Tracking your tarot cards
/Whether you have been reading tarot for years or if you've just recently picked up your first deck, tracking your tarot pulls is an extremely powerful way of deepening your relationship with the cards.
Once you start reading tarot regularly, you will probably notice that the same cards keep coming up for you, over and over again. Experienced readers can tell you that repeating cards are a thing in tarot. Sometimes we can be "haunted" by the same card for days, weeks, and months.
What do repeating cards mean and why does it matter?
I see repeating cards as gifts from the universe — little nudges that help draw attention to certain themes or energies. They are like little arrows saying "Look at me! I have a lesson for you!" They are invitations into relationships. When cards visit us repeatedly, it's because there is something in us that is expressing itself through those symbols and archetypes.
Seeing how the cards you pull change over time is incredibly powerful. You can track your cycles over long periods of time — from never pulling the 3 of Wands to actively engaging with it years later, we are able to see how we have grown and changed through the process of reflection.
But the fact is, tracking your tarot pulls can be a really annoying and arduous process. It takes a lot of energy to remember to write down all the cards you pulled and keep track of what you pulled when. Especially if you want to see exactly how many of each card you pulled.
My first tarot card logs were made by hand. And it took forever.
Here's an example from early in my practice, right when I was first starting to get serious about learning tarot and astrology. This spread includes all the cards I pulled from February to August of 2018. Immediately the trends from those 6 months become clear: look at how many times I drew the Fool and the 9 of Pentacles!
This was a time where I was finding my footing in my career in non-profit communications. I started 2018 as a freelancer, teaching a college class I was definitely under-qualified for, and trying to make ends meet as a comms strategist and digital marketing expert. It was also during this time that I applied for the job at the NGO I would go on to work for the next three years.
But notice what cards I didn’t pull — not one 3 of Wands in 6 months!!! In my first year of reading tarot regularly, I barely pulled any Wands at all. Noticing what cards you aren't pulling is just as powerful as knowing which cards you pull regularly. It gives you information about what energies aren't present for you and helps you identify what elements might be missing from your life.
Using pre-made tarot tracking templates saves a lot of time and energy, which helps you maintain your tarot practice.
When I first started tracking my cards, I was happy to do it all by hand. I was memorizing the names and it felt like each time I wrote them down, I was getting to know the cards more and more.
But over time, as I got more and more comfortable the cards, I started getting frustrated. Because the thing about doing all of this by hand is that it kind of sucks. It takes a really long time, and leaves your hands cramping. And really, who has THAT much time to devote to their practice?!
Tools to help you track tarot card
That's why, when Erin Alise of the Hollow Valley and I teamed up to create a series of witchy organizational and journaling supplies, I knew we had to have a series of tarot trackers. Not just one big one for the whole year, but trackers that can also accommodate daily, weekly and monthly tracking, to make it even easier to track your pulls.
Daily tarot card trackers
The daily tarot pull is a cornerstone of any tarot practice. By sitting with your cards (most) every day, you hone your intuitive muscles and get more and more comfortable settling into the "zone" to receive messages from your guides.
Daily tarot pulls are also a great way to come across repeating cards. As Sheila Masterson shared in her podcast episode about repeating cards, when you ask the same question over and over again, you shouldn't be surprised when you get the same answer!
I love asking the same question over again for my daily practice for this exact reason — so I can find out what my repeating cards are! I like to ask questions like, "What am I being invited to notice today" and "What message does spirit have for me today" because they help give me a general sense of what to expect from the day ahead, but also are vague enough that I don't need to overthink it.
I love this sticker because it has a place for the card you pull AND an area to add any observations and reflections about how the cards come up. MUCH easier than my current system, which involves doing it all by hand! I'm so excited for my stickers to arrive so that I can stop using my hand-written method!
Weekly card tarot trackers
These stickers are a stroke of genius if I do say so myself. Making notes and reflecting on your daily card pull is very important, of course — especially if you are new to tarot, that's the best way to familiarize yourself with the cards and start to internalize your definitions for them.
But we live busy lives and sometimes, just sitting down for a quick prayer and a card pull is all I have in me.
The Weekly Tarot tracker is a great way to keep all of your daily cards pulls organized. You can always leave some room to the side to journal about the types of cards that showed up for you that week and what they mean. Or you can just make a note and carry on!
I mainly use weekly trackers in my personal bullet journal, because I really like to have an overview of my appointments and meetings during the week. And adding this sticker to my weekly spread is going to be amazing because it means I won't have to create an entirely separate spread for the weekly tarot tracker! It's going to save me a LOT of time and energy in the long run.
Monthly tarot card trackers
And then there's the masterpiece of the collection: tarot tracking notepads. Erin took my original designs for the monthly tarot tracker and added her iconic visual aesthetic to them. Measuring 6 in x 4.25 in, these papers will easily fit into most standard-size notebooks, so you can store them in your journals for safe-keeping.
You can do what I do, which is keep track of all the cards that showed up in the spreads you did during the month (and your daily/weekly card pulls) in your journal and then do a monthly "dump" of all the cards into this tracker.
Or you can simply make note of each card you pull as it comes up on the notepad as you go. Or some kind of another way that I haven't thought of yet!
Tracking tarot cards only gets more and more powerful over time.
Here are all the cards I pulled in 2019. I love that I can look back on all the cards I pulled in an entire year. It's like a snapshot of the energetic imprint of that year. I could see really significant trends: lots of Wheel of Fortune and the World, as I became more and more confident in my tarot and astrology skills.
But I’m also struck by how much more I pulled the 10 of Cups, as opposed to, say, the 8 or 9 of Wands — to me, this speaks to the fact that many of my relationships were undergoing significant shifts, as certain friendships deepened and others fell apart.
Seeing all the cards you pulled in one year is a deeply powerful experience.
There is no right way to track your tarot cards. Your practice can grow and change.
Tracking tarot pulls remains one of the most important parts of my practice. It's truly incredible to review all the cards I have pulled over the years, especially when I was new to tarot. It's like looking at a snapshot of my past self, and it makes me so proud to reflect on how much I've grown and changed since that time.
I know firsthand how profoundly transformative tracking your cards can be. It can help you stay motivated to stick with your daily practice. It helps give you insight into the energy in your life that you can’t get with a simple spread for the present moment. It’s a chance to see yourself in the processing of becoming.
These tools are available for purchase — but supplies are limited! Let us know which layouts and styles you like, and we'll be sure to make more of them. Plus, if you have any suggestions for new spreads or layouts, we want to hear from you! Let me know in the comments below.