There are many forms of divination, some of the most popular ones being Oracle and tarot cards. Oracle cards are definitely from tarot, as tarot is its own card system you learn. Oracle cards are a little more flexible, as they often just have photos and maybe a sentence or one word written on them. The interpretations the author intended will be explained in the booklet that companies the deck.
Oracle cards can come in all sorts of different themes. When choosing your deck, make sure to feel if you resonate with it. It’s hard to explain this feeling but you will just “know” when one you vibe with crosses your path. Usually, the artwork or purpose of the deck speaks to you. The artwork of an Oracle deck is so important because interpreting messages in the artwork is a big part of reading them. Of course there’s the actual card meaning as well, but I find messages in the art quite often.
Once you have your deck, you want to cleanse the energy of it. This will clear out anything the deck may have picked up in the journey to you. You can do this a number of ways.
-Smoke clearing (incense, palo santo, herbs such as rosemary or mugwort, frankincense resin, etc).
-With crystals: selenite, satin spar, or quartz are great options. This will also charge the deck.
Then charge the deck. You can use crystals, but my favorite way is using my own energy. This helps the decks energy acclimate to yours and vice versa. Hold it in your hands and sit with it a minute and visualize a light coming out of your hands and wrapping around the deck.
You can also use crystals during your reading to help enhance your psychic connection and intuition. Some suggestions for crystals are amethyst, labradorite, larvikite, moonstone, sodalite, blue apatite, snowflake obsidian, celestite, kyanite, selenite, clear quartz, or kunzite. Use your intuition to guide you on which stones to choose for your session.
Next, you'll need to shuffle the deck. How you do this really depends on your preference. You can lay all of the cards and mix them, you can cut the deck multiple times, or you can just mix the cards in your hands.
After you’ve done these things, you’re ready to use it. For myself, the first pull I do from a deck is usually what do you want to teach me. I usually know as soon as I see the deck the answer, but this is a nice way to meet your deck. For pulling the cards, you do any of the following:
-Cut the deck in a random place
-Lay them all out in front of you and intuitively pick one
-Shuffle until a card flies out and read that one
-Shuffle until you intuitively feel the nudge to stop
-Sometimes, the card may not feel right, and you can put it back and try again.
There are any number of spreads you can do, but I usually only use Oracle decks for 1-3 card pulls myself. You can use them however you like though! Use your intuition and follow what feels right. Divination is a lot of following your intuition. You can do a one card pull, a past/ present/ future spread, or look up any number of themed spreads online. Pinterest has a lot of good ones!
When interpreting the card, the artwork will really help lend meaning to the written explanation of the card. I like to really examine to picture first and see what I get from the meaning before looking up the card explanation in the guidebook. What symbolism does the card show? Are there any animals or flowers significant to you? How does the art make you feel? What is the first thing that pops into your mind when you see the picture? Do you feel it tickle any particular chakra in your body? Can you think of any correlations to any current events in your life? Then after you've sat with the art for a minute, look up the meaning.
The meanings of each card are really specific to each deck. Certain decks may even have exercises, or journal prompts that you can do. I find a lot of the application of the meaning to you personally is very intuitive though.
After you're done, it is a good practice to thank your spirit guides for the message and show your gratitude.
Typically, decks will pull at your attention if they want you to pull from them. Pay attention to that nudge, its usually your spirit team or higher self, wanting to give you a message through the cards.
You can cleanse and charge your deck as often as you like. Use your intuition to guide you on how often. You will usually be able to sense it, like the energy of the deck will feel either heavy, sludgy, or dull. It also depends on how often you use the deck and if you are also pulling cards for other people.
Which brings me to my next topic, pulling cards for others. This is a pretty similar process except you are connecting to the persons energy. I want to add, that consent is important. I personally believe that you should always have consent before connecting with someone's energy and pulling cards. I know everyone does things a little differently, but this is my personal practice.
Once you have consent, ask to connect with their higher self or spirit team. You will feel your channel (located above your head) pull towards their energy. Visualizing them can help. This will take some practice. You can ask for a general message or have a specific question in mind. Hold this question or intention in your mind while you shuffle the cards. Once you draw your cards, repeat the steps above.
Once you are done reading for someone, disconnect from their energy. It can be a good practice to also energetically cut cords. You can do this by visualizing a pair of scissors that cut the cord/ connection between you, or you can imagine the ends curling back to each person like a string on fire almost. I always thank their spirit guides and higher self for the message as well.
Let me know if you have any questions and have fun practicing!