Bastian Riccardi

6 Signs You’re Being Called Towards A Life Change (According To Tarot)

The power of tarot is how it calls on us to understand how we are feeling about the situations we are facing at any given moment.

While a powerful divinatory tool, it’s also a powerful revelatory tool. There are times when tarot will use that revelatory power to tell us something uncomfortable. If you talk with tarot workers, they’ll tell you that cards ‘chase’ people until the lesson is learned, or in their personal work with their decks that messages have a way of jumping out (sometimes literally if you’re working with a physical deck!). Tarot has a way of trying to grab our attention, and if tarot wants to call you out on your behavior – or alert you to when you’re your own anti-hero.

When a tarot reading is looking to call you out in the hopes of grabbing your attention, it usually does so in a few ways, but it’s important to remember that not every appearance of these cards is a callout, but they should all cause you to pause and give the meaning of the card deeper consideration.

The Appearance Of Three Key Cards

Eight of Swords

In the traditional deck illustrated by Pamela-Coleman Smith, the Eight of Swords could not be a better representation of feeling trapped and victimized, which is the exact traditional meaning, and the illustration is great for showing someone who doesn’t feel that they are able to move, or even see. But the card contains other interesting details to consider.

Modern tarot readers have embraced the idea of the information being incomplete for this victim. That they IS able to continue to move forward and it’s their perception that is off. That there are more options that they have, but they aren’t being considered – and that the blindfold isn’t as blinding as it seems. 

When the Eight of Swords appears it’s a strong sign that you should reevaluate your situation, and make sure that it’s not YOU that is sabotaging yourself. Are there options that you refuse to consider? Are you listening too much to your inner self-critic and not aiming high enough? Is there a truth that you just aren’t able to sit with right now?

The Devil

The Devil really gets a bad reputation. It is a card that represents challenges, of course – very potent challenges. I’ve seen it come to represent everything from the common interpretation of addiction to a less common reading where it meant empowerment and liberation. The Devil is about something that may is contrary to your interests and is something that constricts you. But The Devil also has a lot to say about our shadow selves– those parts of our selves that we hide. The Devil also has just as many lessons to teach about fear and ignorance as it does about lust and excess. 

When The Devil appears, it may be calling you out on the fact that something you see as ‘just a little bit of fun’ or a little gift to yourself is getting out of hand. It’s turning obsessive, or may be turning into something addictive. The Devil is often there to ask you what chains you have put on yourself.

Judgement Reversed

The Judgement card is tied in with the Christian teachings about the Last Judgement (in fact it is called exactly that in some decks). Judgement is not a card that is just about weighing yourself and finding yourself worthy – but more profoundly it is one that is about a calling to the spirit. In the teachings of some Protestant religions in particular, the Last Judgement happens when the souls of Christian dead are called from their graves to ‘come home’ in order to be judged. In the divination and tarot sense, this card is meant to represent that calling – the calling that would bring out your highest self – your very essence. 

When reversed, this card can indicate that you are having an issue with acting in the interests of your highest self. It can represent a rejection of the call towards a more authentic life. It asks you to consider why you are rejecting that call. It challenges to think about how you really want to be, how you want people to see you. And it calls you out for not acting in a way that represents your highest, and best, self. 

A ‘Significator’ Card that Represents You

Think of a significator card as a ‘name’ the tarot gives you. Some are selected for a single reading and placed in a particular spot for interpretation, but there are others that represent you longer term. When tarot wants to get your attention – and maybe call you out – it might use one of these significator cards to do it. 

Major Arcana Significator 

One of the readings I enjoy doing for people is helping them to determine their major arcana significator. There are several methods you can use to find this card. The first step will be to pull the major arcana cards from a deck. From there you can shuffle and then select the card using a method you choose. I’ve heard that some tarot readers lay out the Major Arcana face up so that the querant could select the card that represents them the best based on the artwork. Other tarot readers use 

Significator Card By Astrological Sign

You can select a major arcana significator based on your astrological sign as well! Tarot may be calling you out by using a Significator tied to your Astrological sign as well! 

Your Birth Card

There’s a great article about finding your birth card – once you find it and know it, you may notice it showing up in your readings. When it does – it may be tarot calling your attention to something (or calling you out on something you’re doing – or not doing!).

A High-Resonance Card For You

There are a lot of ways to find cards that represent people in the tarot deck. There are traditions around the Court Cards, there are ways to tie the minor arcana to particular astrological decans. But, most importantly, if there is a card that has high resonance with you and it appears in a reading – take notice. Tarot is ultimately a tool for us to notice the signs that surround us and to help us interpret and process our world. So if a card’s art speaks to you, then that is tarot communicating with you. It’s important you take notice, as it’s another form of tarot calling you by name.