Mental Health Tarot Spread: The Benefits of Tarot Cards for Mental Health

Mental health is important for everyone, yet it’s also something that is often overlooked in society. We are so focused on our careers, our relationships, and our day-to-day lives that we often forget to take care of our mental health. This can lead to a variety of mental health issues, such as anxiety, depression, and unprocessed trauma.

What’s more, there are many ways to help improve your mental health. One way that you may not have thought of is using tarot cards. An occasional mental health tarot spread can be used as a tool for self-reflection and introspection. Cards can help you understand your thoughts and feelings and can provide insights into your personal experiences. Tarot readings can help you focus on your mind, provide clarity of thought, and offer a fresh perspective on challenges.

There’s one more link between tarot and mental health. The insights gained from tarot reading can be deep and meaningful, providing a way to work through difficult emotions and situations. Additionally, cards can help ground and center the self, offering a sense of calm and peace of mind.

Mental Health Tarot Spread | The Benefits of Tarot for Mental Health

Explore the link between tarot and mental health. Find out how an occasional mental health tarot spread can help you live a happier life.

Mental Health Tarot Cards Meaning

Card #1: Current Mental State

The first card in this mental health tarot spread represents what is currently happening in your mental and emotional worlds. This card captures what you're thinking about and reflects your current mood. 

That card brings out your emotions, including anxiety, depression, confusion, or anything else. Your first card is a way to notice and acknowledge these states. It's the starting point for raising awareness of mental health issues.

Card #2: Dominant Stress Factor

The second card in your tarot spread for mental health shows what is causing the most stress in your life right now. It can be your family, work, relationship, money, whatever. Finding the factor that causes you anxiety the most, you can find a solution.

People may experience anxiety but not be able to identify the main cause of stress on their own. Emotions may block rational thinking and overshadow thoughts. Then, the second card comes to the rescue. One of the most important steps in reducing the amount of stress that might negatively impact your mental health is being able to pinpoint the dominant stress factor.

Card #3: Your Support Team

The third card reminds you of people or things that support you in difficult times. It may be your best friend, your family, your life's work, or the small moments of happiness you encounter daily. 

Recalling that there is someone or something in this world that keeps you afloat is great for your mental health. The third card among these mental health tarot cards can both point to your support team and tell you where to look for it if you don't have one.

Card #4: Something You Ignore

The fourth card of your health tarot spread brings out the emotions that you hide even from yourself. That thing you've been ignoring and pretending it doesn't bother you can actually affect you more than you realize.

This card dredges up the buried emotions of guilt, fear, sadness, or anger that have been buried deep inside. That way, you can bring light to these emotions and understand how they have played a role in your mental well-being. It's where the healing process begins.

Card #5: Coping Mechanisms

This card tells about how you're dealing with everything. This card can indicate both your negative ways of coping with stress and your positive ones. Whether it's morning yoga, shopping, parties, meditation, or consulting with an advisor, the card will tell everything.

Recognizing your coping strategies is a mental health audit. It may be a little uncomfortable, but totally necessary. 

Card #6: Healing Process

The final card gives you some advice on how to move forward along your healing process. It may be time to come back to that meditation app you downloaded last year or to give yourself permission to have a lazy day and not feel guilty about it. Whatever the card shows you, it's a plan not for surviving but thriving.

Tarot and Psychology: The Benefits of Tarot for Mental Health

We all know that tarot can be used for divination, but did you know that there are potential benefits of tarot cards for mental health? Yes, tarot can be used as a tool to help you work through your problems and find some clarity in your life.

Some of the benefits of using tarot for mental health and practicing mental health tarot exercises include:

• Self-Reflection: Tarot cards can serve as a psychological mirror, showing you aspects of yourself that you might be unaware of. It allows for an unbiased introspective view.
• Mindfulness: The practice of analyzing cards draws your attention to the present. The focus required for interpreting symbolism and narrative in tarot promotes a state of mindfulness.
• Emotional Outlet: Tarot can provide a channel for emotions that are difficult to express in words. Identifying with a particular card can be a validating experience, helping you to process complex feelings.
• Encouragement: Some cards symbolize hope, strength, and new beginnings. Drawing such cards can act as a form of motivation to persevere through challenges.
• Empathy and Understanding: When conducting readings for others, interpreting tarot cards can help cultivate empathy as you attempt to understand and articulate another person's life situation or emotional state.
• Self-Care Reminders: Certain cards directly point to the need for self-care. For example, The Empress might signify the need for nurturing, while the Four of Swords could indicate a need for rest.
• Stress Reduction: The ritualistic aspects of shuffling, cutting, and drawing cards can serve as a calming and centering practice, similar to meditation or deep-breathing exercises.
• Affirmation: Tarot cards psychology includes affirmations—they can be used as daily inspirations or focal points for meditation, serving as affirmative reminders that help you to stay focused and committed to your mental well-being.

Conclusion

As you know by now, tarot readings have quite a few mental health benefits. Whether you are experiencing a difficult time in your life or just want to know what the future holds, a free tarot reading can give you the insights you need. So if you are looking for guidance, advice, or just a fun way to explore your future, consider turning to tarot cards for help—ideally, under the guidance of an experienced tarot reader.