You turn over a tarot or oracle card, and something immediately catches your attention. Perhaps it is a doorway in the background, the expression on a woman’s face, or a bird hovering above the scene. Before you open the guidebook, a thought arrives. The doorway reminds you of an opportunity you have been considering. The woman’s expression feels familiar. The bird makes you think about freedom. Then another thought interrupts: “Is this my intuition—or am I making it up?”This hesitation can make reading cards feel more complicated than it needs to be. You may feel comfortable repeating a meaning from a guidebook but uncertain about sharing an impression that came from you. Your own response may feel harder to explain, especially when you are still learning. Yet working with tarot and oracle cards includes giving yourself room to notice, wonder, and explore before deciding what an image might mean.In my newest Spiritual Sanctuary episode, I explore this question while showing tarot and oracle cards and guiding a simple practice you can try with your own deck. You can <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bertena.org/en/podcast">listen to the podcast or watch the YouTube video here</a>. Whether you are just beginning or already have a card-reading practice, I hope this conversation helps you approach your cards with more curiosity and less pressure.<h2 id="70d12879-251a-4a4c-9ccb-133bebea4e2e" data-toc-id="70d12879-251a-4a4c-9ccb-133bebea4e2e" style="text-align: left; font-size: 24px; line-height: 1.2;">Why We Second-Guess Our Card Readings</h2>When we ask whether we are making something up, we may also be asking whether we are allowed to trust our own response. Many of us have spent years looking for confirmation that we are doing things correctly. We become accustomed to consulting an expert, following instructions, or waiting for someone else to tell us that our answer makes sense. Those habits can follow us into a spiritual practice, even when we want that practice to help us develop a closer relationship with ourselves.With tarot, this can show up as the belief that every card has one exact message we must uncover. We might imagine that an experienced reader immediately knows what a card means, while our own uncertainty suggests we are missing something. But there is room to learn the traditional meanings and explore the details that draw our attention. A reading can begin with an ordinary observation, such as noticing that a figure is looking away or that a scene seems unusually crowded.If this self-doubt feels familiar, you may also enjoy my article, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bertena.org/blog/your-intuition-isnt-broken-how-to-strengthen-your-inner-knowing/">Your Intuition Isn’t Broken: How to Strengthen Your Inner Knowing</a>. It offers another place to continue exploring your relationship with intuition, particularly when you have been questioning yourself.You do not have to receive a dramatic message for a reading to be useful. An image might help you recognize that you have been craving quiet, postponing a conversation, or longing to return to something creative. Those reflections deserve attention even when they arrive gently and leave you with questions.<h2 id="a9701e8c-f647-4e18-a3aa-b32bfdb161ae" data-toc-id="a9701e8c-f647-4e18-a3aa-b32bfdb161ae" style="text-align: left; font-size: 24px; line-height: 1.2;">Exploring Intuition Without Needing Complete Certainty</h2>For this conversation, I use the word intuition to describe an impression or understanding that arrives before you can fully explain how you reached it. It might appear as a word, a memory, a feeling, or a sense that one detail deserves a closer look. Some people understand these experiences as spiritual guidance. Others connect them with experience, memory, and patterns they have noticed over time. You may find meaning in more than one explanation.You do not have to settle the source of every impression before exploring it. Instead, you can acknowledge what came to mind and ask whether it helps you reflect on your situation. This gives you space to take your experience seriously while remaining thoughtful about the conclusions you draw. A strong feeling can be worth examining without becoming proof that an interpretation is true.Imagination also has a place in working with cards. Images invite associations, and those associations can help us explore possibilities we have not put into words. If a card reminds you of a story, a place, or an earlier season of your life, you can become curious about that connection. Consider what it helps you understand and whether another interpretation might be useful as well.<h2 id="1d4b8594-d147-40ed-ae8a-d35a4066623e" data-toc-id="1d4b8594-d147-40ed-ae8a-d35a4066623e" style="text-align: left; font-size: 24px; line-height: 1.2;">Looking at a Tarot Card Before Opening the Guidebook</h2>One practice I share in the episode is to spend a little time looking at a card before reading its explanation. Begin with what you can actually see. Notice the colors, figures, objects, and setting. Look at where a person is standing, what they are holding, and what appears in the distance. Give yourself a moment to recognize the detail that caught your attention first.There is a difference between observing that a figure is looking away and deciding that the figure is avoiding a difficult truth. The first describes the image; the second adds an interpretation. Someone else might see the same figure and think about looking toward the future or needing time alone. Recognizing this difference helps you hold your interpretation with a little more flexibility.You can move from observation to reflection by completing three sentences: “I notice,” “It reminds me of,” and “I wonder.” You might notice a path, associate it with a new beginning, and wonder where you could take a small step in your own life. You have allowed the image to open a question without deciding that it predicts a particular event.Afterward, turn to the guidebook and explore the card’s established meanings. Tarot has traditions and structures worth studying, including the suits, numbers, court cards, and Major Arcana. That knowledge can deepen your practice and offer perspectives you might not have considered. Looking first gives your own response some room; studying afterward helps you place that response within a broader understanding of the deck.<h2 id="22613921-5b56-454d-b013-731af338e7f3" data-toc-id="22613921-5b56-454d-b013-731af338e7f3" style="text-align: left; font-size: 24px; line-height: 1.2;">How Oracle Cards Can Support Your Practice</h2>Oracle cards offer another opportunity to explore images and personal associations. Each deck has its own themes and structure, and many include a word or phrase that gives you an immediate starting point. If you are still deciding which kind of deck you would like to use, my article <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bertena.org/blog/tarot-vs-oracle-cards-differences-meanings-and-beginner-tips/">Tarot vs. Oracle Cards: Differences, Meanings and Beginner Tips</a> explores both and offers a helpful starting place.Imagine pulling an oracle card about rest and immediately thinking, “That sounds wonderful, but I don’t have time.” Your response gives you something to explore. What kind of rest were you imagining? What makes it difficult to allow yourself a pause? Could a realistic form of rest fit into your day, even if the larger break you want is not available right now? The card provides a theme, while your circumstances help you decide what to do with it.Likewise, a card about speaking your truth can invite you to consider what has been difficult to express. It does not determine the right timing, the exact words, or another person’s reaction. Those decisions still deserve care. Used this way, oracle cards can support journaling and self-discovery while leaving room for your judgment and choices.<h2 id="277ccf55-532d-44cf-aee8-9ffd73c1c22a" data-toc-id="277ccf55-532d-44cf-aee8-9ffd73c1c22a" style="text-align: left; font-size: 24px; line-height: 1.2;">What If I Am Seeing What I Want to See?</h2>Our hopes and worries can influence how we interpret cards. If we want a particular answer badly enough, it can be tempting to find that answer in every image. Acknowledging this possibility can help us develop a more thoughtful practice. We can be open to an impression and still consider whether our expectations are shaping it.Open-ended questions are helpful here. Asking what might support you through a situation leaves room for reflection. In a relationship reading, you might explore what you are noticing and what needs a direct conversation. A card cannot establish another person’s private thoughts, but it can help you examine your own feelings and assumptions.Sometimes the most useful discovery is recognizing what you want. You may realize that you are hoping for permission to begin, reassurance about a choice, or a way to avoid an uncomfortable conversation. That awareness can help you respond more honestly to your situation. You can also write down a reading and revisit it later, giving yourself time to consider other interpretations once the immediate emotion has settled.<h2 id="5e99fffc-e6a5-448d-ad20-b863bcd0f912" data-toc-id="5e99fffc-e6a5-448d-ad20-b863bcd0f912" style="text-align: left; font-size: 24px; line-height: 1.2;">A Simple Way to Practice with Your Own Deck</h2>The next time you sit down with tarot or oracle cards, begin with a question such as, “What would be helpful for me to reflect on today?” Pull one card and name three visible details before interpreting anything. Then write down one impression, whether it is a word, a memory, or a short sentence. Give yourself permission to keep it simple.Turn that impression into a question you can explore. If the word “movement” comes to mind, you might ask where a small step would help. If you think about belonging, you could reflect on where you feel welcomed and how to spend more time in those spaces. From there, consider whether a small response makes sense: journaling, gathering information, making time for something important, or simply continuing to reflect.For more ideas to incorporate into your ongoing practice, visit <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bertena.org/blog/top-10-tips-to-strengthen-your-intuition-and-divination-skills/">10 Powerful Ways to Strengthen Your Intuition</a>. You can explore its suggestions gradually and choose what fits your life, rather than feeling that you need to add everything at once.There will also be days when a card does not seem to connect. You are allowed to leave a reading unresolved. You can study the card, return to it another time, or acknowledge that nothing meaningful came to mind that day. Your practice does not need to produce a clear answer every time you open your deck.<h2 id="b73f9114-0118-407c-83fa-02830786ab0b" data-toc-id="b73f9114-0118-407c-83fa-02830786ab0b" style="text-align: left; font-size: 24px; line-height: 1.2;">Listen, Watch, and Explore with Me</h2>Learning to read tarot and oracle cards can become a practice of paying attention—to the images, to your associations, and to the questions emerging in your life. You can build knowledge of your deck while becoming more comfortable saying, “This is what I notice, and I would like to explore it.” You do not have to wait until uncertainty disappears before beginning.In my newest Spiritual Sanctuary episode, “Is It Intuition—or Am I Making It Up?”, I demonstrate this process with tarot and oracle cards and guide an activity you can follow along with. Bring your favorite deck and a journal, or simply join me and listen. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bertena.org/en/podcast">Visit my podcast page to listen to the episode or watch the YouTube video</a>. You can also <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bertena.org/en/blog">browse my other blog posts</a> to continue exploring intuition, divination, and your spiritual practice.If you would like to practice together, join me for Tarot, Oracle, and the Divine Feminine on Sunday, October 11, 2026, from 1–5 p.m. Central. This four-hour certification workshop is offered in person at Cosmic Connections in Nashville and on Zoom. We will explore intuitive reading, practice with one another, and work with tarot rituals, spells, and the Divine Feminine. The workshop is $199, and you can <a target="_blank" href="https://yourcosmicconnections.com/pages/bertena-varney">register through Cosmic Connections here</a>.I would love to help you become more comfortable with your cards, your questions, and the impressions you are still learning to understand.Bertena Spiritual Coach, Priestess, and Yoga Teacher

Is it intuition or imagination? Explore tarot and oracle card reading with Bertena, build confidence, and listen to the podcast or watch on YouTube.

Is It Intuition—or Am I Making It Up? Learning to Read Tarot and Oracle Cards with Curiosity

Exploring Intuition Without Needing Complete Certainty

Looking at a Tarot Card Before Opening the Guidebook

How Oracle Cards Can Support Your Practice

A Simple Way to Practice with Your Own Deck

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Is It Intuition—or Am I Making It Up? Learning to Read Tarot and Oracle Cards with Curiosity

Is It Intuition—or Am I Making It Up? Learning to Read Tarot and Oracle Cards with Curiosity

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