Constrictive Methods?

I've been using Tarot for quite a while, just for fun, and only in the last year or so have I gotten into it more seriously. In April of this year, I started an 8-month course to learn about the spiritual realm, karma, Reiki,...all good stuff, but it left me with a problem.

Now, whenever I bring out a deck (Tarot, general oracle or otherwise), the first feeling that comes up is usually anxiety. What if I'm not grounded? The reading will be off. Then, as I pull the cards out, I think (out of habit and teachings in channelling), I ask my ego to step back and take notes. Immediately after that, I frequently fret about the possibility that my ego won't obey, and again, worry that my reading will be false.

Then, I hold the cards and say my oft-repeated mantra, "I ask that this deck be cleansed of contaminated or residual energy from previous readings, now. Thank you." I then knock the deck three times with my knuckles, for good measure, visualizing the deck being cleansed with white energy. I then shuffle, concentrating steadily on my question, all the while the free-floating anxiety whispering: You probably phrased the question wrong. Don't loose concentration, or your answer will be wrong. The way I usually work with cards is to ask that the card I need will pop or jump out of the deck, and this works well. Occasionally, though, I either shuffle for many minutes and the worry comes up that the answer won't come, or a large group of cards will jump out as opposed to one. If I do it the traditional(?) way, cutting the deck and pulling cards, I fret that I've picked the wrong card somehow. Sometimes, I feel as though the deck itself is vindictive for some reason, and although I know its probably just my own projection, it seems like at times a deck is jealous of another, or exasperated with me.

Overall, the things I've been taught are helpful. I know a lot more about my spiritual growth and how to heal myself, how to cleanse negative energy, etc. I've always had a challenge with anxiety and doubt, especially in myself, and somehow, learning about the reasons I shouldn't worry almost seems to make it worse at times.

How about some advice, guys? How do you cleanse your decks or prepare for a reading? Do you ever have doubts that you've picked the wrong card or interpreted something wrong, and if so how did you deal with it?

I think it may come down to lack of trust. You don't trust yourself, your abilities etc, and by worrying about getting a wrong card, you don't trust the universe to give you what you need. One needs faith that the cards chosen in that moment in time are the exact right cards that are needed and have a message.

All rituals are a means to focus, concetrate and relax...to allow your intuition and higher self to come to the forefront .....all this thinking and worrying is very much getting in the way, by worrying your never letting your consciousness take a back seat and lulling it into slumber.....

I'm not sure what advice to offer, any ritual I could suggest would be another point of stress, and more "doing" when what you need is "being".

I shuffle my cards, cut the deck, then deal out the cards right off the top of the deck. No problems, no worries. It works for me every time and I always get the right cards. I suggest you try doing it my way.

I don't cleanse my decks, by the way. They're not dirty. I like that they've got the energy of all my readings in them. It's good "medicine".

I wrote this the other day, and thought you might find it useful...

But before I post it, I'd like to say something to the effect of: 'Welcome to walking between the worlds!' *lol*

It is not an easy thing to do so, and especially with tremendous confidence... at least in the beginning... Your doubts reveal the honesty and integrity of a person whose ego actually IS in the right place... that place being: 'is it me, or is it Spirit, that's running this show?'

Please know that it takes TIME to integrate all that one has learned and is learning, and feel confident enough to TRUST what is coming... to TRUST that you are, indeed, part and parcel of a greater whole, and that, because of your deeply-felt connection, there is nothing to be afraid of...

So... on with what I wrote before:

*lol* That's why man invented the word 'PRACTICE' *lol*

It takes 'time' to feel the kind of 'smoothness' you're after... Like any art, or study, the first steps are unsure... With practice, those steps turn into rote... you know so well what the basic meanings are that you no longer have to 'think' about it, it just comes... At that point, something wonderful happens, the line between intellect and intuition becomes very blurred... one is stepping into another phase of 'reading' or 'seeing' the cards... and that is called, 'art'...

It is the difference between a novice playing Rachmaninoff on the piano, and Vladimir Horowitz playing it, *lol*... The passion and subtlety shows itself through the mastery of interpretation... but to get to that kind of mastery, one must first master the notes... must first know them so well that they can be forgotten, so that only the nuance of timbre, pitch, and cadence express the piece's actual essence...

That is where we step from knowing to wild abandon, from intellect to intuition, from rote to beauty, from playing the notes to capturing the essence, the heart, of the thing...

It is so important to accept where one is on the path, to feel the confidence in giving their rendition... Those that come unto you are requiring the kind of simplicity you have to offer, and that is as it should be... They are offering up an opportunity for you to practice and, therefore, become more refined... You are offering to assist them in answering those nagging questions and doubts they have in trying to make a decision about their life... It is a bargain struck by two souls who are engaged in serving each other...

And that, too, is as it should be...

So, don't despair... Your heart is in the right place, you wish to serve; and that's as noble as one can get, {{{hugs}}}

All any ritual provides is a means of focus... If you need to ritualize your space, your deck, your being before conducting a reading, then, by all means, engage in it... I find it calming to do so... as if I'm preparing to bridge the two worlds and, for me, I feel best when going into it with a ritualized reverence...

Above all, you must allow that you are loved... and your efforts appreciated... that Spirit IS guiding you, that you ARE a channel for this light of truth, that you have worked hard to attain it, and continue to work hard to stay worthy of it... and that Spirit knows this... And when you get stuck with a reading you don't understand, that too, is provided by Spirit... It means there is a growth in understanding that you are requiring...

If everyone waited until they knew everything there is to know, waited until they had perfected all there was to perfect, well, no one would read the cards... no one would dare for fear of making a mistake... But when one holds in their heart the virtues of faith and hope and love and forgiveness, then one can venture forth and TRUST that what comes is what is needed... and that it all comes from Spirit, {{{hugs}}}

I try to clear my head and pray a few seconds before a reading, but after that, preparation just gets in the way. I don't know if you dance or enjoy any activities that involve set physical rhythms like sports or something, but when you do those things, like when you dance, you can definitely over-think it. Sometimes it's better just to do it, go with it, because overthinking just slows you down, makes you trip over yourself. I say try reading like Solitaire, shuffle and go. Think about it as little as possible as an experiment and see what happens.

Also, the mantra that really helps me get over my self-doubt is "Whatever I think is right." It gets me to go with my first instinct. If for no apparent reason I suddenly think the woman in the 9 of Pentacles looks like she's about to cook a pot of chili... "If I thought of it, it must be right." It helps.

Thank you all so much! All your suggestions sound right on the mark. I realized I'd never even considered the idea of just shuffling and pulling cards since I started out, way back when I had no clue about cleansing or energy or spirit. I suppose I should go back to that sort of fun innocence I had before about using the cards, and see if that changes the tune. Even though I'm only 16, I feel like an old, cranky woman...one who feels she has to do things in a certain order or the world will fall down around her ears.

I'm pretty frazzled and tired from my cold right now, so I'm going to reread these posts in the morning. [grin] I'm sure I'll glean even more insight when I'm a bit fresher. Thanks again for your wisdom and support!

How about some advice, guys? How do you cleanse your decks or prepare for a reading? Do you ever have doubts that you've picked the wrong card or interpreted something wrong, and if so how did you deal with it?

Click to expand...

I have never once cleansed a deck.

I never doubt that I've picked the wrong card, because I am not the one that picked it. It was either God, a spirit guide, or one of the dead I have asked to join me.

I never doubt how I interpret a card unless my querent is not in front of me. This is why I hate emailing readings. I prefer to have conversations with them rather than rattle off on what the card is. The message is not for me to know. It is for my querent and it is my job to see that they get it. It is only them that needs to walk away with new knowledge. It must connect for them. I am not the message, the message does not come from me. I am only the conduit. I am insignificant.

The first rule of tarot is that there are no rules. Remember that and make that your mantra if you need one.

Good god, watching you do a reading sounds like watching an episode of Monk. You don't need all that. You have you, god, and a deck (but I'm sure we could do this without the deck.) Relax, it's ok!

The cards do not need cleansing, you just relax, shuffle, then deal. Forget your doubts as the cards will come up as they are supposed to, so have faith in what you are doing. If the cards you get don't seem relevant then you must dig deeper into their meanings because what you get is always your answer, sometimes easy to understand and sometimes very difficult to understand.

Welcome to AT Alamaris

16 is a young age to be setting out on such an eclectic spiritual path and for that I applaud you. Hey it took me till I was 40 to realise that I was right in what I wanted when I was your age!

Relax, like anything else in life, a good dose of scepticism is healthy. When is the last time that something supernatural caused you, directly, a significant problem? What happens to other people who simply read cards without all the protection, ritual and fear? Exactly! A wise man recently told me that we never stop weighing all the possibilities, never say something is absolute because thats the ego, not the pure spiritual self talking. What a wise man he is, he knows that its the journey that matters, not the destination. Rules are great for a 'simple', cook-book style life if thats what you want but I guarantee that its WAY more profound to walk your own path even with the mistakes we all make.

Thinking about things from a literal point of view, if we ask ourselves what is it we tend to look for, what do we attract to us? We attract what we 'are', so if we are interested in tarot, we tend to see all things tarot and all around us relates to tarot. Likewise if we fear the unseen, we attract other things which increase our fear because fear attracts fear. Hence why so many spiritual practices encourage us to raise our vibration so that we attract only the highest forms.

Every rule you make creates distance between you and the task so working with the highest integrity and intent with as few rules as possible would seem to be a worthy goal.

Life is fun and wonder-filled, play, learn, enjoy and watch how that in itself, attracts the light.

I never doubt I picked the wrong card, but I am sure I have made mistakes interpreting cards and certainly will again. The more you read the more practice you get and the more on target the interpretation.

If you feel you need to cleanse the cards then by all means do so. Not everyone does. There are no rules

Trust you will see the cards you are meant to see, and trust that with each experience your anxiety will lessen.

Best advice I can give is relax and Enjoy Yourself!