41: Symbolism of Self-Care
With Arianna Smith, LPC
Do you struggle to care for yourself when overwhelmed? In this episode, I talk with Arianna Smith, LPC about allowing card pulls to guide your self-care practice and:
• The importance of starting with slow mornings and introspective practices as an HSP
• Using tarot either inside or outside of a spiritual/religious practice
• Understanding the different types of card decks and how to choose the right one
Arianna is a licensed therapist, professional copywriter, and a queer, witchy soul who dances daily between the clinical and creative. She empowers heart-centered individuals to tap into their intuition and reclaim their power through a trauma-informed, expansive approach that combines EMDR, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and intuitive practices like tarot, human design, and astrology. As a writer, Arianna merges clinical insight with feel-good content strategy to help therapists elevate their practices through authentic copy and email marketing. As a seasoned tarot reader, she blends deep reflection, spiritual exploration, and a dash of playfulness to guide clients through life’s complex questions and milestones.
Keep in touch with Arianna:
• Website: https://tarotwitharianna.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/writewitharianna
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arianna-j-smith
Resources Mentioned:
• Intuitive Tarot Reading & Mentorship: https://tarotwitharianna.com
• How To Pick Your First Tarot Deck: A Beginner’s Guide (includes recommended decks): https://www.ariannasmith.com/blog/how-to-pick-your-first-tarot-deck
Questions for Single Card Pulls:
Morning Ritual Questions
• Where can I focus my energy?
• How can I best care for myself today?
• How can I protect my energy today?
• What HSP strength can I lean upon today?
Evening Reflection Questions
• What did I learn about myself today?
• What energy from today should I release?
• How can I show gratitude for today’s experiences?
• What part of my day needs deeper reflection?
Mindful Break Questions When Overwhelmed
• What can support me right now?
• What is overwhelming
Thanks for listening!
You can also follow "SensitiveStrengths" for behind-the-scenes content plus more educational and inspirational HSP resources:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sensitivestrengths
If you have a moment, please rate and review the podcast, it helps Sensitive Stories reach more HSPs!
This episode is for educational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for treatment with a mental health or medical professional. Some links are affiliate links. You are under no obligation to purchase any book, product or service. I am not responsible for the quality or satisfaction of any purchase.
Episode Transcript
Arianna Smith: 0:38
When I think of the depth of processing, I think of how each card is so rich in symbolism. That's the thing with tarot is that everything in there has a symbol, has a meaning. When you pull the Ace of Cups today, it's a really different concept than the Ace of Cups next week. This depth of processing, sensing the subtleties, emotional depth, is so perfectly suited to tarot. I'm like having a depth of processing moment right now.
April Snow: 1:14
Welcome to Sensitive Stories, the podcast for the people who live with hearts and eyes wide open. I'm your host, psychotherapist and author, april Snow. I invite you to join me as I deep dive into rich conversations with fellow highly sensitive people that will inspire you to live a more fulfilling life as an HSP without all the overwhelm. In this episode, I talk with Ariana Smith about incorporating card readings like tarot or oracle decks into your self-reflection practice and using the cards as a secularly or spiritually-based practice to tap into your emotions, your intuition and support your depth of processing as an HSP. Ariana is a licensed therapist, professional copywriter and a queer, witchy soul who dances daily between the clinical and the creative. She empowers heart-centered individuals to tap into their intuition and reclaim their power through a trauma-informed, expansive approach that combines EMDR, internal family systems and intuitive practices like tarot, human design and astrology. As a writer, ariane emerges clinical insight with feel-good content strategy to help therapists elevate their practices through authentic copy and email marketing. As a seasoned tarot reader, she blends deep reflection, spiritual exploration and a dash of playfulness to guide clients through life's complex questions and milestones.
April Snow: 2:44
For more HSP resources and to see behind the scenes video from the podcast, join me on Instagram, tiktok or YouTube at Sensitive Strengths or sign up for my email list. Links are in the show notes and at sensitivestoriescom. And just a reminder that this episode is for educational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for treatment with a mental health or medical professional. Let's dive in, ariana. Can you start off by telling us your HSP discovery story, how or when you realized that you're a highly sensitive person?
Arianna Smith: 3:38
Oh my gosh, it was back in 2016, way back in the day, and I had just moved to Fort Collins, colorado, and was so excited to be in the big city after living in a rural mountain town, and I was like, how can I make some friends? And so I was looking on meetupcom and there wasa group for highly sensitive people and I was like, huh, what is this? Could this be me? And I went to the couple of the meetups and just felt so much kinship to everyone and just not like the weirdo in the group, like all of us were weirdos in our own way. And then I was like, oh, this is really clicking.
Arianna Smith: 4:21
But I had a lot of doubt and also, what I know now, some grief too, around kind of understanding that I was an HSP. And so I remember doing a call with someone who was like an HSP coach and kind of explaining my experience, and I remember vividly she said well, there's nothing that you shared that makes me think you're not an HSP. And I, and so I was like, okay, all right, I think I'm a highly sensitive person. And then, as I read more of the books and then also stepped into it being my clinical specialty as a therapist. I was like, yes, this is 100% me.
Arianna Smith: 5:02
And then I think part of the HSP discovery process that you can tell me if this is the case for you is there's almost like you go back in time and revisit your past selves, and so part of my discovery was also, as an adult, in that moment, being this is it.
Arianna Smith: 5:18
But also looking back and reflecting on all the past experience that you know made so much sense for me to like, as a little kid, you know, in the woods of Alaska, I would just get lost in my imagination for hours and hours and hours. I was like, oh, like this big, imaginative world, that's a highly sensitive person. On the struggle side of it, I remember being so overwhelmed by family gatherings and my dad has 12 brothers and sisters, and so family gatherings were like 3040 people and I was just this little HSP kid that was just like, oh, my god, this is so loud, this is so overwhelming, there's no time for me to sit back and observe. So the discovery really started in 2016. And kind of from there it like forked both into the future and into the past.
April Snow: 6:13
Oh, that is such a great way to put it. It's true, it's this crossroads, isn't it? When you realize, okay, this is me, and you take it in and you start to accept it. And then it's so true, I did the same thing. Where you go back and you look at all your past experiences through the HSP lens and realize, oh, it starts to click together. This makes sense now. Now I understand why I was overwhelmed at the big gatherings and wow, 12 siblings and all the cousins, I imagine, and all the other people. That's a lot, and I just appreciate that you had that counterbalance. Maybe, maybe this is just my fantasy of being in Alaska, where you got to retreat in those spaces after.
Arianna Smith: 6:54
Yes, I mean, I think. In some ways I think if I had lived in somewhere else or had a different environment, I may my discovery process might have been different, you know, and in some ways, growing up in it's not rural Alaska it's rural by lower 48 standards, but not by Alaska standards. Growing up in the middle of nowhere really lended itself to my sensitivity and to my imagination and having space to process, and it was so quiet right now.
Arianna Smith: 7:26
Imagine if I was an HSP growing up in like a busy city and a lot going on, it might've been a different story, you know.
April Snow: 7:34
A very different story, cause. Something that's interesting about your version is that you weren't seeking this piece about yourself because you were burned out or sick. From what you said, that may not be true. It was more of a oh I'm just, I'm stumbling on this versus I need an answer. This, the energy of how you were talking about, felt a little softer than some of the other versions I've heard, so I'm wondering if that's true for you, if it felt more of a discovery versus a necessity.
Arianna Smith: 8:05
You know, when I think back to this story it was one of delight of like stumbling on of this group of friends, but in it also were layers of grief after that, because I did really struggle in some work environments, and so I think part of searching out just coincided with moving to a new city and wanting to make friends. But it also can't be separated from just some of the struggles I was experiencing at work with overstimulation and burnout. I don't know if I knew it was burnout back then, but definitely overstimulation, just feeling so different from everyone else in my workplace. And so there was that component there for sure, but it wasn't the discovery point.
April Snow: 8:53
Right and makes sense why there's this delight in finding that group of fellow weirdos you call it that right. Which I can totally relate to that experience Like these are my people.
Arianna Smith: 9:04
Yeah, yeah.
April Snow: 9:09
So at this point in your life, now that you've learned about your sensitivity, you've gone through that grief process somewhat, you know, starting to accept it, and I know you've now started to put out resources for others and help them with their process. But what practices or rituals really support you in staying rooted as an HSP.
Arianna Smith: 9:27
Speaking of burnout, I did hit burnout in 2021, 2022, as a lot of people did and I ended up taking a sabbatical like a two month sabbatical and that really reset my nervous system like a two month sabbatical and that really reset my nervous system. So a big sabbatical was great, and now I really look for many sabbaticals. But my one daily practice that has become non-negotiable is my slow mornings. I have to like I have to have slow mornings whenever possible, just easing into the day. I also love body work. That one's really important too. I'm heading to a massage after this actually, and I can't wait.
Arianna Smith: 10:08
Can't wait. Tarot. So I've been reading tarot for myself, gosh, probably for over 10 years now, for, yeah, for a really long time. I just say over 10 years, so I don't feel old, sure, you know, like it might have been more than that, and that's like a really integrative process. And then I also, along the lines of tarot I would identify as like a kitchen witch, and so a huge practice for me as an HSP is cooking and baking, because I think it just leans into our gifts as highly sensitive people to really savor the subtleties. And so I love when I'm cooking and I get to smell the spices and kind of intuitively decide what am I going to get in here. It's a whole sensory experience. So that's another big practice of mine too.
April Snow: 11:00
Oh, I love that. The savoring is so nice, the tactile experience of it and just the slowing down and simplifying when you're in the kitchen. I love that kitchen, which so beautiful yeah.
Arianna Smith: 11:11
So fun I have a magnet on that my mom got me. It says love people, cook them tasty food.
April Snow: 11:17
And so I love.
Arianna Smith: 11:18
when I get to I don't have a great size of a house to host, but I love, like when my friend had her first baby, I like brought a thing of chili to her. You know, I just think an expression of that, like I think it's highly sensitive people. We have to be thoughtful about our energetic boundaries and our energy and I'm like, okay, this is how I'm going to show up for you in this way. So food is one of those ways.
April Snow: 11:42
Yeah, it's so nourishing and connecting in whatever way you can do it. I want to go back to your practice of tarot that you said you've been doing for quite a long time. Yeah, can you say a little bit more about that? What benefits do you find in that practice?
Arianna Smith: 11:58
I'm like going through the catalog.
April Snow: 12:00
Yeah, there's a lot right.
Arianna Smith: 12:05
There's a lot. So I the first, honestly, the thing that came to mind is community, and that has there's just something so rich with, either in person or online, like doing a group tarot reading together, and it's almost like witchy group therapy in a way, when you're like pulling cards and I call it group tarot readings because you know you pull a card and you're like here's my interpretation, and then your friend is like, well, actually I would think this too and this too. So community, and I think that's really what first drew me to it in my twenties when I first started reading, and was this really fun thing that I got to do? The other thing I would say is speaking of this theme is imagination. I have if we haven't already determined, I have a massive imagination and I feel like tarot is something that can keep up with that, because there's infinite combinations of cards, there's so many practices, there's too many decks for me to catch up on and the art is so varied and and there's you know we might talk about this later there's so many different types of decks out there too, and then also, I'd say, benefits of tarot keeps me connected to nature and the elements, and so in tarot in traditional tarot, each card there's four suits.
Arianna Smith: 13:26
So fire is corresponds to wands, swords corresponds to air, pentacles, earth and cups water, and so sometimes it will just invite me to stay connected to those elements. So if I'm pulling a lot of pentacle cards, then I'm like, oh, do I need to go, like put my feet in the earth? Right now I'm getting a bunch of cup cards. I'm like, okay, am I dehydrated? Like do I need water? Yes, yeah. So those are the ones that come up to the top of my head.
April Snow: 13:57
I didn't realize the piece about the suits being connected to elements. And what a beautiful guiding practice to check in with yourself. What am I needing, what am I drawn to right now? And I just love the when you talked about the infinite possibilities, not just within multiple decks, but maybe even within the same deck. Yes, our ability to sense the subtle, to tap, tap into intuition, creativity. You could just go so deep with the cards.
Arianna Smith: 14:27
Yeah, well, yeah, I didn't make this connection until now, but I think when I think of the does acronym, which you've talked about before, when I think of the depth of processing, I think of how each card is so rich in symbolism. That's the thing with tarot and when I was learning it more, everything in there has a symbol, has a meaning, there's a reason there's color on this and color on that, and there's a reason the clouds are shaped like this and not like that in different cards, and so there's that aspect that also, when you pull the ace of cups today, it's a really different concept than the Ace of Cups next week. So, yeah, this depth of processing, sensing the subtleties, emotional depth is so perfectly suited to tarot. It didn't even. Yeah, I'm like having a depth of processing moment right now.
April Snow: 15:17
I know we can really put the different characteristics of sensitivity through the lens of tarot, which is I never thought about that either. That's pretty incredible. Yes, oh, amazing.
Arianna Smith: 15:27
No wonder I'm obsessed, I know exactly.
April Snow: 15:30
It's the perfect tool for an HSP, and you mentioned that the cards will shift. The meaning of the cards will shift depending on where you're, at what lens you're looking through that day. I do want to ask you a question about the symbolism, because you know every deck you get comes with a little guidebook, or I assume most all decks do. Yeah, Is that something you need to follow or can you make up your own rules?
Arianna Smith: 15:55
for the deck.
April Snow: 15:57
What are your thoughts on that?
Arianna Smith: 15:58
So for the longest time. So for the longest time. The way I read tarot was and I have my deck here to demonstrate- I would you know, I'd shuffle my deck, I'd ask a predictive question.
Arianna Smith: 16:11
Of course, which tarot? I personally don't believe tarot can predict the future because we have agency. But let's say, you know, this is the old school days and I pick a card and what do we got here the seven of swords. I wouldn't even pause and reflect, I'd go right to my book and be like right, seven of swords, right, and I definitely don't want to shame people that have to do that, because I still look at the book when, because you know it's 78 cards and a tarot deck and infinite combinations. But was a game changer for me is when I started studying tarot more deeply and started to understand the deeper symbolism behind the cards and focus on how to read intuitively and what that means really is reading in your own way. That really means you know how that might look like, say, I pull the ace of cups and you know my impulse might be like oh, what does that mean? I'm going to go look, but instead I might look at this and I'd be like Huh, how do I feel looking at this? What image does this resonate? For me? That's really interesting.
Arianna Smith: 17:19
There's a bird in there and cups symbolizes water and emotion. So we look at the water here and we're like, oh, there's a bird in there, and cups symbolizes water and emotion. So we look at the water here and we're like, oh, there's, the water is still, but it's overflowing over this cup right now. So traditionally this card symbolizes new emotional connections, right or heartfelt expression, and so when you see it that way but I looked at this, I pulled it before reading and I was like, oh, I'm going to get a cup of tea, right, like I'm going to get a cup of tea. And here I am. So I think the gift of reading intuitively is just really building a practice around trusting what you see. So if you are a little bit more nerdy, you can totally take courses that are based off of the traditional symbolism and all of that. But you also don't have to. You can just go with what your gut says, and neither is right or wrong. It's just what works for you and what feels good.
April Snow: 18:14
I love that there can be more structure If you're looking for containment as you're exploring and looking within, or just not familiar with the cards, or you can just dive into the open waters of it.
Arianna Smith: 18:27
Yeah, yeah. And I'm like I want to be a student forever. So I love I've taken a lot of tarot classes but I really had them focus on how to read intuitively. You know, I've never been someone that's like I want to study the history of tarot. I'm like, no, how can I connect it to my intuition, my emotional wisdom, my day to day, like the practicality of it?
April Snow: 18:48
you know Right, exactly. And as you're diving into this practice, I wonder is this a spiritual practice? Can this be a secular practice? For folks who aren't familiar with it and might be thinking well, I don't know if that aligns with my values or belief system. Could you speak to that.
Arianna Smith: 19:05
Yeah, I think that's a really important conversation to have and I 100% believe that tarot can be secular and actually be a really powerful secular practice, and I probably am coming at that as a therapist, right, that knows that at its core, tarot can be a really powerful projective tool, right? What I see actually let's do a different one here we see with the four of cups is different than what you see, right, and so that doesn't have to have a spiritual component. It's the secular, like projectiveness. You can also use tarot, for if you're an author, you can use it for storytelling. So let's actually do. You know, maybe you're like writing a story and you're like, oh, like what should be the next struggle that my character faces, you know, and let's pull here.
Arianna Smith: 20:03
Okay, so we got the Knight of Pentacles here, which is a person on a motorcycle. So, like the next struggle and once again I'm going to take out interpretation like the next struggle is the knight is. I mean, this is where it can be infinite, right, like, there can be like, and then they meet a stranger on a motorcycle like literal right.
Arianna Smith: 20:22
Or and then they I'm trying to not bring in the traditional stuff of night of pentacles, but the traditional stuff of night of pentacles is around slow, trotting, steady progress, and so if they wanted to weave that in, the author might be like oh, they're feeling really frustrated with how slow their goals are coming right. Not secular, you can also do it as a meditation, so I love that you're down for these live demonstrations.
April Snow: 20:48
I think this is great Because we're bringing in all the different ways we can use the cards as supports, right yeah, creatively, spiritually, just self-care wise. There's so many actions I never thought of, yeah.
Arianna Smith: 21:03
Well, and also, if people are following along like they can, this would be a good point for them to pull out a deck too.
April Snow: 21:08
Yes, please do.
Arianna Smith: 21:09
this would be a good point for them to pull out a deck too, but like, for example, like if people have their deck and they're shuffling. This would be an example of, like a meditation, stepping into a card. Oh okay, so we have more pentacles today, so we got the eight of pentacles. So this is a person who's working diligently on a project. So if someone wanted to step into a meditation, they might step into.
Arianna Smith: 21:32
Huh, what is it like to focus on craftsmanship? What is it like to step into this person who's diligently and lovingly working on this project so that we pulled at random for this one? But you could also do it intentional, like you could look through your deck and if you're drawn to a certain card, you can be like Okay, I'm just going to step into that card and you can get even further around this. I took a course around this where you can get even further and you can be like okay, what happens after? So after this person has created there, I'm holding up the card for listeners After this person has created their craft, what happens next?
April Snow: 22:12
so you can use it in stages. Yes, I love this. Yeah, so I wonder if you could go a little bit deeper and kind of take us through the process. So I have my. Okay, we have the deck in front of us. Yeah, we'll talk a little bit more in a moment how to choose a deck, but let's just say we have a deck and we're sitting down to do a meditation. What type of question might we ask before we do a card pull? What would that sound like?
Arianna Smith: 22:44
Or is it more just setting an intention for what we're reflecting on? I think it depends on the question. So one of my mottos as someone who reads for myself and other- people is specific questions, get specific answers.
Arianna Smith: 22:59
So often people if they're pulling cards and they're like this doesn't make sense. I'm asking one how specific was your question was? And two, was it predictive? Right, and when I say predictive, is it a should or a will question? Will I get this job, should I call them back, or something like that. So I think that's the first thing is it depends upon the intention as well.
Arianna Smith: 23:24
So let's say that you wanted to use tarot as a morning reflection, so to get up in the morning. So some questions could be where can I focus my energy? And these are all very HSP specific. I had made these in mind. What can help me feel grounded today? What lesson is today teaching me? This one, especially for HSPs how can I protect my energy today? We talked about that earlier. What is my sensitive soul need most right now? And what HSP strength can I lean upon today? So you can see how those questions are all very specific and they're not predictive.
Arianna Smith: 24:02
So let's say someone was doing a morning card poll and we're looking at what HSP strength can I lean on today. It's so funny my gut was like but it's the evening, why are you doing a morning card? We're gonna demonstration purpose. So what HSP strengths can I lean on today? So I got the night of cups a lot of nights today, which, for listeners, is a person on a motorcycle, they have a clear sky behind them, they're wearing a helmet with wings and they've got this steamy nice thing with cups. So I might say, okay, what HSP strength can I lean on today? The nights are typically associated with forward movement and cups is associated with emotion. So my HSP strength would be leaning on moving forward with what feels emotionally right to me. So you can see, you can keep it so simple in that way and so then say I want to journal what's feeling emotionally right today. What is a goal that is important to me? Should we play around with evening? Should we?
April Snow: 25:03
talk about evening. Yeah, just to see the counterbalance of that, yeah.
Arianna Smith: 25:06
So for evening reflection, we have just a couple example ones I had. What did I learn about myself today? What energy from today should I release? Big one how can I show gratitude for today's experiences? And another, one of my personal favorites what part of my day needs deeper reflection? That's good. Which one should we do for a live demonstration on that one?
April Snow: 25:31
I'm feeling caught with the deeper reflection question Okay, yeah, okay.
Arianna Smith: 25:36
So let's say, you got your deck shuffling. What part of my day needs deeper reflection? Oh, we got the death card. Oh, interesting, which is traditionally kind of a scary card to get. It's a person on a white horse, a skeleton on a white horse and there's a bunch of people. Actually, this is a really rich card for us to talk about. And on this card there's, you know, a skeleton on a white horse. It's kind of symbolizing death, and then there's four other people that all are having different responses to death.
Arianna Smith: 26:07
So the death card traditionally doesn't literally mean death. It often means, like rebirth or an ending of something. So, if I got this card around, what do I need to reflect deeper on at the end of the day? Some of the ways that I read tarot intuitively, as I look at what the people on the card are doing and I would ask, maybe, like how am I this is what my gut saying like how am I approaching difficult situations in my life? So what needs deeper reflection is, yeah, I actually think that's a pretty good one to do Like how am I approaching deeper reflections in my life, or what is coming to a close, you know?
Arianna Smith: 26:50
to come to a close yeah, or what is draining me, yeah, so that'd be an example of an evening reflection question as well. Yes, yeah, how is this?
April Snow: 27:00
tracking for you. No, I love this because I'm just thinking about the experience and, just like in therapy, what you're needing to pay attention to rises to the surface. Yes, it probably doesn't matter a lot about the details of the card.
Arianna Smith: 27:20
It's what it evokes for you, I would guess. Yeah, and I segued a little like I kind of we're going all over the place. But you asked about the spiritual versus secular, and I think that that plays a role in this, right. So if you're looking at this just from a secular perspective, then it just gets to be a prompt. That's all that you have to see. It just gets to be a projected prompt. If you are working with tarot from a spiritual perspective, that there's really no right or wrong around that, but you might view what's being sent to you as like, maybe, a message from whatever higher power you believe in, right, you might be thinking about what steps do we need to next steps in my spiritual practice, right? So I think it goes back to the intention and I think it also goes back to how you believe tarot works as well.
April Snow: 28:05
Say more about that. You know what are some of the beliefs about how tarot works. Is it more just the kind of literal versus the spiritual intuitive, or is there more there? Because then?
Arianna Smith: 28:15
you got my curiosity piqued. Yeah, I think that anyone you ask is going to have a different answer.
Arianna Smith: 28:23
You know, I mean, tarot is, unfortunately, in some circles, associated with the occult. That's not what I believe, but that's what some people do believe. We can go on the other side of that that it's just a projective tool, right, it's just a beautiful prompt and so it works to help us maybe access subconscious parts of ourselves. I kind of believe, just because I'm a therapist, I lean a little bit more towards. Just because I'm a therapist, I lean a little bit more towards. I think it helps us access subconscious or just unseen or unaddressed parts of ourselves that need attention.
Arianna Smith: 28:59
I have been in some tarot readings and read for some clients where there was definitely more than that going on right, and where we did bring in kind of their spiritual beliefs and we would pull a card, maybe for their ancestor and like what message does this ancestor want to say? How I believe tarot works is like it helps us access that. It helps us externalize what's happening. It helps us see things from a different perspective and from a spiritual lens. I do think it can be a way for, if we do have a higher power, for one way for what we believe in to communicate with us in a way that we can understand right, Because right, like you, know yes, exactly yeah, and I love that about it that you can go into this practice in whatever way feels comfortable or is aligned with what you're needing in your self-reflection practice or potentially in your spiritual practice.
April Snow: 29:57
You get to pull in different layers or viewpoints of it. What else can you really do that with, if this feels?
Arianna Smith: 30:05
so expansive. Well, and it can evolve over time right. So when we're thinking about this practice for HSPs. Maybe they go into it with a secular approach and then they start having experiences that feel otherwise for them and they actually find that it's you know, it's part of a spiritual practice. So we don't actually have to know, right, you just have to go with it. Yeah, that's it, you don't.
April Snow: 30:31
Yeah, how freeing is that?
Arianna Smith: 30:34
Yeah.
April Snow: 30:35
Yeah, so let's talk about how to choose a deck. I know there are lots of different options or different types of decks. Could you speak to that process? How do we find the right deck for us?
Arianna Smith: 30:46
Yeah, so there's just a really many overview. When people think of tarot decks, there's kind of three different decks. So there's your traditional tarot deck that is often known as the Rider-Waite-Smith deck or the Thoth. Those are two different variations of like a tarot deck and that's the one that people traditionally think of. It has 22 major arcana cards, which we pulled one today. The death card is a major arcana and then the minor arcana. It has 50 something 56 of those. It's 78 cards total. So major arcana is often associated with big life events, big things, karmic aspects. So back when we hold the death card at like a deeper reflection, that would like whenever I say see a major arcana, I pay attention. It's like the dex way of saying hey, yeah there's some deeper patterns here, you know.
Arianna Smith: 31:43
and then the major, minor, arcana, those are the ones that are associated with suits, and they're numbered from one to 10. And then they have four court cards, and so there's definitely correspondence around the numerology and also around the court cards as well.
Arianna Smith: 31:57
So that's tarot. And then there's also Oracle cards, which are basically as varied as you can imagine. There's Oracle decks that have 20 cards, that have 50 cards and they're basically cards that have images on them, or they have a little white book and they correspond to something in the book. Right, I have a color prism Oracle deck, which corresponds to colors, like the energy of colors. I have sacred rebels Oracle deck, which is just the artist has chose different things and symbolism, and then, lesser known, but I have to name it Lenormand deck.
Arianna Smith: 32:35
Have you ever heard of Lenormand before? No, I have not. Yeah, well, I feel like just to be a responsible person. I have to name this deck because if you get this deck thinking it's a tarot deck, you're gonna be really confused. But the Lenormand deck is different from tarot and Oracle and it has about 36 cards that have a set correspondence and it's all very practical. So they have bear shoe, key tree full disclosure. I tried to get in a Lenormand. I have a Lenormand deck. I couldn't figure it out. It was almost too concrete for me.
Arianna Smith: 33:06
But if you are a concrete person, you might enjoy it. It's a certain way of reading it so I can't entirely speak to that. So, just so, now we have that overview of like. Okay, so there's kind of these three types of decks. They might be tarot, they might not be right.
Arianna Smith: 33:21
They're cards with images on them that correspond to something that's the through line called to. And that might seem a little bit confusing because you're like, how do you know if you're called to a deck? And what I offer folks to do is to almost create a baseline in their body and first start like so maybe you go into a mystical store and there's a bunch of tarot decks.
Arianna Smith: 33:53
Start with picking up one that you know you would not like that you're completely turned off by right, pick it up, hold it in your hand, see how that feels, and then you have a baseline of like, okay, that's not the right deck, that doesn't do that, that's a great suggestion.
Arianna Smith: 34:09
Yeah, yeah. Then you can have like a baseline in your body. What I tell folks when they're shopping for a tarot deck is just pay attention to mild curiosity. That's enough to choose a deck. If you're enthusiastic, great. If you're excited, great. Go with mild curiosity and then, if you want, think logistically, is this going to work for me? Well, I want to go with an Oracle deck because I can get started reading it easier. So even though I feel called to this and it's not an Oracle deck, I'll give it a try. Or you're called to it and you're like, oh, this isn't an Oracle deck, I'm going to find something else. So I often invite folks to lead with just their somatic wisdom, their intuitive wisdom, and then test it out logistically.
April Snow: 34:51
What a great way to enter this process of, okay, start with what you know you do not feel connected, to get that baseline going and then see if something changes as you pick up decks that maybe you're drawn to visually and then you hold them and you realize, okay, something is here for me. Can you talk about the logistics a little bit more? It sounds like it's mostly around ease of use. Like decks are a little bit more, I guess, or an entry-level deck, or is that not true? Are they just easier to acclimate to?
Arianna Smith: 35:24
I think it is hard to compare them because I use them for different uses. I think it really just goes back to like what do you feel drawn to? Are you excited? I think the qualifying question would be are you excited about the structure of a traditional tarot deck? You know, because what I like about because that's what you're going to find in every tarot deck is there's going to be the major arcana, there's going to be the one through 10. There's going to be the court, and so that can feel really reassuring, really reassuring, I think, in a way.
Arianna Smith: 35:57
Yeah, so I think that would be. The first question is like are you excited by the structure of the tarot deck or not? Yes, and if you're not, then maybe you want to go to Oracle, and if you are, then maybe you want to go to tarot, or maybe you want to get one of both on the days that you need more structure, ones that you don't.
April Snow: 36:14
I love that right, meeting yourself where you're at. Yeah, I'm curious if you can think of an example of when you might reach for an Oracle deck versus a tarot deck in your own practice.
Arianna Smith: 36:25
Well, this kind of goes back to choosing a deck, because I have found that and this gets a little bit more spiritual leaning I form relationships with my deck In fact, you can actually interview your decks when you get them and so I find it's less about tarot and Oracle and more about how that deck likes to show up. And so I have one deck that loves to show up. I call it like my playful Gemini deck, like it's the deck that I bring for group readings, like it's universally people really like it. It's the Chrisann Light Seers deck, right. So it's kind of like this universal happy deck.
Arianna Smith: 37:11
I have some decks that are just a little more direct, right. So when I need maybe like a wake up call, I'll choose a different deck. I have certain Oracle decks that are a little bit more simple. Like I kind of talked about my color prism deck. I love how simple and deep that one is, so maybe I just need like a quick vibe check and I'll pull that. So I didn't really give a clear answer, but I guess it's more just, what do you feel drawn to and what purpose do you need around it? I think if I'm doing multi-card pulls, I will go to tarot because there is such a natural storytelling element that can happen in tarot cards that may not be feasible in Oracle.
Arianna Smith: 37:54
But that's not the case. I'm going to say that. And there's someone to be listening. That's like that's not the case for me, so say that. And there's someone to be listening. That's like that's not the case for me, so it's like can't do absolutes.
April Snow: 38:00
Yeah, it can be subjective and I love the thinking about how each deck has maybe a personality, serves a certain function and also sounds great to buy multiple decks.
Arianna Smith: 38:12
You know, I mean that's all I do is I'm like I'm like what's my tarot deck? I think also there needs to be permission for people to change their mind about decks and to outgrow decks. So because if you read tarot long enough, you're going to eventually outgrow a deck and just be like I'm going to pass this on to someone else, or you can get a deck that you thought you're excited about, but then you pull and you see more of the art and you're like this doesn't land for me. So I think it's really important to not go into reading tarot for self-care and there's any right or wrong way. It's very much experiential and it's very much about what works for you, like any HSP approach, right?
April Snow: 38:51
Yeah, I was just thinking about what a great practice that you could do internally with yourself and listening to your internal callings, you know, setting boundaries, letting things go that don't serve you. I mean, it's so rich with possibility and self-work just in that practice alone that you could then take out to see so many opportunities and also seeing why it's so rich to bring into therapy as well. What a compliment.
Arianna Smith: 39:21
Yeah, yeah, there's with some of my clients.
Arianna Smith: 39:23
We I don't do tarot readings for them because that's a dual relationship but we will pull cards and like process them together. Or, you know, with some clients I'm like hey, it really sounds like you're having a tower moment. I'm going to invite you to look up which the tower card for those who don't know is associated with like big foundational change, like upheaval, and then also another secular option we kind of talked a little bit about meditation and came back but you can use tarot to take a mindful break. So you can simply ask pause, what is most overwhelming me right now? What's overwhelming me? How can I get grounded? What action can I take? You know, and if you're asking what's overwhelming me right now, just go with what you intuitively notice on the card, because sometimes we think we're overwhelmed by one thing and then we get this tarot card and you're like, oh, that's, that's right, because when we get overwhelmed we can't always access the depth of our awareness, and so when we take a mindful break with tarot, it can sometimes help us with that processing.
April Snow: 40:28
It makes sense, because it becomes an anchor where you can then focus all of your energy versus getting lost in the dysregulation or the overwhelm, yeah, and the dysregulation or the overwhelm, gosh, yeah, so good. Well, ariana, as we start to wrap up, I'm wondering if there's any final thoughts you have for HSPs who are out there curious about this process, who want to incorporate it into their self-care routine.
Arianna Smith: 40:51
I would just invite folks to stay curious and also to notice if there's like perfectionism that comes up, because there's a lot, there's a lot right. We know HSPs are also really prone to perfectionism as a way to survive in a really overstimulating world. So just to notice, I think experimentation is a great antidote to perfectionism. Just play with it, there's no mistakes. Just play. Like I say, I'm just playing with tarot today. You know we were playing with tarot today, that's it, yeah.
April Snow: 41:26
Yeah, what a great opportunity to practice letting that go, softening those hard edges. Yeah, yeah, yeah, thank you for that. Well, I will be sure to share your website, your Instagram and the show notes so folks can reach out to you. I know you're also offering one-to-one tarot readings. Could you share a little bit more about that for folks?
Arianna Smith: 41:48
Yeah, you kind of got like a mini little preview and a little lie.
Arianna Smith: 41:54
Just some of the energy I bring. My tarot readings are pretty collaborative, just some of the energy I bring. My tarot readings are pretty collaborative, pretty thorough and not predictive. So I'm not a psychic, I'm not a medium, so I can't tell you when you're going to get pregnant, if you're going to get a job, so what I do. But I'm also very strength based, so and also action oriented depending on it.
Arianna Smith: 42:14
So I might reframe the question of the question is like am I going to get the job? I might help folks reframe that to something that is a little more focused on their agency and their control, and we typically, like I said before, specific answers get specific questions. So I spend time helping folks clarify their question. We pull some cards, we interpret it. I'm really clear with folks when I'm just interpreting the cards versus when I'm having intuitive hits. So I'll be like here's what the car says, and then I'll be really clear of like I'm getting an intuitive hit around this. Can I share this with you? So that's just to kind of respect their consent. Around this and also around consent, I ask what their spiritual beliefs are and if they do want to incorporate spirituality into their tarot reading, then I'll be like okay, how do we want to do that? And if they don't, I give great secular tarot readings because it's so rich, like as we determine tarot is so rich.
Arianna Smith: 43:07
And then I typically, to accommodate all processing styles and that depth of processing, I send folks a summary afterwards that has a photo of all the cards that they got, some action steps so that they can, some action steps so that they can continue to, and some integration questions. So it really is more like a tarot experience than just like this tarot reading. I'm not like here's your question and go away Like I really want you to feel okay, what are the next steps for me? What has emerged?
April Snow: 43:34
I love that. It's because you're giving folks a full experience, because so much of the processing will happen post session at least for me to send the visuals and the integration questions will be so important for me as an HSP. I love hearing that it's like you can. You can really dive in and then do it in a way that works for you, based on what you're feeling is safe or what you're interested in or how you want to practice. Lots of room there, depending on where folks are. I love it.
Arianna Smith: 44:03
Yeah, and if people have never done tarot, or even if they have a tarot practice, right, because there's a reason that we don't do our own therapy, right, like we need. Sometimes, like some of my biggest insights have come from when I received a tarot reading from other people because I'm like, oh, I didn't see it that way, but you're totally right.
April Snow: 44:23
Exactly, someone to hold up the mirror for you. Yeah, yeah, I love that, thank you.
Arianna Smith: 44:28
I'm so glad we got to talk about this.
April Snow: 44:30
I know this is incredible. I'm sure that this is going to be a great resource for HSPs out there who are needing kind of that guide inward right. Yeah, yeah, something concrete Exactly.
Arianna Smith: 44:44
Something concrete like like it's almost, it almost gets to be like a transitional object and just like we're talking about those mindful breaks around that as well, and just something explorative and curious.
April Snow: 44:56
Yeah right, exactly Something you can hold on to and lean on.
Arianna Smith: 45:01
Yes, yeah, love it Well.
April Snow: 45:04
thank you so much, ariana. I really appreciate it. Thank you.
Arianna Smith: 45:07
April. This was great Thank you.
April Snow: 45:08
This was amazing. Thanks so much for joining me and Ariana for today's conversation. I hope you'll feel inspired to honor your sensitive need for introspection and deep reflection, whether that be through cards or other practices. And if you're curious about incorporating tarot into your self-care routine or looking for guidance to get unstuck, book an intuitive tarot reading with Ariana at arianasmithcom, or head to the link in the show notes. There you'll also find the list of reflection questions and additional resources that we've mentioned in this episode. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the Sensitive Stories podcast so you don't miss our upcoming conversations. Reviews and ratings are also helpful and appreciated For behind-the-scenes content and more HSP resources. You can sign up for my email list or follow Sensitive Strengths on Instagram, tiktok and YouTube. Check out the show notes or sensitivestoriescom for all the resources from today's episode. Thanks for listening.
