The Problem with "Reading Intuitively": Why Using the Tarot Guidebook Isn’t Cheating
A lot of tarot messaging pushes the idea of reading “intuitively,” which often implies avoiding the guidebook to understand card meanings.
While there are tricks that help with reading cards without the book, like recognizing the energy of the suits and numerology, I don’t think that needs to be your ultimate goal if it doesn’t feel right for you.
You never have to stop using the guidebook. Here's why:
The moralization of “reading intuitively” can make it seem like referencing the guidebook (or any outside resource) means you’re not intuitive or that you’re “cheating” at reading tarot.
This creates a harmful hierarchy where some tarot practices or readers are deemed “better” than others, as if there’s one right way to read tarot.
(Smells like patriarchy and colonialism if you ask me…)
Even so, I’ve fallen into this mindset at different points in my tarot path:
🌱 As a new tarot reader and baby witch, surrounded by people with more established spiritual practices, I felt inadequate when I didn't instantly know what the cards meant.
🌿 As a seasoned reader with a more developed practice, I felt ashamed when I needed to reference the book during moments of anxiety, brain fog or uncertainty.
🌳 As a professional reader, I worried that using the book made me a fraud because people were paying me to interpret the cards without a “crutch.”
All this? Absolute BS.
Here’s what I believe now:
📖 Using your tarot guidebook can be part of your tarot practice. If you can feel a connection with the deck, why not the book? The deck creator lovingly wrote it with the same intention and energy as the cards. Studying different interpretations and engaging with tarot on an intellectual level can be both soothing and spiritually enriching.
✨ You won’t “miss” a message. Some people worry that if they don’t know the card's meaning, they’ll miss an important intuitive message. In my 15+ years of personal practice, I’ve never found that to be true. If a message needs to come through, it will find you.
🌾 A nurturing tarot practice is responsive, not rigid. Illness, stress, brain fog, and more can impact our ability to interpret cards at any moment, making us draw a blank when we need guidance the most. Referencing the deck’s guidebook can be a healing balm when you’re craving certainty and calm.
What it means to read intuitively (in my book):
Reading intuitively is engaging with tarot or oracle cards in a way that allows you the most connection, clarity, and comfort.
Perhaps that's with the book, perhaps that's without.
Intuition—a sense of knowing beyond the 5 senses—is something that we all have. How you tap into that is personal to you, and you have permission to evolve.
A Gentle Tarot Exercise To Strengthen Self-Connection 🤍
If you tend to compulsively reach for the guidebook out of fear that you can’t read the cards without it, try this:
1) After you pull cards, take a moment to sit with your thoughts, feelings, and images that the cards evoke for you.
2) If you draw a blank, just softly notice the images on the card, without an agenda or forcing insight to come. Observe the cards as if you just picked up a smooth river rock, examining the surface for its unique colors and qualities.
3. Form a loose interpretation of the card based on whatever came up.
4. Afterwards, consult your guidebook to see how it did or didn’t resonate with the traditional definition.
Remember: Your tarot practice is just that—a practice.
There is no perfection or final destination to achieve with tarot.
(As a recovering overachiever, trust me, I’ve tried. 😬)
Want to Go Deeper?
If you’re curious about how this shows up in your life or want a custom reading, I’d love to read for you.
