My Morning Tarot

I'll be honest.  When I started tarot, it was to give me something to do with my hands, and a hobby for my spare time.  It has since become a practice that I do regularly, and I come to with specific needs, energy, and respect.  But the truth is, I really didn't do much to be mindful around my tarot at first.  I barely even kept a tarot journal, the ultimate necessity if you're trying to learn the cards. I slapped the cards around while watching TV, or mindlessly while in conversation with my partner.  I'm not saying any of that is bad, necessarily, but my relationship with my deck became much richer when I brought more mindfulness to my practice.

My early inspiration came from photos I saw shared by other tarot readers on their websites.  They often had altars prepared, or beautiful cloth laid out for their spread.  Many folks adorn their readings with gems and special herbs.  All of these things can have special, sacred meanings, but damn, they also just look pretty!  I realized that I could make my tarot experience a little more magical if I took a bit of time to create a special space for my readings.  Now, I pull a three-card reading for myself every single morning, and the ritual has become a really important part of my day. I'd like to share it with you!

I do my readings at a desk in my small home office.  There's my coffee on the right, and an open window to the left.  

You can see my tarot cards are laid out on a silk scarf, which I picked up at a thrift store.  I lay out little trinkets and curios that I have collected.  Some of them have special meaning, and some of them I just think look cool!

After I unfold my silk scarf, I lay out the curios in whatever way strikes my fancy.  I shuffle and meditate on my cards, and then lay them out.  Then, I place that huge hunk of quartz at the bottom of the tableau, and sort of let the whole display wash over me as I interpret the cards.  When I feel like I've come to the end of the reading, I take my journal out and note the cards I pulled and how I interpreted them.  Then I carefully put everything away. 

As a result, I am much more centered and mindful for my readings, and I find their significance stays with me steadily throughout the day.  You may not want to do something that takes this much effort; in fact, you may not be interested in something this serious.  If, however, you find yourself wanting to use tarot in a more spiritually significant way, I definitely recommend creating a sense of ritual.  It could be brief and uncomplicated.  The space you create may be more mental and less physical, but by giving tarot a little more room to breath, you will be rewarded by a richer experience.

Do you have a tarot routine?  Do you see yourself developing one?  What are ways that you create space in your life for introspection?

Tarot Cards in Rituals

April 22 was the full moon, called a Pink Moon in this month. After reading about this spring moon ritual at the Moody Moon, I was inspired to try my own take. I'm not officially pagan or Wiccan, but I find great value in ritual and in marking the changing seasons.

Below you will see the small altar I came up with; I have a small votive candle, some plants from the woods behind my house (harvest responsibly!), and some rainwater instead of dew (you'll also notice I left out the charcoal part of the Moody Moon's version).  I thought I would bring some of my own creativity and make the ritual more personal to me, so I circled the altar in pink sea salt (for the Pink Moon!), using the little bird candle holder as a vessel. I also recited an Emily Dickinson poem, because alternating speech and silence is a big part of how I practice my faith.

Ok, but this is Down Home Tarot, not Down Home Approximation of Pagan Rites. Well, as I gathered my materials, I just really felt like something was missing.  I realized that I needed some tarot cards to complete my altar and make it my own. 

I went to my Tarot of the Magical Forest, because it has a great whimsical and slightly creepy Hieronymous-Bosch-meets-Sesame-Street feel that fit perfectly with a springtime moon.  I chose the Moon, to help focus the ritual on the full moon.  I also selected the Three of Pentacles.  This card holds my hopes for the coming lunar cycle; I'm job searching and feeling optimistic but guarded, and I'm hoping for progress on that front in one form or another.  Finally, I thought the Ace of Cups was a great way to represent the spring, and the soft pink coloring in the illustration truly created the feel of a Pink Moon. 

My ritual was simple, and probably didn't take much longer than five minutes, but it still left me feeling grounded, more peaceful, and more connected to the things I find important. 

This is an example of using tarot cards with intention, as opposed to shuffling and pulling cards to see what they have to say.  It is a way of dedicating your intentions, or clarifying and stating your purpose for yourself.  Maybe you are not into putting together a ritual, per se (we can't all be hedge witches), but you may find that meditating on cards you select purposely is rewarding in of itself.  Selecting and meditating on specific cards is a great way to get to know a new deck, too.  

Are there any individual cards that you have been drawn to?  Have you tried meditating on a card yet?  How was the experience?  Share your insight in comments!