The Blank Tarot

Pick a card, any card. It doesn’t matter which. They’re all blank.

Tarot cards seem to be more popular than ever these days. Most people use them for spiritual guidance or predicting the future, although some, like the wizard Calvino, use tarot cards to invent stories. Personally I prefer the latter use. I don’t believe tarot cards are magical or that they can tell you anything about yourself you don’t already know. But they can help you think creatively.

That’s why I want to tell you about a tarot deck that originated, it’s said, in the Perilous Realm. It’s called the blank tarot. The deck consists of 78 cards with nothing on them. Every card is the same: blank and featureless.

Here’s what you do: shuffle the cards well. Take a moment to think about the problem or the answer you seek that led you to consult the cards. Then draw one card and look at it. You can imagine there’s an image on it, any image you like, or you can just keep the blank card in front of you as you meditate for a few moments on what you’re seeking. You can also lay out a sequence of several cards and make up a story by imagining an image or scene on each card. Don’t try to solve the problem or force an answer. Just let your thoughts come and go.

Sounds silly? Maybe it is. I mean, why bother with the cards at all, right? You could just stare at a blank wall or close your eyes and imagine whatever you like. People who use the blank tarot, however, say that there’s something about going through the actions of shuffling and then drawing the cards that helps them get in the right frame of mind. Because the cards are meant for consulting and problem-solving, (unlike a blank wall), they help foster an imaginative, creative attitude in the one using them.

The point is that you decide what the cards mean. If each card could be any card, you face your own freedom as a human being. You use your own creativity and imagination to help you to the solution or answer you seek.  Because that’s where the answer is anyway. In you, not in some arcane image invented hundreds of years ago.

If you’d like to try the blank tarot, you can find blank card decks at teacher supply stores or on the internet.