How to Turn Playing Cards into a Tarot Deck

Did you know you can turn a regular deck of playing cards into a magical tarot deck? This DIY approach lets you personalize your deck, making it uniquely yours! People have used playing cards for divination and spiritual insight for hundreds of years. With a few simple steps, you can bring new life to an ordinary deck.

Step 1: Assign Tarot Meanings to Your Cards

To start, match each playing card to a tarot card meaning:

1. Major Arcana – these cards represent major life themes. In a 52-card deck, some Major Arcana cards will need substitutes:
   • Death (Ace of Spades) – representing transformation and letting go.
   • The Lovers (Queen of Hearts) – symbolizing love, harmony, and choices.
   • The Fool (The Joker) – symbolizing new beginnings, spontaneity, and potential.
   • The Emperor (King of Hearts) – representing authority, structure, and protection.
   • Encourage yourself to research other Major Arcana meanings and find suitable playing card equivalents unique to you. This process helps you connect with the cards. and there is no wrong way of doing it.

Step 2: Match Minor Arcana Suits

Each suit in a playing card deck corresponds to a tarot suit, focusing on different areas of life:

• Hearts = Cups – emotions, relationships, and intuition.
• Diamonds = Pentacles – material matters like money, career, and physical well-being.
• Clubs = Wands – action, creativity, and inspiration.
• Spades = Swords – thoughts, conflict, and truth.

Step 3: Define Court Cards

In tarot, court cards represent people, personalities, or aspects of ourselves. In your deck, assign these meanings to your court cards:

• Jacks = Pages – youthful energy, new ideas, curiosity, and learning.
• Queens – maturity, emotional intelligence, and compassion.
• Kings – authority, experience, and leadership.
• 10s = Knights – dynamic movement, action, and pursuit of goals. (Knights represent the bridge between thought and action, urging progress in their specific suit’s domain.)

Step 4: Minor Arcana Number Meanings

Each number in the Minor Arcana holds a unique meaning. When using a deck of playing cards, interpret each number in the context of the suit.

1. Aces – New beginnings, potential, and fresh starts. 

2. Twos – Choices, balance, and partnerships. 

3. Threes – Growth, collaboration, and creativity. 

4. Fours – Stability, structure, and foundation.

 5. Fives – Conflict, change, and challenge. 

6. Sixes – Harmony, problem-solving, and compassion. 

7. Sevens – Reflection, spirituality, and inner wisdom. 

8. Eights – Movement, power, and progress. 

9. Nines – Fulfillment, attainment, and nearing completion. 

10. Tens – Completion, transition, and the end of a cycle (in this deck, tens can also serve as Knights, adding energy and dynamic movement to readings).

Example Interpretation by Suit

• Hearts (Cups) – Focus on emotions, relationships, and intuition.
  • Example: 5 of Hearts (Cups) could indicate emotional conflict or a need to address issues in relationships.
• Diamonds (Pentacles) – Focus on material and physical aspects like career and health.
  • Example: 8 of Diamonds (Pentacles) suggests dedication to work, skill-building, and steady progress.
• Clubs (Wands) – Focus on creativity, ambition, and action.
  • Example: 3 of Clubs (Wands) implies teamwork, expansion, and looking toward future goals.
• Spades (Swords) – Focus on thoughts, truth, and conflict.
  • Example: 2 of Spades (Swords) may represent a difficult decision or mental crossroads, indicating the need for balance and clarity.

Step 5: Consecrate (Bless) Your Deck

Consecrating your deck is like setting an intention or blessing, which dedicates it for spiritual work. Hold the cards, visualize a protective, positive energy around them, and focus on the purpose you’d like your deck to serve. You might say a blessing, hold a crystal over the cards, or even anoint them with oil. This step makes the deck truly yours.

Step 6: Personalize Your Readings

With your newly consecrated deck, get creative in how you interpret the cards. Without the traditional tarot illustrations, use your intuition! Try traditional tarot spreads, or invent your own layouts to make readings fun and personal. Customize them with your own unique designs and symbols. Use them symbolically in ritual. Allow your connection with the cards to shape unique meanings, blending your intuition with traditional tarot insights. Tag me #thelivingember to share your deck or consecration ritual and how it went!!! @thelivingember on all platforms!

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Summary List

1. Choose a deck of playing cards.
2. Assign tarot meanings, using the Joker as the Fool and converting other cards for Major and Minor Arcana.
3. Define Minor Arcana suits as Hearts for Cups, Diamonds for Pentacles, Clubs for Wands, and Spades for Swords.
4. Set court cards as Jacks = Pages, Queens, Kings, and 10s as Knights.
5. Consecrate the deck with a blessing or ritual.
6. Use creative, intuitive readings to make the deck your own.

Sources

Dummett, M., & McLeod, W. (2004). A History of Games Played with the Tarot Pack. Edwin Mellen Press. 

Kaplan, S. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Tarot. U.S. Games Systems. 

Place, R. (2005). The Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination. TarcherPerigee. 

Greer, M. K. (2009). Tarot for Your Self: A Workbook for Personal Transformation. Weiser Books. 

Matthews, C. (1999). The Psychic Skills Workbook: How to Develop Your Intuition with Practicing the Tarot and Other Forms of Cartomancy. Healing Arts Press. 

Pollack, R. (2001). Tarot Wisdom: Spiritual Teachings and Deeper Meanings. Llewellyn Worldwide. 

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