Beginning Rituals

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 24 Jan 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

ol_crazy_Legs	24 Jan 2004
I was curious about how other ppl and there rituals when there begin to do a reading? I Usualy firmly cross my hands over the deck to clear old energy, shuffle a few times then think about putting my personal energy into the cards befor the actually reading. What are yours?

Aerten	24 Jan 2004
Washing my hands and cleaning my room. Maybe meditating. There are a lot of interesting threads about this actually! There's a fascinating variety here on Aeclectic, I've noticed. Here's a particularly thorough one: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1506

ol_crazy_Legs	24 Jan 2004
Well i guess thats the end of the Forum

ol_crazy_Legs	24 Jan 2004
Well actually i'd still like to know more about ppls rituals... that forum was 2 years old. (opps... i made this a thread. please ignore it)

rexenne2003	24 Jan 2004
I like to clear the table that I work at, then light a smudge stick of sage, cedar, and sweetgrass. Then I smudge the area and imagine all the blackness known as negativity being pushed out and away, back to the Goddess for recycling for something more productive. Once the air is filled with the wonderfully smelling smoke, I let it sit in an abolonie (sp?) shell while I take my take and upright any reversed cards. This, I feel, clears the deck and prepairs myself for a reading. Once all the cards are upright, I pass the entire deck through the flame of a candle that I only light while doing readings. Three time clockwise, and I ask that the cleansing powers of fire, clear the deck and give it power, and to help me interpret whatever is laid. Then I shuffle the deck with both hands by spreading the cards, face-down, all over the table. When I feel that the deck is ready, I gather them up into a loose pile, cover it with my hands and image the question that I hold in my mind, travels from there through my arms and into the deck and to whatever powers would be around helping me. I then gather up the deck, cut three times to the left, then deal in whatever pre-chosen layout. It sounds like a lot of work, but really isn't and has proven very benificial to me in preparing the mind set needed to interpret the cards.

cjtarot	25 Jan 2004
Hi, Rituals change they evolve. For now, When I read for others that are not present, I lay my spread cloth out, ligh 3 candles 1 in each upper corner and 1 at the top center (learned the hard way..keep them off the spread cloth). burn incense or use my new oil infuser. Get my pen an paper ready... Clear my mind, shuffle the cards while asking for guidance from my spiritual guides. Then I visualize the person I am reading for sitting directly across from me and shuffle again thinking on the question at hand. When I feel the time is right, I lay the cards in the center of the cloth find the break (maybe a card sticking out, or a place where the deck is off), cut at the break and begin reading and writing what the cards say to me. When all is said and done, I thank my guides, shuffle again a few times and pack everything up. Blessings, Cj

rexenne2003	25 Jan 2004
Umm that sounds interesting as well. Do you mind if I ask, your tarot cloth, is it something you made or bought? Would you mind sharing the demintions, and directions if you have made it, to the cloth? Is it double sided, having a lining? I am curious because I am finally getting a new sewing machine today and I have many projects that I want to do, this being one of them, a tarot cloth for laying the cards on.

inanna_tarot	30 Jan 2004
woah! you people put alot of effort into preparing for tarot reading! I just get out my deck, shuffle for abit and cut into 3, say question, shuffle again and deal. No magic cloths or candles or owt - i feel abit slapdash now! lol. I feel like that because, if i dont have a cloth or a candle etc when i'm reading i might not get the right responses because i'm used to having a beginning ritual. Though i suppose, if i had a cloth i would use it, or a spare table in the morning to do it all, oh and have more than 2 mins before needing to get out the door - i should really make more time for Tarot! *goes into the corner like a bad tarot student* Sezo x

Keslynn	30 Jan 2004
Not having a ritual does not make you a bad tarot student, nor does having one. I personally vary what I do based upon my mood and the situation. Most of the time, I just sit down and shuffle and do the spread wherever is the most convenient surface. A lot of times I use a spreadcloth, but I also read on the floor a lot so the cloth helps keep my deck clean. If I'm doing a special reading for myself, then I might light some incense or a candle and say a little prayer before starting. But most of the time... no ritual and my readings seem to turn out fine. :) Kes

Inana	31 Jan 2004
No rituals here. The only i like to do is to light a candle and stare at the flame for a while holding the cards on my hands. This helps to relax myself before the reading, but i dont do it always. Sometimes i like to burn some incense too.

The Beginning Rituals thread was originally posted on 24 Jan 2004 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.