Hello!

This page is for anyone curious about my particular way of reading cards and tarot. That's right- this is my particular way, there is no one right way of reading cards, just as there is no one right way to perform magic, work with ancestors, or anything else.
Many guides and tools for learning Tarot focus solely on the meanings of the cards. There is so much else to card reading!! I wanted to create a resource that touched on these other issues.

Where do cards get their voice?

There are lots of different factors and ideas to bring into your tarot work. For example, where do you think the cards get their power? I believe my cards all have spirits of their own, each deck a personality and a voice. However... I also believe that those "spirits" are probably offshoots of my own subconcious, a collection of my own personalities and masks all seeing something like a Rorschah test inside of the cards imagery and symbolism. It's complicated. A blend of animism and the psycological model of magic.
Other people might believe that the cards are a tool for other beings- such as spirit guides, dieties, angels, demons, aliens etc- to speak through. I personally don't like working with cards in this way, as it feels like I would have to fight with the deck's personality to reach another voice. But, I do enjoy getting readings from people who work like this, because I'm so curious what these "other than human persons" have to say!
I also think it's funny that I have such a strong opinion about decks having personalities and souls, when I view other divintion tools I use, such as scrying orbs or pendulums, as only tools. With them, I can speak to my subconcious, or anything else I please. I wonder why I feel this difference!

Preparing for a reading.

After that comes the actual reading. How do I prepare for a reading? Many people have entire rituals set up- you can cast a whole circle if you please, you can say a prayer to any diety you wish, light a candle, wear a specific peice of clothing, or any number of things to set yourself up for success when reading.
For me, I often do nothing at all. However, I've found something as simple as washing my hands and laying out a reading cloth can change the energy so much that the reading suddenly becomes much more "serious" and "real".
Also, since I do so many readings, it's become important to draw my energy from things that are not just myself. Usually, this isn't an issue in casual witchcraft. A spell has ingredients, and that is where much of the power is drawn from, and then the practicioner will eat or nap or touch grass in order to regain any lost energy from the spell (or at least I hope you're doing that.) But with card reading, there are no ingredients. I've began to light candles or insense in order to draw power from them to save my energy (and keep me from over eating later!) now that I read so much.

Reading enviroments.

It's also helpful to think of your other magical practices outside of card reading to see where you can draw power.
For instance, I consider myself a Storm Witch, among many other things. So on days of large storms, it's much easier for me to feel empowered and ready to work magic, including reading cards. But the day before a storm, I often feel stagnant and confused. It's harder to read and understand the cards, harder to feel confident in my magic.
On the other hand, my partner is drained and unavailable on storm days, magically and mundanely. However, they are a Kitchen Witch (among other things) so perhaps they might find reading cards easier in the kitchen! I don't know, we haven't tried that but I should suggest it!

Different types of shuffling.

I shuffle with my cards facing away from me, using an "overhand shuffle" where I pull bits of the deck out, and then use multiple motions to place the cards I'd pulled back at the front of the deck. In this way, it's very easy to have cards "jump" from the deck- and those are the cards I read. Becsause I shuffle this way, watching someone "riffle" shuffle their decks (the basic way to shuffle most of us are taught for card games) makes me cringe a bit. I hate to think about bending my cards! But to each their own- maybe some decks prefer to be more flexible and need their yoga! I do have to riffle shuffle my Clow deck because there's no other way to do it, the're just such a strange size and shape- other than maybe 52 (53?) card pickup, which now that I think about it might be appropriate!
I also very rarely do spreads. Spreads are extremely popular and everyone has their own very specialized spreads to get answers to specific types of questions. Maybe I'm basic, but I like to just ask questions and see what the deck says.

Recovering after a reading.

Once you've read, just like any magic working, you may feel tired, drained, or slow. It's best to restore engery after any magical working, and I can recommend a whole host of ideas for it. I don't always take my own advice, but here are some ideas to recover from any magical working!

• Eating something- expecially if it's fruit or bread
• Taking a walk and touching grass, enjoying scenery
• Taking a nap or a doze
• A shower or bath with magical oils or herbs to promote healing, energy, relaxation, or protection
• Moving your body in a way that brings you joy, such as swimming, dancing, jogging, whatever you love
• Lighting a candle for yourself

Feeding your decks.

I persoanlly enjoy feeding my decks. They deserve whatever care I can give them, they work very hard with me. This is much like leaving offerings for ancestors or dieties or faw. It can be a candle, insence, or (my favorite) feeding them actual little snacks. People have different ways of leaving food offerings out. I personally like to leave food offerings out until they are stale (or cold, in the case of hot tea or coffee) but not moldy. Then I throw it away. If you're worried about food waste, many people will leave offerings out for only a little while, maybe an hour, and then eat the offering themselves. In some cases I've heard of the belief that the offering is actually zero callories this way! I think that's so cute!

DM me on Insta or BlueSky if you want me to include anything else here!

I'm always brainstorming topics, but I'd love the imput and conversation!