Career Guidance From the Cards

As a career consultant, I meet people who feel they are standing
at a fork in the road, seeking guidance on whether to turn right
or left. Accept this job offer? Resign from a frustrating job?
Return to school? “I know the answer is within me,” they say,
“but how do I gain access to my inner wisdom?”

Besides
journaling and meditating, I often turn to tarot cards, using a
simple, single-card method. As you shuffle a deck, ask your
question. Avoid yes/no questions, encouraging phrases like,
“What will happen if I ” Or just, “Give me an impression of
outcome X.” Pull a single card. Often the image will speak to
you immediately. You’ll have a sense that your intuition has
been personified in this single card.

For instance, Marie had
just completed interviews with two companies. She was also
considering a return to graduate school for a new career
altogether. Marie drew “Death” for both of her corporate
options. She realizes that this card can signify a rebirth.
However, as soon as Marie saw those cards, she felt her
intuition was confirmed: “I sensed rejection all through the
interview.” For her third option, a new career, Marie drew the
Five of Cups. Typically the Five of Cups means “regret.” Marie
was confused: would she regret the decision to return to school?
However, I suggested, this card might signify regret from not
choosing this option. It could mean that she needed time to
mourn her corporate career. Alternatively, it could mean that
she would regret the decision initially, but would feel
differently later. I urged Marie to live with the decision and
the card a little longer, gather more information, and use
meditation and journaling to enhance her intuition. And, I
suggested, she could draw another card later.

In my own life, I
have found that a two-card sequence corresponds loosely to a
temporal sequence. Alas, the cards do not yield information
about length of each sequence, but you know there’s hope ahead.
Another client, Mike, was not familiar with tarot cards, which
he associated with store-front crystal balls. Mike had been laid
off from a lucrative managerial position, with a generous
severance package.. Mike drew the Three of Cups from a
Rider-Waite deck. I encouraged him to study the image first,
before turning to published interpretations. Mike spoke of three
women who seemed to be proposing a toast. They appeared very
focused on the cups and on each other. Mike felt drawn to the
symbols of autumn and harvest: pumpkin, grapes, fruits, orange
and yellow colors. Perhaps, Mike thought, he needed to harvest
the fruits of his previous career. He could celebrate what he
had stored up and use the fruits of the harvest for a new life.
Mike had little interest in studying traditional meanings of
this card. His own answer felt right to him.

Besides this
method, I advocate the card-a-day method to track progress of a
life transition. Keep a tarot card intuition journal. Write down
the question, draw a card, and record your card, Later you can
track the effectiveness of tarot cards for your own life. You
may learn new meanings: “I thought this card meant departure but
it really meant I was supposed to be waiting.” My Rider-Waite
deck has become one of the most powerful tools in my career
coaching. I encourage you to use your own cards to gather
intuitive wisdom and enhance intuition as you enjoy career and
life change.