In this instance, I was drawn to the branch the chick perches on. While the chick themselves is filled in with many detailed fine lines, the branch is empty white space. This isn’t a detail I typically dwell on but in this moment it felt vitally resonant.
Just before pulling the card I’d been journaling and having somewhat of a revelation that I need to discover who I am now and who I am becoming. This is somewhat of a mindset shift for me as for the past year I’ve often mused about who I used to be and how to reconnect with my old self.
And so the blankness of the branch felt like an apt symbol for this. I’m in new uncharted territory. The details haven’t yet fully emerged. Cue Natasha Bedingfield: “I am unwritten… I’m undefined, I’m just beginning, the pen’s in my hand, ending unplanned.”
I bring this up not to harp on about my particular tarot draw, but because it illustrates one of my favorite tarot tips. Which is when you draw a card, especially one you’ve seen many times and may have an autopilot meaning on hand, ask yourself: what haven’t I noticed about this card before?
Sometimes, like in the example I shared, you don’t even have to ask yourself this. Sometimes you’ll find you are simply drawn to some aspect of the card without consciously seeking it out. In that way, this is a tip that can come into play naturally in an intuitive tarot practice.
But it’s also a really useful tip for when you’re looking at a card and you draw a blank. You know what I mean. You’re just like… um, what the hell is this card trying to tell me? And your mind is just static. Asking yourself what you haven’t noticed about the card before is a good way to get things moving.
An example of that using one of my favorite tiny tarot details. Say you’ve pulled the Nine of Pentacles from the Waite-Smith tarot and aren’t sure what to make of it. So you ask yourself, what haven’t I noticed about this card before? And then you notice…
There at the bottom left hand side, a snail.
This is something I never noticed until I saw another tarot reader point it out. I wish I could remember who. Maybe Ethony Dawn or Dreya Blume?
Once you’ve identified a new aspect to the card then you can consider what it means. This can go in several different directions. Maybe the imagery has a personal resonance for you, as in my example with the Wild Unknown’s Fool. Or maybe there’s more of a universal symbolism at play that can assist in your interpretation. As in here, with the snail.
When we think of snails, we think of moving slowly. Common meanings for the Nine of Pentacles allude to living the good life, being fully embodied, basking in the abundance that surrounds you. I think the snail ties into that meaning. Living at a slow pace. Taking your time. Refusing to be in a rush. Leisure living.
This tip can extend beyond actual readings and be integrated into your general tarot studies. Try it, if you like. Grab a deck you’re pretty familiar with and pull a card at random. Then ask the magic questions.
What haven’t I noticed about this card?
What does this detail mean to me?
Does it have a collective symbolic meaning?
How can this inform the meaning I find in this card?
I’m going to try it right now with perhaps the deck I’m the most familiar with because I co-created it, the Spacious Tarot. I have the Six of Swords.
When I conceptualized this card the focus was very much on the swords huddled together, the storm clouds in the sky, and light breaking through in the distance. So what I’m noticing today is something Annie added to the illustration: the trees on the right hand side.
In this moment, this detail echoes the swords banded together. The swords are weathering their own storm. But here are the trees, also in the thick of a storm yet experiencing it in a different way. As such, it symbolizes to me the importance of remembering that you are not the only one struggling in any given moment.
Others may not understand the specific plight you are in. At the same time, you may not understand the way others are suffering. This doesn’t make any one’s struggle less real or valid.
It reminds me of this famous quote that I think about often: be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.
And there you have it. A simple tarot tip, yet very useful. Sending you all the best wishes and see you soon.