One-Word Tarot: An Easy Way to Keeping it Simple

One word tarot - It’s exactly what it sounds like: You pull a card... and describe it using just one word.

Every now and then, I come across a tarot technique that’s so simple, I almost overlook it – but once I try it, it clicks in a powerful way. This is one of those.

I call it a One-Word Reading.

It’s exactly what it sounds like: You pull a card… and describe it using just one word.

That’s it.

But here’s the thing – one word can open up a whole new layer of insight. It takes you out of your head and taps straight into your intuition. No need for guidebooks, no overthinking, and definitely no pressure to “get it right.” It’s all about being present, feeling it, and trusting what comes up.

Why Give This a Go?

This simple practice can work wonders in a few situations, like when:

  • Your mind’s feeling cluttered or you’re just overwhelmed.
  • You want to get back in touch with your intuition.
  • You keep pulling the same card and need a new perspective.
  • You want to ease into a full reading without diving straight in.

It’s also a great journaling prompt or quick emotional check-in – a way to tap into what’s really going on beneath the surface.

How to Do a One-Word Reading

  1. Shuffle your deck and pull a card.
  2. Take a moment to look at the imagery.
  3. Say (or write down) the first word that comes to mind.
  4. Let that word sit with you. You can reflect on it if you want – but don’t feel pressured to.

The word could be:

  • A mood (peace, longing, joy)
  • A trait (strength, clarity, freedom)
  • A visual or symbol (sunrise, path, bridge)
  • Or something metaphysical or conceptual (shift, flow, awakening)

The point is to say the first word that comes to your mind.

A Few One-Word Examples

  • The TowerUpheaval.
    A sudden shake-up that clears the ground for something new.
  • 7 of PentaclesPatience.
    Growth takes time – pause and trust the process.
  • 3 of CupsCelebration.
    Joy shared is joy amplified; honor connection and good times.
  • Queen of SwordsIntelligent.
    Lead with wisdom, clarity, and good judgement.
  • The MoonSubconscious.
    Explore what’s hidden beneath the surface of your awareness.

Want to Go Deeper? Try a Three-Card One-Word Story

This is a great variation when you want to explore a situation from multiple angles. Just draw three cards, assign a word to each, and then read them in sequence like a mini-story or emotional journey.

Example 1:
2 of Cups – The Devil – 6 of Swords
Connection – Entrapment – Leaving
What begins as a bond can become an unhealthy attachment, but ultimately it leads to a necessary exit.

Example 2:
8 of Wands – Page of Swords – Strength
Movement – Ideas – Control
Things are moving fast, harness your inner strength to navigate the new ideas coming your way.

Flip the Process Around: Start With a Word

Start with a word that’s been on auto-play in your mind – something you’ve been feeling or thinking about – and then draw a card. Ask yourself: How does the card reflect, deepen, or challenge that word?

This version works beautifully for journaling, group discussions, or quick check-ins during emotionally charged moments.

Final Thoughts

The One-Word Reading might seem almost too simple, but don’t underestimate it. It’s a gentle but powerful way to build your intuitive muscle, cut through mental clutter, and get back in touch with your emotional truth – all in under a minute.

Beltane

Beltane is a fire festival celebrated mid-day April 31st and goes on until midnight on May the 1st.

It is a prime time for love, lust, fertility, abundance, success and revelry. Dancing around a bonfire naked is a classic Beltane move!

Beltane marks the most fertile and energetic time between early spring and mid-summer. Now is a time to consider the “seeds” you are planting for the coming year. It is a time to think about the coming summer and offer blessings and protections.

Earth is coming alive with fertile energy, it is a powerful time to celebrate the fertility deep rooted in all life. Beltane is a time to acknowledge all the pleasures in being alive. It’s the perfect time to breed, plant and create.

Nature is bursting. The birds are building nests, animals are breeding and love is in the air. Beltane honors life and is a celebration of passion and putting your plans into action.

Beltane is a festival of life, love and fertility.

This is the perfect time to set some intentions, breathe into your own magic and remember you have the power to plant, grow and create, just like the earth does.

How to Celebrate Beltane

Beltane is a festival of life, love and fertility. Focus on abundance, your deepest desires, and celebrate the sensuality and fertility of our lives.

Beltane Themed Tarot Spread

  • What seeds are you planting?
  • How can you apply energy to this?
  • How can you nourish this?
  • The potential outcome.
  • Reconnect with Nature. As the world around us bursts into life and color, we are invited to embrace our connection to the rhythms and cycles of this planet.
  • Celebrate your body and honour you sexuality.
  • Have a Bonfire. Fire represents light. It illuminates and purifies. Use fire to protect, transform and release.
  • Gather Flowers and give thanks to Mother Nature for her blessings.
  • Wear a garland of flowers in your hair.
  • Dress in green – The color green symbolizes growth and birth.
  • Take a ritual bath – Add candles, crystals, bath salts, and essential oil to the the water and cleanse away the grime of winter, and be ready to embrace the fertile season.
  • Celebrate with a feast of delicious food.

What ever you choose to do to recognize Beltane will be perfect. This is a time to celebrate the season and bring all of the elements together. Celebrate your sensual side. Get lucky! Be alive and grow.

Beltane blessings to you.

Learn the Suit of Swords

Suit of Swords

The Suit of Swords is associated with action, change, force, power, ambition, courage and conflict.

The Suit of Swords element is Air. Air signs are people born under the astrological sign of Aquarius, Libra and Gemini.

Air represents the intellect and the process of thinking and communicating. It provides originality, versatility, freedom and free-flowing thoughts.

Swords mirror the quality of mind present in your thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs.

When referring to timing in a Tarot reading, the Suit of Swords traditionally represents autumn or weeks.

In a deck of playing cards, Swords corresponds to Spades.

Should a Tarot reading be predominantly Swords cards, you are seeking solutions to what are primarily mental struggles, conflict and arguments, and decisions that must be made.

While Swords can carry with them many negative or very strong, forceful messages, Swords serve also as a warning to be more cautious of what is occurring around you.

Ace of Swords
Two of Swords
Three of Swords
Four of Swords
Five of Swords
Six of Swords
Seven of Swords
Eight of Swords
Nine of Swords
Ten of Swords

Learn the Suit of Wands

Wands deal with what is important to you at the core of your being. They address what makes us tick – our personalities, egos, enthusiasms and personal energy.

The Suit of Wands is representative of the element of Fire.

Fire reflects movement, change and life force. This element projects self-expression, creativity, courage and enthusiasm. Fire also promotes a warm glow within each of us that provides security and inspiration.

Wands have to do with primal energy, spirituality, inspiration, determination, strength, intuition, creativity, ambition and expansion, original thought and the seeds through which life springs forth.

Wands deal with what is important to you at the core of your being. They address what makes us tick – our personalities, egos, enthusiasms and personal energy.

Wands represent the Fire signs of Leo, Sagittarius and Aries. Wands people are energetic, charismatic, warm and spiritual.

The negative aspects of the Suit of Wands include illusion, egotistical behavior, self-importance, impulsiveness, a lack of direction or purpose, or feeling meaningless.

When referring to timing in a Tarot reading, the Suit of Wands traditionally represents spring or days.

In a deck of playing cards, Wands corresponds to Clubs.

Should a Tarot reading be predominantly Wands cards, you can be sure that you are seeking solutions to issues that are based mainly in the realm of thought, or that are in the first stages of development.

You may also be seeking greater purpose and meaning in your life and will want to understand more about what motivates and energizes you.

Ace of Wands
Two of Wands
Three of Wands
Four of Wands
Five of Wands
Six of Wands
Seven of Wands
Eight of Wands
Nine of Wands
Ten of Wands

Learn the Suit of Pentacles

The Suit of Pentacles is representative of the element of Earth.

Earth covers the material things of life, including work, business, trade, property, money and other material possessions. Earth also indicates grounding and stability.

The positive aspects of the Suit of Pentacles include manifestation, realization, proof and prosperity.

This Suit represents the practical, realistic and material side of human nature, bringing with it a stable, secure and structured environment.

Given the association with Earth, the Suit of Pentacles promote grounding, balance and harmony.

The negative aspects of the Suit of Pentacles include being possessive, greedy, overly materialistic, over-indulging and not exercising, not effectively managing one’s finances, and being overly focused on career to the detriment of other life priorities.

Often what is required to counteract these negative aspects is a return to nature to ground oneself and rediscover what is truly important. In addition, there may be blockages in being able to manifest ideas and plans resulting in a lack of success. Better goal-setting and planning is required.

Pentacles represent the Earth signs of Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn.

Pentacles people are practical, career-minded, down-to-earth and generous. They are connected through the senses and seek pleasurable and sometimes indulgent experiences.

When referring to timing in a Tarot reading, the Suit of Pentacles traditionally represents winter or years.

In a deck of playing cards, Pentacles corresponds to Diamonds.

Should a Tarot reading be predominantly Pentacles cards, you are seeking solutions to what are primarily material conflicts, financial matters and concerns with career and work.

Read More on the Suit of Pentacles
Ace of Pentacles
Two of Pentacles
Three of Pentacles
Four of Pentacles
Five of Pentacles
Six of Pentacles
Seven of Pentacles
Eight of Pentacles
Nine of Pentacles
Ten of Pentacles

Learn The Suit of Cups

Should a Tarot reading be predominantly Cups cards, you are seeking solutions to what are primarily emotional conflicts, love matters and feelings.

The Suit of Cups is representative of the element of Water.

Water represents the subconscious, psychic awareness, intuitive feelings and the emotional realm.

Cups deal with the emotions and are associated with love, feelings, relationships and connections.

The Cups Tarot cards indicate that you are thinking with your heart rather than your head, and reflect your spontaneous responses and your habitual reactions to situations. Cups are also linked to creativity, romanticism, fantasy and imagination.

The people represented by the Suit of Cups are emotional, artistic, humane and creative. They are connected with their emotional selves and will draw energy from what they feel within. They are said to correspond to the water signs in the zodiac Pisces, Cancer, and Scorpio.

For timing, the Suit of Cups traditionally represents summer or the number of months. For example, the Three of Cups could represent either summer or a period of three months.

If using an ordinary deck of playing cards, Cups correspond to the Suit of Hearts.

The negative aspects of the Suit of Cups include being overly emotional or completely disengaged and dispassionate, having unrealistic expectations and fantasizing about what could be. There may be repressed emotions, an inability to truly express oneself and a lack of creativity.

To help you learn more about any Tarot card, here are some links.
Ace of Cups
Two of Cups
Three of Cups
Four of Cups
Five of Cups
Six of Cups
Seven of Cups
Eight of Cups
Nine of Cups
Ten of Cups

Tarot Myths

This is for those of you sitting on the fence, wondering what tarot really is and what might you experience if you got a reading.

The very word “tarot” is suggestive and it conjures up images of psychics or fortune tellers seen behind a velvet curtain in the back room through clouds of incense smoke and crystal balls or secret ceremonies conducted by moonlight.

Maybe you think of something you saw in a movie like Whoopie Goldberg in “Ghost” saying “You in danger girl”, or like when Lisa Simpson goes to the tarot card reader and receives messages that are vague and mysterious.

If you were to ask anyone on the street about Tarot, and what do they think about Tarot, you’d probably hear all kinds of things. Like “Oh that’s the thing that tells you your future?” Or “tarot scares me. It’s just going to tell me something bad,” or, “I don’t want to know what’s going to happen to me. I don’t want anyone reading my mind” Or, even worse, you might get people who are saying, “Tarot is evil,” or, “That’s the Devil’s work.”

And that’s really sad because a lot of these perceptions of what Tarot is, are actually quite incorrect; or are not in full alignment with what the potential of Tarot really is.

Tarot really works, in a way that’s constructive, enlightening, and empowering. It’s actually a tool to connect with your inner wisdom.

We all have intuition within us, it’s just a matter of opening up our minds and allowing us to really receive more of those intuitive messages, and to give time and space to our intuition.

Tarot isn’t about predicting your future soulmate’s name or the winning lottery numbers.

Tarot helps you define your direction while getting clarity about your situation and the steps required to create your best future.

The Tarot reveals what’s really happening below the surface of events around us. It is a visual medium; those of you who love pictures, art, music, design – anything picture related – can appreciate all the rich colors, symbols, numbers, and archetypes present in the Tarot cards.

You don’t need any special powers to read tarot cards. You don’t need to come from a magical background or have grown up in a forest talking to spirits.

I believe that everyone has the capacity to open themselves up to their intuition and read people in their own way.

Tarot cards have no evil powers. Tarot cards are not a genie in a lamp or a fairy Godmother. And definitely not a magician.

Tarot cards are powerful, no doubt, but they certainly don’t have the powers to summon any spirit that will fulfill your wishes, or change your destiny.

We all have free will. Tarot doesn’t create your future, you create your future.

Tarot is more about tapping into your intuition than it is about having to be connected to a psychic ability of some sort.

How you connect with your intuition matters. Tarot is one way of accessing your inner wisdom and receiving guidance to make aligned choices in your life.

Basically, Tarot can give you that deep insight into any part of your life. It’s a tool that helps you listen to and trust your intuition.

To learn more about tarot or to book a reading. Just reach out. Contact LisaTarot today.

New Moon Manifestation

The new moon symbolizes a blank slate. This is the perfect time to set intentions. What do you want to manifest? Take a moment to visualize your goals clearly, write them down, or create a vision board. The key here is focus—plant the seed of your desires and trust the process.

The New Moon is a great time to check in with yourself and take stock of what changes you’d like to make.

It is a time of new beginnings.

The New Moon is a great time to check in with yourself and take stock of what changes you’d like to make. It is a time of new beginnings.

Embrace new projects, ideas, plans, thoughts, relationships and the changes you wish to invite into your life.

The New Moon is a moment to conjure what seems out of reach, and creating the vision is the first step to making it a reality.

It is believed that as the moon grows, that your intention or goal will grow too.

Time to reconnect with your spirit, your source energy. Plant the seed of what you want to grow in your life.

Making a wish, setting an intention, a promise, or a vow is a common custom.

Let your imagination run wild and dream big. Tap into your intuition and set your intentions to bring your visions to life.

Feel the power within you growing. Trust yourself and follow your instincts knowing that you are doing important work.

Bless the new opportunities and new beginnings that are available to you now. Harness this powerful new energy.

The new moon offers you a chance to reflect, clarify your big-picture visions, and bolster your self-awareness as well as your faith in yourself.

Ask yourself this.
What new seeds are beginning to sprout?
How can I nurture these new opportunities?

Contact LisaTarot

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ACE OF SWORDS

ACE OF SWORDS - It’s a time to put action into place. A new way of thinking will allow you to view the world with clear eyes. It says your mind is in opening up.

Keywords: Breakthroughs, new ideas, mental clarity, success, concentration, vision, force, focus, truth.
It’s a time to put action into place. A new way of thinking will allow you to view the world with clear eyes. It says your mind is opening up. Be open and eager to learn something new. When the Ace of Swords appears in a Tarot reading, it tells you that now is an excellent time to start a new project – one that requires your intellect, communication skills and mental power. See this card as a sign of encouragement. You may feel inspired to get involved in activities that require more brainpower than usual.
As an Ace, you are at the beginning of the journey, but you can sense the energy building up and can’t wait to get started. If you channel this energy into the right moves, then you will succeed in your endeavors. Just remember that the road ahead may be bumpy and you can expect challenges along the way. Maintain a success mindset, and you will navigate these hurdles with ease.
This card represents that moment you see the world from a new point of view, as a place that is filled with nothing but new possibilities. It is, therefore, the best time to work on your goals – as the aces all give green lights, and are signals of waiting opportunities and new beginnings.

UprightClarity, sound decision making, a breakthrough, opportunities, new ideas, success, concentration
ReversedUnproductive, irrational, destruction, missed opportunities
Yes or NoYes
ElementAir