Online Tarot Readings: How Do They Work?
Want to see what all the fuss is about? Book an online tarot reading with me here.
Tarot attracts a lot of skeptics. I have a whole spiel prepared for when I run into someone who kind of looks at me funny when I tell them I read cards. For a living. (Yes, it’s just a piece of paper. No, I’m not going to use it to tell your future. Yes, you’re going to die—newsflash! we all are.) And this is for people I encounter face to face!
When I bring up the fact that I also do online tarot readings, the doubt pretty much doubles (quadruples, actually). Even people who are willing to buy into this whole tarot reading thing can’t wrap their heads around someone, doing a “remote” tarot reading.
(But how do I pick the cards if the cards aren’t in front of me? Okay, valid question!)
To settle the score, once and for all, I absolutely believe that online readings work (I mean, would I be offering them as a service if I didn’t?). And I actually think they hold more value than face to face readings. *mic drop*
I don’t know how other tarot readers do their online readings—there’s probably a course somewhere in the deep web on this. But, with me, I just kind of finagled this all on my own. I have a lot of friends who live abroad and ask me to pull cards for them from time to time, so I just did what any determined person would do… I figured it out.
In six quick steps, here’s how I do my Practical Magic Online Readings:
I establish a starting point. I work with two scenarios, basically. Either the person tells me what they’re going through and what they want to know about so I have some context to work with… Or, I go in blind with someone who’s, like, “I don’t really have any questions, so just tell me whatever comes up” (tbh, this is me most of the time when I get myself read online).
I dedicate a set amount of time for it. I’m a believer in the Pomodoro technique, so I allot myself some time just dedicated to doing the reading. I don’t do a lot of rituals when I pull cards—I can snap into tarot reader mode pretty quickly (whenever, wherever). But occasionally, I do like to light an incense stick or put on my diffuser, set some of my tumble stones beside my computer, or give all my decks a thorough shuffle just to make me feel settled in.
Setting aside time to read very purposefully (with or without rituals) signifies intent. It’s me, putting it out there, that I’m ready to meet my intuition. I may be doing an online reading in a busy coffee shop (this happens more often than not), but that doesn’t take away from the experience or make it any less special. Intention is what counts.
I think about the person I’m reading for. Call it meditation, call it channeling, call it whatever… I’m a super pragmatic person that doesn’t really buy into a lot of hooha, so I just think of it as thinking about the person I’m reading for. If I have context, then their story surrounds that thought. If not, I just think of their name.
If the person has a specific concern, I go ahead and start formulating questions that will help us get to the root of the issue. I like playing with Whys, Whats, and Hows. Oftentimes, this is when I start reframing questions whose scope I feel need to be broadened (“Is he into me?” turns into “Why does it matter whether he’s into me or not?”).
I shuffle the cards and start reading. That’s really it. I just dive in, no muss, no fuss. Depending on my mood, I’ll either shuffle between pulls or I’ll pull all 10 cards, for example, straight away and just work with that.
I write as I read. Every time I flip a card open, I do some free writing—literally, just typing out the words, images, and feelings that come up for me as I look at the cards. This is the rawest an online reading is every going to get—I don’t write sentences because I feel my fingers can’t always keep up with my intuition. It’s really just words, phrases, and a lot of OMGs, WTFs, HOLY SH*Ts.
Once I’m done or once my designated tarot time ends, I let my notes rest for a day or two so that my pulls sink in. No one ever taught me this and I have absolutely no scientific basis for this belief, but I feel like leaving the reading raw for a few days helps me process the messages.
I polish everything up. After a few days, I go back to my notes and type everything out. 99% of the time, I stick with whatever I wrote the first time (I just shave a lot of the OMGs off… although if I’ve ever read for you online, you’ll see that some of them make their way to the final cut). On very rare occasions, some other thought / interpretation / meaning comes up (as a result of me letting the messages rest for a few days) and I change course.
So that’s the how of my online readings. What about why they work even if the person isn’t I’m reading for in front of me, choosing the cards themselves, or “infusing my deck with their physical energy?”
I think everything goes back to the idea of intent. The 78 cards of tarot is designed to encompass the full human experience—any card you pick at any moment will spark something you can identify with. So it doesn’t really matter who’s choosing the card. Any card that come up will mean something. As long as my intention is to pull cards for you—which is what I do when I set aside time and think of you—I honestly believe whatever comes up will be JUST. FOR. YOU.
I believe people can connect energetically. It’s like you, thinking of a person, and then them sending you a text right that second. You know? This is all very Goop Lab, I get it, but honest to god (honest to Gwyneth!), I absolutely buy into this and I feel like everyone I’ve read for online can agree that there’s always a level of resonance when they do get their readings.
Finally, to cap off this online reading manifesto, I think there’s more value to an online (email) reading because you get an actual snapshot of yourself at a very specific moment in time. You can look back on it the next day, a week, month, or year after, and use it to see how far you’ve come. It’s like you, having access to your doctor’s files . That information is priceless! And if you go for online readings regularly, you’ll have an actual folder of your story that you can open and reopen whenever you want to give yourself a check-in… which is what I would love for everyone I read for—to develop enough self-awareness to want to give themselves periodic check-ins.
And with that, I shall step off my soapbox of Goop and get on with an online reading. :)
Thanks for sticking with this on again, off again blog, everyone. I hope to be posting more content more regularly now.
PS: You can book a reading here.