By Isabella Vale – Founder of Tarot Masters
I never planned to have a spiritual awakening. It wasn’t something I set an intention for. I wasn’t sitting in a temple or meditating under the stars. I was sitting on the bathroom floor, crying.
I was in my twenties then. No kids. No marriage. Just a version of myself I didn’t recognize anymore. At the time, my life looked polished from the outside. I had a stable job, friends, and a relationship that looked good on paper. But something inside me felt deeply off. Like I was living behind a foggy glass, disconnected from my own life.
I didn’t know the word “awakening” yet. All I knew was that something had to change.
The Cracking Open
It didn’t happen all at once. It came in quiet waves. Whispers. Restlessness. A sense that there was more, and that I wasn’t living it.
I started to question everything. Not in a rebellious way, but in a heartbroken one. Why did I feel so numb? Why did I keep saying yes when my whole body meant no? Why did I feel so far from joy?
Then one evening, while cleaning out a drawer of forgotten things, I found an old tarot deck someone had gifted me years ago. The box was a little worn, and the cards smelled faintly of incense. I held it like it was something sacred, even though I didn’t know why.
I shuffled without knowing what I was doing, and I pulled a single card.
It was The Tower.
At the time, I didn’t even understand its full meaning. I looked it up and felt my breath catch.
Sudden change. Truth revealed. Foundations crumbling. Transformation.
It was like the card had read my soul and whispered, “Yes, this is what’s happening. And it’s okay.”
I pulled another card. Then another. And before I knew it, tarot became my daily ritual. Not to predict the future, but to understand myself.
Tarot as a Truth-Teller
The cards didn’t flatter me. They didn’t lie. They showed me what I had been avoiding. What I didn’t want to admit. But what I needed to see.
One day it was the Queen of Swords, reminding me that I needed stronger boundaries. Another day it was The Moon, calling me out for hiding from my truth. Some days I cried. Some days I laughed at how accurate the mirror was. But always, I felt seen.
Tarot didn’t give me answers. It gave me better questions. And slowly, one card at a time, I started coming back to myself.
I began journaling after my readings. I said no more often. I stopped ignoring my body. I walked barefoot. I listened. I stopped numbing and started feeling again.
The Remembering
That’s what spiritual awakening has always felt like to me. Not becoming someone new. But remembering who I already was.
Remembering that I am not here to fit into a mold. That my sensitivity is not a flaw. That my spirit speaks in symbols, dreams, and sensations. And that tarot helps me hear it.
I stopped seeing tarot as a tool. I started seeing it as a companion. A wise elder. A truth-teller. A spark of the divine.
That remembering is what led me to rebuild my life. I left behind what wasn’t aligned. I let go of roles and stories that never truly fit me. I simplified. I softened. And eventually, I followed the call to live a more spiritual, natural life.
That call is what brought me to Koh Phangan. A little island full of heart and healing. A place where the jungle hums and the ocean listens. Where I could walk barefoot every day and build something new, something honest, something mine.
A Life Rewritten
Since that awakening, everything has changed. Not instantly, and not without mess. But with meaning.
Tarot didn’t do the work for me. But it lit the path. It gave me courage when I wanted to hide. It gave me clarity when I felt lost. It reminded me that I could trust myself, even in the dark.
Now, tarot is still with me. It sits by my altar. It travels in my backpack. I pull cards not because I need to know what’s next, but because I want to be more present with what’s now.
Sometimes I share it with my kids. Sometimes I read for friends. But mostly, I read for the same reason I always have. To come home to myself.
For Anyone on the Edge
If you are reading this and feel like you’re standing at the edge of something, unsure and a little cracked open, I want you to know you’re not alone.
Awakenings can be messy. They unravel what no longer fits. But they also give birth to the real you. And that is a gift beyond words.
If tarot finds its way into your hands, trust it. You don’t need to be an expert. You don’t need to be mystical or perfect. You just need to be open.
Open to seeing. Open to listening. Open to remembering who you are.
With cards in hand and my soul wide open
Isabella Vale
Founder of Tarot Masters