Tarot Technique: DIY Unique Keywords *NEW*

Inspired by the Keyword Kaleidoscope technique taught by Tali from Tarot Town in her Lenormand Course, I took this one step further and accidentally discovered a really easy way to uncover unique keywords and meanings for any card in tarot, without fail; including reversal-meanings. It immediately cuts to the chase both ways; that is to say, in no time at all you can create your own positive and negative traits for any tarot card.

We begin with two simple triangles to form a grid, placing one on-top of the other to form a six-pointed star. The grid positions are marked in the illustration that follows:

In positions 1,2 & 3 write down existing keywords that apply to the card you are working on, these can be found in most tarot books and deck LWB’s. In my example I am focussing on The Fool card. The commonly-accepted keywords that I have decided to use in these positions are:

1. Excited

2. Trusting

3. Care-free

Next, in positions A,B & C we are going to create a new keyword by merging existing keywords together. In position ‘A’ link keywords 1 & 2 to create a whole new keyword, one that it ‘born’ as it were from combining the essence of these two keywords.

After thinking about it for a few seconds the word that I came up with by merging ‘excited’ and ‘trusting’ was ‘anticipate.’  It is not difficult to see how ‘anticipate’ easily fits with the energy of ‘excited’ and ‘trusting.’ I write this new word in position ‘A’ on my grid.

Now, do the same for position ‘C’ combining keywords 1 & 3. In my example the new word created from merging ‘excited’ with ‘care-free’ was ‘child.’ Once more, do the same for position ‘B’ on the grid by combining keywords 2 & 3 to form a new keyword that reflects the essence of these two original keywords. In my example the new word born from merging ‘trusting’ and ‘care-free’ is ‘allow.’ Play with it, there are no ‘wrong’ answers, whatever your subconscious mind links by merging two keywords together is what works, for you!

A: Anticipate

B: Child

C: Allow

We now have 3 new keywords using Tali’s Kaleidoscope technique, but now we are going to take it one step further to discover shadow keywords that will be useful in reverse-card readings too. These we’ll slot into positions AB, AC and BC.

Using the same technique I consider keywords ‘A’ and ‘B’ to create a new keyword born from merging the two, but this time I allow myself to dwell for a moment on a negative possibility. The first thing that comes to mind when a child waits in anticipation of something that does not come is ‘disappoint.’  This then becomes my ‘shadow’ keyword in position ‘AB’ on the grid. Considering keywords ‘A’ and ‘C’ I decide on ‘relinquish control’ as a shadow meaning, derived at by contemplating a negative effect of ‘anticipate’ and ‘allow.‘ Finally for position ‘BC’ on the grid I consider what negative trait could be born from ‘child’ and ‘allow.’ After a few moments I deciding on over indulge as my shadow word.

AB: Disappoint

AC: Relinquish control

BC: Over indulge

This technique is easy to do and can be applied to all tarot cards. Give it a go, you might surprise yourself with the unique keywords that you discover with this method. Share your discoveries in the comments below, we can all benefit from them!