Hi everyone, it's Katey and today I have another
instalment of Therapeutic Tarot for you.
Today we're going to be talking about using
your deck, deck of cards, tarot in this instance,
for self-care ideas and activities. The Therapeutic
Tarot series on this channel is all about
using tarot and oracle cards, cards in general,
for mental wellbeing and mental health maintenance.
And if you haven't already I would people
ask you to please watch the introductory video
to this series, which I will leave in the
cards as well as a link in the description
below. Basically, that just runs over my history
and my perspective, my approach, why I'm making
this series. And also a few disclaimers, the
big one of which is the fact that I am not
stating at all that this stuff replaces therapy
or mediation or any other kind of intervention
that you might need. The things that I offer
in this series are instead intended to be
additional, complementary, supplementary to
any other wellness maintenance practices that
you need for yourself.
So now we will get into it. This is a fun
exercise that I have used for the longest
time. I have been using this ever since I
started using tarot really. And that is basically
having a self-care activity attached to each
and every card of the tarot. What I like about
this exercise is the fact that sometimes we
know we need to take care of ourselves but
it can be hard sometimes if we're feeling
a little bit stressed or upset to really think
of what to do. It sounds really simple but
sometimes it can feel, you kind of get stuck,
like 'I dunno, I dunno what to do. What can
I do?' And even if you have a list of things,
sometimes it can feel overwhelming trying
to decides between them. So, if you're ever
there, that is what this exercise is for.
I think it's also great if you're aware that
you haven't been taking great care of yourself
to maybe just, for a week, commit to taking
out a card every day, and doing that thing
sometime during that day.
So basically, the reason tarot is helpful,
because, one, using the images can kind of
get you thinking about different self-care
activities to write down, and also, it's just
a really easy tool to do that shuffling and
pick one at random. It's kind of like having
a hat full of different ideas that you can
pull one out of. But unless you have a lot
of space, you don't really want to keep a
hat around with a bunch of self-care activities
written on pieces of paper to draw from. Instead
you just have a list written in your diary,
your book, your journal, whatever, and you
have your tarot cards, which you have any
way.
So, the first step in getting going with this
activity is to actually go through the entire
deck, write out the names of every card, and
then to go through and come up with self-care
activities to associate to each and every
card. Now I will leave a link to my blog post
in which I will share with you my current
self-care activities for each card. This kind
of changes, I've recently gone over and change
s a few up, because depending on what you
need and where you're at, these will change.
You know, I'm fairly well at the moment, I've
very well at the moment, so I don't need any
of those really serious self-care activities,
those harm minimization activities. Instead
these are much more just keeping me well,
keeping me happy. And this is the hardest
part of this whole thing. Some cards will
be very easy, something will click straight
away of what self-care activity you can associate
with this card. Others might be a little bit
more tricky. So, I have some tips for this.
First, I would say that you don't have to
associate the self-care activity specifically
with the meaning of the card, the traditional
meaning. You can, if something makes sense
for you with that meaning, then go with that.
Alternatively, you can just use the imagery
and whatever idea first comes to your mind
based on the imagery, that's a good one to
go with. I started with the Rider Waite Smith
and went through the whole deck, and anything
that came up, even if it took me a minute
or so, I would write that down. But there
were still some cards that I wasn't 100% sure
of. So, I went to other decks for that. I
started going through the Next World Tarot,
because that is very much a self-loving deck.
I also went through the Sasuraibito, I even
went through the Gill and the Fantastic Menagerie,
which are two of my favourites. And by the
time I got through the end of all of those
cards, all of those decks, I did, I managed
to have a self-care activity for each and
every of the 78 cards of the tarot. I would
suggest not to over think this, this isn't
necessarily a learning tool, although it does
definitely get you in touch with the cards
in a new way, it's not designed to be right,
there is no right activity to associate with
the card. It's basically what works for you.
And have a bit of a think about the self-care
activities that you go to, and make sure you
include those in the cards, but also try to
include ones that you don't necessarily go
to on an everyday basis or a weekly basis.
Try to include ones that are a little bit
more outside of your box. If you have a few
self-care activities in mind that you've been
wanting to try, make sure you try and fit
those in. And if at the end of going through
a bunch of different deck you're still stuck
on a card or two, just put in whatever. Put
in a couple of activities that you've been
wanting to try, or that you know really work
for you, just things you know that you're
curious about. Just put those in. It doesn't
really matter what it is. I think it's fun
to associate them with the feeling the card
gives you or the imagery or even the meaning,
but it's not essential. The idea Is that you
will have this list with you when you go to
do this activity, so it's not necessary for
you to have such a strong connection between
the activity and the card that you're able
to memorise it. And what comes next is probably
pretty obvious. Basically, you just shuffle
up a deck. It doesn't have to be the deck
that you used, although make sure it's a deck
with the 78 cards that correspond to the suits
and everything that you have already put down
in your list so that you're not drawing some
card that doesn't apply to what's on your
list already. Just shuffle up your deck and
pick a card. So, for example The World for
me is to dance. The Nine of Swords for me
is to change the sheets, clean the sheets,
and cleanse the bedroom, and to check in and
make sure my sleeping pattern is all right.
The Ace of Wands for me is to do a puzzle,
which I think comes from the Sasuraibito Tarot,
which does have a maze on the ace. So even
though that doesn't show up in every deck
and it's not showing up in the deck I'm using
right now, that is what I've associated with
the card for the self-care activity, so that
is what I'm going to do. The Ten of Wands
is to set some priorities, organize my priorities
and ask for help if I need to. The Eight of
Pentacles is to draw, or paint, or create
something. The Knight o Pentacles is to write
a list of whatever's stressing me out and
to break down my goals step by step. The Two
of Pentacles is to do some of my balance and
stretching exercises that my physio has prescribed.
The Queen of Swords is to write a letter to
someone that I love. I think this domes from
the Sasuraibito Taro as well. The Three of
Pentacles is to practice my French. The Page
of Swords is to go outside and watch the colorus
of the birds. The Five of Pentacles is to
colour in. I got this from, it just popped
in my head, from looking at the stained-glass
window in a lot of the deck, they're just
so colouful and pretty and they look like
what you might find in a colouring in book,
so that's what I go for the five of Pentacles.
The six of Pentacles, a lot of Pentacles are
coming up, aren't they, this was to make a
donation to a cause that I care about. The
High Priestess was to sit down pray or meditate.
The Devil is to do something just because
it feels good. That might be having some chocolate
or masturbating, whatever it is, just something
that I do just because it feels good. The
Chariot was to go for a bike ride. Judgement
was to make a call to a friend or family member.
The Queen of Cups was to dress up, dress up
fabulously! I think this came from the Next
World. So those were a few of the examples
that I have created for myself. As I said,
I will leave a blog post with all of mine
listed. These are of course personal to me,
but I hope they give you some ideas. I love
this exercise because once you've taken the
time to write out your list, you can use this
exercise any time you want. One thing I would
advise is to avoid using too many activities
to one card. I would say most of the time
just assign one activity to each card, because
the whole point of this is to avoid the overwhelm
and confusion of having to choose an activity.
The point is that the deck chooses for you.
There are a couple of cards where I have maybe
two activities. More because maybe one of
the activities isn't relevant all the time.
But I've only done that for a few cards, I've
tried to avoid doing that for too many. So,
I would love to hear if you are planning on
trying this and also if you're comfortable
I would love if you could share a couple of
the self-care activity you come up with and
what card you've associated them with. So,
I really hope you've episode this episode
of Therapeutic Tarot and if you have any comments
or questions for me as always leave those
below. And if you're new here and you enjoyed
this video, do go ahead and subscribe so you
can find out when I next upload a Therapeutic
Tarot video. I will also leave a link to the
playlist of this entire series, all the videos
I've made so far for Therapeutic Tarot, in
the description bar below. So, I hope you've
enjoyed this video, I would love to hear what
you think in the comments and, until next
time, so much love. Bye!
