Do you use special rituals, etc before starting a reading?

Samarial

I like to meditate to clear my mind and to focus. I like to listen to new age/meditation/nature music. I tend to light the candles and incense. I like to ask the gods for guidance for the reading. I wear a moonstone ring my mother gave to me to heighten the reading's energy.

I like to shuffle the cards until it feels like I'm ready to do the reading.
 

MissJo

Rituals! Yes, I do have a ritual before and after a reading, recommended by the book that came with my cards.

I always have a white or pink candle lit for purity, I've read that blue helps with clarity and if I had a blue candle I would light that too... but I don't ):

I ask the faeries for help! A prayer "Faeries clever, faeries bright, from the garden, wood and pond. Guide my thoughts, guide my sights, please help me find the path that's true and right"

I then take however many breaths needed, in through the nose and out through the mouth, to calm myself down and clear my mind (I have anxiety and I'm anxious like 75% of the time, that usually affects my readings negatively @_@). Once then, I shuffle three times. Usually before doing while concentrating on a question I'll add "Please give me the truth" to prevent my emotions from manipulating the cards.

After the reading is done, I thank the faeries: "Faeries clever, faeries bright, from the garden, wood, and pond. You shed your glorious light, many thanks for helping me find a path that's true and right" and then I put the cards back in order, tuck them away, and sometimes thank them one more time. I feel bad if I don't ask for guidance or thank them after, it's like the cards are saying "Uhm, excuse me, you're forgetting something and I'm annoyed with you!" In such cases, I feel better if I apologize.

Is it weird to apologize to my cards? <_<'
 

nisaba

MissJo said:
I ask the faeries for help! A prayer "Faeries clever, faeries bright,
<gentle smile> You've never actually had a Faery turn up, have you. Once you have, you don't go around lightly inviting them any more. Still, if it works for you ...
 

willowfox

The only ritual I have is getting the cards out of their box without dropping them.
 

MissJo

nisaba said:
<gentle smile> You've never actually had a Faery turn up, have you. Once you have, you don't go around lightly inviting them any more. Still, if it works for you ...

I cannot honestly say I have... at least that I'm aware of. I know I have had a couple encounters with nature spirits...

I'm more or less speaking to faeries in the cards, though. In all honesty, it's been a childhood dream of mine to see one... but it is not good apperantly?
 

nisaba

MissJo said:
I cannot honestly say I have... at least that I'm aware of. I know I have had a couple encounters with nature spirits...

I'm more or less speaking to faeries in the cards, though. In all honesty, it's been a childhood dream of mine to see one... but it is not good apperantly?
Start your research here, look for the heading "characteristics". There are scads of books around, too. There is a reason why a lot of us who work between dimensions like to surround ourselves with iron artifacts like well-used horse-shoes etc.

The pretty *little* things with pastel-coloured gowns and dragonfly wings are an invention of the late nineteenth century, trying to defuse fear and calm the population in a time of great stress.

I have a friend whose daughter is probably of Fairy blood to some extent. She has problems with humans, and is uncomfortable with pure iron, although she is okay with carbon-steel. However, if in your routine, you use the word "faeries" to mean "helpful spirits", then you are not invoking "faeries" so much as "helpful spirits", and helpful spirits are always useful to have around <smile>.
 

MissJo

Ha.. I really never knew they were responsible for things as bad as kidnappings... though I was aware of them being mischievous little pick-pockets. I'll definitely look more into it. Merci :)

Yes, they are helpful to be around. And that's pretty interesting... all though I can see where her dislike from humans comes from... but that's another subject that has little to nothing to do with Tarot.
 

triple_entendre

My ritual is very similar to MissJo's. After getting the cards out, going through them to turn them right side up (I only put them in order if I'm very bored,) my opener, borrowed from some Wiccan spell, goes:

"Oracle of lunar light, grant me now second sight"

Then I riffle-shuffle the deck, and fan the cards out on the surface (table, bed, what have you) in a rainbow shape, face down.

I imagine a light rippling over the cards, like an aurora, and then let go of the control in imagining it. I look for "spikes" in the aurora in response to my (questioning) state of mind, and then I draw the card that's beneath the highest spike. Sometimes I urge the light to sharpen and point down at the right card. Whether I set the chosen cards down face up, or face down until the spread is completely laid out, depends on my mood. Even the color of the imagined aurora, I used to be very comfortable with gold, but now I like to imagine that it's purple.

My closing, no matter what time of the day it really is, goes:

"Eye of day, the rising sun, return my sight, night's spell is done."

-- That one, I made up myself.

My cards had been dedicated to the gates of the Akashic Records, or whatever's closest to it in my mind, so while I appreciate when it shows some energy or personality, it's as if it knows what its purpose is, and doesn't require thanks.
 

LuzBlanca

Sometimes I use "Sage" around my cards and before I start a reading, also sometimes I put a white " Selenite" wand where I'm doing the spread.
 

KimberlyK

I am new to Tarot (started in the last six months) so my ritual has changed a bit. The only thing that has remained the same (and I have yet to read that anyone else does this...) is that I keep my cat Mina in the bedroom with me. Her being there really calms me and helps me focus. I have tried to do readings without her, but they never turn out good. Strange, yes? :)

KK