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When I first obtain my tarot cards, what should I do?
The majority of the time, the first thing I do after picking up a fresh deck of cards is set aside some quiet time to carefully examine them. Allow yourself one or five uninterrupted minutes. Turn off your phone and, if you feel the need to take a few notes, maybe grab a paper and a pen. Check what’s inside the box after removing the wrapping.
The cards may be examined sequentially, one at a time. Finding your birth card or favorite card first could be preferable (see #2 in this post for instructions on how to do so). You can choose to lay out all the Majors side by side or dive right into your favorite suit.
Just be intrigued for a moment about your deck. Which cards catch your eye? Which piece of art do you adore right away? Which pictures do you find challenging or perplexing? What pictures defy your preconceived notions of what a card might symbolize and which ones are instantly recognizable?
If your deck has a book, you might decide that now is a good time to read it. I enjoy reading a deck creator’s explanation of their creations. When you first encounter a deck, reading the author’s writing about their work, if they have offered it, is a fantastic way to get a feeling of how the deck might feel and function. Each tarot developer contributes a distinct perspective to their creation.
(Having said that, keep in mind that you will form your own relationship with the cards you have selected. As you grow to know your deck, you’ll form your own associations and come to your own understanding of the meanings of the cards, even while the creator can explain their goal and share their thoughts about the meanings of the cards. Don’t feel as though something must be taken as gospel, then!
How do you perform an accurate tarot reading?
You’ll discover as you study more about tarot that each author has a unique interpretation of what each card symbolizes. The majority of specialists will agree on a small number of keywords for each card, but beyond that, there will be a great deal of conflicting information. Additionally, each card will have a distinct meaning based on where and whether it appears in your spread upright or reversed.
That could be a challenge if you value clarity over ambiguity, but consider the tarot a chance to practice accepting uncertainty and building trust in your own intuition. Consider the keywords as boundaries for the meaning of each card, and then start paying closer attention to each name and image to determine what speaks to you individually.
Choosing one card to focus on each day and reflecting on its meaning is one approach to do this. Keep a journal where you can record your personal reflections on each card as well as the conventional interpretations of each.
What should I put in my tarot journal?
Please note that this practice may be done with any deck you choose (the Inquire Withindeck is one of my personal faves!) and that I’ve included both the steps to my tarot journaling practice and more generally, how to use a deck for self-growth.
1) Perform a grounding exercise before dealing. With your eyes closed, taking a few slow, deep belly breaths helps to greatly calm the nervous system and quiet the mind. Take as much time as your mind requires to sense some separation from the whirling ideas, obligations, and overall mayhem of the outer world. Instead of feeling hurried or distracted, you should be naturally guided to your cards.
2) Clean the area and the deck. Palo santo or a light-colored crystal can be placed nearby to draw in positive energy. A candle can also bring a serious dose of charm into your environment.
3) As you shuffle the deck, consider the inquiries you wish to make. It’s crucial to pose inquiries that invite conversation. Ask open-ended questions, such as, “What energy do I need to harness to make the growth I want in my career?” How can I express my needs and feelings to my spouse in a more sincere manner? Enter the inquiries in your journal.
4) Dividing your deck, choose your cards. Any technique you choose to select your cards is ideal if you lead with intuition. My preferred method is to divide my deck into three piles and re-stack them, starting with the middle pile at the top. After reading aloud the accompanying question from my diary, I spread the cards out into a half-moon fan and choose one for each card. Before turning any cards over, make sure to finish selecting all of your cards. For tarot journaling, I would advise using no more than a 3-card spread, using one card for each question.
5)Spend some time examining the card’s artwork before rushing to find up the significance. What catches your eye? What emotions does it elicit? As words come to mind, write them down.
6)Think about how the meanings of the cards you choose from your guide book align with your intuitive readings as you read about them. You should also try to get a general sense of how the cards might relate to the questions you asked. Write the card that goes with each question you listed at the beginning next to it for your records.
7) Your diary entry now has a blank canvas. It’s time to put your imagination to work to make it happen. Treat the cards as if they were having a conversation with one another. What overarching themes do you see in the reading? How do they connect to the inquiries you made? What challenges do they present to you? What surprises you about them? Intentionally left open-ended, this process. It is up to you to use the information from the cards to create your own narrative.
8) After two weeks, observation is necessary. We have the chance to look back on the last two weeks and discover where and how the different energies of the cards appeared in our life. Look for any duplicate cards first. Repeating cards have a special significance that compels us to consider that particular theme in greater detail. If there aren’t any repeating cards in your readings, pay attention to any other patterns that pop up.
9) Free writing time. Spend 15 minutes intuitively journaling about the key topics you identified in the previous stage. Allow your unconscious to direct you. Allow your mind to wander freely through your work without self-editing. You might be amazed by the connections that the cards might help you make in your mind and heart!
How should my tarot deck be cleaned?
While rearranging the cards in the tarot deck is a good approach to purify and clear their energy, there are some circumstances in which you might wish to perform a more specialized ritual. If you’re just getting started with tarot, cleaning your deck can be an excellent place to start.
You might want to clean your tarot deck for a variety of reasons, including:
- beginning with a fresh deck
- readings for other people
- You think you need to recharge.
- Your card readings seem a touch “odd” or “disconnected”
- Your deck hasn’t been used recently.
- Your deck has been handled by others
- You think you’ve been utilizing your deck a lot. A LOT, especially for books with strong emotional content
Why should you cleanse or clear your tarot deck?
Tarot deck cleansing helps keep the energy flowing between you and your deck. Consider it as a little spiritual hygiene to maintain a strong and clear connection. It’s not necessary, but if you have any of the aforementioned symptoms, try a few of the energetic cleansing techniques listed below and note which ones seem to work the best for you.
How often should you cleanse your tarot deck?
This is another way of stating USE YOUR INTUITION: there are no hard and fast laws. Don’t stress if you don’t believe it is necessary for your deck. Alternately, if you like to cleanse them once per week or once per month, that’s great. If it feels appropriate to you, you can even place your favorite crystal on the balcony each night.
If you frequently place crystals on your deck and store it on an altar while not in use, you might not feel the need to cleanse it frequently because this quick ritual will likely be sufficient to keep your deck feeling nice.
There are numerous ways to cleanse your cards, just as there are numerous reasons why you might desire to do so.
Different ways to cleanse your tarot deck
Use holy smoke. Light a dried rosemary, lavender, cedar, sage, or palo santo cleansing wand until it begins to smoke. Hold the smoke a safe distance below the deck while holding the burning herbs in one hand and the deck in the other so that the smoke drifts upward onto the cards. Turn the deck so that the smoke covers it from all angles. Next, safely put your deck to the ground and put out the fire.
On the deck, set a selenite stone (or a black tourmaline or a transparent quartz). It works well to leave it like way for an hour, but I prefer to leave it overnight.
Set them on display during a new moon. The New Moon is energy of a blank slate; you can purify the deck by setting it on a window sill on a new moon night. At this moment, you can also make a brand-new intention for your deck.
Place the cards in a salty dish. A strong and stabilizing cleaner is salt. My preferred choice for a thorough cleansing is this. Allow it to sit anywhere from one to eight hours in a dry area.
Unorderly shuffle. Spread the cards out on the ground, then shuffle them around like a child playing in dirt. This method’s freedom and randomization serve as an excellent reset.
the shuffle and sort. Set up the deck in rows of seven cards across, commencing with the Major Arcana numbers 0 to 22. (see photo above). Next, arrange the cards, Ace through King, one for each suit, as follows: Swords, Pentacles, Cups, and Wands. View the deck in this configuration, then mix everything up (like the chaotic!) and shuffle it thoroughly.
Can tarot cards be printed?
- Create your own tarot cards by printing the front and back in full color.
- Printable on more than 40 different types of paper
- Ideal for artists to display their tarot card artwork
How are tarot cards activated?
What to Do First:
- Get out your tarot deck.
- The cards are in your hand.
- “Knock or tap the pile of cards numerous times while holding them in your palm to disseminate your energy throughout the deck.
- Shuffle the cards completely.
- The cards are divided into three heaps, which are subsequently reassembled into one pile.
Do tarot cards need to be purified?
That’s correct
Magdaleno really suggests cleaning your deck before each reading to achieve the most accurate results. She advises starting with a cleansing to make the cards clear for your reading, whether it’s for yourself or someone else.
What tarot card represents your birth?
Similar to how your astrological sun sign might, your tarot birth card reveals information about your soul. Although a tarot birth card has no direct relationship to astrology, it can provide information about various aspects of your life based on the time of your birth, much like your sun sign. According to Ryan Trinh, a tarot reader at the Los Angeles metaphysical store House of Intuition, a tarot birth card is interpreted in a manner similar to how we read our astrological signs. They highlight various aspects of who we are, such as our strengths, lessons to learn, and aspirational objectives.
” make reference to various aspects of who we are, such as our strengths, lessons to learn, and aspirational objectives. Tarot reading Ryan Trinh from House of Intuition
Your tarot birth card, however, cannot be just any card. Tarot birth cards can only be one of the 22 Major Arcana cards (excluding the Fool, whose number is 0), even though the average tarot deck has 78 cards. Major Arcana cards are renowned for reflecting long-term repercussions and providing wisdom to life’s lessons. On the other hand, the remaining 56 Minor Arcana cards are primarily concerned with everyday issues.
Questions you don’t really want answered
Even though it might seem apparent, it’s advisable to refrain from asking the tarot cards questions that you aren’t prepared to hear the answers to. That’s because answers to these questions can reveal information you’re just not quite ready to hear.
“Tarot can definitely come off as offensive if you’re not willing to hear the truth or consider an opposing opinion. Tarot reading Nicole Fortunaso
According to tarot reader and life coach Nicole Fortunaso, “tarot may truly come out as offensive if you are not willing to hear the truth of the problem or look at an alternate viewpoint.” She advises analyzing why you’re reacting the way you are in order to reflect on how to effectively address the underlying problem if you ask the question and aren’t satisfied with the response.