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Hello all! My name is Cariabella, and I have been reading tarot since 2014. My love for the tarot—reading, learning, and teaching—led me down the path of using the cards for shadow work, spiritual development, and awakening. I absolutely love tarot and can never resist buying a new book, a new deck, or enrolling in new courses!

Welcome to the community @Skyler / Andrea I'm glad you have found us here 😀

Hello Skyler/Andrea, welcome to the TT&M Family

Yes Southampton England 😊 ooh that’s a great idea, I will look on meet up too, thanks so much, looking forward to chatting with you too

Southampton England? - or elsewhere. Well met - from an "old hand" (well I wish!) living in Londinium. Don't forget to look up Tarot groups on MeetUp (assuming it is England). I found a regular live group this way and have some great friends from it. Looking forward to interactions with you 🙂.

Happy squirrels I found today: Left - Silhouette Tarot by Masa September Right - Black Light Tarot by Battersby & Aguiar

@Tanga I like that idea about having your clients next to you, so you all get the same view of the cards I think we all have our own preparation methods (or even none) before doing a reading, in whatever way fits for you. It's worth experimenting, what gets you in the right frame of mind and what aids your readings. If they don't, cut them from your practice. Some readers have many rituals before a reading, others just pull the cards out in any situation. It's about working out what works for us. There is no right or wrong but they might help you with the reading. When you are starting out reading, reading for others (particularly) does make you tired, I found it tiring. It does get better. Depending on your spiritual beliefs, you might want to look at protection, having some crystal gemstones around or maybe making an intention. Some people have a ritual to protect their energy, there are many ways to do it. A top tip I read once (maybe on here, I cannot remember) is to drink water! Make sure you keep hydrated. Drinking some water before doing the reading can help with feeling tired and ground you.

Hello everyone, my name is Andrea, and I'm so thankful to have found a community of Tarot enthusiasts 😊 I have been reading Tarot on and off for years, but mainly for myself and a few friends. i have had quite a long break so I'm a bit rusty, but would love to chat and hopefully learn and swap a few reading's later on.

Well, the outcome of my reading is: It took a while to find the relevant phone numbers for the Mississauga branch of the company and get through their AI automatic phone answering service to a REAL Human Being. Eventually I was promised, that they would check the store room and the warehouse - and - they found our shipment! The 2 drivers had decided, that they just leave it there instead coming all the 4 hours up north and back, because there was a Sikh wedding that evening and they wanted to rather go there.... So "night" played a vital role in that - and well, yes, there were 2 people involved.... Then next day they were dispatched to other deliveries and our tent cover was forgotten and other stuff piled on top of that. How did I find out about all that? (other than through the reading) -Just now another driver came up and delivered our missing item. He was at the wedding - as was everyone else in that company..... I send down a pair of Elephant earrings to the lucky bride. Elephants do not sell well in the Northern Bush!

…and it’s fully funded now. 😁

I've been reading for quite awhile so I don't do a lot of preparing anymore. The messages that come will come through me, not from me, if that makes sense. Now, this doesn't mean I'm possessed or something and it doesn't mean I go into a trance or that I claim to have a hotline to God or some other Supreme Being. It just means I get my self and my own prejudices and opinions out of the way so I can see the message the cards are showing me that are for the sitter. For instance, let's say the sitter is involved it an affair with a married man and I personally know those situations aren't usually positive for all considered so the cards that are drawn, in my own opinion, can be read in a negative way suited to my own beliefs. On the other hand, if I get my own opinions out of the way, there's a positive message. My place is to give the positive message from the cards, not to give the sitter my own opinions and personal ideas. Other than that, I just make sure my surroundings are clean and pleasant and friendly and that's it. I don't use candles or crystals or mood lighting or anything.

I like it too, Daniel. And the book is the best one I've read about Lenormand and how to use it. I find it so helpful. I'm going to be using the deck intensively. I especially like that the book gives information and inspiration on the categories of core meanings, traditional meanings, the imagery on each card, work, love, health, daily advice and then some further tips and keywords. Toni goes on to add spreads and illustrations and a very thorough explanation of how to read them. She gives a full Grand Tableau in which she uses 36 cards but I'm eventually going to try using the whole deck. The book contains so much information and so many helps for the reader that I can't imagine another book being needed for learning the deck and its uses. I'm a latecomer on finding this deck because it's been out for a few years now. I've been less active with Tarot and Lenormand in the last several years but this deck and book have inspired me all over again.

Between clients, for me it's enough to straighten/tidy up the reading space, & perhaps spray a little of my current room spray (essential oil mix) in the air. Maybe open a window if it feels stuffy. With the client sitting beside me (I prefer to read with the client next to me, so we are both looking at the cards the same way up), I make sure I'm comfortable with my feet planted on the ground (grounded), & shuffle the cards methodically to clear them of any energetic or other patterns. I will usually talk to the client whilst I shuffle... how can I help them?... have they had a reading before...etc. general chat. That's all that is needed for me these days. If I've agreed to read - and when the time is nigh, I'm not that much in the mood (or if I were a bit more of a newbie - & I was nervous)... then I may start doing things like asking my guides to help me before the client walks in. Or reciting in my head my personal circle casting chant. These sorts of rituals help one to let go of the present baggage and "step into the space to read" for someone else. Energetically separating yourself from the client so that you are not drained, is something that may take a little practice. Grounding, clearing and protection rituals help. The essence of it, is that you learn to recognise where you end, and the client begins. Your life is yours, and theirs is their own to live and experience. Your job, is just to shine a light (in your own way if you can), to facilitate their journey - not to carry the burden of their expectations, or their trauma. It's a sort of "switch" that happens in your head... or in the understanding of your body.... The more practice you do - the better you get at it. Hopefully you have some friends that are happy to be guinea pigs to be practiced on? And otherwise - practice on here will help ofcourse. When I learned Tarot, in-house, at The College of Psychic studies (in London, UK), I was lucky. I had my classmages to practice with, with a live teacher assisting in situ. And we also had weekly guinea pigs from members of the public towards the end of the course. Our readings were recorded, and our teacher would listen to them and give us feedback.

Oh my - well now I am just jealous - because my version of The Maria Celia (bridge sized in a tin) does not have a Happy Squirrel! I do have a deck... or maybe 2 - with squirrels in them... Presently I can't remember which (when I find them I may post a photo). And like you @Nemia I have a happy squirrel memory - from my resident grey squirrel of c. 7 years whom I named Valeria - because it means "brave". She made friends with my cat, learned to use the cat flap (which was a major drama! - we changed to an automatic one after that), and brought her 3 kits to our decking to teach them the ropes. Which none of them learned, so now - we are without squirrel company. Lol. I miss her. I believe one of my James Battersby decks (Tarot Collectibles) has a Unicorn, instead of a Happy Squirrel 🙃.

Yes, reading for fictional or historical characters is always a good idea. You don't only get to know your deck better, but might also discover new aspects of Queen Victoria or the last Empress of Russia 😉

I hav a number of decks with Happy Squirrel cards, and I love them all. I always read it as a happy surprise. In my mother's garden, there is a squirrel family (beautiful red squirrels) that appear often, move quickly and make us happy. My mother called the patriarch of the family Felix, Latin for the happy one. My mother knows nothing about the tarot, but she immediately associated this squirrel with happiness. In a way, I can see the Happy Squirrel when I go to visit my mother! I have always loved squirrels, they're among my favourite animals. And seeing deck creators reacting creatively to the genius Simpson idea of the Happy Squirrel is heartwarming. Isn't the Happy Squirrel from the Maria Celia Tarot amazing? I love this deck, and I love this mischieveous little friend.

What's so fake about reading for a cat? 😉 But I agree, it is a good way to practice; you can learn something about the cat, and nothing you tell the cat about the reading will affect its life choices.

I laughed myself silly over these!

Ideas have been coming to me about a tarot-related art project—but not a deck! At least, not yet. I think my idea is great, but I don't want to give anything away about it just yet. I'm excited about it and I think it will turn out well. I have been drawing and trying to figure out what my natural style is. I wasn't sure if I had a style, but I've realized that I do. My art always turns out a certain way, even though I strive for it to be another way while I am creating it. It seems that the combination of my brain and hand just do what they want. When it comes to creating art, I think I am gaining clarity about what I can or cannot do, and what I like or do not like to do. Not much else to say about that!

With the exception of a couple practice readings on my mother, I've only done readings for myself and I don't really do any preparation because I think of it as practice. The readings I did for my mother were a little draining, probably from performance anxiety, but I've seen several pro readers talk about how they have to prepare themselves before/between readings with clients. Do you do anything to prepare yourself energetically (or center yourself, regulate your nervous system, whatever phrasing makes sense to you)?

Good to the see the gang back again @Bodhiseed, @Rachelcat, and @Mi-Shell 😀

I don't hesitate to scissor-trim (and use a corner punch to finish) ANY deck that I like—but don't use because it's too big to shuffle well. I find trimming is quite a relaxing way to spend the afternoon, and the results are always worth it. Get a cheapo deck of some kind and practice, if you're not sure of your technique. But unless you have trouble with your hands or can't exert steady control of your scissors, trimming by hand will work! And so worth it, if you can then use the deck. I do honestly wish that card designers and publishers would stop making huge cards—certainly with wide, elaborate borders. In fact, I'd like to see more 'mini' cards made available. So much easier to use. But hey....

I've moved this spread to the Tarot Spreads area 🙂 I am definitely going to have a go at this one in my personal readings sometime

It's been a while since I've trimmed. I used scissors for mine. And I rounded the corners of my Flournoy 1st ed. Noblet - sacrilege! 😅 But I've never regretted it, since it feels great to shuffle. I used that same corner rounder everyone always recommends. Here's a (non-Amazon) link to it on fujinote. My favorite trimming transformation was the Mary-el 2012 ed. 🙂 (removed massive borders) I also added some distress ink edging.