I love Tarot.

Obviously.

I’ve been reading it for years, I’ve created my own decks, I’ve written approximately a small novel’s worth of Tarot content, and I still get excited when a new deck arrives in the mail.

But sometimes I think we take Tarot a little too seriously.

Every card has to mean something.

Every reading has to teach us a lesson.

Every pull has to reveal something profound about our shadow self, our future, our soul contract, our childhood wounds, or whatever else we’re currently trying to figure out.

Sometimes I just want to play with the cards.

And honestly, I think that’s a perfectly good reason to pull out your deck.

You don’t always need a question.

You don’t always need a spread.

You don’t even need to be trying to “read” the cards.

Tarot can be a creative tool, a storytelling game, a source of inspiration, or just something fun to mess around with when you’re bored.

So here are 20 ways to play with your Tarot deck without turning it into a three-hour spiritual investigation.

✦ 1. Ask Your Deck Completely Ridiculous Questions

This is probably my favorite.

Forget “What is my purpose?”

Ask something like:

What would my Tarot deck order at a restaurant?

Or:

Why does my dog ignore me?

What is my toxic trait?

What would happen if I quit everything and opened a bakery?

Which Tarot card would survive the longest in a zombie apocalypse?

You can learn a surprising amount about how you read the cards when the question isn’t serious.

And sometimes the ridiculous questions are more fun.

✦ 2. Interview Your Deck

If you’ve just bought a new deck, don’t immediately throw yourself into a Celtic Cross.

Get to know it first.

Shuffle and ask:

There’s no rule saying a deck interview has to be some solemn bonding ritual.

Treat it like you’re meeting a new roommate.

Because, realistically, you’re about to spend a lot of time together.

✦ 3. Let Tarot Pick Your Next Book

Put your books somewhere you can see them and pull a card.

Then match the card to a book.

The Empress might choose the book with the gorgeous cover.

The Hermit might pick the one you’ve been ignoring for six months.

The Tower can choose the book you know is going to emotionally destroy you.

The Page of Wands can pick something you’ve never heard of before.

You can make your own rules.

And yes, you can absolutely put the book back if you hate the card’s suggestion.

Tarot is not your librarian.

✦ 4. Create a Story With Three Cards

Pull three completely random cards.

Now make up a story connecting them.

Don’t worry about traditional meanings.

Look at the pictures.

What’s happening?

Who are these people?

Where are they?

What happened before this scene?

What happens next?

You can make it dramatic.

You can make it romantic.

You can make it completely ridiculous.

This is actually a really good way to get more comfortable with visual storytelling, especially if you tend to rely heavily on memorized card meanings.

✦ 5. Give Your Tarot Cards Personalities

If your deck were a group of people, who would they be?

Which card is the drama queen?

Who’s always late?

Who’s the responsible friend?

Who’s giving unsolicited advice?

Who’s absolutely going to make a terrible decision and then call you afterward?

Which card would you trust with your house keys?

Which one would you never let near your plants?

You don’t have to take any of this seriously.

You’re just getting familiar with the personalities and visual language of your deck.

✦ 6. Pull a Card for Your Day

But here’s the catch:

Don’t interpret it as a prediction.

Just see where it shows up.

Pull the Six of Cups and then notice how many nostalgic things you encounter that day.

Pull the Eight of Pentacles and pay attention to all the repetitive little tasks you do.

Pull the Three of Cups and see who you end up talking to.

It’s less “The universe has foretold my destiny” and more “Huh. That’s interesting.”

✦ 7. Use Tarot as a Writing Prompt

Pull a card and write for ten minutes.

Don’t look up the meaning.

Just use whatever you see.

A woman is standing in a garden.

Why?

What happened before this?

What is she holding?

Who is she waiting for?

Where is she going?

You can turn one card into a short story, a journal entry, a poem, a character description, or even the beginning of a novel you’ll probably never finish.

Ask me how I know.

✦ 8. Cast Tarot Characters in a Movie

Pick a movie you know well.

Now assign Tarot cards to the characters.

Who’s the Fool?

Who’s the Magician?

Who’s giving Emperor energy?

Who’s obviously the Seven of Swords?

Who’s secretly the Tower?

You can do this with TV shows, books, fairy tales, mythology, or your favorite fictional universe.

And once you start doing it, you may never look at fictional characters the same way again.

✦ 9. Let Tarot Choose Your Weekend

Pull three cards.

Card one: What should I do?

Card two: What should I eat?

Card three: What should I avoid?

You don’t have to follow the instructions literally.

If you pull the Four of Swords, maybe your deck is telling you to stay home.

If you pull the Knight of Wands, maybe it’s time to get out of the house.

If you pull the Ten of Pentacles, perhaps it’s a good day for visiting family.

If you pull the Devil…

Well.

Use your judgment.

✦ 10. Find Your Tarot Twin

Choose the Tarot card you feel most connected to right now.

Not the card you think you’re “supposed” to be.

Not your birth card.

Not the card that sounds impressive.

Just the one you look at and think:

Yep. That’s me.

Then ask yourself why.

Maybe it’s the imagery.

Maybe it’s the mood.

Maybe it’s something happening in your life.

Or maybe you just really like the card.

That’s allowed too.

✦ 11. Draw Your Favorite Card

You don’t have to be an artist.

You don’t even have to be good at drawing.

Pick a Tarot card and recreate it.

Draw it badly.

Draw it seriously.

Redesign it.

Turn it into a comic.

Change the characters.

Put your own face in it.

Give everyone terrible outfits.

The point isn’t to make something beautiful.

It’s to spend some time actually looking at the card.

You might notice things you’ve never noticed before.

✦ 12. Make a Tarot Playlist

Pick a card.

Now choose songs that feel like that card.

The Devil probably has an entirely different playlist from Temperance.

The Tower should probably have at least one aggressively dramatic song.

The Star needs something dreamy.

The Chariot needs something that makes you feel like you’re driving down the highway in a movie.

You can make an entire playlist for your favorite card.

Or make one for every Major Arcana card if you have significantly more free time than I do.

✦ 13. Ask “What Would This Card Do?”

Pick a random card.

Then give it a completely ordinary problem.

You missed your alarm. What does the card do?

Your friend cancels dinner. What does the card do?

Your laptop dies five minutes before a deadline. What does the card do?

You accidentally send a text to the wrong person. What does the card do?

This is a fun way to explore the personality and behavior of the cards without turning it into a formal reading.

And some cards are absolutely terrible at problem-solving.

✦ 14. Pull Cards for Your Pets

If you have pets, this can get ridiculous very quickly.

Ask:

What does my dog think about me?

What does my cat want for dinner?

What is my pet’s current life philosophy?

Why did they knock that thing over?

You can also assign them a Tarot card.

Honestly, some animals are so obviously a particular card that it becomes impossible to unsee.

✦ 15. Create a Character From Five Cards

Pull five cards.

Card one: appearance.

Card two: personality.

Card three: occupation.

Card four: greatest strength.

Card five: biggest problem.

Congratulations.

You now have a fictional character.

You can keep going and add their relationship history, hometown, favorite food, worst habit, secret, nemesis, and questionable life choices.

You could even turn them into a full story.

Or just decide they’re the world’s most dramatic accountant and leave it there.

✦ 16. Play “Find This Card”

Pick a card.

Now look for it in the world.

Maybe you see the imagery in a movie.

A painting.

A book cover.

A billboard.

A photograph.

A random person wearing something that reminds you of the card.

You’re essentially training yourself to notice symbolism without sitting down for a formal Tarot study session.

It’s also a good excuse to stare at things and call it research.

✦ 17. Build Your Dream Life With Tarot

This one can be fun if you don’t take it too literally.

Pull a card for your dream home.

Your dream job.

Your ideal vacation.

Your perfect weekend.

Your fictional soulmate.

Your dream pet.

Your fantasy wardrobe.

You can even make a ridiculous version:

What would my life look like if money didn’t matter and I had absolutely no responsibilities?

Let the cards build the fantasy.

You don’t have to manifest it.

You don’t have to make a five-year plan.

You can just enjoy imagining it.

✦ 18. Make Up Your Own Tarot Game

Take a deck and invent rules.

Maybe each person gets five cards and has to tell a story.

Maybe everyone pulls one card and has to guess what movie it represents.

Maybe you create a Tarot version of “Would You Rather?”

Maybe you pull a card and everyone has to come up with the most ridiculous interpretation possible.

There really aren’t that many rules when it comes to playing with Tarot.

That’s part of the fun.

✦ 19. Pull a Card and Make It Your Vibe

Pick one card in the morning.

Then let it influence your day in a completely harmless way.

Pull the Queen of Pentacles?

Make yourself a nice meal.

The Hermit?

Stay home and read.

The Knight of Wands?

Put on an outfit that makes you feel fabulous.

The Empress?

Buy yourself flowers.

The Fool?

Try something you’ve never done before.

You’re not asking the card to predict anything.

You’re just letting it give you a little theme for the day.

✦ 20. Pull a Completely Random Card and Just Look at It

No question.

No spread.

No guidebook.

No interpretation.

Shuffle.

Pull one card.

Look at it.

What catches your attention?

What colors do you notice?

Where does your eye go first?

What emotion does the card give you?

What would you change about it?

Do you actually like this card?

Sometimes that’s enough.

You don’t always have to turn every Tarot card into an answer.

Sometimes you can just look at it.

✦ Tarot Doesn’t Always Have to Be Serious

I think there’s something really valuable about remembering that.

Tarot can be deeply meaningful.

It can help you work through difficult questions.

It can be a tool for reflection, study, creativity, and self-exploration.

But it can also just be fun.

You can make up stories.

You can ask stupid questions.

You can assign cards to fictional characters.

You can argue with your deck.

You can pull the Tower and decide it means you’re supposed to reorganize your closet.

You can spend an hour looking through your favorite cards because you like the artwork.

You don’t have to squeeze a life lesson out of everything.

Sometimes you can just play.