A tarot affirmation is a short, believable sentence drawn from a card's meaning that you carry through the day. Draw a card, find its line, and say it or write it somewhere you'll see it: on a sticky note, a phone lock screen, the first page of your planner. Below is one affirmation for each of the 22 Major Arcana cards, from The Fool to The World, followed by how to use them with a daily draw and how to write lines for the other 56 cards.

How tarot affirmations work

An affirmation is a sentence you repeat to steer your attention. Pairing it with a card gives you two cues instead of one: a picture and a phrase. When the day gets busy, the picture of the Eight of Pentacles hunched over his workbench brings back the line faster than the words alone.

The affirmations that help most are ones you can actually believe. Grand statements ("I am fearless") tend to provoke an inner argument; small, specific ones ("I can say one honest thing in the meeting") don't. Our guide to positive affirmations explains why, and how to soften a line until it feels true.

That's why the lines below are modest. They describe something you can do today, not a finished version of yourself. If one feels too much, change it. An affirmation you've rewritten is worth more than one you've copied.

22 affirmations for the Major Arcana

The numbers follow the Rider-Waite-Smith deck and most modern decks, which put Strength at 8 and Justice at 11. Older Marseille-style decks swap those two.

  1. The Fool: I can begin before I feel completely ready.
  2. The Magician: I already have what I need to make a start.
  3. The High Priestess: I can wait quietly until I know what I think.
  4. The Empress: I'm allowed to grow slowly and enjoy the growing.
  5. The Emperor: A little structure makes room for everything else.
  6. The Hierophant: I can learn from people who've done this before me.
  7. The Lovers: My choices today can match what I value.
  8. The Chariot: I can steer, even when I feel pulled two ways.
  9. Strength: I can be gentle and firm at the same time.
  10. The Hermit: Time on my own helps me hear myself.
  11. Wheel of Fortune: Things change, and I can change with them.
  12. Justice: I can be honest about my part and fair about everyone else's.
  13. The Hanged Man: Pausing isn't failing. It lets me see this differently.
  14. Death: I can let something end so something new has room.
  15. Temperance: Steady, moderate steps add up.
  16. The Devil: I can notice what has a hold on me and loosen it a little.
  17. The Tower: When something falls apart, I can rebuild on firmer ground.
  18. The Star: Hope is something I practice, one small act at a time.
  19. The Moon: I don't need every answer tonight to take the next step.
  20. The Sun: I can let myself enjoy what's going well.
  21. Judgement: I can listen to what's calling me and answer honestly.
  22. The World: I can mark what I've finished before I start the next thing.

Using an affirmation with your daily card

Three ways to fold these into a daily draw, from simplest to most involved.

Draw from the Major Arcana only. Take the 22 big cards out of the deck and draw one each morning. Every draw gives you a line from the list above. It's a gentle way to learn the Majors as a set. Our guide to the Major and Minor Arcana explains how the two groups differ.

Draw from the full deck and match by number. If you draw a Minor card numbered 1 to 10, some readers use the Major card with the same number as its affirmation: a Five of any suit takes The Hierophant's line, a Ten takes Wheel of Fortune's. Court cards get a line you write yourself (see below).

Draw a card, then write your own line. This is the most useful version once you know the deck. The card gives you a theme; you turn it into a sentence about your actual day.

Whichever you choose, say the line once when you draw, and once more at a fixed moment later: lunch, the commute home, brushing your teeth. Two repetitions a day is enough. If you don't have your deck with you, the free daily tarot card gives you a card to work from.

Writing your own from any card

Every card in the deck can give you an affirmation in three steps.

  1. Pick one keyword. Not the whole meaning, one word or phrase. Eight of Pentacles: practice.
  2. Turn it into an "I can" or "I'm" sentence about today. "I can get a little better at this today."
  3. Test it out loud. If you wince, make it smaller. "I can do twenty minutes of practice" beats "I am a master of my craft."

A few examples from the Minor Arcana:

  • Ace of Cups: I can let myself feel this fully.
  • Four of Swords: Resting is part of the work.
  • Six of Pentacles: I can give and receive without keeping score.
  • Seven of Wands: I can hold my position politely.
  • Queen of Cups: I can be kind and still keep my own feelings in view.
  • Page of Swords: I can ask the question I've been sitting on.

When a hard card turns up

The Tower, Death, the Ten of Swords and the Three of Swords are the cards people least want to see in the morning. They make some of the best affirmations, because they're about what you can do when things are difficult.

The trick is to write about your response, not the event. "Nothing bad will happen" is a wish. "I can handle a hard conversation calmly" is something you can practice. If a line still feels false on a rough day, skip it. An affirmation is supposed to steady you, not ask you to pretend.

And if you'd like a month of structure around this, our 30 day tarot challenge includes days for turning cards into your own lines.

Questions readers ask

Do tarot affirmations work?

They work the way any affirmation does: as a way of choosing where your attention goes. A line tied to a card's image is easier to remember during a busy day, which is most of the benefit. They won't change outside events, and they help most when they're specific and believable.

Can I use affirmations with reversed cards?

Yes. Read the reversal as the same theme blocked or turned inward, and write a line that loosens the block. Reversed Chariot, for instance, might become: "I can pick one direction for today and let the rest wait."

Which tarot card is best for confidence affirmations?

Strength, The Chariot and The Sun are the usual choices: quiet courage, determination and plain joy. The Magician suits days when you need to start something and trust your skills.

Should I say tarot affirmations out loud?

If you can, yes. Saying a line aloud makes you notice whether you believe it, which is the best test there is. Writing it down works well too, especially if you keep a tarot journal.