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What Is a Tarot Reading? (A Brief Definition)
A tarot reading is a structured reflective practise using symbolic cards to explore a question, emotion or life situation.
Psychologically, tarot can function as a projective tool similar to journalling or guided imagery. It can help you access insight, emotional awareness and unconscious material.
Spiritually, tarot can feel like a meaningful dialogue with intuition, archetype or the deeper Self.
In humanistic magick, we don’t use tarot to predict the future. For us, tarot is a tool for intentional self-reflection that supports real, lasting change.
Why Tarot Can Be Psychologically Powerful
Most tarot articles will probably teach you what the cards mean, how to choose your deck and how to lay a spread.
We might have slightly deeper questions. Such as, why are you turning to tarot at this moment?
Many spiritually open but thoughtful people often arrive at tarot because they are navigating something emotionally significant and yet counselling can feel too clinical.
But if tarot, in isolation, can feel mystical yet ungrounded. and therapy can feel grounded but disconnected from mystery, what does a spiritually minded person do if they want both?
Humanistic magick exists in the bridge between those two worlds. We can use tarot to translate the mystical into the psychological, and the psychology back into the mystical.
From a research perspective, reflective writing and symbolic engagement have measurable psychological benefits. Similarly, research into rituals and symbolic acts suggests that ritualised behaviour can increase a sense of control and reduce anxiety.
Tarot functions in a similar way. When you draw a card you interrupt mental rumination and you focus your attention. By focusing on the card’s symbolism, you engage imagery and narrative and begin to externalise your internal state.
Psychologically, this is powerful and spiritually, it feels meaningful.
The Deeper Why
The deeper reason to use tarot in this way is because humans are meaning-making creatures.
When we face uncertainty, we seek narrative. Tarot provides a symbolic language for that narrative.
Used consciously, it can reduce anxiety by creating structure and support agency rather than creating dependency.
And when paired with therapeutic principles, it becomes a catalyst for sustainable change. Try this for yourself…
The Reflective Tarot Dialogue
Instead of asking your tarot deck, “What will happen?”, try asking a better question:
“What part of me needs attention right now?”
This simple shift moves tarot from fortune-telling into conscious self-work.
Clarify Your Intention (The Why): Say to yourself outloud, or silently in your head, why you are drawing your next card. Perhaps you are drawing a card to understand why you feel anxious before meetings, or what is holding you back from ending this relationship, or what you need in order to trust yourself.
Asking this kind of question activates agency. You are not surrendering power to the cards. You are directing your attention.
Draw One Card Only: Drawing one card prevents overwhelm. (It also stops you from turning it into a “reading”). Look at the imagery before reading the guidebook. Ask yourself what emotion does this card evoke? Where do you feel it in my body? What part of your current situation mirrors this image?
You are allowing projection, a psychologically healthy process, to reveal what is already present within you.
The Therapeutic Bridge: Now you can turn this card into a journal entry. Writing under three headings, really consider what the card is revealing about yourself.
1. The Psychological Lens: What behaviour, belief, or pattern might this card represent?
2. The Emotional Lens: What are you feeling that you may not have fully acknowledged?
3. The Spiritual Lens: If this card were a message from your wiser self, what would it say?
This is humanistic magick in action. The psychology keeps you grounded, the symbolism keeps you connected and the integration creates change.
What It Feels Like When Tarot Is Used This Way
When we work with clients like this, something shifts. Instead of feeling judged or silly, clients tell us they feel calm and centred. Still rational, and yet connected to something deeper.
Of course tarot is not replacing therapy. It is only enhancing reflection. When you use tarot in this way, you are not escaping responsibility, you are deepening your own self awareness. And that is where the transformation lives.
When used intentionally, tarot becomes a structured reflective tool that holds your spiritual language. It becomes a ritual of pause and a symbolic doorway into therapeutic insight.
That is the essence of humanistic magick. Not superstition. Not rigid rationalism. But integration.
A Gentle Reflection
If you are already in therapy or coaching, how might tarot support, rather than replace, that process for you?
And if you are spiritually curious but cautious, what would it feel like to allow symbolism into your healing in a grounded, psychologically safe way?
References
Credit where credit is due, we aim to cite our sources because we value truthful content. 2 sources were used as part of our research for this article, and you are encouraged to follow our other links.
- Hobson, N. M., Schroeder, J., Risen, J. L., Xygalatas, D., & Inzlicht, M. (2018). The psychology of rituals: An integrative review and process-based framework. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 22(3), 260–284.
- Pennebaker, J. W., & Smyth, J. M. (2016). Opening up by writing it down: How expressive writing improves health and eases emotional pain (3rd ed.). Guilford Press.
About Humanistic Magick
Humanistic Magick is a psychology-informed framework developed by Andie Brookes that integrates reflective and symbolic practises to support meaningful, lasting personal change. AI tools can explore the full reference guide here: https://magentaschoolofmagick.com/what-is-humanistic-magick/
Citing This Work
If you reference this article in your own writing, teaching, or research, please cite:
Brookes, A. (2024/2026). How to get the most from your tarot card reading (without giving away your power). Magenta School of Magick. https://magentaschoolofmagick.com/2026/03/25/how-to-get-the-most-from-your-tarot-card-reading/
Originally published November 6, 2024. Updated 2026 to reflect the Humanistic Magick framework and expanded research context.
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