Many people view tarot reading as a mystical practice for fortune-telling, but in recent years, it’s evolved as a unique tool for self-reflection, strategic decision-making, and gaining clarity on complex life areas, including personal finance.

If you’re struggling with saving, investing, or big purchase decisions, tarot can be a powerful way to access subconscious insights.

This article isn’t about predicting the future of your bank account or wealth but about using tarot as a lens for deep self-analysis, and it will give you practical, actionable advice on using tarot to unlock financial insights.

For those open to the deeper meanings behind symbols and archetypes, tarot offers a new perspective on personal finance. By reading this, you’ll discover how to make practical, financially smart decisions that align with your life’s purpose.

Why Use Tarot for Financial Guidance?

Let’s clarify: tarot isn’t a replacement for a financial advisor or a budgeting tool. Rather, it’s a reflective practice, a mirror showing you perspectives you might not have considered consciously. Financial decisions are influenced by emotions, past experiences, and our beliefs about money. Tarot helps reveal these influences and enables you to look at financial choices from a broader, more meaningful perspective.

The Psychology Behind Financial Choices

Money is intertwined with emotions and values. Ever notice how financial goals bring out hidden anxieties or desires? A tarot reading taps into these unconscious motivations. Money isn’t just currency; it’s about security, freedom, and self-worth. Tarot offers a symbolic language that helps us confront and understand these deeper layers.

Step-by-Step: Using Tarot for Financial Decisions

1. Define Your Financial Question Clearly

A tarot reading should start with a clear intention. Here are some focused financial questions to consider:

• “What should I know about my financial path in the next year?”
• “What can I do to improve my relationship with money?”
• “How can I approach this investment opportunity?”

When you pose a well-thought-out question, you create a space for deeper analysis and avoid the common pitfall of generality. Let’s say you’re considering a big investment or a career change for financial reasons. Tarot can help you clarify your motivations, helping you see beyond surface-level factors.

2. Choose a Relevant Tarot Spread

Here are three powerful tarot spreads tailored to financial guidance:

• Past-Present-Future Spread: This spread lets you examine how past financial decisions impact your current situation and your likely financial trajectory. It’s useful for reflecting on past habits and identifying where to pivot for a better financial outcome.
• Four-Card Spread for Money: This spread includes “Current Financial State,” “Opportunities,” “Obstacles,” and “Advice.” It’s practical, offering a comprehensive look at your present situation, areas of potential, possible challenges, and guidance on the next step.
• The Horseshoe Spread: This seven-card spread focuses on evaluating future prospects and gaining insights into your financial situation. It reveals how you can approach a financial challenge, and it’s especially helpful for complex decisions, like starting a business or a major purchase.

3. Interpret Cards with a Financial Focus

Every tarot card has a unique interpretation. For financial readings, interpret each card with a money-focused lens. Here’s how to understand some of the commonly drawn cards in financial readings:

• The Fool: Represents fresh beginnings, such as a new investment opportunity or business. But be cautious; it suggests a need for thorough planning.
• The Emperor: Symbolizes discipline and order, vital for budgeting and long-term planning. Seeing this card could indicate the need to review your financial goals and implement a stricter savings plan.
• Seven of Pentacles: This card indicates delayed gratification and advises patience. If you’re thinking about a high-risk investment, this card reminds you that rewards take time.
• Ten of Swords: A classic warning card, often meaning a financial loss or an end to a current financial state. It encourages considering the worst-case scenario, such as budgeting to prepare for unexpected costs.

Each card symbolizes an aspect of financial decision-making, and interpreting these symbols provides fresh insights that you may otherwise overlook.

Case Example: Personal Finance Tarot in Action

Let’s walk through a hypothetical case where tarot provides clarity. Imagine Sarah, a young professional, is debating whether to invest in a high-cost business course. Using the Four-Card Money Spread, she draws the following cards:

1. Current Financial State – Five of Pentacles: This card signals financial hardship or concern. Sarah recognizes her fear of debt and loss is rooted in past experiences.
2. Opportunities – The Star: Representing hope and guidance, The Star reassures Sarah that this course could bring personal growth and new income possibilities.
3. Obstacles – Nine of Swords: This card signals anxiety. She realizes her worries may be clouding her judgment.
4. Advice – The Emperor: A card of discipline and structure. Sarah realizes that careful planning and budgeting can make the investment worthwhile.

After the reading, Sarah decides to proceed with the course but with a realistic savings plan. This example shows how tarot helps align decisions with financial reality and emotional clarity.

Shifting the Cultural View on Tarot for Finance

While tarot is still often dismissed as mystical or irrational, its modern use in financial self-assessment speaks to a broader cultural shift towards alternative, introspective tools for decision-making. Financial anxiety, after all, is not just about numbers; it’s about identity, security, and self-worth. In a world of instant gratification, tarot offers a counter-cultural approach. It asks for introspection and intentionality rather than a quick-fix mentality.

Common Tarot Cards for Financial Growth

Some tarot cards frequently emerge when people ask about finances. Here’s a short list and how each can influence your decision-making:

• The Magician: Symbolizes skill and potential, reminding you that you have the tools to create financial success. It’s a card that encourages resourcefulness, reminding you to use all available resources wisely.
• Six of Pentacles: Indicates generosity or loan-related scenarios. If you’re thinking of lending or borrowing, this card emphasizes fair exchange and balanced agreements.
• Four of Pentacles: This card often warns of financial stagnation or fear of change. If you’re holding onto money too tightly, it suggests reassessing your risk tolerance.

Embracing Intuition in Financial Decisions

Financial advisors focus on data, while tarot taps into intuition. But research shows that relying solely on logic doesn’t always guarantee better decisions. Studies in behavioral finance confirm that financial decisions are often influenced by hidden biases. Tarot, as an intuitive exercise, can reveal these biases, enabling more holistic decision-making.

When you allow intuition into your financial choices, you become more self-aware, reducing the risk of impulsive, fear-based choices. Using tarot doesn’t replace rational planning; it enhances it by fostering a balanced approach.

Take Action: Creating Your Financial Tarot Routine

1. Schedule Regular Tarot Reflections: Just as you might review your budget monthly, make tarot a regular part of your financial reflections. Use it to evaluate progress, upcoming financial decisions, or any challenges you’re facing.
2. Document Your Readings: Track your readings over time, noting which cards appeared during specific financial concerns. Reflecting on past readings offers insights into your financial evolution and recurring patterns.
3. Combine Tarot with Practical Financial Tools: Use tarot alongside financial planning apps, budgeting spreadsheets, or even with advice from a financial advisor. A combined approach leverages the strengths of both intuition and data.
4. Stay Open to Self-Discovery: Tarot can reveal unconscious beliefs about money that you may need to confront. If you find yourself in repeated financial struggles, for example, tarot can help uncover limiting beliefs, such as a scarcity mindset or fear of financial success.

Final Thoughts: The Power of Tarot for Financial Clarity

While tarot reading for financial decisions may seem unconventional, it’s rooted in a strong sense of self-awareness, personal growth, and intentionality. It’s about more than numbers or specific outcomes; it’s about the journey towards a financially secure, fulfilling life aligned with your values.

This approach resonates with a growing desire for holistic financial wellness, where monetary goals are integrated with personal aspirations.

Tarot reading for finance challenges conventional decision-making by bringing in reflective and introspective practices. In a world that often prioritizes instant gratification, using tarot for financial decisions represents a mindful approach to wealth-building, connecting us to a deeper purpose in our financial journey.

By weaving together the practical with the intuitive, you may just find a clearer, more confident path forward.