Tarot Readings for Birthdays and Big Occasions
Tarot readings during birthdays come up a lot.
I get it—people like to mark another turn around the sun by reflecting on their life thus far. Tarot readings help them figure out where they want to end up next, too.
I do a lot of birthday readings for clients, friends, and always for myself. I feel these readings are important because they help us find our place in the timeline of our lives. If you’re a goal person, doing a tarot reading on your birthday can see whether you’re on track, whether you’ve fallen off, or it can make you question whether your goals still apply. If you’re a throw caution to the wind kind of person, a tarot reading on your birthday can give you methods of rooting yourself down—finding an anchor to an otherwise spontaneous and adventurous life so that you have some semblance of direction.
I recently did a birthday reading for a friend of mine and decided to put it on video, just so you have an idea about how these milestone readings can go. I’m finding that the older I get, the less my birthday has an impact on me (is it because I’ve already had so many birthdays that they just feel watered down already?). But readings like these that inspect your trajectory, monitor where you’re at, and show you possibilities for the future are important on any other occasion—when you’re experiencing a career shift, have a big relationship change, are graduating from school, getting married, or are newly single.
The spread I used was by Mikko, my collaborator on the #NoFilter decks. Her positions for the spread are:
THE PAST YEAR
LETTING GO
YOUR GIFT
TO EMBRACE
THE NEXT YEAR
It’s a variation on the usual Past Present Future tarot spreads that I feel open you up to go a little deeper and broaden your perspective a little more. It’s also a fun tarot spread to build on—in the video, I capped off the reading with two oracle cards, one from the #NoFilter Oracle Deck and another from the Quiet Mystic Oracle Deck. I feel that the two contrasting vibes of these decks—one, very sassy, and the other, very soothing—provide a nice punctuation to the cards.
I realize that a lot of people are going through huge transitions during this quarantine, and maybe this type of reading can help you find your way through all the discomfort and uncertainty that’s being brought up right now. If you’re going through a double whammy, dealing with the pandemic and a big life shift (or birthday!), here are some tips to doing a milestone reading that may come in handy.
What deck to use?
If you have a couple of decks to choose from, I suggest going with the one that makes YOU feel special. I have some tarot decks that I only use for myself (it’s the Moonchild Tarot for me!) and sometimes, I pull them out when I have a big occasion to celebrate (or decipher). It would be cool to have a deck that you only used for the sole purpose of birthdays, right? It would be like a close friend who you meet up with once a year to have life-changing conversations with (have you seen the movie Same Time, Next Year?). Some of my clients, I only really interact with once a year—during their birthday or around the New Year—and we have this type of relationship. We always pick up exactly where we left off :)
On the flip side, you may also want to consider using your most frequently used deck, just because it most likely provides you with the most comfort. Think of it like a cup of hot cocoa with marshmallows—it just brings some well-meaning good juju right when you need it.
How to make readings more “special” considering they’re for *occasions*
I’m not a ritualistic reader, but I will occasionally light an incense or set up a nice candle or spread cloth to set the mood. Sure, these make for great Instagram photos, but more important than that, props and little rituals can serve to elevate your reading. Ambience can help you feel like you’re putting a little more weight on this reading, compared to your daily draws or the readings you would do in your fave cafe (back when we could actually dine in cafes!). If you’re new at reading the tarot, this may be a really exciting and fun part of the reading process. Even if you’re just reading for a friend over on Zoom or FaceTime, it can still make the experience feel extra special.
Building birthday / big occasion spreads
In the video, I talk about how I’m one of the least creative people when it comes to building tarot spreads (I think it’s because I’m lazy!). Here are a few prompts or questions to consider, however, if you want to add more layers to Mikko’s birthday spread or if you want to devise your own:
Tackle the past year per quarter, pulling four cards to represent your growth over the last 12 months.
Add a chakra scan, pulling seven cards (one for each chakra) to figure out what energies need more attention or realignment in the coming year.
Inquire about lessons that were learned and that still need to be learned. Adding a “loose ends” card can help you resolve any issues that are still in limbo as you transition from one chapter to the next.
Just for kicks, pull a Wild Card. Let this “joker” indicate a surprise you may be yearning for in the coming year (word of caution, especially if you’re pulling cards for someone else, make it clear that you’re not foretelling anything—you’re simply opening them up to possibilities!).
Pull a transformation card. Use the card you pull, whether it’s an oracle or tarot card, to indicate the archetype you could be growing into.
How to remember your reading
Birthday or big occasion readings, I believe, need to be remembered. Otherwise, the messages you receive just float away and into the ether, never to be remembered again. Wouldn’t it be great to pull up your reading a year later and see how things panned out? Here are some ways to get everything on record, so you can always look back on this special draw.
Journal. This is my go-to for cards I pull for myself. When I was starting to read tarot, I would take pictures of all my spreads, but I found they didn’t really make sense to me as standalone photos. Writing things down was more helpful because I could go back to the exact insights I had during the draw.
Record it. I always bring this up for in-person clients—you can set your phone on the table and turn on the Voice Memos app so you can listen back on the reading anytime. Now that we’re in quarantine, maybe hitting record on Zoom will make more sense if you’re doing an online reading for someone. Video does take up more memory on your phone, but there’s also nothing like some real action preserved on camera!
Create art. If you’re not much of a writer, don’t really take to journaling, or know you’re never going to listen or watch any recordings of a reading, you could actually document your feeling. Do a collage on your creative journal. Write a poem. Paint. Doodle. Write a song! All of these are great ways to bring up a feeling that brings you back to a very specific moment in time.
I hope these tips and the actual video reading serve to inspire you on your upcoming birthday or big occasion. Know, too, that while I wrote these tips with birthdays in mind, you can use them any day too—especially if you feel you need a mood booster.
If you have any go-to birthday spreads, I’d love to hear about them in the comments too! :)