How to Develop Intuition and Read Tarot More Intuitively

It’s one of the biggest frustrations of beginner Tarot readers, how do you develop intuition and read Tarot more intuitively? 

Before we dive in, I want to make it very clear that intuition isn’t a skill as such, it is a natural, instinctual power that every human has. It transcends the conscious mind and you can find intuition in every living thing, no matter how sentient. 

So if you’re thinking you don’t have ‘intuition’ you’re wrong. You have it. It already exists within you, it’s just a muscle you haven’t used much and so it has weakened. Our goal before the end of this blog is to have you feeling an awareness of that intuitive muscle again. It is to feel like you know where it is inside you and how you can tap into it for Tarot readings or just general life.

I want to create a stand-alone blog diving into this in more detail, but I think it’s important to touch on it before we get stuck in. 

Instinct and intuition are two different entities. The simplest way to explain it is this: 

Instinct – A base, almost animalistic feeling that comes from our need to stay safe and alive. Your instincts are what tell you to run when there’s danger, to breathe, to eat when you’re hungry, to drink when you’re thirsty. Essentially, it is an unconscious understanding that is designed to spur you into some kind of action. That’s why the Tarot Wands are associated with instinct; they are a suit of motivation, power, and action. 

Intuition – A ‘knowing’ that is not directly influenced by facts and conscious thought. It is like Spider-Man’s spider senses. It’s like someone or something has whispered in your ear imparting information and knowledge that seemingly comes from out of the blue. The Tarot cups are the suit that is linked with intuition because it’s a knowledge that doesn’t come from logic, it’s more emotional than that, it’s more intangible and often helps us decipher what is right and wrong. 

The reason it’s important to know the difference between the two is because we’ll be working with intuition and it can be easy to mistake one for the other. Understanding instinct is a little more complicated because there’s a lot of psychology that influences instinct and what it encourages to act on. We’ll be looking at intuition, the unconscious knowing, the feeling of just knowing something and learning how to trust it and lean into it.

Like I mentioned before, your intuition is a muscle, the more you use it the stronger it gets. But how do you even start exercising a muscle you can’t feel and have no idea where it is inside your body?

The first step is drawing it up from the depths so you can form that reconnection. Here’s a quick and easy exercise to draw that intuition back out, like fishing. We need to put ourselves into a position that requires the help of intuition to gain greater insight. What better way than using an Oracle card? 

Oracle Card Free Writing Exercise: Grab a notebook and a pen then take a look at the card.

Write down everything that comes to mind. Don’t overthink anything, don’t analyse anything, just write whatever the card brings to mind. 

Aim to write a full page. Don’t worry about it making sense or grammar or creating full sentences, the important thing is we get the knowledge the card sparks down on paper.

The hardest part is done. You’ve already opened the door to your intuition and allowed it to say what it needs to say in the previous exercise. 

Now, we need to work on becoming more conscious of our intuition’s messages. The previous exercise allowed you to reignite that intuitive muscle, now it’s about how we can consciously recognise when our intuition is trying to tell us something. This time, all you’ll need is a random object. 

Mindful Observation Exercise: For this, we’ll be using all five senses to help us become more conscious of the intuitive messages we’re being sent. Essentially, we’re channelling this unconscious knowing into something more external, which allows us to better recognise and act on intuition.

Take an object that’s in your vicinity. It could be a lamp, your phone, or a remote control, the more seemingly mundane the better. Again, grab your notebook and start writing down answers to the following: 

What do you see? – Get really specific about what you see, what the the finer details of the item that you’ve never noticed before?  

What do you hear? – Give it a tap, drop it on the floor (as long as you won’t break it that is), if it’s got buttons what do they sound like? Play around with it and treat it like an instrument to see what sounds you can create. 

What do you feel? – Toss it between your hands, run your fingers over every lump and bump, and make a note of the different textures, temperatures, where the lumps and bumps are and where it’s smooth.

What do you smell? – What does the object smell like, is it pleasant, or unpleasant, does it smell like nothing or does it smell like something?

You’ll notice I’ve left out your sense of taste because I do not want to encourage you to go around licking objects in your home. However, if you want to give this a try, do it with something edible like fruit or even try it at meal times to add an extra ounce of mindfulness to how you eat.

Now we’ve both consciously and subconsciously connected with our intuition, it’s time to test it out in a more practical way.

One of the most common ways we use our intuition in our daily lives is when we have to make a decision. It might be when we’re trying to decide what to have for breakfast, we might ask ourselves ‘What do I feel like eating?’ and our intuition chimes in with the answer.

Intuitive decision-making is a skill we can apply to all areas of our lives and its especially useful for when you’re reading Tarot or Oracle cards. I want to use these tools to get you started with intuitive decision-making and to do this, I’m going to again use Oracle cards. If you’re more proficient in Tarot, you might want to try this next task with your own Tarot cards. 

*I use Oracle cards when I want to make an exercise as accessible as possible to a wider group of people, hence my use of them in this blog. But, these exercises can easily be used with either Oracle or Tarot cards.  

Pick a card, Any Card Exercise: Before you take a look at the three cards below, I want you to write down in your notebook one line that describes what’s on your mind and how you feel about it right now. You don’t have to go into detail, just a brief summary. 

Now, close your eyes and take three deep breaths. Try and ground yourself in the moment by focusing on the movement of your chest and stomach as you breathe in and out. Bring your awareness to how your body feels.

Once you’ve completed your three breaths, choose the card you feel the strongest pull towards. 

This pull can feel different for everyone so I can’t say exactly what it will feel like. For me, I notice how my eyes are instantly drawn to one card more than the others. For others, there may be a voice in their head that says something like ‘left’, ‘middle’ or ‘right’. 

Once you have chosen your card scroll down to see what you picked and spend some time thinking about how that card relates to what you wrote down at the beginning of this exercise. Think about what it’s inviting you to explore. Think about how it might be giving you more insight into why you feel the way you do. Make a note as to whether the card’s message is a comforting one, or if it’s highlighting something you might have been avoiding.

Like with strengthening any muscle, you can’t just run through these exercises once and hope you become an intuitive master overnight. In order to develop your intuition, you need to work on it consistently and frequently. 

Because I’m a Tarot reader and so read Tarot or Oracle cards in some form every day, that acts as my intuition workout. It may be you start doing daily card pulls to help you build that muscle, or maybe you come back to this blog every week or every other day to complete these exercises. 

Find a way to practice that feels organic and fun for you. You don’t want your relationship with your intuitive self to feel forced. If you really enjoyed the mindful object exercise, do more of that, maybe meditation is something you want to try or you want to give intuitive writing a go. Experiment with different exercises to build the best workout for you and your preferences. 

If you’re interested in exploring your intuition more within the world of Tarot, don’t forget I have a free workbook and guide that teaches you two additional skills that make intuitive Tarot reading feel easier than ever. Just click below to sign up and instantly get access to the editable PDF!