Learning tarot through daily draws: a year in cards

I bought my first Tarot deck five years ago and promptly overwhelmed myself with guidebooks, symbolism charts, and YouTube tutorials. Last year I tried a different approach: draw one card daily, no matter what, and journal a few lines about how it mirrored my day. A year later, I can honestly say the practice taught me as much about myself as it did about Tarot.

At first, I clung to the book definitions. The Three of Swords? Heartbreak. The Chariot? Victory. But life rarely fit the keywords so neatly. On a random Tuesday when I drew the Tower but nothing catastrophic happened, I realized the card wasn’t predicting doom; it was pointing to the subtle dismantlings—an argument with myself about work, a moment where pride cracked open to humility.

By month three, patterns emerged. The same cards recurred during similar emotional seasons. The Hermit appeared during periods of solitude; the Fool when I flirted with new risks. Rather than “fortune-telling,” the cards became a mirror for cycles I might otherwise ignore. Journaling connected dots I wouldn’t have seen in the rush of living.

Some days the practice felt flat—draw, scribble, move on. But the accumulation mattered. Looking back, I see a record of growth: the way the High Priestess showed up the week I began meditation, or how Pentacles dominated when finances required grounded attention.

By month nine, my readings expanded beyond myself. Friends asked for draws, and I felt comfortable offering impressions rather than textbook recitations. I learned to trust the images that arose in my mind, the emotions stirred by a spread. Tarot became less about accuracy and more about intimacy—being present with someone else’s question, holding it gently in archetypal light.

At the end of the year, I bound my journal into a book of 365 entries. It’s messy, honest, and more valuable to me than any pristine manual. The cards taught me language for change, patience for process, and reverence for mystery.

If you’re learning Tarot, I recommend a similar experiment: pull one card daily, write two sentences, and resist the urge to grade the results. Over time, you’ll notice that the cards don’t just describe your life—they deepen it. The practice itself becomes the reading.