On Developing a Tarot Practice Installment I

I’ve been reading for almost 13 years now and fairly seriously for 11 while I do tend to take long hiatuses. I am a strong reader but wonder how it would be if I had never had periods where I just felt no need to read. The key thing Is practice. It took me a full year of serious reading before I had attained accuracy reading for others and many years before I could read for myself. Now I don’t always need the cards to give an in depth reading as due to reading tarot I am in general much more psychic.

Beginner or “Woo hoo I just bought a new deck!” exercises

Go through the deck and look at one card at a time. What do you see first? Note the color and symbol. How do you feel about each card? Write down your interpretations. Another good way to know each card is to scan each card from top left to bottom right in rows left to right, then right to left. Once you are done with that do it in reverse and in different directions. Notice all the symbolism and small details you missed at first glance.

Save this and all tarot notes to look at later and even years later.

One of the best exercises for just getting to know your deck is going through and shuffling the cards and then arrange them in proper order as fast as you can doing this time and again until you are satisfied with your speed. This will take a quite a few times as there are 78 cards in most decks. This is a more important and helpful exercise than many would assume. There is great benefit in being able to quickly recognize your cards. One thing being the less time spent looking at the card processing what card it is mentally opens channels of intuition and enables clearer thoughts. The more you know the deck the faster the channels will open up, and it will let you in on the ability to tap further into that excellent first impression intuition.

Always sleep with a new deck beneath your pillow for at least one week. To prevent damage to the box or deck itself I suggest a tarot bag or if you want it wrapped in cloth in a box for the under the pillow time take a clean sock it’s better if only you have worn it and put the deck down in the toe being careful not to bend the cards. This keeps the cards together and unbent by that means. Also it prevents you having to look under the bed for cards or having a broken down manufactures box. Keeping the deck with you at all times for the first week at minimum is also wise. This gives the cards time to know you and you to know them. Also inspires you to get them out periodically during the day at breaks.