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Magic Without Esotericism: How Metaphorical Cards Work and Why Not Only Psychologists Need Them
Metaphorical associative cards without mysticism and fortune-telling: how MACs work, who they are suitable for, why there are no right answers in the cards, and how to use the "Shameless" deck for self-reflection.
"MAC Shameless: female sexuality, shame, desire, and consent".
When a psychologist, coach, or group facilitator takes out a deck of metaphorical cards, some people immediately trigger a suspicion inside: now there will be candles, predictions, "you have a journey ahead," and a very serious look into the distance.
But metaphorical associative cards are not Tarot, not fortune-telling, and not an attempt to find out the future from a picture. If there is any magic in them, it is very earthy: the image helps a person bypass usual explanations, approach a difficult topic more softly, and hear what is already inside but does not yet have simple enough words.
MACs do not know more about you than you yourself do. They do not make diagnoses, do not "reveal the truth," and do not make decisions for a person. The card simply creates a space in which you can ask yourself: what do I see? what do I feel? why did this exactly catch my attention? what story am I telling now through this image?
That is exactly why metaphorical cards are useful not only to psychologists. They can be used for self-reflection, creativity, working with emotions, finding solutions, couple conversations, group practices, or simply for an honest contact with oneself.
Interesting fact: The first deck of metaphorical cards, named "OH" (from the exclamation of surprise "Oh!"), was created in 1975 not by a psychologist, but by the Canadian artist Ely Raman. He wanted to "take art out of the galleries" and make it accessible to everyone. Only later did psychotherapist Moritz Egetmeyer discern a powerful therapeutic tool in these cards and turn them into a method for working with the subconscious.
"MAC Shameless: female sexuality, shame, desire, and consent".
What are metaphorical associative cards
MACs are sets of cards with images, words, plots, or symbols. One card may feature a face, a road, a room, a body, a shadow, a door, an abstract spot, a strange scene, or a phrase that suddenly hits very accurately.
The main thing in MACs is not what "the author meant". The main thing is what the person looking at the card sees.
The exact same picture can mean absolutely different things to different people. For one person, an empty chair is loneliness. For another, it's a long-awaited pause. For a third, it's a place they are finally ready to take. And all three answers can be honest, because the card does not have a single correct interpretation.
This is the power of metaphorical cards: they do not provide a ready-made answer, but help a person see their own association.
Scientific explanation: This process is based on the psychological mechanism of projection. Our brain constantly tries to make sense of ambiguous or abstract stimuli, relying on our current emotional state, past experience, and internal conflicts. Looking at a card, a person literally "projects" their inner world onto an external object. This is the same mechanism that works in the famous Rorschach inkblot test, but MACs offer a more flexible and less clinical approach.
How it works without mysticism
A metaphorical card works as a visual stimulus. We look at an image and begin to build a story: who is the main character here, what is happening, where is the danger, where is the resource, what do we want to change, who has the right to speak, and who does not.
This is not a magical reading of the future. This is working with associations, attention, metaphor, memory, bodily response, and personal experience.
A direct question sometimes causes a defensive reaction. For example: "What do you feel?" — and the person automatically answers: "Fine". Or: "What makes you angry?" — and a clever explanation about deadlines, circumstances, and other people begins.
But if you place a card nearby and ask: "What does your state look like right now?" — the conversation can become more alive. The person suddenly says: "This figure near the door — is me. It's like I want to leave already, but I'm still holding the handle and waiting for permission".
And this is no longer an abstract "fine". This is an image that can be worked with.
Neurobiology of the process: When we are asked a direct question, the left hemisphere of the brain, responsible for logic, analysis, and censorship (our psychological defenses), gets activated. However, when we work with visual images and metaphors, the right hemisphere engages. It thinks in symbols and is responsible for intuition, emotions, and creativity. Working with MACs allows us to temporarily "turn off" the inner critic, which makes the answers more sincere and unexpected even for the person themselves.
Example: one card — two different stories
Imagine a card: a person stands on a stage, but the spotlight shines not on them, but slightly past them. A few more figures are visible behind the scenes.
One client might say: "This is about me at work. I do a lot, but I seem to always remain out of the center. I am only noticed when something needs to be urgently saved".
Another person will look at the same card and say: "This is about relief. I don't want to be in the spotlight. I want to be close by, but without the constant need to prove that I am bright enough".
The card is one. The plots are different. Because MACs do not implant a ready-made meaning into a person. They help pull out their own.
"MAC Shameless: female sexuality, shame, desire, and consent".
What kinds of metaphorical cards are there
Metaphorical cards are not "about everything all at once" just because they have pretty pictures on them. Different decks have different focuses: some help talk about emotions, others about choices, relationships, the body, values, creativity, or internal roles.
Today there are thousands of decks in the world, and their classification is constantly expanding because the tool evolves along with society's demands.
Cards of emotions and states
They are needed where to the question "what do you feel?" one wants to answer briefly: "fine," "bad," "I don't know".
The card helps not to name the feeling directly right away, but to approach it through an image. For example: "there is a lot of fog here," "this figure seems to shrink," "it seems to me there is tension before an explosion here". And gradually, more precise words are born from this: anxiety, anger, shame, fatigue, resentment, loneliness, relief.
Cards of perspectives and solutions
Such decks work well when a person is stuck in the same circle of thoughts. The question can sound simple: "What will help me look at the situation differently?"
Sometimes a person sees a door on the card and understands: "I need a way out, not another explanation". Sometimes they see a cup of tea and suddenly notice: "I'm trying to make a big decision in a state of exhaustion. First, I need to rest".
The card does not solve the problem for the person. It shifts the viewing angle.
Cards of goals and values
They help check if a person is truly heading towards their own goal, and not towards someone else's "successful success".
Sometimes, a person talks about a career leap, great achievements, and a new level, but for the card of their desired future, they choose not a stage, not an office, and not a peak, but a quiet house, a garden, a table by the window, and lots of air.
This doesn't mean the ambitions are wrong. It means it is worth asking more honestly: what do I really want — recognition, peace, freedom, money, influence, safety, creativity, intimacy?
Universal associative decks
These are basic decks with very diverse images. They are suitable for self-reflection, group exercises, storytelling, brainstorms, and working with metaphors.
Their power lies in their openness. One image can be used for a question about relationships, work, internal state, resource, or obstacle.
Portrait and role decks
Decks with faces, characters, or archetypal figures work well with themes of relationships, conflicts, and roles in the family, team, or couple.
The questions can be like: "Who am I in this situation?", "Who am I afraid of disappointing?", "How do others see me?", "What role do I take automatically?", "Who do I allow myself to be only in my mind?"
Such cards often show not "the truth about the person," but a familiar position they adopt under certain circumstances.
Thematic decks
Separately, there are decks created for specific topics: boundaries, money, sexuality, traumatic experiences, resources, self-worth, motherhood, professional development, and partnership.
For example, the MAC "Shameless" is created precisely for the topics of female sexuality, desire, shame, consent, the body, and personal boundaries.
Such a deck does not "teach you how to be sexual". It helps to talk more softly with yourself about where there is living desire, where there is tension, where there is consent, and where there is a habit of adjusting.
Who can benefit from MACs
Psychologists, psychotherapists, counselors, and coaches
For professionals, MACs are a way to approach a complex topic more softly. Sometimes it is easier for a client to say: "this figure on the card is scared" than to immediately admit: "I am scared". A safe distance appears through the image, and only then — contact with one's own experience.
The only important thing is that the specialist does not interpret the card for the client. The card belongs to the person who sees it.
Managers, HR specialists, and facilitators
In teams, MACs can help talk about processes without unnecessary attacks on each other.
Instead of the question "what is wrong with the project again?" you can suggest each person choose a card that looks like the current state of the team. Someone will choose an overloaded bridge, someone — a tangled road, someone — a room without windows.
And the conversation will start not from an accusation, but from a metaphor. This is not a magic pill for management, but a good tool for facilitation, retrospectives, team meetings, and finding common ground.
Writers, scriptwriters, copywriters, and authors
When a story is stuck, cards can throw in an unexpected twist.
You can draw three cards:
- The hero's hidden motive.
- The main obstacle.
- What the hero refuses to admit.
The brain loves connecting the incompatible very much. And that is why a scene, conflict, new metaphor, or unexpected dialogue line can be born from a random image.
Artists, designers, and visual creators
For creative people, MACs can be a vision simulator. Color, composition, details, textures, strange combinations — all this can trigger new ideas for their own works.
Sometimes a card does not provide a ready plot, but provides a mood: "I want to make something with the same tension," "I am interested in this silence," "there is a color here that I want to transfer to the project".
Teachers and educators
Cards can be used to develop speech, storytelling, describing emotions, learning foreign languages, and for group discussions.
For example, a student draws a card and describes what is happening on it, what happened before this scene, and what could happen next. This trains not only vocabulary and grammar, but also imagination, cause-and-effect reasoning, and the ability to build a story.
People who want to understand themselves better
For independent work, MACs can be a very simple way to pause and ask oneself an honest question.
Not "what does the card predict for me?", but:
- What do I see?
- What caught my attention?
- Where am I here?
- What in this image is similar to my life right now?
- What small action is possible after this realization?
This is not a substitute for therapy. But it is a good tool for self-reflection if used carefully and without demanding instant answers from oneself.
You can also try online MAC cards if you want a quick practice without a physical deck.
How to "read" MACs without a dream book
The worst thing you can do with metaphorical cards is turn them into a table of meanings.
- A door is not always a way out.
- Water is not always emotions.
- A dark card is not always something bad.
- A light card is not always a resource.
If a person looks at a smiling face and feels anxiety, it means anxiety is what matters in this work. If someone sees freedom, not loneliness, in an empty room, that is also an honest meaning.
Useful questions for a card:
- What do I see on this card?
- What is happening here?
- Where am I in this card?
- What do I feel when I look at it?
- Which detail seems the most important?
- What does this card show about my situation?
- What small decision or question do I take with me?
Addition for practice: There are two main ways to work with cards. "Open" (Face-up) — when you consciously browse the deck and choose the card that resonates most with your state or request. This gives a sense of control. "Blind" (Face-down) — when you draw a card at random without seeing the image. This method adds an element of surprise and often allows you to bypass logical barriers, pulling to the surface the least expected insights.
"MAC Shameless: female sexuality, shame, desire, and consent".
Separate territory: MAC "Shameless"
There are topics that are sometimes very difficult to approach with direct words. Female sexuality, shame, desire, consent, boundaries, embodiment, fantasies, the right to want, and the right not to want — are exactly such topics.
This is 100 metaphorical cards (18+) for exploring female desire, pleasure, fantasies, consent, personal boundaries, and relationships with one's own body. It is not about becoming "properly sexual" or conforming to someone else's idea of being liberated.
On the contrary, "Shameless" helps to ask other questions:
- What do I really feel?
- Where does my "yes" live, and where do I simply agree out of tension?
- What do I want but am ashamed to name?
- Where does my body ask for a pause?
- What expectations do I still consider mine, even though they were imposed a long time ago?
We have already written in detail about the deck itself and the topic of female sexuality in the article "MAC Shameless: female sexuality, shame, desire, and consent".
Why cards sometimes work softer than direct questions with intimate topics
If you ask a person directly: "What do you want in intimacy?" — an answer might not appear. Not because the person doesn't want anything, but because between them and the desire there might stand shame, experience of criticism, fear of offending a partner, a habit of being convenient, or a very ancient rule: we don't talk about such things.
A metaphorical card creates a slight distance. The person speaks as if not immediately about themselves, but about the image. "This woman on the card seems to want to come closer, but she's checking if it's safe". And only then might they notice: "Perhaps this is about me too".
This distance does not move you away from the truth. It makes the path to it less violent.
Psychological phenomenon: This effect is called dissociation for the good in psychology. When a topic is too painful or tabooed (as is often the case with sexuality or bodily boundaries), the psyche blocks direct access to it to avoid re-traumatization. Talking "about someone else in the picture" creates a safe buffer. A person feels that they control the degree of immersion and can stop at any moment.
How you can work with cards on your own
Here is a simple practice for one card.
Formulate a question. For example: "What is important for me to see about my state right now?" or "Where am I losing contact with myself?"
Draw a card and describe only what you see: colors, shapes, movement, distance, details.
Then ask yourself:
- What caught my attention first in this card?
- Where am I here?
- What in this image is similar to my situation?
- What does this figure / this space / this plot want?
- What very small thing can I do today, without heroism?
Important: do not look for the "right meaning" of the card. Look for a living response.
When is it better to work with a specialist
MACs can be a very soft and useful tool, but they do not replace psychotherapy, medical help, or crisis support.
If a topic causes severe anxiety, panic, flashbacks, a sense of danger, self-harming thoughts, or a sharp deterioration of condition, it is better not to be left alone with this and seek out a psychologist, psychotherapist, doctor, or crisis service.
Cards are a tool for contact with oneself. But sometimes a person needs not a tool, but a living support nearby.
Conclusion
Metaphorical cards work not because they know a secret about your life. They work because they help you see your own story from a different angle.
The card does not speak for you.
It invites you to speak more precisely.
Sometimes this is enough so that out of the fog of "fine," "I don't know," "everything is okay," an honest sentence suddenly appears:
- "It hurts here".
- "I want this here".
- "I am silent here not because I agree".
- "I need a pause here".
- "I finally see myself here".
And it is exactly from this that not magic begins, but self-reflection.