Candles and Other Weird Habits

[darcellbishadow]

I have this really weird habit when I read (or even shuffle!) my cards. I simply MUST burn candles. It doesn't matter if it's a couple of crayola crayon candles left over from my little cousin's birthday party or elegant, tall tapers, or a big bulky pillar candle. Even a tealight will do! I just have to have the whisper of fire playing in my ears and the dancing flickers of light caressing the wall for me to have a remotely productive time with my tarot. Now, this might be a holdover from my days when I was into candle divination. However, I'd like to know what other weird habits readers practice before, during, and after readings.

Darcellbi

 

[mollymawk]

I wash my hands so as not to get the cards grimy, as a rule.

Are you strongly Wands/Fire? That might explain it. I usually also grab a glass of water or a cup of tea or something to sip when I'm about to do a major sit-down with the cards. And I'm strongly Cups. Never thought of it that way, and I can read without anything, just a personal preference.

 

[Enheduanna]

When I am reading there are two things that are almost always a must for me. I like to have some sort of sound in the background. Nothing to destracting. Music or even the background sound of the TV. I also must have my coffee or tea. I am an artist, and I think these things are a carry over from when I am painting or drawing. These things seem to help me focuse, and give me a sence of relaxing. It has been a while since I have read much for others. But when I have before I always felt it was important to be a hostess as well, and make them feel comfortable. It seems people always chat over coffee. I think reading and coffee or tea go very well together!

 

[Miren]

I wash my hands, but that's just to keep the cards clean. Oh, and I lock the door. Because I don't want someone interrupting.

 

[Somnilocus]

I only own one Tarot deck right now--the Fenestra, and it comes with an extra card which I place upside down on the bottom of the deck to "lock in" the energy. I always do this when I'm done with the cards. I keep a clear quartz crystal on top of them to cleanse them. I enjoy burning incense and cleansing them with the smoke--my favourite being Nag Champa, Laxmi Dhoop, or Peppermint Lemongrass. Candles are nice to have as well but not always practical.

 

[artgoddess]

I'm also an artist that has to have background noise as well to help me focus.
I also have this habit of only doing a reading on large piece of painted corkboard. And if I don't have my iced tea next to me, I feel really weird!!!
One other habit I have gotten into is that once a week I need to cleanse my decks with sea salt.

artgoddess

 

[a_shikhs]

I love burning candles whenever I lay out my cards. And crystals have to be scattered on the spread cloth near the cards with some good background music playing.

 

[Nholdamek]

I don't have too many habbits, just a few observances I like to follow for various reasons.

I do wash my hands beforehand. In fact I do everything necessary to make sure I won't need to get up for about two hours, because that's becoming the average time I spend on a reading. I take care of, uh, nature, and be sure to have a drink nearby, etc. I don't like to get up in the middle of a reading because I think it just breaks up the concentration and the flow of the reading.

Then I make sure there is silence, or if I'm in an environment where I can't control the noise around me (such as if someone's watching TV and I don't want to go into another room), I will put my earphones in, which block out almost all noise. I don't like to have any noise, because I feel it can have an effect on the mood of the reading, or at least distract me.

Then I hold the cards, and say the prayer mentioned at the beginning of the Opening of the Key spread.

I invoke thee, I A O, that thou wilt send H R U, the great Angel that is set over the operations of this Secret Wisdom, to lay his hand invisibly upon these consecrated cards of art, that thereby we may obtain true knowledge of hidden things, to the glory of thine ineffable Name. Amen.

I didn't think when I first began that this would really affect anything, but I fine my readings are much better when it is included. I mean much better almost to an unbelievable extent in their accuracy.

And then I start. Given that all my readings are done over the internet, and that I use braille cards and it's hard for me to keep them all organized when they are spread out, I don't actually spread the cards out. I simply type the name of each card in a list, starting at the bottom of the pile. It also helps me to do pairing and counting a lot faster, and to look up certain details if I need to, such as if a certain major card is zodiacal or planetary, or the date associated with a certain card, etc, since I have not yet memorized all of this. I use a laptop so I can pretty much be wherever I need to be and am not confined to one space.

Afterwards, I respectfully put the cards back in their container, sometimes giving some sort of thanks.

 

[Debra]

You use Braille cards? I didn't even know such a thing existed! I would be interested to learn more about how you do this if you ever feel like starting a thread on it.

 

[Papageno]

You use Braille cards? I didn't even know such a thing existed! I would be interested to learn more about how you do this if you ever feel like starting a thread on it.

I just Googled this. really fascinating. talk about adding dimension to your readings. I too would love to know more about this.