Me
My projects
My notes
Preparing for a tarot reading
Describing the process step by step
(THIS TEXT WASN'T PROOFREAD YET, SORRY FOR ANY MISTAKES)
Introductions are always difficult to write. Since this is my first "post" of this format, I'll try giving myself some sort of a head start by not writing a proper first paragraph and just getting straight to the topic!
DISCLAIMER: In this article I'll be talking about how I personally prepare to read tarot. It is not a full instruction of how YOU should do it, but you can surely take some inspiration. I might someday write an update on how my process of divining looks, because right now it leaves much to be desired. I'm writing this mostly to break my writer's block.
Wow, would you look at that? A disclaimer turned into something of an introduction, that I intentionally let myself not write. How curious.
Step 1: Preparation
Cleansing
I usually start by lighting some incense and cleasing the cards, as well as the space around me, and myself. Around 3 years ago, at something of a flee market, I found a book about tarot for 20PLN (that's how you know you struck gold). It's title is "Wszystko o kartach" (which means "All about cards") and it was written by Beata Marcinkowska. I won't talk a lot about it, at least for now, but it gave me some information regarding cartomancy and the etiquette appropiate when using the divining tools. Some of it I consider superstition. But superstitions also come from somewhere, no?
The most important thing to me that I draw from this book was the habit of washing your hands before using cards. That might seem obvious, I know, especially since the cleansing is commonly known to be a crucial part of the process. But hear me out. The act of cleaning your hands, which are one of your most important tools, with water - a life-giving element (also considered the foundation of the whole Universe by the first ever philosopher, but I digress), sounds like a very powerful action. And for me it is. If cards are supposed to be a way to connect with the Divine and to communiacte with it, then it's only appropriate that we respect them (although I myself wouldn't personify them, that's something I'm rather opposed to, but everyone has their own beliefs).
Protection and guidance
My way of protecting myself spiritually most often consists solely of calling in different spirits and Divine persons. This section will be of little significance to You, the reader, since everyone has their own spirit guides and their own Divine persons they work with.
I was raised Christian, so it's always been my habit to cross myself when seeking protection, healing or guidance, for me as well as for others. I still believe in Christ, regardless of my religion, which I'm not sure of yet. He was a good, enlightened person. That's why even if I don't consider myself Catholic anymore, I still treat Him as a figure of authority and I trust Him. I pray to him before readings, mostly for protection. I feel like it would be unfair of me to exclude Him from my practice, since He's been with me my whole life.
On the topic of Christianity, I also call in saint Archangel Michael to protect me. I love him and the fact that I'm working with him.
There's a spirit guide of mine that I love very much. She used to be my grandmother's cat before she traveled to the other side. I call her to me always when I'm in need of insight and accurate intuition. Different spirits work in different ways, and I know for a fact, that she is a great guide when it comes to the spiritual matters!
Lastly, I may sometimes ask for help from my other guide, my guardian angel. However, I don't feel any strong connection to them, that's something I have to work on.
Step 2: Shuffling and laying down
I sometimes choose a card spread to read from, but usually I just see what comes up with no set structure. Also, I like coming up with my own spread ideas. It just makes it a lot more personal, which, for me, makes it a lot more accurate. I reccomend it, You're gonna know your own situation more then a random site online (says a random site online).
Before I even start shuffling the cards, I knock on the deck with my fingers a couple times in a rythm that reminds me of my childhood (because yes, there is a rythm that does in fact remind me of those years). If I play any music in the background, I knock along with the song's rythm (I might share my playlist someday!). I really feel that this action "throws away" any stagnant energies left from the previous readings. Then I start shuffling. This is usually the moment when the cards show themselves. I don't pull from the deck myself, they just flow out themselves. I think I just shuffle very chaotically, but that makes it very convienient for me. If I had to pull cards from the deck myself, I'd be scared that my intuition will fail me, that I will choose wrong. But when the cards show themselves on their own, I don't worry about that.
If more then 5 cards fall out at the same time, I do not take them. I put them back into the deck. But I do take more cards then I initially planned to pull, if up to 5 fly out together. That's a habit that my ex friend told me about (I intentionally avoided the words "taught me", because... yes, I can be in fact pretty petty).
Step 3: Interpreting
How I interpret the individual cards is something I'd gladly write a whole book about. At one point in writing this article I got carried away and started talking about my guidelines of interpreting cards, which got a little lenghty. So for now I'll stop here.
Conclusion
This is how my preparations for tarot readings look. I hope you had fun reading and maybe got inspired to grab your deck and divine a little! Soon I may write another text about this cartomancy tool. So stay tuned!
Best regards,
An
