If you’re new to tarot and you’re not quite sure what to expect, here’s a behind the scenes look at how I prepare for a tarot reading. I have several steps I go through that are about Tarot preparation before I even shuffle.
How did I even decide on these steps? It all started in an acting class. (So many things do) “Mr. Carp, he put us all up on stage with our legs around everybody…”
I learned a way to relax my body that I later learned was based in a yoga pose called Shavasana or corpse pose. “And I dug right down to the bottom of my soul, to see what I had insiiiiiiiide…” And later we trained our imagination by working visualization exercises while music played.
I don’t remember the music now, but I really remember the vision of being on a hilly green countryside. And there was a stream. So I wasn’t Maria Von Trapp. “And I dug right down to the bottom of my soul, and I tried, I tried!”
I’m a visual person, so you’ll read about a lot of imagery that helps me connect with you. Especially if we’re not in the same room.
If I’m reading at a festival or straight through the day, what you’ll read below is a ritual I perform at the beginning of the event. And I check in with myself periodically to ensure that I’m still connected through out the day. Maintaining a high degree of energetic connection is like running a marathon. (Actors do this all the time – in case you’re wondering what it could be like. I mean, Idina and Sutton Foster aren’t fucking around.)
TAROT READER PREPARATION
I clean and clear the area where I’m about to perform the Tarot reading. I‘ll make sure I have a comfortable chair. Then I ensure other daily tasks are complete or scheduled so I’m not worried about them. This lets me focus on the task at hand, the Tarot reading. Sometimes candles/scents are involved but also definitely not required. Sometimes you might see a stray crystal or favorite rock about.
I remove my Tarot cards from their box (usually wood because the earth/natural element is important to ME, not because it’s someone else’s idea of a strict requirement (that’s not what tarot is about. It’s MY ritual)). I set them on top of the box or in the center of where I’m about to work. Then I re-scan my work area and make sure I have everything I need. I usually remember I want water or tea at this point.
Now that I have my tea, I hold my cards loosely in my hands, enveloped. I take two deep breaths and exhale vocally. Then I close my eyes on the third exhale. I‘ll imagine all the sounds and smells are a part of an energy that I’m connected to. And I imagine that I’m the creator of and experiencing of those sights and sounds. We’re one. Energy is aligned and not a distraction.
Then I relax muscle by muscle from my toes to the top of my head. Working through physical awareness, chakras, and energy. As I walk through those chakras I also ask to better understand my clients desires, what they believe, what they know, what They’re feeling, what They’re saying / need to hear / messages from those who have passed, what they think / are being told to think, and where they are spiritually.
Preparation with my highest guides
The Garden Door
I imagine myself walking through a park with a bench where my spirit guide (His name is Doug) waits. As we encounter each other, this is usually a shamanic type of experience (I can’t think of another way to describe it so suspend some critique here), I ask Doug to help my tarot preparation with the protection of myself, my house, and everyone (pets are 4 legged people!) in it. I imagine green and white strands of earthly energy/material coming from me and enveloping me and my house (think the protection spell in Harry Potter when the professors protected Hogwarts).
I ask Doug to help connect me with my highest guides. Then we walk together towards a huge, heavy, wooden door with iron circular handles. The green and white energy has followed me and as I reach to open the doors to invite the energy and light of the universe in, those strands of energy encircle my arms and provide additional strength and protection so Doug and I can open the doors. In fact, sometimes they help grab the iron handles.
As the door opens, light floods and I see a tunnel or ribbon (?) of energy coming towards me and I direct it towards my third eye, pull it into my entire self, and imagine myself lit up by the colors of chakra, ascending higher and higher over earthly realms into another plane. While this is happening and I feel the energy flowing through me, I also inhale physically.
The Highest Guides
I‘ll ask for Oseilia (I used to call her Ophelia, like the Shakespeare character, because that’s how I heard the name – I was corrected when I was ready), my highest guide, to let me know when she’s available. Then I invite her to put her hand on my shoulder and speak. I’ll hear her voice in something I would call my inner knowing.
Once she and I are connected (and sometimes other guides that are close) I ask for her support to maintain a red velvet rope around me. And to only let in those who are here to share a message for those I’m reading for.
If something comes to me that I‘ll call (for sake of clarity) negative, evil, or just not meant for our work, I ask her to keep that rope in place and protect me. This also implies that during this tarot preparation we’re further protecting my house and family.
Then I open my eyes and exhale the energy towards my cards. In a way I feel like this step is connecting me and my cards and the collective spirit through energy.
SHUFFLING TAROT CARDS
Then I consider the question pertaining to the Tarot reading, choose a layout that supports the answering of the question, and shuffle until I feel that it’s time to stop. My intuition usually kicks in and let’s me know when.
Then I implement the layout that aligns with the question (or what layout will best provide an answer to the question) and draw.
This whole process takes maybe two minutes. And now that the Tarot reader preparation is complete the reading can begin!