Here’s a fun and simple exercise for improving your Tarot skills that doesn’t even require you to pick up your deck! Just grab some popcorn and follow me…
Lights, Camera, Action!
What’s your favourite film? Go get it! Stick it on, then sit back, relax and enjoy. Bet you know this one inside out, huh? Good, because that’ll make this next part easy: at important plot points, pause it and ask yourself this: what Tarot card would best represent this scene? If you’re new or uncertain about cards, start with just the Major Arcana and work your way up to including the Minor cards.
Live and Let Die
Scene Two
Write down the cards you’ve chosen for the scene, along with your reasons for your choice. Once the film is over, see if you can recognise the story line in the cards you’ve chosen – and if you do want to pick up your Tarot deck, lay the cards out in front of you and practice ‘seeing’ the story in the cards.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Who’s that girl?
Now you have your storyline, think about the characters: which card would represent whom? Is the leading lady mature and gorgeous like the Empress, or is she dreamy eyed and vulnerable like the star? Plot the evolution of your favourite character in cards; a very basic example could be:
Harry Potter discovers he’s a wizard and has to leave his past behind him…
The Fool – Art Nouveau Tarot
He must face Voldemort…
The Devil – Dave McKean Tarot
But in order to succeed, he has to hone his skills…
Strength – Thoth Deck
…and that’s as simple as it needs to be! Just be sure to fully explore your reasons as to why you picked those cards for the character. I’m not going to give away my reasons for choosing the cards I have, see if you can guess!
Go the extra mile
So now that you’re pretty familiar with this exercise, it’s time to take away your safety net. Yep, you’re going to do it with a film you’ve never seen before! You don’t have to pause to write things down, just go with the flow by keeping Tarot in mind as you enjoy the movie (and if it’s on tv, then this exercise is a great excuse to mute the adverts until the film comes back). Don’t worry if you can only think of one card for the entire movie, that’s absolutely still a success! Remember, you are developing these skills and you don’t have to be assigning cards left, right and centre to feel like you’re getting it ‘right.’
If you’re having fun, you can also have a go with books, songs and even celebrities!
Gala Darling as the Star
The more familiar we are with Tarot cards and how to relate them to real life, the deeper our readings will be! This exercise will help you to become both comfortable with the cards, but also to come to grips with how to apply the cards to your querent’s life.
