Symbology is the language of the subconscious mind and this is precisely where tarot (magick) exists. Ultimately symbolic literacy is what we wish to achieve over time, although this takes practice, trust, as well as an open mind & heart.
From the moment of our birth into this physical world, we are born oracles. In fact each one of us carries a library of experiences from not only the physical, but our other world, too. For most of us, the key distinction is an overly developed emphasis within the realm of our conscious or physical world; with very little attention or development given to the landscape of our inner/other world.
One of the biggest challenges of working with the tarot is learning to bypass the conscious mind in order to shift our awareness into the cockpit of our own subconscious mind; for this is the place of feeling which utilizes the otherworldly language of our own spirit’s symbology. When we do this, we open ourselves up, like an antenna, to receive messages (from beyond). All of this translates into our intuition - a place of magick. So, with this said, the key difference is either “thinking through” a tarot reading with our “rational” conscious mind, or “feeling” our way though a reading by tapping into this other world, often known as our intuition or inner guide.
Intuition = flow and one of the chief aspects of flow is that gentle voice we hear within ourselves during a reading; and ironically, this is the same voice we often discount as silly, not to be trusted, or some fiction created from our imagination which carries no credence within our current reality. When we doubt ourselves in this way, we are succumbing to the reality of the rational or conscious mind; and when we do this, our reading is already dead in the water! So when in doubt, turn off the head and turn on the heart.
Until next time, stay magical!