A while ago I wrote a blog post about what your favorite Tarot card says about you, but I think it’s actually your least favorite card that is the most revealing…
I was inspired by a fellow youtuber who said she was journalling about everything she disliked about the 6 of Pentacles as an exercise in shadow work. And this got me thinking about all the cards I just can’t stand!
So what Tarot card do you dislike the most? Which card makes you cringe whenever it shows up in a reading?
It may not even be a typically “negative” card – perhaps The Magician just pisses you right the f*ck off or the Queen of Cups makes you want to shank someone.
Personally, I can’t stand the Justice card. It just sucks.
Okay, so go through your deck right now and pick out ONE Tarot card that you don’t like. It doesn’t even have to be the worst card for you, just one that generates a general feeling of contempt.
Now, ask yourself this: what it is that I can’t stand about this card? Write it down on a bit of paper.
I’ll go first: I can’t stand how the Justice card is so serious. She seems totally humorless and un-mysterious like she is lacking magic and sexiness. She reminds me of what sometimes happens to people when they become “adults” – they turn responsible and boring.
Go over what you wrote and highlight the keywords. My keywords are serious, humorless, responsible and boring.
Working with one keyword at a time, ask yourself this:
In what ways am I ________ (insert keyword of choice here).
When I ask myself in what ways am I serious? I can think of lots of things. I diligently read all the ingredient labels of food and cosmetics before I buy them. I’m a non-drinker at parties and so I’m usually the only sober one. I use five methods of birth control…at the same time. I could go on, but you get the idea.
Now, look back at the card you totally hate.
If there’s a figure on the card, does it remind you of anyone?
Lady Justice reminds me of a dear friend who is so incredibly serious and rigid about everything that it’s a struggle to connect and have fun with her. I’ll say “hey let’s have a girls night out!” and she’ll say “no, I have to clean the mold out of my window sills. It needs to be done.”
What feeling arises within you when you gaze at this shitty card?
When I look at Justice, I feel that b*tch is judging me. I feel judged. And I feel like I’m not quite up to snuff.
Where in your life do you sometimes feel this way?
This can be a real eye opener. Often, the Tarot card we despise brings up feelings that we also happen to be experiencing in other aspects of our life.
In my case, I judge myself constantly. I am always thinking things like I didn’t get much accomplished today, I need to be more organized and hardworking, I’m going nowhere in life.
My inner judge is very active and mean so when I see a representation of her in the Justice card, I’m irritated.
Okay, so now what?
You’ve identified the parts of yourself that you dislike. You’ve identified the feelings that you dislike having. But now what? Where do you go from here?
Ask yourself this….
What is the upside to being _________(keyword of choice)?
So I would ask what’s the upside to being serious?
Just because you don’t like a certain part of yourself, doesn’t mean it doesn’t serve you well sometimes.
Then ask: What is this feeling of _______ trying to show me?
So I would ask what is the feeling of judgement/criticism trying to show me?
Negative emotions are there because they’re trying to tell you something.
When I judge myself harshly and feel crappy about it, I’m trying to tell myself something – that I’m not living up to my full potential, AND/ OR that I need to be kinder and more accepting of myself.
From there, I’ll leave it up to you to decide what changes you want to make or if just having the awareness of all of this is enough. Sometimes you don’t actually need to do anything at all. Which is nice 🙂
Want more? Check out my online course Tarot Journalling for Soul Explorers…
I hate Temperance and High Priestess. First feels like I’ being forced to be grateful for bullshit and act like Pollyanna. Second has never made any sense basically feels like Tarot saying ‘I don’t know’ but in the most pretentious way possible
ha! I’ve never thought of the High Priestess as being “pretentious” but I think you’re onto something!
Hi there,
I’m not well-versed in the names of the cards but do know that I find doing a reading for myself as practice seems to be uncannily accurate. I’m an Aries with moon in Scorpio, so that may explain why I’m drawn to tarot and am a skeptic about most things.
My worst card is the Knight. The Ace of Spades. I know though why I hate him. I’m 73 and have been hospitalized so I always interpret him as Death stalking me. I know he usually means change, but not for me.
Alice
Hi Kate. I’m new to Tarot so your blog is really wonderful help to me 🙂
My least favourite is the king of pentacles. It’s silly because he’s not even a negative card. He just gives me a feeling of being too cluttered, messy, and has no regard for personal hygiene. I’m using the Rider-Waite deck and for reasons it looks as if there are ivy/moss crawling all over his clothes and he just let’s it?!
I started talking to my deck a lot recently and it feels like they’re beginning to get a little cheeky with me at times. I mean, I can actually sense them smirking even as I shuffle them and kind of know beforehand that they will be teasing me instead of giving me a serious answer. Is it possible for something like this to happen? Like, there was this once when I bugged them about my crush and they threw me an inversed eight of pentacles to remind me I’ve been going nowhere with my studies and I should do something about THAT instead because exams are coming up. I mean, when I drew the card and flipped it, the first thought that came to mind was literally a mental vision of my deck laughing and telling me to go study.
Hi Jill,
Thanks for sharing your least favorite card – I agree that this King looks like he could have bad hygiene – he seems like he’d be too laid back to care about stuff like that!
It sounds like you do indeed have a cheeky deck. I’ve had similar experiences and it sounds like you’ve got your deck’s personality nailed down. But it sounds like despite teasing you it’s giving you some good advice 😉
Hi Kate,
My least favourite card with my personal deck (Cosmic Tarot) is the Fool. For whatever reason, I think he is ugly and I don’t like the way he is dressed. I can’t explain why. It just generates a negative feeling..
Hi Kate! What a great post!
Personally, I frickin hate the 2 of Pentacles and the 6 of Pentacles. When I see them come up in a reading, I feel like saying “F*** you!” I have no idea why, so now it’s high time I confronted these stupid pesky cards (which aren’t even the classical “bad” cards) and asked myself why I find them so ANNOYING!!!
Thanks for sharing your fabulousness!
Thank you Nirmala, glad to hear you liked this! That’s so funny about your least favorite cards – even though they aren’t “bad” cards, I can see they do have an annoying aspect to them – especially the 6 of pents.
Hi there Kate, thanks for the insight. I will now be able to sit and have a conversation with these difficult cards and iron out our differences. Time to make friends with the Kings. I can equate the feeling of drawing a king card to buying a soft serve ice cream and the ice cream falls off the cone. But this is my chance to call a truce and become friends. Thank you I love all your readings and advice. Unfortunately due to exchange rate I can’t do a reading with you but your site and your blogs are truly amazing and I have learnt so much from you. Namaste xx
Hi Denese!
Thanks for reading and commenting 🙂
I’m really touched that you like my work so much – thank you for letting me know.
I agree that the Kings kind of suck – I don’t dislike them but I don’t feel too elated when I get them either!
Hugs,
Kate
The devil bothers me! Probably because my abusive ex used to tell me “your the devil! Your evil!” He put me down so much. Everyone my whole life has. It’s why I have such a hard time reading cards for myself. I saw that I’m supposed to have a life full of misery. That I’ll never get married. I will die alone and sad. I also don’t like the Hierophant. I just don’t get it and it’s something I can’t really explain.
Mine is The Tower
Its so negative and ugly feeling to me.makes me feel like there’s no hope.
I really liked this idea. I chose Three of Swords, a card that I approach with a lot of anxiety. Some really painful emotions attached to it. But it did give me some insight into why I fear this card so much and that there is some more acceptance work to get done around this issue. Thank you for this little exercise!
Thanks for trying this out, Nellie 🙂 Three of Swords is one of my least favorite cards as well, so I’m glad you got some insights into it.