cycles of the moon, wrap your cards in silk, or have a solid foundation in the various mythologies. If you do that’s great. I love mythology and researching animal behaviour and physiology but I will not tell you that in order to work effectively with tarot that you need to do a lot of research.

What I will say is that you need to take your deck out of the box and start to work with it in whatever way you choose. You can start with one practice and adopt a totally different one later on. Some people start off not reading reversals, but later choose to work with them. That’s fine. Some of us go the other way. I like to try various things to see how they work for me. If I find it beneficial I will include it, if I don’t it goes. Albeit I will revisit things I discarded in the past because I know that it’s okay to change my mind.

For example, at the moment, for various reasons, I am “unlearning” my tendency to read my cards through the lens of their astrological associations. I can do that. It doesn’t mean that someone else can’t draw on the idea that the 8 of Pentacles corresponds with the Sun in Virgo. I am just working from a different perspective now.

Ways you can use tarot

So how can you use tarot? Any way you like. Tarot is a wonderful tool and I encourage people to play with it and find how it works best for them.

Personally, over the years, I’ve used tarot:

• for divination,
• to help me craft university essays,
• as a general writing prompt,
• for journaling,
• for self-reflection,
• for exploring different viewpoints,
• for guidance,
• for creative inspiration,
• and as a way to focus my learning.

You could use it in one of these ways, all of these ways, or none of them.

So let’s break down some tarot rules

It’s pretty obvious how I feel about the idea of tarot rules, but, just to clarify:

• You can choose to read reversals or you can choose not to.
  • Generally I don’t but sometimes I choose to.
• You can read for yourself unless you feel you can’t.
  • By looking at how I use tarot you will have noticed that I am a fan of reading tarot for yourself but others don’t believe in it.
• You can decide whether or not you let other people touch your cards. They don’t have to but they can. It’s up to you.
  • I have certain decks that I generally don’t pull out for others.
• You can store your decks in whatever way works for you. Cards do not have to be wrapped in silk, but they can be.
  • Most of my decks live on my bookshelves in their original boxes. Although five live in carved wooden boxes on my desk. Which five changes periodically.
• You can modify your decks, but you don’t have to.
  • I edge and trim decks.
• You can shuffle in any way you like.
  • I have a ritual way I prefer to shuffle but sometimes, due to the size of the cards or the cardstock, I have to change my approach and to date I can say it hasn’t negatively impacted my readings.
  • Also, I have had clients shuffle my decks and I have shuffled for them.
• You can select your cards anyway you like.
  • Many people like to shuffle for jumpers or to draw cards from the top of the deck. I fan my cards and then select whichever cards I feel drawn to. For me that takes the pressure off the shuffle.
• You can turn the cards over any way you like.
• You do not need a spread cloth, but some are truly beautiful.
  • I don’t have one but I see many that I love.
• You can knock on the deck three times, two times, ten times, or never. Feel free to knock away or not to.
  • I don’t knock on my deck, blow on my deck, sleep with my decks under my pillow, but I do see them as friends. Others may find that weird.

I think you get the idea. You choose how you develop your tarot practice. You decide what works for you and what doesn’t. I’d suggest trying new things occasionally to see how you find them but you can totally ignore that suggestion as well.

If you pushed me to give you some rules, these are the ones I would suggest:

1. Find a deck or decks that you enjoy.
2. Work with it/them in whatever way works for you.

One thing I want to clarify here is that in saying you can do what you like I am not supporting or encouraging harmful practices.

What I hope you take from this post is that it’s okay if you don’t approach your cards in the same way as the creator of your latest deck, a tarot author you just read, or your favourite Tarot Tubers. None of us are doing it exactly the same as anyone else anyway.