Your First Reading

You can use any deck of TAROT cards to do a reading. The  Rider-Waite-Smith deck is the most traditional set of cards.  Many readers, especially male readers, seem to prefer the THOTH deck created by Aleister Crowley and Lady Frieda Harris in the 1940s and first printed in 1969.  These cards use symbols from many cultures and faiths to illuminate a wide variety of associations.  Some people enjoy the New Orleans Voodoo deck because it brings yet another set of interesting associations and stories to your readings.  The key thing is to have a set of cards you really like.

In general, the minimal requirements for a reading are:

• A set of TAROT cards.
• A flat surface on which to lay out the cards.
• An interrogator, or questioner, to ask for a reading.
• Five to fifteen minutes of relative quiet so you can talk and be heard.

For people you really like, or women you find particularly attractive, you may want to secure some privacy. The cards often inspire people to reveal many things about themselves. On the other hand, some people rather enjoy discussing “their secrets” in a somewhat public way. 

Later in this book you learn a variety of techniques to enhance and improve your “performance” as a reader, but this first overview of the process gives us a framework from which to build.