Alright so today I decided to finally sit down and figure out this whole Tarot bridge thing. I kept seeing the term pop up in some forums and got curious. I mean, I know a bit about Tarot cards, but a “bridge”? That sounded like some next-level stuff. I grabbed my trusty Rider-Waite deck, my notebook, and a big cup of coffee. Here’s how it went down.
Starting with Total Confusion
First thing I did was just lay out a simple three-card spread. You know, past, present, future. I pulled The Fool, The Emperor, and The Star. Okay, cool. But then I remembered the “bridge” concept is about connecting cards. I stared at them. The Fool is all about beginnings and innocence, The Emperor is structure and control, and The Star is hope and inspiration. How do these even connect? I felt stuck already.
So I went back to the basics. I read that a Tarot bridge is basically a card that helps you understand the journey between two other cards. It’s like a missing link. My three cards were just sitting there, not talking to each other. I needed to find what bridges The Fool to The Emperor, and then The Emperor to The Star.
Digging Deeper into the Cards
I started looking closely at the pictures. The Fool is walking off a cliff, carefree. The Emperor is sitting on a throne, all stern and in charge. What event or energy gets you from one to the other? I thought about it in real-life terms. To go from being a free spirit to being a boss, you probably need some kind of wake-up call or a lesson, right? Maybe a card about challenge or discipline.
I shuffled the deck again, thinking specifically about a bridge between these two. I asked, “What connects the energy of The Fool to The Emperor?” I pulled a single card: The Hierophant. Bingo! The Hierophant is all about tradition, learning, and systems. It made perfect sense. The Fool learns the rules (from The Hierophant) and then applies them to become The Emperor. It was like a lightbulb went off.
Building the Whole Bridge
Feeling pumped, I moved to the next gap: from The Emperor to The Star. The Emperor is control and order, The Star is about letting go and having faith. That’s a huge shift. So I asked the deck, “What bridges the strict Emperor to the hopeful Star?” I pulled another card: Temperance. Wow. Temperance is about balance, mixing things carefully, and patience. This was it! You can’t go straight from being a control freak to being all zen and hopeful. You need to find balance first. Temperance is that middle path.
So my whole reading changed. It wasn’t just three separate cards anymore. It became a story:
- Start: The Fool (innocent beginning)
- Bridge 1: The Hierophant (learning the rules)
- Then: The Emperor (becoming the boss)
- Bridge 2: Temperance (finding balance)
- End: The Star (finding hope and inspiration)
What I Learned from This Practice
This totally changed how I see readings now. Before, I’d just read each card on its own and try to mash the meanings together. It was often messy. Using the bridge idea forced me to look for the story and the connection. It’s not about memorizing definitions; it’s about asking the right questions to find the missing pieces. My advice for beginners? Don’t be afraid to pull an extra card or two when you feel a gap between the cards in your spread. Just ask, “What connects these two?” The deck usually has an answer. It makes everything so much clearer and way more personal.
