Tarot for Connecting with Inner Parts
hey! if you prefer listening over reading or want to listen along as I read, here’s a recording of the whole post for ya: (7:17 min)
While people work with tarot in a host of valid ways, in this house, they’re less of a tool for predicting the future and more of a catalyst for going inward in the present. Typically, we understand ourselves through the lens of the ego wielding the tools of the thinking mind, selecting what kinds of traits or behaviors we want to associate and identify with and which ones are not of us.
But, as Carolyn Elliot wisely points out in her practice Existential Kink, if we are here to live a human life, then our soul’s greatest desire is to have that full spectrum human experience—not only the parts the ego approves of and claims as part of the allowed Self.
Since each of the 78 cards of the tarot represents its own slice of the human experience, pulling cards is a nice way to touch into aspects of the Self that we might be disavowing—or focusing on too much.
Beyond helping you get to know yourself in a more complete way, though, parts work is especially supportive if you’re ever feeling conflicted about something and not sure where to settle between different choices that all seem equally good or bad for different reasons. It can help you get a clearer sense of what each path might mean to you through tuning into the different inner parts that are coming forward and what their goals are for you.
Working with Inner Parts
There are so many ways to conceptualize and work with inner parts—within the realm of psychology, different schools of thought explore these same ideas in generally pretty similar ways. Some of the common themes are:
People are complex and multifaceted.
Different facets, or parts, can serve different functions for a person, and can even conflict with one another.
Parts have developed in order to support the individual—each one has positive intentions for the person.
But, different parts might use very different strategies from one another to accomplish their goals based on their own ideas of what’s best for the person as a whole.
While the parts might be well intentioned, good intentions don’t always result in a positive impact—at least not from the perspective of the Self that’s running the show!
A healthy way to interact with parts is to practice identifying them, attuning to them, listening to them, and treating their counsel as such, making balanced decisions informed by varied perspectives in the end.
You’ve probably already conceptualized different inner parts before, perhaps as your head vs. heart or inner masculine vs. feminine (not my first choice personally but you do you), or maybe you’ve tried to connect to your inner child, or felt the internalized opinions of a parent. So parts work is not so much a matter of doing something completely new as it is widening a practice that’s already innate in some way, or at least culturally normed.
Deepening the practice involves some identifying additional parts, but more importantly, it involves curating more completeness in your understanding of each part. Start by focusing on one inner part and consider:
What kinds of situations does this part help you with?
Do those kinds of situations still come up a lot in your life?
What are this part’s goals for you and your life?
Why? What’s its origin story?
How does it communicate with you? What feelings does it deploy? What strategies?
How does it communicate with other inner parts?
What does this part want you to understand more than anything?
How much or how little do you take this part’s input into consideration?
Is there anything you wish this part understood about how your life has evolved since it first came about?
Tarot and inner parts work
Unless a person has some significant inner conflict going on, it’s pretty unrealistic to expect ourselves to conduct a thorough inventory of our inner parts all at once. Not only are there likely to be what feel like bigger draws of attention in the fullness of life, inner parts perspectives can be elusive in a steady state where inner dynamics are calm. It often takes some catalyst to shake things up in order to get the parts interacting with one another in noticeable ways rather than the default rhythms that escape our notice, hiding in the plain sight of routine.
So, pulling cards can be a really nice way to shake up that snow globe of life just a little bit! The trick is to go deeper than the first reaction to the card. Beyond reacting to the myth of the card and whatever interpretation is offered by your reader, book, or your memory, consider how you’re reacting to it emotionally and ask yourself why. What core beliefs, hopes, or fears are triggered by the card? What inner part is holding onto those feelings for you? Does the tower fill you with dread because the idea of loss and destruction is unbearable to your inner child? Does the high priestess or another of the cards in the first line of the major arcana make your heart swell with validated pride because it’s recognizing something in you that your mom never did?
Chances are, there’s more than one inner part that might have a reaction to whatever arises in the card. Many of the cards actively and explicitly invite us to break past the confines imposed on us by our doubts and heed the call of the soul, and these situations are exactly right for exploring the origins of those doubts with loving curiosity rather than dogging on ourselves for having limiting beliefs and not letting go of them yet. Remember, all parts—even those wielding fear and doubt—are well intentioned, and probably seeking to protect us. Perhaps from a real threat, perhaps from a threat that has long since passed, or perhaps simply from the threat of trying something new.
As you can imagine, the interpretation you can take from a tarot reading that will ultimately be the most impactful for you depends on your engagement with this work. Tapping into your inner parts in a loving and curious way is what can make the difference between leaving your reading feeling validated but just as conflicted as before or coming away with genuine insight that can support you not only in the situation at hand, but also beyond through a more nurtured set of intrapersonal social dynamics. Check out another social alchemy post for a wider view on how to prepare to get the most out of your next tarot reading.
If you try this out and have some insights you want to share with someone, I’d love to hear ‘em! Feel free to drop me a line. Or, hop over to book a reading where I can help prompt you to integrate the messages that arise from the cards we pull together in this way, either virtually or in person in Los Angeles.
