Reading 'rituals'

magicjack

I read them anywhere and anytime , on my bed, the arm of a chair, wherever. But whenever I'm at a table, I do use a cloth and I like having a burning candle for fire, incense for air, the cards are earth and one shot of whiskey for water!
 

AnemoneRosie

Lol. I'd see whiskey as Fire, personally :D
 

SilverFirePrime

For reading, I need to be in a space where there is no stress, and space that makes me feel relaxed. This typically means on the bed, or in my living room sitting in my video gaming chair.

I always shuffle the deck. If I'm pulling a single card, I don't cleanse the deck unless it's been a while. If I'm doing a more in depth reading, I will cleans the deck and also hold it to my heart as I mentally explain my feelings and the reason I am doing the reading.
 

Carojulie

Hello,

I do not have any specific ritual, exept that I will always shuffle and cut, in one way or another. Also, I like to spread the cards on soft fabric, so either I read on my bed or sofa, or I will use a reading cloth if I spread the cards on a table.

- Shuffling : I only riffle-shuffle small decks (pocket size) because a standard size deck is too large for me to riffle-shuffle. If I riffle shuffle I do it at least three times, if I overhand shuffle (most of the times because most decks are too large) I will do it more, because it takes more times to really randomize a deck with overhand shuffle. With Lenormand though, I riffle-shuffle most of the time.

- Cut : I try to do it with my left hand if possible, or at least, let my left hand dominate the process when my two hands are involved.
I have always prefered it like that, be it when reading cards or playing cards, as far as my childhood (I played the tarot game long before I read the tarot). I think that it has something to do with preventing cheating with the playing cards : the person would show their good intent by cutting with their non-dominant hand, as it is more difficult to use trick or sleigh-of-hand with your non-dominant hand. As most people are right-handed, cutting with the left hand has become the norm in playing card circles, in France at least (not very inclusive for left-handed people, but well). Also, professional magician performers are very able with their non-dominant hand, so I am not sure it means anything, really, but still. It is correct, polite, when playing cards in France, to cut with your left hand. I dont know about other cultures actually.
But, as I also know that your left hand is connected with the more intuitive part of your brain, it works very well with me to cut with my left hand, I like the idea.

- Reading cloth : anything can do, as the first fonction is to protect the cards from dirt. But, as Barefootlife said, a nice reading cloth could help you create a "reading space".
I will use a tea-towel if there is nothing else available, but most of the time I just use one of the many reading clothes I made for myself. It is very cheap to make one from a yard of cotton, or even from an old shirt. Also, any light neckerchief will work. I personnaly prefer cotton (easier to sew, easier to wash, cheaper and easy to get hold of). I also prefer solid colors or monochrome discreet patterns, so they won't clash with the cards ; on the contrary it will create a nice canvas, and the images on the cards will pop out.
If you photograph your spread for future reference, a solid color will work much better and make a prettier and clearer image.
I have several reading cloth of varying size, smallish for three cards, larger for larger spreads. If you have only one, you might want to make sure that it can house at least a celtic cross, for size reference.
You could also knit one, why not ? you could match it to your tarot bag !

And that's about it as far as I am concerned.

Sometimes when I feel like being fancy, I will set up a nice reading place, light a candle, light incense, use rocks.... in those occasions I like to have some sort of protective object, and a symbol for each of the four elements (usually a candle for fire, shell for water, incense for air, crystal for earth)
All that scenic stuff makes me feel good, and some sitters really like the atmosphere, but is really not necessary and will not influence the quality of the reading.
i will probably make more efforts if I read for someone else, and if I have enough time and space. Sometimes I treat myself to a nice reading with all the nice stuff, too. But most of the time, I dont bother.

It is like eating :
You might enjoy dressing up a nice table, putting out the pretty cutlery and tableware, having a nice tablecloth and flowers, to please your guests on a saturday night dinner.
But, during the week, when you just have 20 minutes from work for lunch break, you will meet a friend at the park and eat a sandwich with your fingers.
Both times you have fun, and both times you get your body nourished !
 

Trogon

My ritual is not very much of a ritual anymore. For the first several years that I was doing readings, I was pretty precise about my ritual. But over the past 10 or more years, I'm not quite so ... well ritualistic about my ritual.

To a great extent, I feel that building and sticking to a ritual is really very good for someone relatively new to Tarot. This is because the ritual will help you to build and maintain your spiritual connections which might be a little weak early on. By that I mean that it's like building any new skill ... repetition, doing it the same way every time, will make it easier to perform the skill later on.

Unfortunately, I don't really remember what my original ritual was. I do have it written down somewhere though. :| Nowadays, my ritual varies depending primarily on my current state of being. If I'm already in a pretty good place mentally and spiritually, I will do little more than mentally say a quick "prayer" of opening myself to only light, love and understanding and to open myself to the messages my spirit guides bring and for help in being able to communicate the messages my client needs to hear and in the manner that will help them the most.

On the other hand, if I've been stressed quite a bit, or feeling down, p.o'd at people, whatever, then I will expand my ritual quite a bit. I almost always have 4 stones in my shirt pocket; amethyst, emerald, a deep red garnet and a piece of ilmenite. The amethyst for protection from negative energies and to help me with keeping my mind open to the messages. The emerald is helpful with communicating ideas and with creative thinking (it's a raw, but not gem-quality). The garnet is good for keeping me grounded and on-track during a reading. And the ilmenite (an oxide of iron and titanium - so combines properties of hematite and rutile) is very good for transmuting stress and other negativities and dispersing them without harming others.

I probably should have that garnet this moment as I'm wandering off-track a bit. :D

Anyway ... if I've had a bad day, but want to do a reading, especially for someone else, I'll set those stones out around me in whatever order/pattern feels right at the time. I will do a few deep breaths, and release my pent up stresses. I will do a more specific prayer to release those stresses and to make sure that I don't bring my negativities into the reading. If I'm feeling a little more blocked than usual I also have a couple of pieces of blue opal which can help me with breaking down those blocks and connecting with my higher self and my spirit guides and so forth.

For the cards, I do what's called a faro shuffle, well, a modification of that. I will shuffle a minimum of 3 times while keeping the question in my mind, along with a loose mental image of the spread I'm using. As I shuffle, I will occasionally pull out a few cards from some where in the deck, reverse them and put them on the top or bottom of the deck (again, whatever feels right). I stop when I have the sense that I've shuffled enough. I offer the deck for the client to cut if they choose. I then pull the cards from the top and lay them face up and off we go.

I am, nowadays, a very "do what feels right" person. If I'm feeling connected already when I start, then I just go with it. If I feel the need for more ritual, I go with that. But again, if you're still relatively new, I do still recommend building a good ritual for yourself.

I read them anywhere and anytime , on my bed, the arm of a chair, wherever. But whenever I'm at a table, I do use a cloth and I like having a burning candle for fire, incense for air, the cards are earth and one shot of whiskey for water!

I'm afraid that a shot of whisky is not going to remain full around me for very long ... :D
 

Redfaery

I always read the cards on the floor of my bedroom. I like sitting on the floor, and my room is pretty much the only space I have to myself, since I had to move back in with my parents last year. I feel strange reading anywhere else. Otherwise anything goes.
 

Barleywine

Nowadays, my ritual varies depending primarily on my current state of being. If I'm already in a pretty good place mentally and spiritually, I will do little more than mentally say a quick "prayer" of opening myself to only light, love and understanding and to open myself to the messages my spirit guides bring and for help in being able to communicate the messages my client needs to hear and in the manner that will help them the most.

A silent "opening prayer" or affirmation is pretty much all I did for many years. Other ritual touches like stones, crystals, candles, incense, etc I've come to see as more about the "theater of tarot" than essential to the experience. I like them because they create an ambience, not because they improve the reading. A quiet room with even lighting and minimal distractions is all I really need, though.
 

Trogon

A silent "opening prayer" or affirmation is pretty much all I did for many years. Other ritual touches like stones, crystals, candles, incense, etc I've come to see as more about the "theater of tarot" than essential to the experience. I like them because they create an ambience, not because they improve the reading. A quiet room with even lighting and minimal distractions is all I really need, though.

Since I frequently read at work, at parties, at the coffee shop, etc. I've learned to block out the worst of the distractions. I've also learned to break for a distraction, then come right back to where I left off. Though I often have to take a moment to regain my train of thought.
 

Sulis

No ritual for me apart from a few deep breaths before shuffling to still my mind and help me focus.
Once I've done that I think about what I want to know and I try to come up with a clear question. It's usually just 'tell me about xxxx'
I think many problems come when you don't think about the question first; what you actually want to know and whether your question will give you an answer that you'll be able to understand.. From reading the threads here in the Your Readings forum I think a lot of confusion comes from an unclear or confusing question.

So I think of the question whilst shuffling then I just pull cards from within the stack, lay them out and read them.

Sometimes I have some incense burning but that's generally just because I like having incense burning in the house.

Don't get too bogged down by feeling that you have to do certain things and if someone tells you you should be doing something a certain way ask why. There is a lot of woo woo stuff that gets attached to reading tarot and unless you're into all that (and it's fine if you are), it's not necessary.
 

Ix Chel

If it concerns an important question, I listen to music before I read.