New Tarot Cards: How to prepare them for readings

I remember having heard from friends of mine that one shouldn’t buy the Tarot cards: one had to wait until someone game them to you as a present. I was a child back then, and even though I was so eager to get my hands on a Tarot deck I waited for years until my dad finally gave me my first Tarot d’ Marseille. Please: don’t wait so long as I did!

Oh, that was a great day for me even though my father was making fun of me and the cards. I was 11 at that time and I still treasure my first Tarot. Each time I open my treasure box and get them out of their gold lamé cloth, I gasp at the beauty of their colors, details and the connection between us. Many years of studies and experiences unite us.

If you’re reading this and have your new cards near by, I congratulate you on your purchase. These are the first days of a long relationship on a journey that in many ways will change the way you conceive reality. Many surprises and learning experiences, not to mention some disappointments, await you.

In these ups and downs of life, your Tarot Cards will be there for you, waiting for you to unveil them.

Now, let’s get started with the action:

• Find (buy) yourself a nice cloth of more or less 1 square meter. It can be any color you like, although I would prefer deep red, dark green, royal blue, white or even black; important is that this cloth should have only one color or a very discreet pattern. It shouldn’t steal your attention from the cards.

• Find, buy or sew yourself a small cloth bag inside of which you will place your Tarot Cards instead of the carton package where they usually come in. Humans like nice and soft fabrics, give the same to your cards.

You can make the preparing of the Tarot Cards a ritual with candles and incense, with very soft music at night. It’s fun and it helps you concentrate on the energy flowing from you into your cards:

• Place your cloth, from step 1, on top of the table where you will have your first reading. Sit on a chair where you will dominate the whole room you’re at. Avoid sitting with your back to the door or a window. If you have to choose between both options, then sit with your back towards the window and make sure you can see the door. News comes through the door of the house or room, it is symbology: you are in control. But also, psychologically, one has the tendency to better concentrate when ones face is oriented towards the door: news does actually come through the door. Noises and possible interruptions distract less if you’re not giving your back to them.

• Place a glass of water which represents the vast waters of the infinite ocean that is the information you will gain access to. Water is the element of intuition. Flowers or incense are great helpers for creating a nice atmosphere and for connecting with the beauty and wisdom inside you. A candle is also a way to get in contact with the wisdom of Light-Energies. The fire of a candle can help light up and activate your Spirit Mind! Although this step is optional, try this out. It’s a very nice experience that celebrates your initiation in the Tarot world. I usually have a glass of water and a candle.

This is a meditation you will do now.

• Take your new Tarot Cards in your hands and shuffle them while feeling how the energy from your own being flows into the cards and returns back into your body. Visualize, while shuffling the cards, how you start to travel with your mind and soul through the cosmos.

• Visualize how you immerse yourself in the flowing of energy and wisdom of the universe and the eternal Mind-Spirit.

• Make contact with True-Light Energies of Wisdom – your Spiritual Guides– who will help you to better understand the relationships between eternity and time-bound space. (Just use your imagination, it’s not really important for now which form these energies appear to you) Eternity, past and future fuse in the present; ask for help to be able to understand the correlations of events at all times.

• Be determined to be conscious at all times of what is true. Be like a tree whose branches reach out to the sky as high as it gets, never forgetting that the higher you go up, the deeper your roots should dig down deep into earth. Your mind may experience high spiritual realities, and these should be in harmony with the beauty of your material reality.

• And as you stretch your branches into the never ending cosmos, start being again conscious of the roots that bring you back to earth. Be thankful for this great opportunity to better know yourself and the energies that move the universe.

You can now start by looking at each card; start with the Major Arcana. You can do the same with the Minor Arcana also some other day. Observe each card: its colors and motives. You can read their meanings in a book and try to associate the principles read with the images in each card.

I have written about the meanings of the Major Arcana in this link; but I highly recommend that you read my post Major Arcana: a Story of Spiritual Growth. This story will introduce you the main principles and sequence of the Major Arcana; it will help you to get familiar with the archetypes these cards represent.

The Universal Waite Tarot is a great way to start learning Tarot because the meanings of the cards are more or less “readable” in the images. I usually use the Major Arcana from my Marseille deck and the Minor Arcana from my Waite deck, amongst others.

There’s a renown author whose books I enjoy, Hajo Banzhaf is “the” Tarot expert in Germany and his book The Tarot Handbook I highly recommend. His explanations are very handy and direct; some of his card spreads are some of my most used. The Relationship Game is one of the most asked for among my friends. You will enjoy it!

Filed under Tarot | Tags: how-to | Comments (7)