Incantations, spells, rituals ...

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 05 Aug 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Sullanciri2002	05 Aug 2002
Over the years, I've noticed that tarotists use widely different styles and "techniques" (I hesitate to use that word here, but ...) but I was wondering how many (overal percentage) of you actually follow/adhere to the strict sense of rituals and incantations noted in LWBs and other books. I personally read most often with the Thoth these days, but don't feel anywhere near good or comfortable with the spells and incantations Crowley or others writing on this deck proscribe. Who uses those words and rites strictly, who doesn't. Why or why not ?

Marion	05 Aug 2002
Hi Sullanciri, It varies somewhat, but I generally don't read too much of the lwb's unless it is a theme deck and I am having trouble with a particular card (for example the Legend Arthurian deck). The book I read the most carefully and followed some of her advice was the Robin Wood book. I followed her ritual on grounding before using the cards. I was just getting serious at that point and didn't know any grounding rituals. Since then I have learned others, plus I find I can ground myself more easily now, so I don't follow her entire ritual anymore. It is good though. I do not use any rituals or incantations. I ground and centre, then focus on the querent and the question. If the querent is present, at that point we start to talk and I use that time to narrow my concentration. I will be interested to see what others have to say. I had the impression that most 'just read', though I did see one post where the poster mentioned that he performed some rituals before reading.

wavebreaker	05 Aug 2002
I don't really have a ritual for reading, I just start shuffling and that gets me in the right state of mind. When I first started with tarot, I thought you had to have all sorts of rituals, and I tried it, but it felt very unnatural to me. I'm just not really into rituals, especially not if they are created by someone else. Whenever I do use rituals, for example when sending reiki, I create them myself. I make something up that works for me, using my own imagination and sometimes incorporating ideas from others. A while ago, I bought Janina Renée's book Tarot Spells. I tried two spells from the book but I really felt silly doing them. Again: it just didn't feel natural to me performing all these spells created by someone else. Which doesn't mean it's a bad book, by the way, it's just not for me.

catlin	05 Aug 2002
I think we had various threads about rituals and LWB's. so I keep my reply a bit short: I do not perform a ritual per se when doing a reading. Ok, when I have a querent at home, I light some candles., burn some incense, wear my Pagan jewellry and some black clothes because my querents expect to see some unusal stuff. Most of the LWB's are trash so I still stick to my own interpretations.

Minderwiz	05 Aug 2002
I don't read or say any incantations, etc. I'd feel much to self-conscious and uncomfortable if I did and the reading would be pot. If I can remember I do silently ask for guidance but not in any flowery way. I don't think its nescessary. However some may find it more comfortable and if it helps them I don't see a problem. I'm trying out the Thoth deck myself at the moment - I do look at The Crowley Tarot by Akron and Banzhaf but ignore references to incantations. Minderwiz

Laurel	05 Aug 2002
I don't currently do any sort of tarot rituals before reading; I take a more psychological approach to the cards themselves. The daily ritual that I do preform tends to be basic Western ceremonial magic stuff that does not involve cards. Laurel

Keslynn	05 Aug 2002
I don't really have any rituals that I do before reading. Mostly I'll do some deep breathing to calm myself and focus my concentration. Shuffling the cards helps with that as well because it's so rhythmic I guess. I'll keep the question I'm asking in my head while I shuffle. Sometimes I'll say the question aloud if I feel I need extra focus, but mostly I just "say it" in my head. Nothing flowery. :) Kes

DarkElectric	05 Aug 2002
I don't do what anyone could call pre reading "ritual", but I do smudge the cards after each reading (or before the next one) because I want to make sure there's no 'energy hangover' from one reading to the next. And as I shuffle the cards, I ask silently for the correct information to be presented in a way that makes sense to me, or the querent, hopefully both! ( For me, the smudging of the cards helps a lot)

Kiama	06 Aug 2002
Since quite a few of my readings are done spontaneously, in the middle of a busy park, on a bench, with a friend, I do not usually do any ritual other than finding out exactly what the person wants to know, and shuffling to get into the right frame of mind. This doesn't take long, cuz it seems now that whenever I pick up a deck and start asking the question, my mind goes straight to reaidng -mode. If it is an important question for me, then I sometimes envision light surrounding me and permeating me, giving me relaxation and inner calm, and the objectivoty to read effectively for myself... The incantations Crowley writes in the Thoth book are... In my opinion... Pretty pointless. I don't nee to call upon any 'almighty Spirit of... *Insert archaic spirit/demon/deity here* in order to read effectively! ;) Kiama

The Incantations, spells, rituals ... thread was originally posted on 05 Aug 2002 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.