The individual who is unable to control his mind will be its victim. — Manly P. Hall

Honestly, I’m pretty tired of the “10 Things to Ask Your Tarot Cards Before You Pee in the Morning” type of posts.

I realize I’m in the minority, because you’re supposed to ask Tarot questions—right?

But are we? In this age of information and self-actualization, are we really just going to keep “asking” what to do with our lives—from religion or teachers or flavor-of-the-day authors or…Tarot?

“Wait, but how else are you supposed to get answers from Tarot"?”, you may be thinking. “Isn’t that the point of spreads? Of Tarot reading?”

Yeah, if you’re worshipping at the altar of Tarot, I guess—honoring them as a Wise Deity that will comfort you when you’re weary, scold you when you’ve been bad, guide you when you’re confused and be straight with you when you’ve been lied to for the upteenth time.

But isn’t it time that we stop giving agency to people and things outside of ourselves? Asking some god or blogger or deck what our life purposes are—or should be? Inquiring what some nebulous force wants us to “know” or “do” or “be”?

Isn’t that why many of us left formal religions? And yet, we’ve deified a stack of 78 images…

The word “elect” means to choose by voting.

Voting is a conscious act. You (hopefully) evaluate a candidate’s qualities, line them up with your personal values and priorities, then cast a vote. You choose.

You choose.

Contrast the word “elect” with “ask”. Electing is active. Asking is passive. With asking, you’re waiting for someone (or something) else to supply you with answers, presumably to provide you with a choice to follow.

With electing, you have already determined what it is that you want to experience or feel—and you choose your candidate (or cards) accordingly.

In fact, in 2008, my first book The Back in Time Tarot Book outlined how anyone can learn the Tarot just from matching up components of their personal memories, fairy tales, movies, songs, overheard conversations, historical events etc.—consciously, with the Tarot card of their choice (and journaling the reasons why)—to create, and cement, personal (and powerful) meanings.

In my post Why Tarot Is Perfect for Setting New Year Intentions, I wrote:

Not only do Tarot cards serve as mini-maps to your Highest, Best Self—but they’re also a lot like portable Vision Boards.

Have you ever heard of a Vision Board? It’s where you decide on an intention or set of goals—then get out some poster board, scissors, glue, old magazines and create a specific Vision Board filled with images and text that reflect your desires.

Tarot cards are a lot like that, in that each card portrays emotional, material, mental, relational and spiritual states that we can focus upon for specific intentions.

Tarot can be used for so much more than just divination. In fact, my favorite use of the cards is for focused intention and manifestation. Want to expand a particular energy in your life? Enhance an area? Invite more? Then consciously choose the card/s that represent whatever it is you want to attract; don’t rely on randomness or blind “Card of the Day” pulls to guess what it is you really want. (That’s a bit like wanting to make a specific recipe, going into a grocery store blindfolded and then pulling things off the shelves to put in the cart!).

Instead, decide on what you want to feel, enhance and experience—go through a Tarot deck to find the corresponding cards—take them out of the deck and use them for your intentions.

And basically, that’s what electing your Tarot cards is all about: you choosing what you want to feel, enhance or experience and—as Picard would say—making it so.

You elect your desired Tarot cards, focus on them, journal about them—and start taking steps (if necessary and possible) for manifestation on the material plane.

Can we always manifest what we want? Of course not, but as my post explained (using science), our intentions matter. And they can move mountains.

And isn’t it better to steer your own life by determining how you want to feel and what you want to experience at the beginning of your day—rather than consulting some paper gods to influence or inform your emotions, expectations…life itself?

Vote today! Elect your Tarot cards!

And do let me know how this empowering experiment goes for you. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised after a week or so…