Most people use tarot to ask questions about their life. But there's another way to work with the cards that's equally powerful: using tarot to set and focus your intentions. Instead of asking "What's going to happen?" you choose the energy you want to embody and let the card guide you toward it.
What Is Intention Setting with Tarot?
Intention setting is the practice of consciously choosing what energy, quality, or outcome you want to bring into your life. When you combine this with tarot, you either:
- Choose a card deliberately that represents the energy you want to embody
- Pull a card for guidance on what intention to set right now
Both approaches work. The first gives you control. The second lets the cards surprise you with what you need.
Method 1: Choosing Your Intention Card
Spread your deck face-up and deliberately select a card that represents what you want to call in:
- The Empress for abundance, creativity, and self-care
- The Star for hope, healing, and renewed faith
- Ace of Pentacles for new financial opportunities
- Two of Cups for deepening a love connection
- The Chariot for determination and overcoming obstacles
- Strength for inner courage and patience
- Nine of Pentacles for financial independence
- The Sun for joy, vitality, and success
Place this card somewhere visible: your desk, nightstand, or altar. Let it be a daily visual anchor for your intention.
Method 2: Pulling an Intention Card
Shuffle your deck while asking: "What energy should I focus on this week/month?" Pull one card. This is the universe's suggestion for where your attention should go.
The beauty of this method is that it often directs you toward intentions you wouldn't have chosen yourself. You might want abundance but pull The Hermit, suggesting that solitude and introspection are what you actually need right now.
A Weekly Intention Ritual
- Sunday evening: Pull one card as your intention for the week
- Write it down: "This week, I embody the energy of [card name]"
- Each morning: Spend 30 seconds looking at the card and connecting with its energy
- Each evening: Journal one moment from the day where you noticed this energy at play
- End of week: Reflect on how the card's energy showed up and what you learned
New Moon Intention Setting
The new moon is traditionally the best time for setting new intentions (while the full moon is for release). Try this new moon spread:
- Card 1: What energy is available to me this lunar cycle?
- Card 2: What intention should I set?
- Card 3: What action supports this intention?
Tips for Effective Intention Setting
- Be specific. "I intend to embody the Empress's self-care energy by resting without guilt" is more powerful than "I intend abundance"
- Phrase positively. Focus on what you're calling in, not what you're avoiding
- Let go of control. Set the intention, then release attachment to how it manifests
- Take aligned action. Intention without action is just a wish. The cards show you the energy; you have to live it
Tarot as an intention-setting tool shifts your relationship with the cards from passive prediction to active co-creation. You're not waiting to see what happens. You're choosing what energy you want to meet life with. That's a fundamentally more empowering way to work with the cards.