I love to have inspiration around my home; from butterflies, feathers and positive quotes, to – you guessed it! – Tarot cards.
Today was my first day as a mature student and I wanted to celebrate it by creating an inspiration station to keep me on track when the hours are long and the workload is heavy.
Would you like to know how to make an inspiration station of your own?
What you need:
- A pretty scarf (mine is midnight-purple silk), or wrapping paper cut to size;
- A frame;
- A Tarot deck you love, but don’t use often (The Wild Unknown Tarot for me!).
What to do:
- Decide which cards you want to use and select them from your deck (store the rest of your cards away safely as usual);
- Fold the scarf until it will fit inside the frame (some smooshing is possible); or if you’re using wrapping paper, simply pop it into place.
- Arrange the cards on top of the fabric/paper in an arrangement that is pleasing and meaningful to you.
- Hang it in a prominent place!
- You can, of course, choose to frame one card at a time.
Alex’s Spread
I chose to frame my cards in an abbreviated form of the Celtic Cross, because I have a deep affection for this spread and my familiarity with it means that whenever I glance at my inspiration station, I won’t have to rack my brains for which card means what, where. So which cards did I choose?
The Fool – me now (central card). New beginnings, hope and excitement mingled with risk and vulnerability. Perfect card for beginning a new chapter of life, hm?
The Magician – conscious goal (top card). Mastering emotions, creativity, intellect and hard work to bring an idea from the nebulous world within into the real world without. The Magician has been appealing to me as a beacon of hope every time I’ve panicked about committing to my new course.
9 of Pentacles – unconscious influences (bottom card). Tricky to pick an unconscious influence consciously! I could have dealt a card and interpreted it as a message, but it’s important to me that this spread be personal. So I chose the 9 of Pentacles – a card of satisfaction, achievement and independence. This card is precious to me, as it represents a bright time in my life that I would like to build upon to create my future.
Ace of Swords – past (left card). Swords are to do with the intellect, and the ace relates to the thunderbolt moment of a new idea. Seems pretty fortuitous for beginning further education!
Eight of Pentacles – future (right card). This is known as the card of the apprentice, as it talks about the willingness to put in hard work to achieve a goal that has been long dreamed of. This is my way of accepting that between me and my ultimate goal lies hard work , and lots of it!
I hung mine above my dressing table in the bedroom – every morning I spend at least half in this spot, getting ready for work. This way I can glance at my Tarot frame every day and reaffirm for myself why I’m working as hard as I am, and what I hope to get out of it.
Plus, The Wild Unknown Tarot is too beautiful to leave languishing in its box!
