Using Crystals with Tarot

I've been thinking about crystals a lot recently, and wondering about different ways they can be used alongside tarot. I personally use crystals to clear and focus my energy before readings, and to manage my decks' energy (by putting specific crystals on top of them overnight, usually).

How do you all use crystals or stones with tarot? Do you have a crystal grid near your reading space? Do you use them for cleansing or focusing or anything else? I'm curious!

Mostly, I put some pretty ones in my reading space to look at.
I'll usually have my tiny turquoise Bhudda (Hotei, patron of fortune tellers) and more recently an opalite crystal skull on my reading cloth.
My 3rd crystal is a clear quartz that has been faceted to make the shape of a Hexagram/Merkabah (6 pointed star or Star of David). I think of this crystal as an amplifier for clear balanced communication and insight.
So aiding my readings.

Some of my decks have little crystals accompanying them inside their fabric pouches.
Chosen because I think they somehow match the "character" of the deck.

And sometimes I use crystals in ritual, in conjunction with Tarot cards.
On a recent thread about using Tarot for Halloween, I briefly described doing a ritual with a Tarot deck, and my 4 crystal skulls placed at the 4 quarters of my magic circle.

Will find the thread shortly...
Yes - here's what I said:

For Halloween night ritual:
I'll probably flip through my Barbara G Walker deck (Which is one of my decks specifically for ritual) draw some cards that speak of Samhain (Halloween) to me, decide what they represent and do a circle ritual to then meditate on these within it.
I happen to have some small crystal skulls - so I'm likely to use them to mark the quarters of the circle (Perfect!) - and then lay out cards near each one to see what the skulls have to tell me. This could be along the lines of "What do the 4 quarters have to say to me about balance through the dark half of this year".

Hi there! I am also interested in crystal use with tarot. My girlfriend is into geomancy, so I have been looking to create a flow where I give a reading, and after she picks the corresponding crystals using the reading and will align/heal them. This heals mind body spirit. I am also considering adding reiki and yoga to the mix. Creating large spreads that also act as crystal grids on the ground. Using different stretches, we reach different areas and can move the cards or crystals as we please. This is experimental thinking, but I'm fascinated by the idea of combining these different forms of energy manipulation

Not always, but on occasion I'll use my Iolite pendant as a pendulum if I'm trying to determine which way to interpret a card - at least in those instances where I cannot decide which way to go with a reading.....

Michael

Just as you said! I want to get some tarot crystals to clear out the energy for readings!

Tanga said:

Some of my decks have little crystals accompanying them inside their fabric pouches.
Chosen because I think they somehow match the "character" of the deck.

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I do this too! Especially if I'm feeling a little sick one day or something, I'll put some crystals in with whichever deck I take with me when I go out that day. They charge my decks and me at the same time!

youareafool said:

Hi there! I am also interested in crystal use with tarot. My girlfriend is into geomancy, so I have been looking to create a flow where I give a reading, and after she picks the corresponding crystals using the reading and will align/heal them. This heals mind body spirit. I am also considering adding reiki and yoga to the mix. Creating large spreads that also act as crystal grids on the ground. Using different stretches, we reach different areas and can move the cards or crystals as we please. This is experimental thinking, but I'm fascinated by the idea of combining these different forms of energy manipulation

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Wow, this is really fascinating! Complicated, but it also seems like this kind of combination of spiritual works and energies would be really potent together. It's like the next level of combining tarot and crystals.

Calcifer said:

Not always, but on occasion I'll use my Iolite pendant as a pendulum if I'm trying to determine which way to interpret a card - at least in those instances where I cannot decide which way to go with a reading.....
Michael

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I have a Tiger's Eye pendulum I use for this kind of thing sometimes as well. Not all the time though... Pendulum work really takes it out of me for some reason. Plus I'm not very good at working with a pendulum yet, so that makes it harder.

Lucas Prince of Cats said:

Just as you said! I want to get some tarot crystals to clear out the energy for readings!

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Yeah! Crystals are so good for this sort of thing, so it's just natural!

To start another vein of crystals with tarot, I've also been thinking about using a card in the middle of a crystal grid, beneath the middle crystal to focus and amplify the energy and purpose of the grid... Like using a Pentacle to encourage material wealth or the Empress to create a constructive vibe and promote creativity. I know some people write what they want the grid to do on a paper and put it under the focus crystal, so I think tarot cards would work well too! The only problem is having that card missing from a deck for the duration the grid is up... Worth the sacrifice?

HallowedNight said:

Wow, this is really fascinating! Complicated, but it also seems like this kind of combination of spiritual works and energies would be really potent together. It's like the next level of combining tarot and crystals.

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Honestly, I think doing them combined together makes the geomancers job much more quick and efficient! Honestly, the reader would not need to worry about the crystals too much, and the geomancers has all the information they need when they begin

Tanga said:

Mostly, I put some pretty ones in my reading space to look at.

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Me, too.

Some of my decks have little crystals accompanying them inside their fabric pouches.
Chosen because I think they somehow match the "character" of the deck.

Click to expand...

And yep, me, too.


I also like to use some larger crystal pieces to assist in focusing and gaining more clarity during a difficult reading. Mainly, I use a clear quartz, a labradorite sphere, and a smoky quartz crystal skull. When a reading isn't making any sense and, the more I look at the cards, the more confused I get.....I focus on one of these crystals rather than the cards. It helps to clear my mind and refocus. Sometimes it triggers intuition to kick in, and sometimes it causes ideas and thoughts to begin flowing more smoothly.

HallowedNight said:

To start another vein of crystals with tarot, I've also been thinking about using a card in the middle of a crystal grid, beneath the middle crystal to focus and amplify the energy and purpose of the grid... Like using a Pentacle to encourage material wealth or the Empress to create a constructive vibe and promote creativity. I know some people write what they want the grid to do on a paper and put it under the focus crystal, so I think tarot cards would work well too! The only problem is having that card missing from a deck for the duration the grid is up... Worth the sacrifice?

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I have a creativity grid up that has a card beneath it; details and pics are in the Crystals subforum here. In my case, the card was a gift from a fellow forum member. You could use a card from a broken up deck--there's a thread here where you can request single cards as needed. Or buy an inexpensive deck and use it strictly for this purpose.

When I was still foolhardy enough to read out of doors (wind is a good reason not to!), I used to take a good handful of all different kinds of tumbled stones with me, and as soon as I laid out each card, I'd put a random stone on it to stop it blowing away.

For some reason, it really, really impressed clients, even after I explained why I did it.

It doesn't do your reading any harm, either. I used to quite involuntarily make connections between the magical uses of the stones and the meanings of the cards they ended up on, but that was never the plan - they were there to stop them blowing into the sea or into muddy puddles.