Intention-setting in Tarot Readings (and Everywhere Else)
Collage elements from The Nearness Project
I first encountered the idea of setting intentions in a yoga class, around 2012. Everyone was sat quietly waiting for the session to begin. And our teacher, before launching into breath work and some light stretching, invited us to “set an intention” for the next 90 minutes.
Since then, the idea of setting an intention has become a regular thing for me—something that’s come into the forefront of my spiritual practice especially in meditation and tarot reading.
Intention-setting in tarot readings gives your cards and whatever insight you glean from them more focus, more importance, and fingers crossed more meaning.
Like “energy,” it’s a term that’s thrown around in the community a lot but hardly ever defined or clarified. I thought it might help a lot of us—especially those just beginning to learn the tarot—to give our own practices, whatever they may look like, a little more depth.
What’s an intention, specifically in the context of tarot readings?
I’ve cobbled some of my own interpretations together to help you get a sense of what intention could mean in this environment.
A dedication. When you dedicate your reading to a certain cause, a person, or a particular pursuit, what could have been an otherwise “empty” pull or run-of-the-mill reading can take on an extra-special, close-to-your-heart flavor.
A prayer. If this is a concept you relate to, then you can think of setting an intention as praying to some higher power. It’s a way to connect to the collective or some universal energy.
A purpose. People who approach me for readings often ask about their purpose or their “why.” A reason for existence. Setting an intention for your reading gives you a specific reason for actually doing it. Having a purpose sets your reading apart from the act of you, just shuffling the cards because you’re bored and want to practice memorizing the meanings or crafting interpretations.
A focus. This comes in particularly handy when you’ve got a lot of things on your mind and don’t even know where to begin when you start pulling cards for yourself. Setting an intention helps you zero in on just one theme or one area of your life so you don’t spread yourself thin.
Direction. When I read cards for myself, I don’t really know where my interpretations will take me. I can start out thinking a reading will be about one thing, but then may be taken in a completely different direction.
If I start out with an intention or a particular direction, it’s like I have a mental map about where I think I’m going. And if I end up in a completely different “place,” I’m able to compare and contrast. I’ll be able to take my actual reading and see how it fares in comparison to my original thoughts. I find that this practice gives my reading richer. Direction allows me to explore more layers, consider more points, and navigate more meanings.
You’ll find that intention-setting, while useful in tarot readings, can actually be practical in all other aspects of our lives.
See the different definitions above and notice how you can apply them to nearly everything. Intentional exercise, intentional conversations, intentional writing. The possibilities are endless!
When do you set an intention?
I was trained to set intentions at the start of my practice, just as my yoga teacher invited the class to set personal intentions for ourselves before we dove into our asanas. I always find that intention-setting fits well during the moment I shuffle my cards. It’s like my mind infuses the cards with my thoughts! I realize how woowoo this sounds so practically speaking, setting an intention before you actually do the thing is just like mental prep. It’s like the cast of a play coming together before the curtain goes up and giving each other a pep talk. It’s like you, sharpening all your pencils, right before you take an important test.
That said, I don’t always go into my tarot cards with a specific intention. And sometimes, an intention can actually reveal itself at the end of your practice. Sometimes, I’ll go into a tarot reading for myself just because I’m bored or because I want to fool around with my cards. And then suddenly, inspiration hits when I see all the cards come together and realize that this wasn’t just something I did because I was bored—it’s something that has much greater meaning, impact, and effect than I ever bargained for.
I don’t think we always have to do intention-setting before a tarot reading.
Just as a lot of our feelings and thoughts are buried deep in our subconscious and take a little prodding to rise above the surface, so do some intentions. We don’t always realize what we want when we ask ourselves the question. Sometimes, what we want reveals itself only after we’ve done a bit of mental gymnastics, physical shuffling, and creative emotional work.
How do you set an intention?
I think this is a highly personal thing that one develops over time (this is like me, thinking about my intention as I shuffle my cards), but if you’ve never tried this before here are a few ideas you can try on for size.
Write it down. There’s power in putting things down on paper. Physically writing down your intention right before you do a tarot reading may help you release your purpose and put it out into the ether.
Tell someone about it. Intentions are usually super private things, and no one is really under any obligation to share them. If you find yourself on the receiving end of someone’s intention, it’s important to respect their privacy and keep things confidential! That said, power also lies in the spoken word. Things feel a little more real when they’re shared with another human being who’s earnestly listening. Also, if you’re the type of person who needs some accountability, then this might be the right move for you.
Say it in your head. I think this is what most people do. We’re all familiar with our inner voices—they’re the experts when it comes to speaking without literally speaking.
Say it out loud. If you’re comfortable with talking to yourself, then this might help. If you want to make things even more woowoo and confrontational, say it to yourself, out loud, in front of a mirror. How’s that for accountability!
Intention-setting for tarot readings isn’t just useful for those who do tarot readings for themselves. It’s also helpful for readers who offer pulls as a service to others (paid or not!).
As someone who reads tarot for others, I find it super important to set an intention before reading. Every time I pull cards for someone (especially since I do virtual readings), I think of them. It doesn’t matter whether I actually know them or whether they’re strangers. I just think of their name while I shuffle and ask myself / some higher power / my hands and fingers to pull the cards, ask questions, and create spreads that best serve them. It’s a practice that helps put me in the right frame of mind before reading.
Sometimes, people share their own intentions for their readings with me so I have some context to work with and I have a framework to use as a basis when I’m interpreting their cards. This is one way of intention-setting too—allowing their intentions to mesh with yours so you come up with something relevant and meaningful.
Lastly, I think intention-setting for professional tarot readers starts way before you shuffle the cards. When you talk people through your services and inform them of the kind of reader you are, you’re already helping set the scene. You’re giving them a clue about what kind of atmosphere or environment you’re providing them with when they go to you for a reading, so they know exactly how to set intentions for themselves too.
I hope this little primer on setting intentions helps you make your tarot readings (and anything else you’re into) a little more impactful, a lot more effective, and of course, magical too.