Tarot Guide
A Simple Process For Reading The Tarot

A Little Warning This article was originially published on my AOL Metaphysical website in 1996. Since then many others have stolen this article and published it on their site and claimed it as their own work. PagansPath does not authorize any other site to republish the articles posted here on this site. Unless I have expressly given permission to do so, in which case the article here will make it clear that authorization has been given. Anyone who has stolen this or any article from PagansPath is violating federal copywrite laws and is subject to prosecution. PagansPath has exercised this process on various occassions and will continue to do so as unethical people continue to steal our material.     A Preparation Example ~ From Start to Finish Find a place in your home that you can designate as your spiritual area. Set a table, chairs, candles, and so on around the area. You want to create a spiritual energy all your own. A place that contains pleasant peaceful reminders for you. Decorate it with animals that you feel close to, or angels, a cross, a star of David, what ever you want. This is your space. Before the client arrives, sit quietly in your space. Breath deeply, close your eyes and say a little prayer to the Divine. Ask your guides and teachers to come and help you clear the space and prepare for the reading. Imagine a Divine white light coming into your body, and your spiritual area. Imagine this light moving any stressful energies out of the way and replacing it with positive and energized light. After your relaxation and blessing of the spiritual area, you might want to light a candle and some incense to add to your spiritual support and upliftment. When the client arrives, give them some time to relax from the drive. When you feel they are ready to proceed, guide them to your area. You might like to ask their permission to smudge their body with incense before they enter the area. This will help them relax, clear their energies and help you to establish a connection between your guest and your spiritual area. Once you have both taken your seats, you might tell them how you conduct your readings. Point out the cassette player, tell them about the cards, and what they mean to you. You might also like to explain how you personally receive messages or information through the cards. To begin your session, ask the client to close their eyes. Lead them through a brief visualization where they can ground their energies, connect with the Divine and ask their guides for protection and positive guidance. Next, say another prayer out loud and on tape for the client. Ask for divine protection and information from highest spiritual sources available to this person and to you. Thank the unseen forces for their assistance and close the prayer. Now you're ready to start the reading. Shuffle the deck several times. Ask the client to consider a particular topic or event they would like some information about. Ask them if they would like a 3 card past, present and future spread or a more overall view of the situation. If they ask for the 3 card spread, cut the deck and lay out 3 cards face down. Saying either to yourself or out loud as you lay down each card "past", "present" and "future". You are setting the intent of the card as you lay it out on the table. You are telling the card, the Divine forces and the client how the message in the card will pertain the situation. If they ask for a more detailed or overall view, you might ask them to pick a number between 1 and 10. Then layout the number of cards equal to the number they chose. But remember, you need to know the intent behind the cards as you lay them out on the table. If you don't feel comfortable with remembering 10 different intentions, then give the client a smaller number to chose from. Turn over the first card and focus on the images. Relay the feelings, explain what you think you see in the symbology and then try to relate that to your feelings or gut emotions about the images you see. Do this with each card, until the reading has been completed. Ask the client if they would like to go into any of the areas discussed in more detail. If they say yes, tell me more about this one...then pull another card, stating the same intent as the one given to the card they have pointed out. Lay the new card on top of the old one and interpret the symbolic images. When you have completed the reading, ask the client to close their eyes and lead them through a quick visualization to close the energies and bring both yours and their feet back down to the ground. Remember, your client might be driving home after this, you don't want them leaving your door with their head up in the clouds. Tell them to imagine their physical body sitting at the base and against a large oak tree. Tell them (and yourself) to imagine a gold light from Mother Earth coming up through the ground, through the root system of the tree, through the tree trunk until it finally and gently enters your body. Imagine this light encompassing both you and the client. Grounding your energies in the here and now. Finally, and while you're still in this state of grounding, thank your guides, angels and the Divine forces who came to help you both. End the session with a deep breath, a relaxing exhale and then shut off the tape.   Additional Reading Tarot - What They Are and How To Use Them A Simple Process For Reading The Tarot Tarot Spreads   If you would like more detailed descriptions for meditating to clear your space, energy or set the protection, you might like to refer to our Meditation How To Guide.

Sources: 1, o58, o59, o60, o61 Created: 11.12.1996      Updated: 12.16.2007