Making Tarot Symbols Your Own: A Creative Way to Explore the Cards
When you look at a tarot card, what catches your attention first? Maybe it’s a colour, an object, a word, a character, or a tiny detail tucked into the background. Maybe it’s something familiar, or something that makes you think, Okay, but what is going on here?
Tarot is full of symbolism, with layers of imagery, stories, and possibilities. Traditional interpretations give us a starting point, but they’re not a test you have to pass. There’s room to explore what those symbols mean to you.
One of my favourite ways to deepen a relationship with tarot is through creativity. Instead of memorizing 78 sets of meanings like we’re studying for an exam nobody signed up for, we can use art-making, curiosity, and reflection to build our own connections to the cards.
The Magician: A Table Full of Possibilities
Take The Magician, the first numbered card of the Major Arcana, following The Fool. In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, The Magician stands in front of a table with four objects: a wand, a cup, a sword, and a pentacle. It’s giving very organized creative project. All the supplies are here. Whether we’ve started the project is another question.
These aren’t random props. Each represents one of the four suits of the Minor Arcana, connecting The Magician to the larger symbolic language of tarot. The suits also correspond with the four elements and different dimensions of our experience:
Wands (Fire): The spiritual dimension, including inspiration, creativity, passion, and action.
Cups (Water): The emotional dimension, including feelings, intuition, relationships, and connection.
Swords (Air): The mental dimension, including thoughts, communication, clarity, and discernment.
Pentacles (Earth): The physical dimension, including our bodies, resources, stability, and practical matters.
These aren’t rigid boxes. We experience all four dimensions in overlapping ways. Together, The Magician’s tools remind us of the different energies and resources available to us.
The invitation? Notice what you already have, and consider what you could create with it.
And here’s where it gets fun: What if we represented these same energies with objects from our own lives?
From Traditional Symbols to Personal Imagery
Imagine creating your own version of The Magician. Rather than starting with a blank page and wondering what to draw, we can begin with the traditional symbols and the meanings behind them. Think about what each tool represents, then ask yourself: What object from my own life expresses that same energy or quality?
For example, the wand is connected to Fire, inspiration, and spiritual energy. Perhaps your wand becomes a paintbrush, representing the creative spark that inspires you to bring something new into being.
The cup represents Water and our emotional world. Yours might become your favourite mug, reminding you of moments of connection, care, and nourishment. Yes, the mug you’ve become weirdly attached to counts.
The sword is associated with Air, thoughts, and communication. Instead of a sword, you might draw a pen or journal, representing how you process your thoughts, find clarity, or express yourself. Or the notebook you bought because this one was definitely going to change your life.
And the pentacle? Connected to Earth and the physical world, it might become a houseplant, a meaningful stone, or another object that reminds you of grounding, stability, and your relationship with the material world.
Notice how each object is different from the traditional imagery, but the underlying symbolism remains connected. We’re not throwing out the traditional meanings. We’re getting to know them well enough to have a conversation with them.
The Magician’s tools become your tools. And choosing those images is itself a form of reflection: What do I associate with inspiration? What helps me connect? How do I find clarity? What grounds me?
You Don’t Need to Be an Artist
Let me be clear: You don’t need to be “good at art” to do this. Your imagery might emerge through drawing, painting, collage, photography, or a handful of shapes and colours. Stick figures are welcome. So is cutting up a magazine and trusting the process. The point isn’t to make something polished enough to frame. It’s to stay curious and notice what comes up.
Try asking yourself:
Which symbol draws my attention, and why?
What object, colour, or image could represent its meaning in my life?
What changes when I create with a symbol instead of only reading about it?
Some connections arrive immediately. Others show up halfway through making something, which feels both mildly inconvenient and kind of magical.
A Little Creative Invitation
Choose one of The Magician’s four tools: wand, cup, sword, or pentacle. Think about its element and the dimension of experience it represents. Then find an object in your life that could carry a similar meaning.
What would you put on your own Magician’s table?
Sketch it, write about it, collage it, or simply imagine it. No need to create a whole card. We’re starting with one symbol, not launching a 47-step personal reinvention plan.
Coming in January: Tarot DIY
This creative approach is at the heart of Tarot DIY, a new series I’m developing for January 2027. We’ll explore all 22 Major Arcana cards, connecting with their traditional symbolism and archetypes while creating our own interpretations through art-making, reflection, and play.
There will be two ways to join:
Online Self-Paced: Explore the cards and creative invitations on your own schedule, wherever you are.
In-Studio: Join me at Sacred Circle in Regina for six weeks of guided creative exploration, with access to the online materials too.
You don’t need tarot experience or an art background. Curiosity is plenty.
Registration opens November 16, 2026, and the series begins in January.
Want the details as they take shape? Join my newsletter here for program updates, registration information, and a little creative inspiration along the way.
Until then, maybe look at your tarot cards a little differently: not just as images to interpret, but as invitations to create something uniquely your own.
Learn the symbolism. Explore its meaning. Make it your own.
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