General Information
and
Tips and Hints
For Reading Tarot Cards
This page contains a general overview of reading the cards, some tips of things to look for, and a discussion of various facets of reading.  

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PREPARING FOR A READING...When you are reading for someone, you are open psychicly. At the very least, you should prepare yourself by grounding and centering. I usually do a brief meditation (for lack of a better word) that serves to ground, center, and erect a circle of protection around myself. A brief prayer for protection and insight is also a good idea.

samples will be provided soon

CHOOSING A SIGNIFICATOR...Actually, the first step here is to decide if you're even going to use one. I usually don't, but many readers like to. Court Cards are generally chosen, and they can be based on physical characteristics (age, sex, hair color, etc) or on astrological signs. On the rare occasions I use a Significator, I go by astrological symbolism, for instance, the Queen of Swords for a woman born into an Air Sign, or the King of Cups for a man born into a Water Sign.

CHOOSING A LAYOUT...I have a collection of over 100 spreads by now, but only a few that I use with any regularity. Most people expect to see the Celtic Cross, so I tend to humor them, and it is a good, comprehensive spread. Mostly, though, I go with an open-ended free-form reading of my own design, and stop when the cards tell me to.

SHUFFLING THE CARDS...okay, so this may seem pretty basic, but different readers approach this differently, so I'm providing a couple variations for you to try, to see what works best for you. The first thing to decide is whether or not you want the Querent to shuffle, or if you want to do it for them. I generally let the Querent shuffle, as it's an easy enough thing to clear my deck, and this lets them have more participation in the reading. (If the Querent is having trouble with the size of the deck, I will have them "stir" them on the table, and then collect them back into the deck. For me, the important thing is that the Querent's energy mixes with the cards.) Some readers prefer not to let others handle their decks, and that is okay, too.

DRAWING THE CARDS...The next thing is to decide how the cards are to be drawn...from the top of the deck, or randomly. I fan my deck out after it's been shuffled, and have the Querent select the required number of cards from anywhere in the deck.

LAYING OUT THE CARDS...Again, this seems pretty basic, but there are choices to be made...do you want to lay them out one at a time, reading as you go? Or lay them out in the pattern, face down, and then read them one at a time as you turn them over? I generally lay out the entire spread face up, and spend a moment looking at all the cards to get an over-all feeling for the reading.
Things to look for if you do it the second way:
a preponderance of Major Arcana indicates that things are pretty much out of the Querent's hands...karmic forces are in action, providing a lesson to be learned
a preponderance of Court Cards indicates that there are a lot of other people involved in the issue, and care must be taken to factor in their roles and influences on the situation
a preponderance of Pentacles indicates that the reading is likely to pertain to material issues, such as money, health, and (to an extent) home and family, especially if there are also a lot of Cups involved
a preponderance of Swords indicates that there is a lot of conflict, either between the Querent and another person, or within the Querent him/herself
a preponderance of Wands indicates that the issue is likely to be on creativity or communication
a preponderance of Cups indicates that the focus is on emotions and relationships

MAKING THE CARDS TELL A STORY...Okay, so you know the meanings of the cards and the what the positions in the layout represent. That's a good start, but how do you blend it all into a communicable reading? I started by putting it all down on paper. I would write down the position and what it represented, (such as: "the root of the problem") and then the card name and meaning. Once I had them all written down, I would write a paragraph on how that card related to that position, then work at blending the paragraphs into each other until it formed a coherent whole. This method may seem cumbersome, but it helped me learn to see the reading as a unified whole, not just a collection of individual positions, cards, and meanings. (Sometimes a particulard card will refuse to make sense in the contact of the reading. In this case, draw another card to lay with it -- this usually sheds light on it.)

OTHER STUFF ABOUT READINGS

TALKING TO THE QUERENT...Many people who are having a reading for the first time are a bit nervous. If you sense this up front, you may want to begin the reading by reassuring them as they shuffle the cards. I usually some variation of the following explanation:
"Tarot cards are not going to tell you that you're going to die tomorrow. There is a card with the title 'Death' but it simply indicates that something is ending so that something new can begin. Also, the future is never carved in stone -- we are constantly creating and re-creating it with each decision we make. In addition, the actions and influences of the other people around us contribute to the pattern of our lives. Tarot helps us gain a greater understanding of the forces currently at work in our lives, of where they came from and where they are likely to lead, if all things remain as they are now."

READING REVERSED CARDS...Although I provided reversed meanings for each of the cards, I don't necessarily use them in readings. The way I handle reversals depends a lot on the position of the card, the cards around it, the overall tone of the reading, etc. Sometimes I will use the meanings I gave, but just as often a reversal of the card can indicate an intensification of the energy of the card, or a slight lessening of the energy of the card. You'll eventually develop your own way of dealing with them.