Honestly, I blame the inaccurate portrayal of witchcraft and divination on the media. I mean, it’s not hard for the attention of a young kid to be perked when a magical talking cat, potions, or magic is shown on the screen. I know the beginning of my exposure to this slight obsession can rest on several witchy books I read as a kid while also being influenced by the adventures of Sabrina the witch. I mean, did you see Salem? Who wouldn’t want to do a little bit of magic? Anyways, I still had a fascination with tarot cards, but I never ended up owning my deck until I was 17. It was around the time of Halloween, and my friends wanted to dress up as fortune tellers for a party. Well, in the process of figuring out the logistics of my costume, I *slightly* begged my mom to purchase a tarot deck. We looked on Amazon due to its unfortunate but slightly fortunate convenience. Anyways, we found a cheap deck that would serve its purpose. When it was delivered, I immediately tore into them and was curious about everything I could learn about the deck itself. I knew that they weren’t quite what you could call genuine, but they still had the basics for what would be a great introduction deck.
The flimsy deck was the typical Rider Waite deck. The traditional suits and arcana were fitting to get into the groove of what would become a full practice of mine. After still using these cards to gain a handle on more information and what the cards meant to me, I was in search of a deck that was more fitting for me. Besides the surface imagery of what the Tarot is, there was so much to learn over the years. I didn’t end up getting a serious deck that called to me until two years after I first got into reading the cards. I knew there were specific cards I found myself magnetized to in my practice deck, but I didn’t understand the importance of this attraction until it hit me in the face. If you, the reader, are looking to get into tarot or have an interest, some things should be addressed before you dive into doing your readings or even getting a reading for yourself.
Everyone Does Their Reading Differently
Over the years, I have finally developed a reading style that personally fits me better than what standard I was trying to force myself to follow. Some tarot card users will shuffle their cards by hand in a scattered method, others will throw the cards in the air and see what sticks in their hand or will spread all the cards out and pick by feeling. I first started with what personally felt right in my picking. I used to do this for other people’s readings, but I ended up not being a fan of catching other people’s energy by having their energy attached to the cards after they physically touched them. This may sound odd to some readers, but in my own beliefs and feelings, it just gave me an icky feeling. In a boiled-down version, that truly is the best way I can convey the slight neck-hair rising feeling after someone else’s “mojo” was attached to my deck. I try not to allow people to touch my deck without permission. I usually do a cleanse on my deck after someone has touched them and before I do my next reading.
Cleansing the Energy
Look, I know that the spiritual baddies know the importance of this practice, but there’s reasoning to this madness. If you are wanting to double-check if your cleansing method is appropriate, this article here can help you figure it out. But, for those who are very confused on why and how you would even cleanse cards, let me go ahead and dive into the different ways to cleanse along with why you should.
There are many ways to cleanse, such as sound, touch, elements, and smoke. I am sure there are more ways, but these are the ones that I am currently aware of and comfortable with. Certain Hertz frequencies are used to clear out negative energy, along with other types of healing. This is not one of my favorite methods due to finding flat frequencies to be quite annoying, but there are different Hertz levels for different cleansing reasons. Touch uses the wielder’s energy to go ahead and dispel any residues of other people’s or things’ energies. The elemental cleanse would usually use symbolic tools of the elements to clear the negative energy of the different tools of divination of practice. It should be noted that some elements are harder to use as a cleansing method due to potentially damaging your divination tools such as tarot. Also, as someone who is not quite trusted with open flames, I tend to stay away from using fire as a cleansing tool. I like to cleanse my deck with some incense sticks. I refuse to use Palo Santo for the reasons of it being an endangered species along with sage too. I stick to my incense sticks that have been researched to make sure the sticks’ ingredients follow my own beliefs and practices. I also find incense sticks to be a safer fire hazard with my tendencies. But now I’m sure you’re wondering, why the hell would I cleanse my deck in the first place. Well, it’s very easy for the residue of negative energy to stick to your divination tools. After all, think of them as a conductor for specific energy in the case of relaying specific messages from Spirit. I could ramble on and on about this, but that’s a different matter. Anyways, let’s get into what types of readings I’ve done.
Types of Readings
This shouldn’t be a shock, but there is such a wide range of readings that can be done. If I am going to read cards for another person for the first time, I always go with the past, present, and future cards. I believe that this specific reading is a great first-time reading to gain an understanding of where the person currently stands. I use the book that came with the deck and my intuition to give my readings. The deck I have now usually focuses on asking the person receiving the reading questions to reflect on. I love this deck due to it not saying things are absolute, but instead events stand in a position that should be looked at and then dealt with. Once I have already read for a person before, I feel more comfortable doing different spreads regarding career, love, or even financials. In the case of readings for myself, I gravitate to asking spirits for advice or what can come from an event. If I’m feeling it, I’ll even draw a card daily to see what I should focus on for the day. I do get slightly annoyed with doing readings for myself because I do often get called out by my cards. I won’t exactly tell you what they warned me about because that would get too personal. But, instead, here’s a physical representation of how these call-outs go down.
Anyways, besides being absurdly called out, I’m sure you’re curious about whom I have done a reading for. I have done readings for my grandparents, friends, their parents, and my parents. In the case of other readings, the readings are usually requested on the topics of financial and love-related topics. I will admit, these types of readings are the scariest to do due to how the information you are relaying will be welcomed. The funny part is that most of the readings I have done for those in my life have rung true so far with the warnings or indications of what was to come. In the matters of my father, the cards gave him an indication that a new change in scenery in the work setting would bring a positive change in life. Were the cards, right? Who is to say, but something did occur along these lines and led him into a happier change in his career. When my roommate requested a reading for daily life, she was unbelievably called out in a way that freaked her out slightly. I was clear in my explanation that I was reading straight from the card’s book of meaning and translation of symbolism. Let us just say, she was freaked out for a week and stayed away until she came to terms with what the cards addressed.
Another friend of mine who did not necessarily believe in spiritual beliefs but held an open mind asked for a general reading. Once I finished up their reading, they went ahead and took in the information before requesting to see the entire deck. I was very confused as to why, but I went ahead and handed the deck over to him. He flipped through all the cards, studied the images carefully, and started to pull out particular cards. I watched him, very confused, yet interested in what fueled this process. He made a small pile of the five cards he handpicked out. I looked at him waiting for an explanation, he did have a slight undertone of a wavering statement as he told me why he did this. His name meant wolf in Hebrew, and out of his reading, he got two cards with the symbolism of wolves. In the deck overall, there were only seven cards overall that had wolf-related images out of a 78-card deck. I can’t do math very well, but the percentage seemed very low enough to catch him off guard. This may not seem that bad, but it was enough for a usually well-reserved individual to break character and make an obvious facial expression. On a side note, I think that any reading should be approached with an open mind, but not taken seriously to the utmost degree. There’s room for change in the information being relayed and in the context where things can happen, too. So, the question is, how did I pick out my deck of choice?
The Attraction to a Deck
Besides being an adult and being able to spend my own money at this age, you know I had to eventually give in to the calling of tarot. Well, before I explain how I picked out my deck, I want to address a particular belief that can sway beginner tarot card readers in the community. Some people believe that your deck should be gifted or passed down to the user, but I want to push back a little bit on this version of the practice. I do believe passed on decks can be nice in a generational tarot card family, but it doesn’t mean that’s the only deck you can use. There are so many different decks out there, and there are numerous decks that can call out to you in different sections of your life. In my case, I was going through a rough part of my life when I popped into an apothecary looking to pick up some Mugwort when I found myself drawn to the tarot section of the large herbal shop. I know what you’re thinking, of course, I was going to walk over there and look at its selection. The shop in Durango, Colorado had quite a weird energy in its atmosphere. I was trying to tell myself that I was there for the herb Mugwort and not here for finding a deck, but I was drawn in nothing the less. I was looking in the case of having an introduction to Oracle cards, (a little bit different than tarot) but as soon as I picked up the deck of the Dreams of Gaia, I knew it was over.
I had handled a couple of different tarot decks before I picked up the deck I purchased. I perused the: Thoth deck, The Modern Witch Tarot, White Light Oracle, and Circle of Life deck. But, as soon as I picked up the box of the Gaia deck, I just knew that it was a deck that I would form a connection with. This specific deck called me through the card’s artwork and the feel of the deck in my hand along with the slight sense of fear. I’m not exactly sure how to put this exact feeling into words, but it was a clear indicator to me that I was to have this deck in my hand for a very long time.
To this day, I still use this deck to help myself reflect on all different aspects of my life along with others (with permission of course). I think that currently, I am not exactly on the lookout for another deck, but if I find that feeling again, I’ll go ahead and jump on it. I think it’s super important to understand the use of tarot cards for certain people’s practices along with these cards acting as a tool of living. I would not swear by my readings, but I am accepting of what cards fall out of my deck promptly. It would be fair to say I fall more into the intermediate placement. I would not say I am advanced in the slightest due to Tarot being a practice that can take a very long time to master. There are always new reading methods, new decks, and new knowledge that can come to mind. Over time, I am getting more into the practices of divination, but I recognize that this is a path that may not fit others or be a way that is dismissible by others. Everything that was stated has formed my own beliefs along with my readings that I do when it feels needed.
There may be other readers that disagree or somewhat agree with my own experience. Either way, Tarot can be good practice for a variety of people no matter the knowledge they behold at the time. With that in mind, don’t be afraid to research, have readings done, and learn from the mistakes that can happen!