YOU of TA T the
Explorations for Personal Growth
DAWN MICHELLE
About the Author
Dawn Michelle is a former marketing professional who accidentally found her way into the tarot community via her YouTube channel and membership focusing on cards, coffee, and creativity. She has been using tarot for personal growth for more than a decade and enjoys sharing her process and practice with others to help them further their own journey. She’s also a huge gamer and strives to incorporate play as well as creativity in the majority of her work. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, grown children, and fur babies. Find her online at https:// dawnmichelletarot.com/ and her YouTube channel at https://www .youtube.com/@dawnmichellecreates.
© Rachel Vera
YOU of TA T the
Explorations for Personal Growth
DAWN MICHELLE
The Tarot of You: Explorations for Personal Growth Copyright © 2026 by Dawn Michelle. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, including internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd., except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems.
First
Edition
First Printing, 2026
Book design by Rordan Brasington
Cover design by Kevin R. Brown
Editing by Sophia Kurtz
Llewellyn Publications is a registered trademark of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Michelle, Dawn, author
Title: The tarot of you : explorations for personal growth / Dawn Michelle.
Description: First edition. | Woodbury, Minnesota : Llewellyn, [2026] | Summary: “A guidebook that helps readers cultivate a sustained, meaningful relationship with their tarot practice more directed at the self than clients. Author has years of personal experience and teaching; presents a structured, twelve-part system of guided practices that encourage self-reflection, spiritual growth, and greater understanding of the cards. Includes exercises, journaling, spreads”-- Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2026003141 (print) | LCCN 2026003142 (ebook) | ISBN 9780738781167 paperback | ISBN 9780738781310 ebook
Subjects: LCSH: Tarot | Tarot cards
Classification: LCC BF1879.T2 M527 2026 (print) | LCC BF1879.T2 (ebook)
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2026003141
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2026003142
Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd. does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority or responsibility concerning private business transactions between our authors and the public.
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Llewellyn Publications
A Division of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd. 2143 Wooddale Drive Woodbury, MN 55125-2989 www.llewellyn.com
Printed in the United States of America
GPSR Representation:
UPI-2M PLUS d.o.o., Medulićeva 20, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia matt.parsons@upi2mbooks.hr
Other Books by
Dawn Michelle
Connecting with the Tarot: A Guide for Bonding with Your Deck (Independently published, 2023)
Contents
Foreword by Mary
K. Greer
Introduction … 1
xi
Chapter 1: A Practice of One’s Own … 9
Chapter 2: From Readings to Rituals 13
Chapter 3: The Magic of Journaling … 21
Chapter 4: Pointers on Practice 51
Chapter 5: Rooting into Practice … 57
Chapter 6: Bloom Where You Are Planted 65
Chapter 7: Slow Growing … 73
Chapter 8: Walking Your Path 81
Chapter 9: Whole-Self Care … 89
Chapter 10: Ebb and Flow 99
Chapter 11: Reigniting Fire … 107
Chapter 12: Conversing with Guides 115
Chapter 13: The Blank Spaces … 123
Chapter 14: Light in the Shadow 131
Chapter 15: Sitting in Spirit … 139
Chapter 16: Accessing the Inner Temple … 147
Chapter 17: Cosmic Awareness … 157
Chapter 18: Manifesting with the Moon … 165
Chapter 19: Ghost Stories … 175
Chapter 20: Shenanigans … 183
Chapter 21: Endings and Beginnings 191
Conclusion … 199
Foreword
by Mary K. Greer
The tarot world today is often divided between those who value reading for themselves and those who fear that doing so lacks objectivity and leads to wishful thinking. Many seek answers from outside themselves: “What does he feel about me?” “Will I pass the test?” or “How can I convince my boss to give me a raise?” These are all valid human concerns, but they also express a longing for certainty in an uncertain world while forgetting that tarot’s deeper magic begins within.
More than forty years ago, I wrote the first book describing methods of reading tarot for yourself. Now, in the twenty-first century, we are flooded with information yet starved for meaning. Amid this, a growing movement in tarot urges a return to intimacy—a personal practice, a dialogue with the inner self rather than an appeal to fate. Dawn Michelle’s Tarot of You is about this inward turn, transforming tarot from a method of foreseeing into a method of self-seeing.
This book asks a deceptively simple question: What is an intimately personal tarot practice? Dawn Michelle’s answer is not theoretical; it is lived. She invites you to create a practice that mirrors, guides, and grounds you through two complementary paths: Journaling, where you explore tarot through writing,
reflection, and creativity; and Practice, where you engage directly with the cards through mindful, embodied exercises and rituals. These sections work together yet have distinct rhythms—journaling as the mirror, practice as the movement within it. Her book invites you to move beyond “What will happen?” to “What is happening within me as I meet what comes?”
Journaling need not be tidy or perfect. Being human, Dawn tells us, is raw, imperfect, authentic, and messy. Your flaws are your greatest asset; your errors, the seed of creativity. I couldn’t agree more. Tarot teaches that every card, upright or reversed, has its wisdom; journaling teaches that every reflection, confused or clear, has its value.
Reading tarot for yourself can be meditative and revelatory. It helps you commune with your authentic self through a symbolic language of pictures, emotions, and dreams. Journaling anchors these experiences, turning fleeting insights into wisdom.
While I’ve never kept a consistent daily tarot journal for long, each period when I did so was transformative. Every written spread became a record of how I was changing. Even brief notes capture patterns and reveal progress. Returning later to comment on what did occur and your new insights turns the pages into a living conversation with your growth.
In my own life, I have witnessed how the cards illuminate even our most private journeys. When I was married, I learned I could sense my Gemini husband’s attitude based on whether he appeared as the King, Knight, or Page of Swords—the suit of air and thought. In another reading, the High Priestess appeared at the start of a relationship that ended badly. Her cool detachment had foretold both attraction and necessary distance. What I learned—and what Dawn’s practices affirm—is that tarot’s wisdom often lies not in prediction but in recognition: seeing with honesty what the soul already knows. The “Release and Rebloom” practices in chapter 6 speak beautifully to such moments of letting go and renewal.
Later, chapter 12, “Conversing with Guides,” encourages direct dialogue with the figures in the cards. I have long used a similar method by writing quickly, and letting each card’s personality—humorous, scathing, gentle, or demanding—speak freely through me. What emerges often surprises me. The cards come alive as companions in self-discovery.
Throughout Tarot of You, Dawn’s voice is warm, practical, and encouraging. She offers both guidance and permission to experiment, to err, and to grow. Her book shows that tarot’s greatest gift is not prediction but participation—the willingness to meet ourselves honestly in symbol and story.
To read Tarot of You is to be invited into a process rather than a method. It asks you to pick up your cards, your pen, and your courage—not to record what you already know, but to discover what you are becoming. Journaling and practice, reflection and embodiment, mirror and movement are the twin streams of this book. If earlier ages sought revelation from the heavens, this book teaches revelation through relationship. It reminds us that the sacred conversation has never ended; it has simply moved inward, awaiting the moment we pick up our cards, our pen, and listen.
Approach these pages as you would a new deck: with curiosity, respect, and openness. As you journal and practice, the cards will begin to read you as much as you read them. May you discover, in their reflections, the truth of your own becoming.
Introduction
I try to begin every day with a moment of connection. I settle into my chair, set out my cards, and take a moment to center. I close my eyes and focus on my breath—inhale, exhale. Inhale. Exhale. It’s a momentary pause that allows me to shift my focus from the world outside to the world within. I pick up my deck and begin to shuffle, listening to the swish of the cards as I shuffle and appreciating the texture of the finish beneath my fingertips. This grounds me into the mundane. Into the reality of the moment. The tactile experience of the cards. The physical practice of reading.
Then I ask the cards for their guidance. Through them, I connect with my inner voice, to the universal spirit, and the thread that weaves everything together. These connections imbue the experience with personal magic. Not the magic of writing spells or brewing oils, but the inner magic that happens when you connect with your innate being. I experience tarot through the mundane physical practice of working with the cards and the magical inner practice of connecting with my authentic self. But this isn’t how it always was. Once upon a time when my children were little and my days were hectic, my tarot practice wasn’t much of a practice at all.
When I first began reading tarot, I did so sporadically. With my deck in hand and reference book at my side, I studied tarot through stolen moments, late-night readings, or early morning draws. In fact, the idea of having a “tarot practice” never even entered my mind. Back then, long before online groups and YouTube channels, tarot was just this thing I did. I used tarot like my personal help hotline, consulting it only when I had a question and needed an answer. My introduction to tarot came from a friend who taught me to approach the cards strictly as a divination system. As such, it never really occurred to me to use the tarot for anything else. There is nothing wrong with approaching tarot from a strictly divinatory perspective. I still consult the tarot in a divinatory manner, asking questions and seeking answers. But the tarot can be so much more.
After nearly two decades of practice, I was able to confidently and competently “read” the cards, but something was always missing. It wasn’t until I began to explore tarot not just as a divinatory practice but as a communion with inner self that I found what I was looking for—me. I had no desire to read tarot for other people and wasn’t interested in divining my own future. What I was searching for was a way to reconnect with my authentic self. When I began to approach tarot not just as a question-and-answer session with the cards but as a conversation with my authentic self, my entire life began to shift. It wasn’t a tidal wave, mind you, but a slow and steady stream of change. I began approaching tarot not just as a tool for personal growth, but a true personal practice. It became a seed for growth, a shift into mindfulness, a conduit to spirit, and a bridge to my inner self. Through my work with the tarot, I was stepping more into my authentic self. I was becoming the person I was meant to be and tarot was—and is—my guide along this journey.
This book makes a couple of assumptions of you, as a tarot reader: As this is not an introductory course, this book assumes that you have a basic understanding of tarot. That you know how to perform a reading and have a basic working knowledge of the cards. Does that mean that if you do not possess those things that you cannot learn from this book? Of course not. However, if you are new to tarot, I would recommend reading this book alongside an introductory text. Some great books to get you started on your tarot journey are Rachel Pollack’s Tarot Wisdom, Your Tarot Your Way by Barbara Moore, and Kitchen Table Tarot by Melissa Cynova.
A basic working knowledge of the traditional meaning of tarot will provide a valuable foundation for cultivating your own practice, similar to learning the basic structure of plot before attempting to write your first story. It is not a requirement for writing your story, but the story you will craft will be richer if you understand the fundamental building blocks that make a good story. Learning the history and traditional meanings of the tarot provides those building blocks for your deeply personal practice. My practice began with a study of the structure of tarot and a consultation with the cards. It has transformed over the years into a nourishing practice that supports my personal growth.
This book contains my most useful and magical tips and activities to support you on your own personal growth journey with the tarot. You don’t need to read this book from start to finish, but you may find the first few chapters will help you set the foundation for creating that soul-deep connection with your work. The first four chapters offer the building blocks to create a deeply personal tarot practice. In “A Practice of One’s Own” you’ll review the different ways you can work with the tarot as a practice as well as find helpful prompts to help you define what that practice looks like for you. “From Readings to Rituals” provides tips and techniques to help shift your current readings into an intimate and engaging experience. In “The Magic of Journaling” you’ll find all my best tips for recording, reflecting and reviewing your tarot journey. “Pointers on Practice” offers you some key takeaways to help you foster a personal connection to your work.
The rest of the chapters offer a variety of practices and exercises to help you expand your readings and deepen your work with the cards. The practices focus on personal growth themes ranging from self-care to shadow work and include spreads, exercises, and prompts to go deeper with your work. There are four main exercises for each practice, each containing a focus question, dedicated spread, and reflection activity. While you may choose to work through the practices in the order in which they appear here, you can also jump into any practice at any time, allowing you the freedom to work with any energy or theme you feel called to in the moment. You can also engage with any of the practices more than once. In fact, this can be an interesting way to track longterm growth and development. By repeating the same practice at the same time each year and journaling about those experiences, you can see where things are changing, shifting, or stagnating for you. The practices include the following:
Rooting into Practice: In this practice you will work on cultivating a consistent routine that supports your goals and sets the intention for your work with the tarot.
Bloom Where You Are Planted: In this practice you’ll look at where you are in your journey and what can support you moving forward.
Slow Growing: In this practice you will explore what slow growing actually means and how you can engage with it to help you cultivate a life and practice with purpose.
Walking Your Path: In this practice you’ll dive into your sacred purpose, finding support and direction to align your work with the path you want to walk.
Whole-Self Care: In this practice your focus will be on self-care as an act of self-love through clearing the mind, supporting the body, nurturing the heart, and connecting to the soul.
Ebb and Flow: In this practice you will examine how to move with the changes of everyday life rather than struggle against them.
Reigniting Fire: In this practice you will work to reignite your personal power and share your inner fire in a healthy and productive way.
Conversing with Guides: In this practice you’ll explore how to engage with subtle energies that have the potential to aid you on your journey.
The Blank Spaces: In this practice you’ll explore what you want to manifest in the blank space of your life and share with the world.
Light in the Shadow: In this practice you’ll explore what “shadow work” means to you and how you can engage with it to foster growth.
Sitting in Spirit: In this practice you’ll acknowledge the progress you’ve made and prepare for whatever still lies ahead.
Accessing the Inner Temple: In this practice you’ll work with gateways and visualizations to commune with the places of power within your sacred space.
Cosmic Awareness: In this practice you’ll actively engage with universal energies to expand your awareness and sense of purpose.
Manifesting with the Moon: In this practice you’ll work in alignment with the moon phases to create intention, focus, and fruition to your work.
Ghost Stories: In this practice you’ll engage with narrative, imagination, and cooperative storytelling to explore the unacknowledged aspect of self.
Shenanigans: In this practice you’ll be encouraged to set aside the serious and invite a little levity into your practice.
Endings and Beginnings: In this practice you’ll explore the energies of endings and beginnings to discover what you should carry with you as you continue your work.
Together, these guided practices will take you on a journey of growth, transformation, and insight with the tarot.
Why You Should Absolutely Read Tarot for Yourself
To say one is a “tarot reader” often comes with the implication that tarot cards are read for others, an idea so deeply ingrained into our community that I’ve adopted the habit of qualifying my work with “I don’t read the cards professionally.” Does that mean that I am not a skilled practitioner? That I don’t work professionally with the tarot? That I can’t read the cards for others? Not at all. What it does is distinguish my personal practice of reading tarot as being self-focused rather than service-driven.
Most people who are coming to the cards in the comfort of their own home are self-focused readers. These readers use the cards to aid in navigating their individual lives. While they may occasionally pull cards for friends and family, these readers don’t make a living reading the cards for others. But this wasn’t always the case. While there were certainly individuals out there reading the cards who had never heard of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, most of our historical texts come from this lineage. And while it was not expressly forbidden to read for yourself, it was often discouraged. This undercurrent can
still be felt today with some modern tarot books still focusing solely on reading for a querent. We are just now starting to see a shift in resources, teachings, and discussion around reading tarot exclusively for oneself. While the skill set is similar to reading for others, the intention is wholly different.
Tarot as a personal practice is an intimate experience. When you lay down cards and examine the messages within, you are opening up the pathways to your inner psyche. Your inner voice is allowed to awaken and speak up. You strip away the constant chatter of ego, the white noise of society, and expose the naked self beneath. You have the power to connect with your inner voice. Some people may experience this as a thought-voice inside their head or an intuitive feeling that resonates from within. Others experience it as the higher self or the ancient wisdom passed down through the connected consciousness of the universe. However you experience it, it dwells within you, waiting patiently for you to sit up and listen. But the language of our inner being can be difficult to understand. It is a language without words, a language of symbols, visions, and dreams. It comes to us by calling our attention to something outside of us or drawing us deeper to something within. Interpreting that inner language can be challenging, even confusing, at times. The pictorial language of the tarot can help bridge that gap between you and your inner voice. It is a tool, like a map or a compass, to help you understand your inner guidance system and amplify the deep-seated knowing inside you.
Modern tarot is often approached as a philosophical and psychological system. The twenty-two cards of the major arcana, often referred to as the Fool’s Journey, represent the path to spiritual awareness and the stages we experience along the way. The remaining fifty-six cards of the minor arcana represent the practical side of life and the aspects of day-to-day living. Together, the complete seventy-eight-card deck represents the whole of the human experience. The journey through the tarot is the exploration of life expressed in the universal language of symbols, some of which transform with the changing times while others remain true to their original intent. As symbols are the language of the subconscious, tarot activates the intuitive mind. This is one of the prevailing reasons why tarot has been used for “psychic” divination since the eighteenth century. However, divination is not the only approach to using tarot. When used for personal readings, tarot becomes a powerful tool for selfdiscovery and inner guidance. By tapping into your subconscious mind, which
speaks to you through the language of symbols, tarot becomes a dynamic tool for personal growth, self-awareness, and transformation. The cards become the vocabulary of the inner self, and through your own interpretations and your understanding of the universal symbols, you can translate that into a conversation with Self. To put it another way: Tarot is like the mirror of the soul. When you read or interpret the cards, you tap into the hidden knowledge and the fundamental wisdom of your higher self. Reading tarot for yourself is asking the part of you that already knows the answer.
But if tarot is such a powerful tool for personal growth and development, why do some still discourage us from reading for ourselves? The most common concern seems to stem from the question of objectivity. Can you remain objective when reading tarot for yourself? It can be easy to twist your interpretations into the message you want to hear; you may let your desires, fears, and even limiting beliefs skew your interpretations. Because you are personally invested in the outcome, you may see things as you wish them to be rather than as they are.
But to play the devil’s advocate for a moment: What would be the point of reading tarot if you’re not going to be honest with yourself? The key, then, to reading tarot for yourself is to first be honest in your intentions and then to trust your own intuition. You already have the answers inside of you. Whether you choose to see them or not has nothing to do with the cards themselves and everything to do with your intentions. If you approach a reading with the intent to receive a certain answer, you will twist the interpretations to suit the message you want to hear. But if you approach a reading with the intent of receiving the message you were meant to hear, that message, whether facilitated by yourself or someone else, will ring true with your authentic self.
It all comes down to being honest with yourself. If you allow your soul to speak and your inner voice to guide you, tarot can become not just a consultation with the cards, but a sacred conversation with your inner self. Through the symbolic language of the tarot, you allow your soul to speak. Your intuition guides the reading, translating the wisdom of your authentic self into a deeply personal and transformative experience. That soul-deep level of connection only happens when you read tarot for yourself.
Chapter 1 A Practice of One’s Own
People often talk about their tarot practice in terms of methods and traditions that can include any manner of processes from the type of cards they read to the spreads they use. Some consider having a tarot practice to simply mean making a commitment to incorporate tarot into their lives. For others it is a sacred ritual or spiritual communion. And to still others it encompasses their business of reading for others. But what exactly does it mean to make something a practice?
Practice is approaching something deliberately with the intention to improve and grow. Anything you value can be a practice. You can have a meditation practice, a parenting practice, a writing practice, even a legal or medical practice. Any activity can become a practice when it shifts from something you are doing to a way of being. Practice is the process of becoming. It is through practice that you fully step into a way of being that resonates with who you are.
As a tarot reader you can shift tarot from something you do to a part of becoming who you are. Through your readings you can practice opening up the pathways to your higher wisdom, examine the messages within, and begin the courageous work of stepping into your authentic self. Reading the cards means making a commitment and a promise to grow with tarot. It is understanding that the tarot is more than just a tool; it is a practice that helps you to become. So how exactly does the practice of tarot help you to become? Tarot is many personal practices all rolled into one. Each brings you closer and closer to becoming the most authentic version of yourself. In this chapter you’ll discover all the different ways in which you can approach tarot as a personal practice. Then you’ll begin to set the foundation for creating a deeply personal practice of your own.
Tarot Is a Personal Growth Practice
Your intuition is the guiding voice of your inner self. It is always there, nudging you toward the path that resonates with who you are. Reading tarot offers you a meditative space to explore the inner messages you spend so much time ignoring. Like a map or a compass, the practice of tarot can help you understand your inner guidance system so that you can learn and grow. Setting your intention to grow with tarot creates the foundation of your personal practice.
Tarot Is a Self-Care Practice
Reading tarot for yourself allows you to make you a priority. It creates an open and honest dialogue with your inner being. When you practice tarot you are saying: I am making a commitment to myself, for myself. When you practice selfcare in any form, you honor your own worth. Setting your intention to nurture self-care with the tarot creates space in your heart for a loving personal practice.
Tarot Is a Mindfulness Practice
Mindfulness helps you build a new relationship with yourself. It helps you stop surrendering to the constant and often negative chatter in your brain and embrace the now. Mindfulness is about being aware of and in tune with the present moment. Your readings can help you quiet the mind and shift awareness from the world outside to the world within. Setting your intention to be mindful with the tarot focuses your mind so that you can tune in to your personal practice.
Tarot Is a Spiritual Practice
A spiritual practice is establishing and nourishing a relationship with the Divine. The ego (in some religious traditions personified as sin) separates us from the Divine Being, oneness, or higher self. It is the reunification of your lower or earthly self with that which is divine and sacred to you. It is important to note that spiritual does not necessarily mean religious. You can be spiritual without having a religious affiliation. The intuitive nature of tarot allows you to receive higher messages and reconnect with Self and the Divine. Setting your intention to embrace the sacred with the tarot brings a universal connection to your personal practice.
One day of working on yourself can feel insignificant, but the sum total of those days can lead to amazing changes. This is what makes practice so powerful, what shifts tarot from something you do to a way of being. It makes space for you to show up and deeply engage with your inner self to cultivate your authentic life. Setting your intention to practice personal growth, self-care, and mindfulness with tarot reminds all the parts of you that you matter. You are worth showing up for. You are worth the practice. You are worth becoming.
The Foundation of Your Practice
So how can you make tarot a part of your daily life? Chances are you already have more of a tarot practice than you realize. Take some time to discover some of the ways you might already be incorporating tarot into your life. Grab a notebook and use the following journaling prompts to help you lay the groundwork for your own tarot practice. While you may be tempted to skip over this section, I encourage you to give it some time and attention. What you discover here will create the foundation for your tarot practice. It will be an important first step in crafting your personal practice, as well as the gauge by which you can measure your progress and hone your process.
Prompt 1: Why do you read tarot?
Why do you read tarot? No, really, have you ever stopped to think about it? Why did you start reading tarot in the first place? Do those reasons still apply today? How are they the same? How are they different? What has changed between then and now? The first building block in your tarot practice is to examine your foundational “why.”
Prompt 2: How do you read tarot?
What kind of a reader are you? Do you hold with tradition and associate the cards with their universal meanings or have you developed your own way of reading? How do you approach the system of tarot? In what ways does this system align with your personal beliefs? In what ways does it differ? How would you describe your reading style? The second building block in your tarot practice is to examine how you work with the cards.
Prompt 3: What is your reading process?
How do you go about your readings? Do you do particular readings at certain times or use a special deck? Do you have certain spreads that you use for certain questions? Do you have any special rituals you perform when you do your readings? The third building block in your tarot practice is to examine how you approach your readings.
Prompt 4: What are your tarot goals?
Think about where your practice began and what it looks like today. What area of tarot do you most struggle with today? What are some challenges you’ve already had to overcome? What are some of the things you’d like to try in the future? The fourth building block in your tarot practice is to examine how you want to proceed with your practice.
Take a look back at what you wrote. Every answer is already a part of your personal tarot practice. You uncovered where the tarot is already punctuating your life, so now let’s work to craft those moments into something that fits your authentic self.
