Q: You talk about doing one card “daily meditation” readings as a good way to learn to read tarot, but then you also say it’s bad to get a reading too often. Which is it?
A: I know that seems like an out and out contradiction, but underneath it is more of an apples to oranges comparison.
The bottom line, I suppose, is that working with intuition, spirituality, and creativity doesn’t make logical sense all of the time. Explaining this stuff with full logical consistency is like explaining the Mona Lisa using algebra. Both are right. Both are good. They are just different and don’t overlap a lot.
Same thing with open “daily” meditation one card readings and using a larger, more complex layout to explore a particular question. Both are good. Both are right. But there are some key differences between the two.
As I see it, the thing that answers your question is to feed the happy.
First, lets look at the meditation readings. I talk about this in PeaceTarot, my ebook that teaches you how to do these handy little DIY Tarot readings. The daily in this context focuses more on the time-frame of the reading. It isn’t trying to make some grand prediction about the future, it’s just a helpful, guiding idea to contemplate over the scope of a day.
If you want to do that every day – cool. If you don’t feel it and only want to pull a card when the mood hits – equally cool.
My recommendation is to feed the happy. If the structure and regularity of an every day practice is comforting to you, then by all means read every day.
If reading every day feels like a chore or burden, then by all means follow your feelings and read only when you feel you want or need it.
Tarot readings should feed the happy – if regularity and routine is the food that feeds your happiness squirrel, do that. If following your instincts feeds you happiness through the squirrelly chaos of life, do that.
Feed the Happy applies to other readings too. It’s not the act of Tarot reading too much that is the problem. It’s reading the same question over and over and over that becomes a problem. When you do that, you aren’t feeding the happy, you are feeding the fear.
The “When will I meet my soulmate” type of question s a very common example. Some people HATE getting the real answer: find a way to be happy without a romantic relationship. That kind of happiness is exactly what attracts the right person to you. Contentment, inner peace and self confidence are wildly attractive if not downright sexy. I’ve seen it dozens of times over the years of reading for the public. After they reject their answer several times, and multiple reading have re-phrased their answer a half-dozen different ways, it just stops and reflects that fearful spiral. To break out of the fear-feeding, they either have to focus on a different question or stop Tarot altogether for a long while. The repetition feeds into fearfulness and stops the reading from feeding into happiness.
I think Ted Andrews’ guidance is best. He only read for people once or twice a year. I’ll read more often, but not always the same narrow question.
So which is it? Both! Routine or instinct: Use whichever makes you feel happy and un-pressured about it. If a reading feels unsatisfactory – step away from the cards and come back later.
But generally speaking,read Tarot cards as often or as little as you want. Open one card guidance is especially suited to an every -day habit. It is easy to make it into a comforting little ritual if you like. Or not. Just following your instincts is good practice too. But at the same time, don’t long-read the same focused question more than once or twice a year. Especially if it is a very emotionally charged topic.
Thanks for a great question!
Happy to answer questions like this here in the blog. Ask me anything for a blog answer using the form on the Ask the Expert page.
See you at the next sip!
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Deck: Alleyman’s Tarot by Seven Dane Asmun, used with permissions Publishing Goblin LLC
Sage Sips / TaoCraft Tarot 
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