Whether it is when I am teaching a class, performing a reading, or just catching up with the happenings on Facebook, I often get asked if I have a ritual I perform, or any other things I might do before I read the cards. Interesting question, it was just asked of me again yesterday and so…. here is this blog post about it.
First I had to do some thinking, and for good reason, I have been reading cards for people for 4 decades now (yes I started in my teens before you make me older then I already am) and things have changed. My style of reading has pretty much stayed the same but the process of how I get into my reading mode has morphed. I will say the biggest change, which isn’t a method change, but rather a venue change, is I no longer read at Psychic Fairs. I now find all the energies bouncing around as distracted as ants at a picnic and equally annoying I might add, so I don’t read at those events any longer. Okay maybe I am getting old, lol.
So what do I do, well I am going to give a rough sequence but on one condition, you realize it is what I do, not what I am saying you should do. I do not preach you should or should not do anything before reading cards and I am surely not going to start now. You find your what gets your psyche into the space to read cards, this is just what I do;
- First I make sure my table top is clean because I think my some of my spread cloths are as precious to me as my decks. A quick wipe down makes sure I am good to go.
- I use Palo Santo and just give a quick smudge to the area – as I work in my shoppe most days and I do this before I open anyway, it is normally done ahead of time.
- Spread cloth of my choice goes down.
- Deck(s) and a pendulum are chosen. I say Deck(s) because I often have more then one type of card system ready for a client and sometimes more then one of a certain kind as well. So finding me with a Kipper, Gypsy and Lenormand deck ready to read isn’t uncommon at all. I don’t perform strictly pendulum readings but I do keep one at hand for the quick Yes/No questions that come up in the process of a read as well as a sort of double check, if you will.
- You will normally find that I have an antique key on the cloth, its symbolic to me, think of the Lenormand key meaning as well about just being open to information.
- You will normally find a small piece of amethyst and/or moonstone on the cloth, I often it in one hand, sort of like a worry stone but not in that shape or for that reason – simply it gives my hand something to do as I read the cards because I am famous for talking with my hands which does distract a lot of people. Okay, yes I still point at cards with my free hand!
- A moment, and little more then that, just before I start to shuffle the cards to quite my mind and focus. I am blessed that after years of doing readings that I do not have to do opening meditations and such. Nothing wrong with them of course, I am just glad that I don’t seem to need them, at least for now.
- Thats about it!! KISS – Keep It Simple Silly is a rule I like to try to follow
Now there is nothing wrong with grand and elaborate setups or processes, or doing less then what I do either. What is important is that your process allows you to get into the right space to perform a reading AND that you remain open to changing your process as time goes by. My guides led me down many a road of processes before I got to do things this simply and I am quite glad they did – I learned a lot along the way.
My best to you all and feel free to comment on this.
January 14, 2017 at 5:18 pm
Very much enjoyed and appreciate the post, Hugh. As a newcomer to cards in general and Lenormand in particular, I found great value in this post. I’ve struggled with what I “should” be doing, and fumbled around with what the “proper” way to proceed should be. Thanks so much for the assurance that if what I am doing to ready my readings is working for me, then I am doing it “correctly”.
Merilynn
WLA member 😀
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