Beyond the Cards: Intuition, Connection, and the Art of Tarot

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Tarot has a way of finding us at the exact right moment that we're ready to listen. Maybe you've picked up a deck out of curiosity. Maybe someone's read for you at exactly the right time. Or maybe you're still wondering if tarot is magic, psychology, coincidence, or something more. Today we're stepping into the world of symbols, intuition, and ancient storytelling. This is Three Cups and a Dash of Spirituality, and let's start talking about Tarot. Hi everyone, and welcome to this week's episode of Three Cups and a Dash of Spirituality. Today we're two cups. You're here with myself, Michelle, and Stacy. Hey Stacy, how are you? I am well. How are you? I'm doing really well. You know, I'm loving being in this fall season. We talked last time about the shift in energy, and it just feels really good.

SPEAKER_00 1:00

Yeah, I heard um, you know, one of the things because we always chat a little bit before we dive into our recordings. And I know I I'm I'm curious about your synchronicity that you were going to share. So I'm gonna throw you right under the bus immediately.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

I love that you're doing that. Thank you so much. No, I was in Texas not too long ago, and my husband, he had to fly to Phoenix for a meeting. And he was literally gone 36 hours from the time I dropped him off to the airport to when I picked him up. And it's a long way to go, especially right now when airports are extra chaotic. So just very long days for him, 36 hours. I pick him up from the airport. We get back to the Airbnb we're at, and he's like, I just am wound up. I can't go to sleep right now, so I'm gonna sit down and watch some TV. And I'm like, okay, well, I'm going to bed. So I'm in bed, takes me a little while to settle down, and then I start saying my prayers. And I say, Thank, thank you, God, for my husband's safe travel back here. I know it was an exhausting day for him. And Stacy, I am not kidding. From the other room, I heard my husband say, it was such an exhausting day. And it was like he was tapped into my prayer with God. And I just thought, wow, I mean, the timing felt driving. It just felt like that was confirmation that he was looked after and we were both on the same page with everything. So I just wanted to share that. I had a lot of other synchronicities that I'm gonna throw out throughout the these upcoming episodes. But that was one that just in a moment of prayer and a moment of gratitude, it's like we were tapped in together.

SPEAKER_00 2:49

Well, I think it also speaks to your connection with one another too, because when things like that happen in such like natural way, it almost reaffirms your love for one another too, because it just shows your closeness and stuff like that. And in listening to your story, you just reminded me that that I actually my my husband and I had a moment too yesterday, ironically. If if you would like me to share that before we dive into the topic.

SPEAKER_01 3:14

I would love for you to share that, but I do just want to add one more thing about my story. I wasn't speaking my prayer out loud. He didn't overhear me. It was, you know, in not in my mind, but I was speaking inside inside voice.

SPEAKER_00 3:28

I love I I it again, it just reaffirms that beautiful connection that you have with your husband. Yeah, I'd love to hear your story. Yeah, well, it was we were actually in conversation and we were talking about different movies, and I can't remember what my husband was referencing, but he goes, he looks like the guy, and he he actually referenced the completely wrong movie and inserted it here. He said, This character looks like X from this movie. And I looked at him and I looked at the character, and I said, You are absolutely right. And then he started laughing. He goes, Not the movie I was talking about at all. I was talking about this one. And I said, I knew that, like I knew whenever he was explaining to me the character or the movie that he was thinking it was. I was actually in my head picturing the movie that he meant, not the movie he said. So we were both like the same like wavelength in that conversation. Yeah. And I was like, you know what? Like, forbade, like I was like, I that's that's exactly where my head went too. He was re referencing Casper the Friendly Ghost, but he unintentionally said the wrong name, like to a completely different movie. And I was like, Yeah, no, that's I I was thinking of Casper the Friendly Ghost as well. It was really funny.

SPEAKER_01 4:42

Yeah, no, I love that and how connected we are and how we are on the same wavelength. So those are such fun stories of synchronicities and signs, I guess. So I'm now gonna throw you under the bus and I want you to introduce our topic today to the listeners.

SPEAKER_00 5:02

So today, I know we we had talked about actually just having a relative conversation about tarot because you and I both are tarot readers and we've been reading for for a while. And I think this is a topic that is near and dear to both of our hearts, which is why we kind of chose this to have like an actual podcast about, because there's so much about tarot that a lot of people don't realize.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

There is an immense amount of information out there about tarot. And I just want to let the listeners know that they can go to our Instagram page because you've been doing this wonderful series on Tarot. And each week you do something a little bit different. So after you listen to this episode, if you're feeling inspired or if you haven't seen those shorter videos, go check them out because they're very informative. And for me, they kind of inspired this episode because why not have a discussion about why we love Tarot so much and a little bit about the history and the different arcanas.

SPEAKER_00 6:03

So here we are. Well, what's interesting too about that is like I have been learning more about tarot since I decided to dive in and start doing those like two-minute videos just because I've been reading for so long. And I think we tend to, I don't want to say devalue, but almost just get so used to what we're using that we don't think about the rich history perhaps behind it. So when I was sitting there and I'm like, you know, I'm re-opening my business, I'm trying to kind of hang a new shingle as opposed to the business as it was previously. How do I explain this tool that I use in a way that is both interesting and will kind of captivate people and make them want more, right?

SPEAKER_01 6:56

Exactly. So I think maybe the place for us to start, because it does have Tarot does have a history rich and of its own, but we have our own personal history with Tarot too. So how did you get introduced to Tarot, Stacey? Who gave you your first deck or did you buy your first deck?

SPEAKER_00 7:16

How did that all come to be? I I thank you for asking. I was 13, so I've been reading now, I can honestly say for well over 20 years. My mom and dad were out for the day, and my mom and dad would go on little adventures and they would leave us kind of home. We were all teens, like we were old enough to be home by ourselves. So they went to Salem, Massachusetts, and my mom bought me my first tarot deck. And it was ironically a rider wait, which is also very rich in history in it in and of itself. But I learned through I learned just reading the book and and how to use it, but I never read tarot traditionally. And it didn't occur to me until many years later that I didn't read traditional tarot. What about you? How did you get introduced?

SPEAKER_01 8:05

Well, my awakening, as we've talked about before on this podcast, started in August of 2019. Like I'd always had little things happen. I always had a curiosity, but the timing was never right. So August 2019, my go to a spiritual retreat in February of 2020. And then as we all know, the world shuts down. And what are you gonna do to fill that time? I first went to numerology and picked up books on that, and I found it fascinating, but I found it so incredibly complicated. And I wasn't ready. And I mean, we're stressed out about everything going on in the world around us. So I picked up some tarot cards and I was like, I've always wanted to learn to read tarot. I'm fascinated by it. So this is the time I should do it. I got a book that went with it, and every day I would take five cards, I would sit down with my journal, and I would write first the feelings that came through looking at the cards. So I guess that was the intuitive part that I didn't even know was intuitive. This is just how the card makes me feel. Then I'd read the book and take the notes. And I did that, you know, all the way through 78 cards. And I would test myself, like, what do they mean? But I was just so focused on the traditional meaning that it's almost like I needed permission, which I did get in some training later on to read it intuitive and just go back to that initial, this is a question, and these are the feelings coming through. So I really shifted into that intuitive reader of cards.

SPEAKER_00 9:41

It it takes, it takes a lot, I think, when you when you put so much pressure to to memorize the traditional meaning of all the cards. And what I I have found interesting over the years is a lot of time they take traditional meaning even when you're reading them intuitively too. There are certain cards that I know when I see them in a reading, they have this immediate feeling for me. Whereas there are other cards that I'm kind of like, you know, that one, it can represent a few different things depending on where it lands and what we're talking about in the conversation. But there are two cards off the immediate pull, off the immediate thought that I have that every time I see them, I'm like, okay, like this is kind of what we're looking at. And what are those two cards? Uh-huh. The death card. I knew you were gonna say the death card. That's and and you know, I know we've everybody jokes, everybody knows the death card is my absolute favorite card in a tarot deck because it represents rebirth, new growth, change, forward movement. Like it represents so much. And that's both reversed and reversed and not reversed. So it's it's an it's it really is a deep, deep, deep, meaningful card, at least, at least to me. Like I'm wearing my my necklace that I wear is the death card. The other card that when I see it immediately has uh almost a visceral feeling for me is the moon card. If I were to choose a least favorite card, the moon card would would be that, but it also is not a bad card, which is very, very an interesting thing. But the moon card to me has this overshadowing of a of a tarot reading where it says something is happening that you're not aware of and you need to trust your gut. There's something going on behind the scenes. And whenever I see that, I immediately am drawn to look at all of the cards around me and even pull more because it's it's a caution card to me. It's a it's a you know, a yellow light before the light turns red, going, pause. Give yourself pause. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_01 11:54

It makes complete sense. And I will say both of those cards carry that same meaning for me. I hate to put that meaning on the moon card because I'm so drawn to moon energy, the full moon, the cycles of the moon, but it is something is happening behind the scenes. There's something that you're not completely aware of and you need to pay attention. And death card is not anything to be afraid of, which people I have turned it over in a reading and it immediately freaks them out. And I'm like, no, no, no. Like it means just transformation. Something in your life is changing. It's the end of a season.

SPEAKER_00 12:32

Yeah. Well, what's what's interesting too is I mean, you you we've talked about tattoos in the past. I have full back tattoo, and the my back piece is actually the moon card. Well, it's not fully the moon card, it is the star, which represents newness, just this, this transformation, transformational card, being being vulnerable. Like it represents vulnerability in so many beautiful ways, but I have the moon kind of overshadowing that in my tattoo because the moon represents being aware of what's happening behind the curtain, that you have to trust your gut, trust your intuition, trust yourself before you put faith in, you know, something else.

SPEAKER_01 13:20

Exactly. And so we've been talking, of course, about the moon card, about the death card. There are 20 other cards that make up what we call the major arcana cards, which are in my mind, and please elaborate after I say this, the major things, major things going on, major themes in your life.

SPEAKER_00 13:42

So uh just just to add on to that, the cool thing about the major, major arcana versus the minor arcana is when you look at the major arcana, it starts with zero. It starts with the fool. And tarot actually represents, quote unquote, the fool's journey, is what it's known as, which is when we come into this world, we know nothing. We are a blank slate. We have endless opportunities of forward movement, sideways, sideways movement, whatever. There, there, there are just endless possibilities. So when we think of the major arcana, we think of our life, like through, you know, birth to death. And when we get those cards in a reading, what they typically represent is not so much a time in your life, but a period of significant change. Something major is going on, the birth of a new family member, marriage, divorce, moving, all of these things are represented within within the major arcana. And so it it's it's not that you're going to have a reading that's always saturated with these cards. You might have a few, but usually it's it's a time of stress in your life or it's a time of, and and I say stress, stress is good too. It's yeah, all stress.

SPEAKER_01 14:56

Yeah, it's a major theme of something going on. And I find it interesting that you know the death card is card number 13. So it's almost like this cycle you transform and then it starts again to the end. So yeah, lots of growth, lots of, yeah, just as you said, a life's journey, the hero's journey, the fool's journey, however you want to put it. So those are the major arcana. Again, there are 22, they start at zero, they go through 21, and then we start with the minor arcana.

SPEAKER_00 15:34

The minor arcana are your day-to-day things. It's day-to-day life. So that's just an easy, like over, like it's okay, I'm doing XYZ today. You know, it's it's not these huge major life changes, right? So typically, and I'm gonna start with the one that I get and I I never question, but the cups represent emotion, emotional relationships. They represent, you know, if you think of liquid moving and how emotions kind of flow, that is your cups. And it goes from the ace to the king.

SPEAKER_01 16:10

And kind of in the major arcana, it's kind of like still the journey of a person and the different steps that you take along that journey. So, yes, we have the cups, which represent water, emotion, intuition. And then why don't we talk about the swords, which are the cards of word, they're the cards of speaking, they're the cards of having a voice, thought, they represent represent air. And those are the sword cards.

SPEAKER_00 16:39

And again, just like the cups, ace to king. Ace to king. And then we have the coins, which actually tend to represent finances. The coins are pentacles. Yeah, a pentacles coin, yeah. They and they're like that's the tough, the tough things is they're they're also known as multiple names, too. So you'll have one deck where you've got the swords and other things too. Like, yeah. I always forget that.

SPEAKER_01 17:06

And yes, and those are all the earthbound things: money, home life, the the physical world. That's how I always think of it. And then the last set of minor arcana are the fire cards, and they are represented by wands. Yeah, I was gonna say the wands, yeah. Yeah, that is, I always think of that as movement of change, of activity, of adventure, just a moving set of cards. Do you have any other words you would like to use to describe the wands?

SPEAKER_00 17:42

I when I when I think of the wands too, I also think of like employment, career focus too, when when those come up. That and and the coin cards of the pentacles both kind of embody finances. It it all finances, uh not finances, employment. It they they all kind of work together too in in so many different ways. I and I apologize because you asked me a very specific question and I did not really answer it because I don't have many more words to embody the wands.

SPEAKER_01 18:12

And the reason I asked you about the wands and if you had any other words, is for me, they're the hardest to put into actual words. Yeah, they evoke a feeling of, but to put words around it, I never can find the right words. So that's kind of why I was like, here you go, Stacy, have this one.

SPEAKER_00 18:29

Throw, I'm gonna throw this at you. What's what's interesting too, just as an aside, is if you are ever traveling and you need to pull cards for yourself and you don't have a deck of tarot cards, but you have a deck of regular playing cards, you can use those as well because you have the four suits in your deck of cards, which represent the the same minor arcana suits.

SPEAKER_01 18:56

Yes, that's true. You just don't have the major arcana there. So, yes, as we said at the beginning of this tarot cards, they are 78 cards. That is very traditional to it, like Stacy. And I don't know if I said this earlier, my first deck was the brighter weight deck, also, and that imagery that came through. I will say, and I've got this question for you too. Sometimes when I do a reading, well, every time I do a reading, I sit down ahead of time and I meditate and I allow things to come through, which I write down on a piece of paper. And before I even draw cards, I'm like, this person is gonna have so many cup cards. I expect this card to come through, and I'm usually pretty accurate on that.

SPEAKER_00 19:40

You know, I don't I don't think I've ever tried, if I'm being honest with you, I don't think I've ever really put the thought into what cards I'm gonna be looking at. I kind of am one of those, like I'm so in the flow too, that I have done readings that are so non-traditional that I'm like, I I I don't even know how to explain them because I'll mix both tarot with your angel cards, which are completely different. And every deck of angel cards that you use is designed to be used differently too. So I'm I mix and match, and I don't think I've ever thought about like how how many of these cards am I gonna see? That's an interesting question.

SPEAKER_01 20:19

A thought that comes to me, like I put intention behind it, it just pops in like, oh, this reading's gonna have a lot of pentacle cards. Yes. And it does. And so, you know, both of us learning on the traditional deck, the rider weight deck, I know you have a huge collection of both tarot and oracle cards, as do I, because I'm drawn to them. I I don't want to say I collect them, but I kind of do. So, my question to you about the cards that you have, when you choose a deck, are you feeling a pull from that deck? Are you attracted to the art of that deck? How do you pick your decks?

SPEAKER_00 20:58

I'm gonna say yes to all of those questions. I I'm drawn to it. My guides push me towards it. I'm gifted it. It's it's always interesting because like I have one deck that's sitting next to me right now that I know I have to give to someone because it's no longer meant for me. And and and I can kind of feel that when it happens. And, you know, I was Can you explain that?

SPEAKER_01 21:19

I mean, I don't mean to interrupt. Can you explain what that feels like when a deck no longer feels like it belongs to you that you need to give it away?

SPEAKER_00 21:26

When I go to use it, the messages are jumbled and I can't pull out distinct images. So, as simple a deck can be, if you're looking even at the traditional Raiderweight tarot, as simple as a tarot deck can actually be, it can have one or two images on it. There is always something about it that pops when you're reading. There's always something that you are drawn to about each card that you're looking at. When I have found that my decks are no longer meant for me, it's when I pull that card or pulled those cards and I'm looking at them and having a hard time pulling images out of them because it's it's either a hodgepodge of images too busy or it's just not energetically matched with me anymore. And I think that's also one of the reasons why I have, I probably am pushing at least 50 tarot, 50 decks, not specifically tarot, but I use a different reading or a different deck for almost every reading that I do based on my guides. There are certain decks that could get used more than others, but it depends on the person that I'm reading for. So like the the deck that I'm talking about, I will be gifting next week because it's been sitting here and every time I look at it, I'm like, you and I are not matched. We're not we're not a fit anymore, but I know who your fit is. I think that's really cool.

SPEAKER_01 22:46

Yeah. For me, my collection of cards, the art always has to speak to me if it's too dark or if it's too I don't even know what word to say. The art is really what draws me into a deck. And sometimes it's just as simple as I'm walking by, I'm not even looking for a deck and I look over and it's a match or it feels like a match. I don't use all my decks. Some of them just sit there and look pretty and sometimes I just go through them. But yeah, I do love all my decks.

SPEAKER_00 23:14

And and I know for me too it's also based on the shape, the size um wow that's a good point. Yeah. I have a a circular deck that is an angel card deck that I very rarely use because it's circles and and it's hard to shuffle. The deck that I'll be gifting is actually much bigger tarot cards than what what your traditional which are they're bigger than you know a regular card deck, but they're they're so much bigger that I have a hard time fitting them in my hand too, which is a piece of that.

SPEAKER_01 23:45

So yeah, no, that is such a good point. I have this deck that are trees and it's the most beautiful deck but they're so big I cannot shuffle them. Yeah. My most unique deck because you said you had a circular one, I have a deck of tarot that have has images on the front and then you get to see it from the back, the back side of the card. But then I'm like, how do I draw without knowing what you're drawing? Yeah I know what I'm drawing. But I love that deck. It's so unique and different but I don't use it often because I don't feel like I can draw without what's the word called without bias. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. I love when you fill in my thoughts too.

SPEAKER_00 24:29

Yeah. No, it's it's there's a lot more and and what's what's fascinating is like you know digging into tarot's history for example there's so much more to it than even I realize like one of the most interesting things that I don't think most people realize is it goes back to the 1400s too. So there is a lot of history behind these 78 cards. It's not just like something that was invented a couple of years ago where people are like, oh this is fun. There is actual history to it.

SPEAKER_01 25:00

And as you said it is a long history and it's very traditional. And I would say across most of my decks I find some hint of that traditional symbolism in my cards, no matter what deck I use. If people are wondering one of the major differences between what a traditional tarot deck is and what an Oracle deck is because I'm sure you've all heard of Oracle decks and I'm sure Stacy can give us a great uh description of what an Oracle deck is, but they traditionally do not have 78 cards. No. They are much smaller or larger or larger. Yeah it doesn't there's no rhyme or reason about it other than the creator of the deck chooses a number of cards. What tells the story of the deck and they get to decide.

SPEAKER_00 25:48

Yeah it's it's so and the other piece about Oracle cards is a lot of times you you use them very while very similar to tarot, they have different messages. So you're not stepping in and seeing the death card you're not stepping in and seeing these like traditional life cards you're going to pull an Oracle card and it might say oh the the tree roots and it might be a picture of a tree with roots into the ground and it it could be that you're you're building your future you're creating a foundation you read them very similarly but it has a different feel to it.

SPEAKER_01 26:26

Yes it's not stuck to the traditional rules it doesn't have suits it doesn't have a major minor arcana so like I'm I'm just pulling a random card right now and this is from the Wishcraft Oracle and the card that I pulled is candle magic.

SPEAKER_00 26:41

Every day things get better and so the imagery is very pretty but it's just a simple like quick like okay every day is getting better. Yeah it's true.

SPEAKER_01 26:52

Yeah so with Oracle cards do you still read them intuitively or do you look at the words or the phrases on them and take them to mean just that?

SPEAKER_00 27:02

A bit of both. I think it depends on the the Oracle deck that I'm using because some decks don't have any words some decks do. And so I'll kind of take a glance at the word and usually if I'm using an Oracle card in a traditional like tarot reading that I'm doing it's the after card it's the bonus card it's the did we miss anything or do the guy do do your guides have any other messages for you let's flip this card and look.

SPEAKER_01 27:28

I love that and what about you for me I you typically try not to focus in on the words but sometimes they're just so relevant that it makes sense. But sometimes it's opposite of what the words say also. I drew this Oracle card once and I did a reading for our socials and what I felt coming through was different than the word on the bottom and I'm like well I'm just gonna go with what's coming through.

SPEAKER_00 27:56

Yeah and that's what I did. So I know one of one of my um teachers always recommended just cutting the words off and removing them so they weren't a distraction. And while I find value in that if if you're trying to learn or teach yourself how to read intuitively there is value in removing the words I find they can actually provide added value too like you said sometimes it's the exact opposite sometimes it's it you have the word you look at it you're like no no that doesn't feel right but it gives you that kick if that if that like it's like oh you know what like the deck no longer being mine. It you have that feel very quickly.

SPEAKER_01 28:39

Exactly and I just feel like I mean I know our time's about up but we are just scratching the surface of tarot. And we have a lot of episodes coming up to fill out the end of this year that have to do with gratitude and some of those very good vibrations around Christmas. We are going to be doing a shared episode and talking about Krampus in a little more detail this year and maybe some of those other lore traditions out there. But maybe in 2026 we start jumping into more of like a breakdown a breakdown of the major arcana and then a breakdown of each of the minor arcanas maybe giving some tips for readers because I just want to say real quickly if you are just starting tarot, do you and do what comes naturally and if it means that you need to learn every definition and that you are one that traditionally reads the deck, that's absolutely fine. If you pick up cards and just intuitive information comes through, that's just fine too. And if it's merged it's individual to you like everything is like our we are unique.

SPEAKER_00 29:54

We are who we are and you don't have to keep up with anyone or and I'll I'll add to that you know as I said I'm I don't read traditionally and I never really have that doesn't mean I didn't try that's not that's actually how I learned is I looked up different different layouts. I looked up you know the traditional meaning of all the cards and how they built off of each other. Like I spent a lot of time doing that whenever I first started reading because I wanted to understand how it worked. And then it kind of developed into my own reading style. And what is really cool is if you go see a tarot reader, each reading is going to be completely different depending on who's doing it. If it's the same, they're not making it theirs and and it it you lose a little bit of authenticity that way. Like it should be its own.

SPEAKER_01 30:43

Yeah I think that's a really important message too and it will ebb and flow and it'll change and it'll develop into the style that works for you which is really cool and unique and authentic. So I I love that. Before we close this up I do have one question. We all know that death is your favorite card. Do you know what my favorite card is I'm guessing three cups. Ah close it's the five of cups it's that feeling of looking ahead and focusing on everything that's still to come and letting go of those things that have held you back. They're building blocks of course they make you who you are but there's still a lot in front of you. So that's my favorite card.

SPEAKER_00 31:23

I'm gonna have to write that down somewhere because we have talked about it in the past so I knew it was a cup. I just didn't know it was a cup I I wasn't sure which number.

SPEAKER_01 31:31

Yeah no I love that you zeroed in on cups because you could have gone so many places and you were only two off. So there we go. But with that listeners we do promise in future episodes we'll break down tarot a little bit more and um we hope you join us for those check out our Instagram check out Stacy's personal Instagram which is Insight with Stacy. Insight with Stacy and you can find the information in both locations for little two minute videos which are fabulous.

SPEAKER_00 32:01

And and pop in and ask questions because we love answering them here too and it gives us just a little bit more to talk about. Yeah I love questions.

SPEAKER_01 32:08

I do too okay well I don't have any more questions for you today so do you want to close out this episode? Stay classy stay sassy and stay a little bassy. Until next time bye everyone thank you for listening to this week's episode of Three Cups in a dash of spirituality know that we have a full library of episodes now available on your favorite podcasting platform. Also if you'd like to give us a review we'd appreciate it. Let's connect with listeners and thank you in advance.