A Tarot Spread for Anxiety and Mental Health
Tarot reading for stress relief is an excellent practice for your health. The anxiety tarot spread that will be covered here can make a great addition to your spiritual practice. Not everyone may want or need it, but if you're an anxious person or prone to self-destructive thinking, this can make a huge difference for you.
Tarot is great for soothing your anxiety because it provides you comfort from the spiritual realm. You'll also get insight into the things that worry you.
Note that this Tarot ritual is not a substitute for therapy which is much more helpful if a major underlying issue is present. If your life has been continually affected by mental difficulties, speak to a professional therapist who can refer you for medication. But, when it comes to day-to-day feelings of stress, fear, or anxiety, Tarot is second to none.
Therapeutic Benefits of Tarot
Before diving into the spread itself, let's zoom out to the therapeutic benefits of Tarot readings.
Tarot serves as a reliable and healthy remedy for when you're feeling anxious. It can also complement therapy if you are approaching your mental health in that way as well. Tarot cards can enable you to identify what is creating tension in your emotions. If you are feeling anxious and are having a hard time understanding why this is a great start.
Often, we don't know why we feel anxious. Life is so complex now that it's impossible to pinpoint all the things pushing us off center. However, the human experience never truly changes. The illustrative deck of Rider Waite Tarot cards still shows us the influences that affect our mood. It gives us insight into what we might not realize is affecting us.
The Two Types of Anxiety
Sometimes, we know why we're bothered, but not how to deal with it. Either it's something we have control over and are worrying about how to proceed, or we have no control and need a way to soothe the unsettling emotions. In the case of the former, when we have a difficult decision to make, Tarot lays all your thoughts out. It shows you what is holding you back, and where you are facing resistance. Your spirit guides will comfort you in the choice you make.
In the event that you're worried over something out of your control, the Tarot spread will offer advice to accept it. This is especially common with readings involving the romantic feelings of another person. If something is out of your power, you need to a way to come to terms with it. The best way to do so is to remove the underlying belief that's creating the difficulty. For example, have you ever told someone about a problem you were having and they gave you a new perspective that put you at ease about the whole thing? These kinds of Tarot spreads accomplish the same thing.
Becoming a Better You
Tarot is also helpful for pursuing successful habits over self-destructive behaviors. It provides heightened self-awareness and shows you which things in life you should be focusing on. This way, you can balance self-care activities with doing the things that help you reach your goals.
A lot of the time, the major source of stress and anxiety is knowing deep down that you aren't doing the "right" things that will take your life where you want it to go. Taking a moment to perform a reading like this helps you re-center. It helps you get back to the things that will make you fulfilled.
Also, you can supplement this with crystals and affirmations that can accelerate your growth.
The Anxiety Tarot Spread:
Root cause of your anxiety
What to do to soothe your anxiety
Where you should put your effort & attention
A source of power to keep you moving forward
The First Card
The first card in the Anxiety Tarot Spread highlights the root cause of your emotional state. The Tarot cards related to worry, such as Five of Pentacles, are self-explanatory here. If it's a minor arcana card, pay attention to which suit it is as that will point to the area of your life that's creating trouble at the moment.
A commonly emerging card here is the Devil. In this context, it tends to point to vice, addictions, or generally destructive behaviors that are impacting your mental health. Another common card is the World reversed, indicated that you are not completing an important thing in your life.
The Second Card
The center card offers an interesting contribution to the reading. Your interpretations of the cards that come up will likely depend on the images you see. Use your intuition, and try to hear what your innermost winner is saying to you. This part of the healing is highly introspective because you will know the best ways to take care of yourself. The card that emerges from your deck will simply clue you in on what to do. Soak in all the possible meanings of the card, and consider what your deck has used it to represent in the past.
The Third Card
The third and forth cards hold the real magic. You can't just "not stress." You need to focus on something. So when you are worried about something, these cards will give you a sign on what to place your attention on (instead of wasting it by worrying). The third Tarot card will suggest something to spend your time on that will actually benefit your life. Maybe it tells you to focus on your new job, write the novel you've always dreamed of, or get after the responsibilities you've been neglecting. Remember, the opposite of depression is purpose!
For the third card in the spread, you may draw the Eight of Pentacles. This card is telling you to channel all your energy into your craft. Other cards that come up frequently here are the Three of Pentacles and the Two of Cups.
The Forth Card
There is a lot of variety in the cards that emerge in the last position of this Tarot spread. This card will give you something to keep your chin up when you're in the middle of a rough patch. If you get the Three of Cups, for example, that likely means you should have fun with your friends or a person you care about to push out the stress. On the other hand, if the cards in your deck recognize that you're heavily distracted, the Hermit may appear. This suggests taking time away from others so you can concentrate on what it is you need to do.
The breadth of meanings that the cards in this spread can communicate is incredibly vast. Make sure you sit with this spread for some time and truly meditate on each card. Understand fully what it's telling you. Then, have a clear course of action you will take to heed the advice of the spread. This reading gives you everything you need to climb out of any dark place you find yourself in mentally. So, make sure you take action on it!
Tarot Reading for your Mental Health
Reading Tarot Cards when you are at a difficult stage in life can provide you with valuable support for your mental health. Simply acknowledging the fact that you are in a dark place and setting aside time to address it is half the battle. Sometimes we try to keep ourselves completely busy, or avoid doing things altogether, because there is something that is bothering to us. It's much better to deal with it up front than to try to endlessly swim against the current.
When you spend time in your sacred space, you should try to release your thoughts and worries about your life. Your responsibilities aren't going anywhere. Take some time to let the weight lift off your shoulders so you can take care of number one. Your body needs to decompress in order to function at its best anyway. During your session, try to relax your body as much as possible. Work through your anxiety from an onlooker's perspective, without letting yourself sink into the negative emotion too much.
You'll ultimately emerge with a new perspective, a new mindset, a new toolkit to attack your problem. Sometimes, you might even realize there was no point in worrying in the first place, you just needed to pull yourself out of a negative thought loop.
Closing Remarks
Tarot may not be a cure-all or a substitute for a therapist, but it can sure help with dealing with stress. Use it to come back into your power. Use it to help your friends. Let your Tarot practice drive out your anxiety, fill you with hope for the future, and lead you to success.