“Can you read the tarot cards for yourself?” I cannot tell you how many times I have been asked that question. Here I answer this question and explain why.
“Dispassionate objectivity is itself a passion, for the real and for the truth.”
Abraham Maslow
It is often suggested that you should not read the cards for yourself. I don’t think there is any reason one ‘should’ not, but I do believe that it is not always possible to read for yourself. It is a good idea if your first few readings are only for yourself. The reason I say this is because at the beginning is when you are making connections to your cards, and there is no better way to do this than to apply what you have already learned about the cards in The Secret to Reading the Tarot series and to take the next step forward and connect this to your own life. Remember, the goal here is not to make some great prediction about your life, and not even to gain some magnificent insight – those will come – but to just see the cards illustrating what you already know about your life. After you’ve done this, I would then suggest that you practice on some close friends/family members, but again, make sure they know that they are helping you learn and not receiving a free tarot reading.
Sometimes it can help you to think out loud by consulting the cards, but this would not be the same as receiving a reading from someone else. I find it the easiest reading for strangers – these are my most accurate and psychically connected readings. I believe this is because when I read for someone I don’t know, I connect more fully with the cards. I only feel and think about them and fully take in the messages they are conveying. However, if I’m reading for myself, I’m too concerned with my own future and problems to be fully open to what the cards show. The same for if I read for my partner, family or friends – I have a vested interest in what happens to them, so I’m not always as objective as I would be for a stranger’s reading. This vested interest definitely interferes with the clarity and accuracy of a reading. For me, this is the crux of the issue with whether you can or cannot read for yourself; can you detach and be objective about the reading?
You can learn to read for yourself, just like anything else, it requires practice and diligence. It is of the utmost importance that you detach from the reading. It is often said the best readings are the ones where you have no strong desire to know what that reading will show. Never try to read when you are feeling emotional or upset, as the cards will mirror your emotional state and may even upset you more. I recommend meditating briefly before the reading, ground yourself and then give yourself over to the reading. There is nothing but the cards and the message they convey. When you can do this, then you can harness the power of tarot readings to acquire added insight into your life.