If you think about it, we often confide in a friend, colleague or partner before making big career decisions. However, many people are now turning to career tarot readings to tap into their unconscious and help make those all-important choices.
What Does a Career Tarot Reading Involve?
Usually, there are 78 tarot cards within a single pack. Each card relates to what is called a tarot archetype. First introduced by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, archetypes represent highly evolved aspects of our collective unconscious. We can all relate to tarot archetype symbols since they correspond to hugely important life events and people in our lives. Within a pack of tarot career cards, there are 12 archetypes. However, the most well-known and frequently referenced ones are the Self, the Persona, the Anima/Animus and the Shadow. Each has a specific meaning relating to everyday life:
The Persona is the outward ‘public image’ we present to the world, which can mask how we genuinely feel The Anima/Animus represents the balance of feminine and masculine traits we have and how they interplay The Shadow is the animal aspect of our personality that controls creative and destructive behavior The Self represents the unification of a person’s conscious and unconscious mind. In other words, the Self is a sense of oneness and selfhood
Jung believed that our unconscious mind plays a hugely important role in how we behave and the path we take in life. This is why so many people find a tarot career reading beneficial. It enables them to be more reflective of their choices and career options open to them.
Key Facts About Tarot Career Readings
People have had tarot career readings for centuries. Perhaps not quite in the same way that a daily career tarot reader works today, but tarot is steeped in history. In fact, the word ’tarot’ is derived from 15th-century trick-taking Italian tarot card games called Tarocchini. Similar card games were also played in France and Austria, known respectively as Tarot Nouveau and Königrufen. In the late 18th century, some of these card decks started to be used by fortune-tellers for divination, which means to predict or foresee the future. Much like today’s career tarot readings, the cards were used to gain insight into the past, present and future by asking a question then selecting and interpreting the cards. Tarot career readings are much like any tarot reading. The reader splits the deck of 78 cards into two piles known as the major arcana and the minor arcana and reads the result.
Major Arcana Cards
Major arcana cards are commonly referred to as the trump cards. There are usually 22 within a pack, and they represent life lessons. They can often be deep and complex, and so, when one is drawn during your career tarot reading, it often sets the scene for your reading. For instance, if The Magician major arcana is drawn during a tarot career reading, it symbolizes potential and power. As a card, it invites you, the sitter, to step into that power and harness it within your personal or work life.
Minor Arcana Cards
Minor arcana cards, on the other hand, correspond with what is happening within your daily life. There are 56 of these cards, and they offer insight into how your day-to-day life impacts you and what you can do to move forward and achieve your goals. In a career tarot, they can be quite significant because they can help the sitter work through some of their conscious and unconscious barriers. There are four different minor arcana tarot suits, and these are:
The Suit of Pentacles – These are important in a tarot career reading as they symbolize your work, finances and possessions. When drawn, they always signify career and wealth. The Suit of Swords – These cards represent how you behave – your words, actions and even thoughts. When selected in a daily career tarot, these cards can help you order your ideas when making decisions or strategizing. The Suit of Cups – These symbolize your feelings, creativity and intuitiveness. Quite often, they relate to the most important relationships in your life. Sometimes work, but often love. The Suit of Wands – Again, important in a career tarot reading, these signify your passion, energy and enthusiasm.
As practical cards, minor arcana cards are intended to reveal the life lessons you are currently absorbing.
Why Can Tarot Help Me With My Career?
Most readings are less about the occult and fate and more about helping you find practical, workable solutions. If you think about it, the world of work can be quite routine-driven. In day-to-day working life, you are expected to make decisions based on logic and peer input. A career tarot offers another dynamic. It enables the sitter to take a deeper look at their career from an all-encompassing, almost impartial position. Tarot can help people find answers to those bigger or perhaps more challenging career questions. A career tarot reading also enables the sitter to ask questions they perhaps find too difficult to raise at work. For example, you may be feeling that you are not in the right headspace to thrive. A reading can help shed some light on why you are feeling this way. You may even be surprised what the reasons are – quite often, they only come to light when you step away from that feeling and reflect.
What Career Issues Can Tarot Help With?
A tarot career reading gives the sitter a chance to reflect on where they are in their career and where they want to be. A reading also enables them to consider all the internal and external factors that can influence a new career move. However, a career move is not the only reason why a person may have a career tarot reading or daily career tarot. Quite often, the overwhelming sense of clarity that comes with having a reading can help in any of the career situations below:
Preparing for an interview – A career tarot reading ahead of the big day may help you order your thoughts and give you a boost of confidence. Deciding on the best route – If you are at a crossroad in your career and struggling to decide on the best path, a career tarot reading may help. Wanting a better work/life balance – If you are constantly trying to get that perfect balance and need a different perspective, a reading could give you a fresh perspective. Feeling unaccomplished – Perhaps you feel stagnated in your current role and are looking for ways to be more fulfilled. Navigating office politics – A tarot career reading may offer you insight into how best to respond to tricky work dynamics. Nurturing others – Maybe you would like to tap into your soft skills to learn how to better understand and motivate others. A career tarot may well give you the insight you need.
How Can I Use Career Tarot to Predict My Future?
Having a career tarot reading can enable you to be more in control of your destiny. Here is an example: During your career tarot reading, you draw the Seven of Cups from the cups’ minor arcana suit. You are feeling stuck in your current job role, and so the card represents how overwhelmed you are feeling. You have lots of potential avenues to explore but are not sure which one to take. You then draw the ‘Nine of Wands’, revealing you should not give up and that you are closer to a resolution than you may think. Next, you draw the 21st major arcana card, The World, that tells you that balance and success in your career are on the horizon. Suddenly, you feel more in control of your career. The point is, with a professional career tarot reader and an open-minded sitter, the results can be pretty profound. However, it is worth doing your research ahead of having a reading. You will also need to be in the right frame of mind.
Tips for Making the Most of a Tarot Reading
Have a Professional Career Tarot Reading
Finding a great tarot reader can be difficult. With the average cost for a professional career tarot reading being $50, you will not want to waste your money. The best thing is to take the time to research the reader. Explore what others have said about them and if they have received positive reviews. If they are good, they will usually have a website with information about how they work. Many professional tarot readers will be certified and may belong to the American Tarot Association. Also, make sure there is a clear understanding from the start of what you can expect from your tarot career reading. If you decide to opt for an in-depth 12-card tarot spread, for instance, you will want to have a detailed interpretation of what the cards are telling you.
Do a Tarot Reading for Yourself
If you feel that you would benefit from a daily career tarot, it may be a good idea to read yourself. You do not need to be a certified master to learn new things about yourself or gain insights into where to take your career. Self-interpretation of tarot cards can be just as reflective. To help you on your journey, every tarot deck will have a guidebook to help you understand what the cards mean.
Know How to Do a Reading
Understanding what each card means is one thing, but it is how you use them that really matters. First, you must ask the deck a question. In terms of a tarot career reading, these could be:
How can I feel more in control of my career? What is stopping me from being successful in my career? Why am I finding interviews difficult to master? Why am I feeling anxious about finding a new job?
There are infinite questions. The important thing is to choose one that really speaks to you. If you are engaging in daily career tarot, you may wish to be more specific with your questions. Once you know what you want to ask, you must shuffle the deck. There is no exact rule to shuffling. You can use the overhand technique or simply split the deck and keep dividing it until you feel ready. Next is the exciting part where you draw your card or cards. You can do this by cutting the deck and pulling the card on top. Or you can fan the cards out on a table and choose those you feel most drawn towards. You can select a single card or several cards. It is worth remembering that the more cards you have, the more in-depth your reading will be. A good starting place is with a three-card spread.
Card 1: Symbolizes the actions that you can take to enable change Card 2: Offers advice on how you can take good care of yourself during the process Card 3: Provides a guide on how you can remain at one with yourself during the change
Once you have pulled all your cards, you will turn them over to reveal each card’s symbol. These will likely be a combination of major arcana and minor arcana cards. The major arcana cards take precedence as they set the overall theme. Remember, in a career tarot reading, minor arcana cards represent day-to-day challenges and opportunities. If you are new to tarot reading and feel lost, it is a good idea to refer to your deck guide for reference. As with all skills, practice makes perfect.
Final Thoughts
If you need more clarity on where to take your career, a tarot career reading might help. The cards can give you a sense of perspective that can only be achieved by stepping back and subjectively analyzing your situation. In understanding yourself and others around you better, you may find yourself far more receptive to change. After all, when you know what you want to achieve and how to get there, all that is left is action.
