First, regardless of what people say, a divination is a snap shot of current possibilities and current potentials. Now, even looking at this can have an impact, and it depends on the questions asked. That means it is not set in stone, but seeing the divination and assuming that it is can set it in stone if approached from the wrong angle.
Second, divinations generally get less accurate as you go further in time from the crossroads of right now. Peter Carroll was quite right to advise divine short, enchant long.
Divinations are a great method to gain insight about a situation or even about yourself. Even more then the predictive aspects, they are a hugely valuable reflective tool. This also points out one of the problems of the Tarot (less so with Ifa divinations, which have other problems, and other geomatic or numeric based divination systems), is that it tends to reflect what you strongly want.
Read the book
The book that comes with the deck you have is useful. It's not the end all be all, but its a good starting point. Read it like 10 times before you do a reading. Seriously. Really engage the book. Read the description of the card, look at the card, read the description of the card, look at the card. You get it. If you know about Tarot, this might not be needed, but it is helpful.
Check yourself before you read yourself.
Unless you are reading to figure out what to put into a customized bath work, do a reading before a cleansing ritual before reading.
From Hoodoo:
Uncrossing Bath
Sea Salt (6 ounces)
Broken Chain ( Silver is probably best)
Hyssop (Hyssop oil is acceptable) (1 ounce)
Take the mixture and pray over them for at least 30 minutes.
I usually just connect to the herbs and myself and ask to be cleansed. Psalm 51 is a great one for this. Spend at least 30 minutes really praying over the mixture.
Boil them for 17 minutes or so.
Take 1 ounce of hyssop and about 6 ounces of water and dilute in a pail with a couple gallons of water.
You could certainly do this in the traditional fashion aka
1. Shower --> Rinse --> Take bath from the head to the feet ( removing conditions) --> airdry.
Traditionally, this is done before sunrise, and you'd catch some of the herbs and throw them in the crossroads toward the east. Throwing the herbs and capturing seems to matter alot in practice, the before sunrise has not seemed to matter as much in results.
Of course, this is a baseline formula. There is a lot more customizations you could add such as Lemon Balm, Camphor, Rue, etc.
Of course,
The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, coupled with a Bornless one recitation will get you there as well.
Bettering the Reading:
Ambience, Breathing and Focus
Second, divinations generally get less accurate as you go further in time from the crossroads of right now. Peter Carroll was quite right to advise divine short, enchant long.
Divinations are a great method to gain insight about a situation or even about yourself. Even more then the predictive aspects, they are a hugely valuable reflective tool. This also points out one of the problems of the Tarot (less so with Ifa divinations, which have other problems, and other geomatic or numeric based divination systems), is that it tends to reflect what you strongly want.
Read the book
The book that comes with the deck you have is useful. It's not the end all be all, but its a good starting point. Read it like 10 times before you do a reading. Seriously. Really engage the book. Read the description of the card, look at the card, read the description of the card, look at the card. You get it. If you know about Tarot, this might not be needed, but it is helpful.
Check yourself before you read yourself.
Unless you are reading to figure out what to put into a customized bath work, do a reading before a cleansing ritual before reading.
From Hoodoo:
Uncrossing Bath
Sea Salt (6 ounces)
Broken Chain ( Silver is probably best)
Hyssop (Hyssop oil is acceptable) (1 ounce)
Take the mixture and pray over them for at least 30 minutes.
I usually just connect to the herbs and myself and ask to be cleansed. Psalm 51 is a great one for this. Spend at least 30 minutes really praying over the mixture.
Boil them for 17 minutes or so.
Take 1 ounce of hyssop and about 6 ounces of water and dilute in a pail with a couple gallons of water.
You could certainly do this in the traditional fashion aka
1. Shower --> Rinse --> Take bath from the head to the feet ( removing conditions) --> airdry.
Traditionally, this is done before sunrise, and you'd catch some of the herbs and throw them in the crossroads toward the east. Throwing the herbs and capturing seems to matter alot in practice, the before sunrise has not seemed to matter as much in results.
Of course, this is a baseline formula. There is a lot more customizations you could add such as Lemon Balm, Camphor, Rue, etc.
Chakra Meditation:
I already provided a lengthy one at http://magicblog.andriehvitimus.com/2013/02/practical-chakra-balancing-progress.htmlOf course,
The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, coupled with a Bornless one recitation will get you there as well.
Bettering the Reading:
Ambience, Breathing and Focus
Now, if it sounds like there is a ton of steps before doing the reading, there are. Of course, this is a post on improving your Tarot readings at the time you are doing them.
1. Ambience
Ambience does matter. I know people do snap readings, and sometimes they work well, but often, eh. Hell, I go the nine yards. Incense. Glass of Water. Candle. White Cloth.
I have been doing Tarot readings semi-professionally for 10 years. Semi-Professionally means I have a day job, so I don't have to scam people for money.
Do I need to do all that show, Nah. In a pinch, I give good readings without it, but it helps get your mind in the right state of mind. I love doing readings in a darker room and there's some great science to suggest that even darkness adds to altered states of consciousness.
The incense can matter, and I will give some incense formula and psychic ability boosters in a future email.
2. Breathing
Try this exercise. Close your eyes. Breathe as deeply as you can through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Try to have no pause between inhale and exhale.
Do this for a good 15-20 minutes right before you do the reading.
3. Test and Calibrate
A simple way to test Tarot and really any divination system is to calibrate. Some days, you will just be off. Some days, things just won't be working. Perhaps, you're too tired, sick, distracted.
I generally attempt to calibrate the divination.
I ask three questions where the answer is clearly a yes or no. I pull a card for each question. Now, if your deck is attuned to you ( yes that's a different blog post), it should reasonably answer in a way that is consistent with the yes or no answers. Believe it or not, I can tell pretty quick, if this turns out badly, that I just don't have the right mindset, my energy is off, or there are other problems. Usually this happens a lot less, IF I have done the bath-work or formally banished. So, when this happens, I will use a combination of banishing, cleansing, to get myself up to par. Then, re-calibrate and recheck myself.
5. Attune
Attune your Deck to yourself. This is also a little beyond the scope of the blog, but I will post a blog just about that at http://magicblog.andriehvitimus.com/2013/05/attuning-yourself-to-your-own-tarot-deck.html, it will be the next blog post.
6. Stop Over-thinking and Reacting
And that means really ANY thinking.
Ambience does matter. I know people do snap readings, and sometimes they work well, but often, eh. Hell, I go the nine yards. Incense. Glass of Water. Candle. White Cloth.
I have been doing Tarot readings semi-professionally for 10 years. Semi-Professionally means I have a day job, so I don't have to scam people for money.
Do I need to do all that show, Nah. In a pinch, I give good readings without it, but it helps get your mind in the right state of mind. I love doing readings in a darker room and there's some great science to suggest that even darkness adds to altered states of consciousness.
The incense can matter, and I will give some incense formula and psychic ability boosters in a future email.
Try this exercise. Close your eyes. Breathe as deeply as you can through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Try to have no pause between inhale and exhale.
Do this for a good 15-20 minutes right before you do the reading.
A simple way to test Tarot and really any divination system is to calibrate. Some days, you will just be off. Some days, things just won't be working. Perhaps, you're too tired, sick, distracted.
I generally attempt to calibrate the divination.
I ask three questions where the answer is clearly a yes or no. I pull a card for each question. Now, if your deck is attuned to you ( yes that's a different blog post), it should reasonably answer in a way that is consistent with the yes or no answers. Believe it or not, I can tell pretty quick, if this turns out badly, that I just don't have the right mindset, my energy is off, or there are other problems. Usually this happens a lot less, IF I have done the bath-work or formally banished. So, when this happens, I will use a combination of banishing, cleansing, to get myself up to par. Then, re-calibrate and recheck myself.
4. Layer with your Guardians,
Protectors or Spirits
Layer your Readings with other techniques. You can often super-power your readings by performing an Evocation, angelic calls, or asking for spiritual help from your guides. I often will offer a couple shots of rum to Papa Legba to help me see the roads, and ask La-Sirene to help boost my abilities in harder situations. Of course, you have to develop a relationship with those types of guides BEFORE you do the reading. That is beyond the scope of the blog post, however, I do cover the basics in Hands-On Chaos Magic: Reality Manipulation through the Ovayki Current
5. Attune
Attune your Deck to yourself. This is also a little beyond the scope of the blog, but I will post a blog just about that at http://magicblog.andriehvitimus.com/2013/05/attuning-yourself-to-your-own-tarot-deck.html, it will be the next blog post.
And that means really ANY thinking.
- No on the spot Judgements
- No emotional Judgements
- No second guessing (which is thinking)
Tower comes up, people freak. Guess what. Reading is functionally done. Once the emotional reaction is there, and the thought "oh my god" or similar thought replicates in thinking, the energy and reading is buggered up.
Mental control is a big plus, and YES meditation matters alot. Instead of reaction try to just blurt out or write things down. If the deck is calibrated (described above), you can keep asking for clarification. Think of a reading more like a conversation then an "exact do this". I usually get better results if I approach it from the conversation aspects. If I don't get it, I ask for more clues and keep breathing as deeply as I can.
Blurting things out, opens the communication and could help to loosen up things. If you are breathing deeply throughout the reading, the divination will be easier.
It's alot like no-mind. Really, do more of the analysis POST reading. This separates the getting the vibe from the "thinking part". Treat the reading as a full on ritual in itself.
Blurting things out, opens the communication and could help to loosen up things. If you are breathing deeply throughout the reading, the divination will be easier.
It's alot like no-mind. Really, do more of the analysis POST reading. This separates the getting the vibe from the "thinking part". Treat the reading as a full on ritual in itself.
Post Reading and Probabilities.
Readings are not truth. They are snapshots of right now. Often the most useful readings to me, are not predictive, but reflective. This means ASKING different questions.
Predictive readings ask: Will this happen or what will be the result of this, if I do this, or will a Guy get to me. The reading gives an answer. Sometimes, you get a real solid answer that is still based on a current snapshot. The further the question asks out, the harder it is to lock in an answer. So if I asked, will Susan come back to me? The cards give you a snapshot.
Now if I called Susan after the reading, and had that certain bravado she always hated, and I had this cockiness because the cards said it would happen, guess what? Yep. The snapshot has radically changed and so has the future.
Better questions for me are more similar to the following:
Predictive readings ask: Will this happen or what will be the result of this, if I do this, or will a Guy get to me. The reading gives an answer. Sometimes, you get a real solid answer that is still based on a current snapshot. The further the question asks out, the harder it is to lock in an answer. So if I asked, will Susan come back to me? The cards give you a snapshot.
Now if I called Susan after the reading, and had that certain bravado she always hated, and I had this cockiness because the cards said it would happen, guess what? Yep. The snapshot has radically changed and so has the future.
Better questions for me are more similar to the following:
- What parts of me contributed negatively to this situation?
- How can I improve my relationship skills, and what areas do I need to work on regarding my relationship skills?
- Help me understand my patterns, so I can clarify what habits to work on?
- How can I positively change the situation?
These are not the questions most people want to ask. They are sometimes far more important, offer far more choices, and bring about changes in the situation through dedicated work.
Sometimes, you do need a predictive answer, but this should be taken like stock market advice. Sometimes, the analysts are WRONG. That said, it is possible to fine tune and get better and better at predictive answers, but often answers which reflect parts of yourself for change are far more powerful.
FUTURE Blogs On this Topic ( so do encourage me to write)
Attuning Your Deck
Your Tarot Deck as Living Artifact.
Tarot Quantum Evocation
Other Ceremonial and Chakra Methods of Increasing Psychic Ability Temporarily
Psychic Incense
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