Forget what you've read about "setting intentions under the moonlight" or "aligning your chakras with your cards." Let's be honest, tarot isn't a performance. It's a conversation. And if you do it right, it's a conversation with your subconscious, the part of you that already knows the truth and is just waiting for you to stop doomscrolling long enough to listen.
Preparing for a tarot reading isn't about doing things by the book. It's about doing things on purpose. Because tarot, at its best, doesn't tell your future, it tells your story. And if you want that story to make sense, you need to show up for it.
Start With Why You're Asking
The worst question you can bring to a tarot reading is "So… what's going to happen?" That's not curiosity, that's anxiety in a cute outfit. Tarot isn't Google. It doesn't hand out spoilers. What it does do, brilliantly, is mirror your motives back at you.
So before you even touch the deck or book a session with a reader, ask yourself why you want the cards to speak. Do you want clarity? Closure? Courage? Be honest. Sometimes we don't want answers, we want validation. And tarot has a funny way of giving you the former when you were secretly hoping for the latter.
If you're not sure where to start, think of tarot questions like therapy prompts: "What am I not seeing clearly?" "What part of this situation am I avoiding?" or the always-revealing "What lesson keeps repeating itself, and why?"
Set the Scene, Not a Ceremony
You don't need a crystal palace or an incense cloud so thick it trips your smoke alarm. You just need space.
A clear table. A little quiet. Maybe a candle if you're feeling cinematic. Tarot is less about summoning spirits and more about signaling to your brain: "Hey, we're slowing down now."
Clean the clutter, physical and mental. Turn your phone face down. Light something if it feels right, a candle, a stick of sage, or just the idea of taking yourself seriously for five minutes. That's all atmosphere is: an invitation to listen.
💡 Pro Tip
And if you want to add a touch of ritual, bring something alive into the space. A plant. A stone. A flower that's seen better days but still insists on being beautiful. Nature has this way of saying, "Relax, you're part of the story too."
Center Yourself, No Pretending Required
Forget trying to be "zen." You don't need a spiritual alter ego for tarot. Just breathe, deeply, once or twice, enough to remind yourself you have a body. Then set one simple intention: I want to see clearly what I've been avoiding.
That's it. No chanting. No full-moon choreography. You're not calling in external forces, you're calling back the parts of you that've been scattered across your to-do list.
Five minutes of genuine stillness is worth more than an hour of pretending to be calm.
Think of It Like a Dream
Here's the real secret no one puts on their tarot TikToks: tarot doesn't speak in language. It speaks in symbols. The rational mind might not get it, but your subconscious eats that stuff for breakfast.
When you pull a card, you're not decoding logic, you're translating imagery, emotion, intuition. It's dream work, basically. So treat it like that. Don't overthink every detail or force an interpretation that sounds "wise." Let the symbols talk to you in their own weird way.
The conscious mind analyzes; the subconscious recognizes. It knows when something resonates, even if you can't explain why. That's the magic. That's why the Fool feels like freedom, why Death feels like relief, and why the Tower can look terrifying but still make you whisper, "Yeah… I knew this was coming."
If You're Seeing a Reader
Bring questions, not expectations. Tarot readers aren't genies, they're translators. They don't tell you what to do; they help you hear what you've been saying to yourself all along.
And show up like you would for a conversation with someone you respect. Curious. Grounded. Maybe a little nervous. Bring a notebook, your memory will betray you later. Take what resonates, leave what doesn't. The best readings feel less like fortune-telling and more like remembering something you already knew.
After the Reading: Don't Rush the Meaning
Don't run off trying to "apply" everything immediately. Let it breathe. Tarot unfolds like perfume, slowly, and differently on everyone.
Write down what stood out. A phrase. A feeling. A symbol that won't leave you alone. Then wait. Your subconscious loves a slow burn. The real messages often reveal themselves days later, when you're brushing your teeth or half-asleep and suddenly go, "Oh!"
It's the same part of your brain that interprets dreams. Tarot just gives it pictures to play with while you're awake.
Honesty Over Aesthetics
You can light all the candles in the world and still miss the point if you're not honest with yourself. Tarot doesn't care how spiritual you look, it cares how open you are.
A good reading isn't about control. It's about surrender. About asking questions you don't already have answers to. About letting the cards and your own intuition show you what your rational mind keeps trying to edit out.
Tarot is, ultimately, a mirror. Not for your future, for your now. The parts of you that are tired, hopeful, angry, in love, confused, ready. All of it.
So when you prepare for a tarot reading, don't think of it as "getting ready." Think of it as coming home to your own awareness.
Because tarot isn't magic that happens to you. It's magic that happens through you once you finally make space to listen.
Ready to have that conversation?
Book a reading with Mimi and discover what your subconscious has been trying to tell you. Every session is tailored to your questions and energy.
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