There are times in life when doing a Tarot reading may be inconvenient or impossible.

For example, you’re on a camping trip with your uber-religious family who shuns Tarot and all other fun things. Or you’re bored shitless waiting in the dentist’s office but you don’t have your deck with you. Or you’re just totally pissed off at your Tarot deck and don’t want to consult it today….

Here are some fun and inventive ways to flex your intuitive reading muscles without your usual deck of Tarot cards:

 

1. Consult a regular old book as your “oracle”

I got this idea from Keri Smith’s awesome book Living Out Loud.

Here’s how it works:

Step One: Think of a big, important question you want answered like “what is the meaning of my life?” or “how can I get more boys to notice me?”

Step Two: Now, randomly pick a book off your shelf. It could be The Bible or Having the Cowboy’s Baby. It doesn’t matter!

Step Three: Let the book fall open to any page and let your gaze come to rest on a random sentence. Read that sentence out loud. That is your answer!

Sometimes this exercise produces profound results. Other times it’s just good for a laugh. But either way, it’s worth a try.

2. Read your current environment as if it were a Tarot card

Step One: Think of a specific question or just ask “what do I need to know right now?”

Step Two: Take a good look around you. Your environment is like a Tarot card – rich with symbols and secret messages just waiting to be discovered!

What do you notice first? What stands out? What symbols are present? What color is most prevalent? What is going on?

What is on your left hand side? This is the side of intuition and creativity.

What is on your right? This is the side of action and power!

Step Three: If there is a message for you in your environment (and trust me, there is!) what would it be? What are your surroundings trying to tell you?

I did this exercise last Spring when I was walking along the beach. I asked “what do I need to focus on right now?” and the first thing I noticed was a family of geese, which were flying along. I watched them land in the water, floating gracefully and then diving under the surface. It suddenly struck me how amazing it is that geese get to traverse the world of sky, land and water. I was reminded of the three worlds in Shamanism – the upper, lower and middle earth. At the time I was reading several books on Shamanism and I took this as a clear message that I was to keep on reading this stuff. Also, not to be afraid to dive deep into the unconscious world of dreams and meditative journeys.

 

3. Doodle!

You know how when your listening to someone on the phone you sometimes scribble little drawings without realizing it?

These scribbles can be a goldmine for illustrating what’s going on in your subconscious mind!

Try this!

You can do this exercise by yourself or with a friend.

Step One: Get out a piece of paper and some crayons (or a pencil if the idea of crayons gives you the creeps). Put on some nice music and sit at your table and just draw some stuff. Don’t think too hard, just let your mind wander. Don’t try to draw something “good”. Just doodle!

Step Two: If you’re doing this with a friend, you can trade drawings and then proceed to “read” each others pictures in the same way you would read a Tarot card.

If you are doing this alone, then you would just “read” your own picture.

Pay attention to what you are drawn to. What color stands out? What symbols speak to you? What is the general feel of the picture? Does it seem to be saying something specific?

Often, the pictures we draw illustrate what is going on for us in our inner and outer lives.

I first did this exercise years ago in a workshop called Exploring Your Psychic Self. The woman who I was partnered with swore she had no psychic abilities whatsoever, yet she was able to spell out my deepest wishes and desires just by looking at my drawing. A drawing that looked like it was drawn by a five year old on acid.

 

 

 

So there you have it! Three totally new ways to have fun with your intuition. No Tarot cards required!

In the comments below, tell me which exercise your going to try today :)…..