I have been reading tarot cards for friends, family, and strangers alike for well over ten years. When choosing a tarot deck, you want to explore and see which deck really speaks to you. You can find them at your local bookstores sometimes, online, or your nearby metaphysical shops.
Be sure you really feel drawn to the one particular deck and not just pick any old tarot deck. Even if you do pick one up at random or if you select one that you think you might like or perhaps even start with a beginner's deck, don't be too surprised if you find that that deck does not speak to you or that you become drawn to another deck.
Many tarot readers collect different decks but they tend to read from just one or two mostly.
I had sent for a deck that I thought looked nice, many years ago and yet when I got them, for some reason I felt they were too dark for me. I just got this negative feeling from them so I would not use them and ended up giving them away to an experienced friend of mine to get rid of them for me.
I waited then until I was definitely ready and began to look casually for a deck that called to me, one that I could really identify with and that did fit me. It is far better if you can go and see the cards physically than just by a picture of them online. Then you can feel the energy that leads you to them. You may not be able to handle the cards themselves but you may just get that special feeling by reading over the box and holding it in your hand and seeing a few of the pics.
I came across Legend, The Arthurian Tarot one day and I fell in love with the beautiful watercolor pictures on the cards and how the whole set was depicting the medieval Arthurian time period. I am a huge Arthurian and have loved the books, stories, and movies of Merlin and King Arthur. This deck really called out to me and I was able to pick it up while in Vegas at a metaphysical shop called Psychic Castles.
I believe this is where I first saw it and it drew me to it right away. I love this deck! Instead of the traditional suits, Legend has Cups, Swords, Spears, and Shields.
There are no devils or demons or anything scary in this deck. There is a Death card, but Death is not really about Death itself but more so an ending to something and a beginning of another.
Many people when they get into looking at or reading tarot or have a reading done, get upset to see reverse cards. Reverse is not always a bad thing, it depends on the neighboring cards and what that card itself stands for.
Tarot, in my opinion does not really tell you anything that you don't already know. It validates what you, yourself may already be feeling but did not realize in it's full capacity. It may also reveal something to you that you may not be aware of or were doubting, or second guessing yourself about. Your subconscious knew it, but you were denying it or not wanting to see it or admit to it.
Tarot may also give a hint or clue as to what might be coming up in the near future.
I normally lay the cards out in what is called the Celtic Cross spread. This gives you a good overview as to what is going on in your life and then I may peek into the near future from there. Nothing however, is ever set in stone as it is my belief that once you are given knowledge, the choices and decisions you make, and the order you make them, will alter what may happen in the next 5 minutes, 5 hours or a day or week, even perhaps in the next year. Do you choose to cross the street at this corner or the next? Did you avoid the accident by following your instincts?
Many tarot readers also do not read for themselves for they feel it is skewed then in their own minds. I do read my own cards as I am able to look at my cards objectively and tend to do so on the New or Full Moon when the energy is the most strongest.
The New normally will lean towards showing me what is coming and the Full will show more along the lines of what is going on at this moment. That is not 100% nor is it when you formulate the question or topic or situation in your mind that you wish the cards to reflect. Sometimes the message that may present itself to you is just stronger than what you wished to know of.
It could very well be that this is just the more important message for you to know at this time. So we can ask but the cards will be as they are.
Now, some may think "oh it is just really random and so general that it would fit everyone and that's why they are never wrong". Well, I can very well see that point of view and you know, before I started to read tarot for myself and others, I would have probably agreed with that statement. However, having been reading them over the years and seeing how they come together for different people has really made me a believer that somehow, the energies of you and I combine to reflect in those cards and really do come thru.
Could it be just luck of the draw to have laid out a spread for a woman whose cards spoke of being decieved by a lover and hurt by him and that reading being completely accurate and yet in the next 20 minutes, her friend gets cards that are blaringly trumpeting her man in her life who is a really wonderful man and she was just married but 3 years ago and is so very happy to this day?! Wild eh?
Now did I know these two very different ladies? No. I had no prior knowledge of them and had just met them on a recent trip I took and gave them a tarot reading. They were strangers to me.
To further prove I am not making anything up, I always keep my book handy as my source. I will read the card aloud to the person and what the position means and then like pages in a book, I move from one card to the next, tying them together to form the story. I used to read from the book and may do so now and then or upon request. If I do, after I tell the person the full meaning of a card, the book is put away and I pull the story together and go further. That is when I can feel and sense and hear the message that is being relayed by those cards and often share further what it is I am getting by this and what is the most important message that needs to be told.
That is the part that can not be taught. Anyone can read from a book, but it is trusting your instincts and truly hearing Spirit and listening to the energies around you that are trying to communicate through you and the cards that is something very different and does not happen without alot of practice. I have found that as time goes by and the more cards I have read, the stronger the readings have gotten. It also depends on the other person as well and how strong of a message that needs to come thru.
Most sites and tarot readers will have the disclaimer right there on their site, that it is meant for entertainment purposes only.
Do you take it seriously or with a grain of salt? Get a reading with me and you will find it is no-nonsense and straightforward. You be the judge.
How to store your tarot cards? Well for some reason, I felt it was important for my cards to be placed in a bag, within a bag, within a bag. Yes, 3 of them. I did not know why at the time but I just felt this was very important. This was very instinctual for me and that is one thing I have learned over the years is to trust your instincts. That little voice is trying to tell you something for a reason. Did the reason reveal itself to me? Yes, later it did and to this day, you will see that I keep my tarot within a bag, within a bag, within a bag. I may share that story as to what happened, when the reason I felt the need to do so, revealed itself to me, another time.
How to clean your cards? Sage. That is probably one of the better ways to do it. Light a smudging sage bundle and let the smoke filter over and under and around your cards and clean them like you would any magickal tool. The reason you should do this now and then, is because of the built up energy that is transferred to the cards from both yourself and the other people you read for.
You should never give or do a reading when you are terribly upset or distraught. I find the cards just really struggle thru those emotions and you won't be able to get thru them, not for yourself or the other person.
Most of my tarot readings that I give will last from 20-30 minutes as I do not like to do the yes or no type of questions, but I like to give you the full compliment of my time and the array of beautiful cards so that your tarot experience is enriching and fulfilling and hopefully enlightening as well.
I do give readings over the phone and I do have a line for it, although I tend to not care for that. I like to have the person there in front of me so that our energies may touch and you can truly get a better sense of things between us. Phone works too but I find it is a much more powerful reading one on one in person.
So if you live here in the local area of Dallas/Fort Worth, feel free to drop me a line and I'd love to come do a reading for you. Otherwise, you can look for me at any of the paranormal events that I may be going to. Please do drop me a line in email to find out if and when I'll be in your area!
If you have any questions about tarot itself, feel free to email me. I won't answer personal questions in email but general questions about tarot cards, I would be happy to offer suggestions or advice.
With many blessings,
GP
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P.S. An Update:
A few months ago, on a weekend getaway, deep in the mountains of PA, I was preparing to read tarot for a few people. One lady who is much more experienced with astrology as well as tarot, saw that I was about to use the book. She stopped me and said I would never learn tarot that way and that I was blocking my psychic eye.
Now, I have read before without the book but I began to explain my reasonings for keeping it. I knew I was leaning on it although I did not rely on it solely for I knew the true gift is to see the full picture and beyond with your own insight and it is something that I am able to do. I just enjoy being able to show people that I do have a source and it is the cards and not because someone has told me something of them, etc, etc.
Well, it always makes me nervous when I read for another who is very experienced with tarot but I said ok, and I put the book away and I read for her. She pulled a significator card from the deck as I was shuffling. I don't normally use those but don't mind if another would like to. I laid her cards down and I began to read them, on my own. I surprised myself in that I was able to read them without the book. I did quite well in fact and I was very happy with myself although, still unsure as I was in very different waters.
So then the next person, I read the book.
The 3rd person, I started to use the book but the first lady saw me and wagged a finger at me and the person who I was doing the reading for told me they wanted me to do so without it so I said ok and put it aside, then took a breath and went for it. It was not long before she began to cry because of how intense and emotional the reading was. I was spot on. I was so thrilled with the outcome and the feeling I got. After she was finished, the next girl sat down and I read her's too, without the book. Again, she too, cried for her own was very intense.
I felt free and soaring from these readings. I did not wish to make someone cry of course, but to see that the first lady was right, I did not need the book at all, afterall. She recommended that I start a tarot journal and select a card and write down in the journal about it. I think it is a splendid idea and I will be doing so once I return from my next trip and things settle down here.
Later, I did go back to the bonfire that night and hugged her and thanked her for nudging me to finally let go completely.
Sometimes, you just need a lil nudge. ;) Thank you Sarah!
