Card Reading Demystified!

"Everyone has intuition and a connection to the Divine. It cannot be severed, but you can be talked out of it. Our society has a tendency to do that. We also talk ourselves out of it.” - Radleigh Valentine 

So in essence we all have the capacity to create a direct connection and we also have the capacity do not cultivate it, so it gets buried. Then our brain takes over! Card reading can be an incredible way to not only reconnect with your inborn intuitive gifts but also to communicate with the Universe, to get real answers to your questions of your life.

Card reading isn’t simply turning over a card and interpreting the image or symbol but really using your intuition in the process. It’s important to be open to all the ways you receive messages during a card reading. It could be the image or maybe you feel a certain way when looking at the card. So be open!

Many think about intuition as my gut feeling or a sixth sense. Actually there are five modes of intuition:

1. Clairvoyance - experience “seeing” an image or scene in your mind’s eye
   

2. Clairsentinence - experience “knowing”  feeling, or sensing something
   

3. Clairaudience - experience “hearing” a sound, word or phrase in your mind
   

4. Clairgustance - experience “tasting” a certain energy or substance in your mouth
   

5. Clairolfaction - experience “smelling” a certain energy or substance in your nose  

Many people have one or two “clairs” that are stronger than others and some may not even be aware of them having these senses. Knowing how the Universe speaks to you will help you receive its messages even more clearly. 

Signs are another way the Universe sends you messages. Cards are signs and there are many other things like little whispers or “Godwinks" you experience. All these combined help you to begin to create a personal “catalog” of symbols and meanings, which will deepen your intuitive abilities and enhance your card reading. 

Trust is the most crucial part of reconnecting with your innate intuition. It’s easy to second guess or undermined your own perceptions. This is our mind at work again!! Intuition doesn’t come through the logical mind. You do not need proof and can often “feel” the truth in your body. Experience it yourself, tell the truth to someone, how does it feel? Then lie, how does that feel? So Trust what you hear and feel and see even when you mind may disagree!

Let’s get started with choosing a deck!

If you can touch and feel the deck, that would be ideal. How does it make you feel when you pick it up? Do you resonate with the images and colors? Peek at the guidebook from the author does is resonate with you? If you cannot touch or feel a live deck then use the same questions when viewing the deck. For example you could start off with digital decks if you currently do not own a deck - CBR is one of my favorites!

I always get the question Oracle or Tarot? Here is the simply answer I like to give, if you are more about ease and flow (no set structure) pick Oracle. If you like structure based on a traditional system, I call these rules, then pick Tarot. I prefer Oracle and have many decks. I am learning, for the sake of it, the Tarot and may learn to embrace it more if I practice using it. Will we see. 😆

Once you have a live deck there are ways to make the deck your own and how to store them. Almost all the author’s guidebooks I have read have this information inside with recommendations. Here are some general guidelines about making them your own. 

1. Set an intention for the deck
   

2. Read the Guidebook introduction
   

3. Look at every single card
   

4. Hold them to your heart and clear the cards and infuse your own energy into them with a blessing. 

Now you are ready to use them with a little preparation. It’s all about the energy of you, your surroundings and the energy of the cards. Ground yourself. Clear your card reading space. Attune your cards (which helps to neutralize any residual energies that your cards might have picked up and it also links back the energy of the deck back to our heart and your intention). And with everything do what you feel is right for you!

Preparing powerful questions 

1. Avoid yes/no questions - it just limiting (Should I stay at my job? vs. What will be the dominate outlook if I stay in my job this year?)
   

2. Be as Specific as possible - ask a vague question, get a vague answer (Should I move? vs. Should I move to Florida?)
   

3. Rephrase “When" questions - the future is not fixed (When will I meet my soul mate? vs. What does the coming year look like in regard to my romantic relationships?)
   

Now it’s time to do a reading!! Shuffle the cards however you like and decide your card spread, how the cards are laid out. Often the guidebooks give you suggestions so start there. Maybe start with just one card to keep it simple. ✔️

Interpreting your card(s) can seem a bit daunting as a novice so use the guidebook as you learn and practice. Notice your first impressions - what jumps out? The number? The colors? The image? How you feel when viewing it? AND if your intuition is telling you something different than the guidebook, go with that! 

✨ Congratulations you have done it! If you wish to keep reading for yourself or others the more you do, the more confident you will become cultivating and developing your intuition. ✨