Tarot Accessories: Everything You Need for a Powerful Reading Practice

A Brief History of Tarot

Tarot cards originated in northern Italy in the early 15th century, initially as a card game called tarocchi played by aristocratic families. The earliest surviving examples, the Visconti-Sforza decks commissioned by the Milanese nobility in the 1440s, are exquisitely painted and contain the structural elements that survive in modern decks: a standard card game deck augmented by a series of illustrated trump cards featuring allegorical figures such as The Empress, The Wheel of Fortune, The Hanged Man, and The World.

The transformation of tarot from card game to esoteric tool began in earnest in late 18th century France, when Antoine Court de Gebelin published a claim (without historical basis but with enduring influence) that tarot was the sacred text of ancient Egypt, a repository of hermetic wisdom encoded in symbolic form. This romantic fiction gave tarot a mystique it has never entirely lost, and it attracted the attention of French occultists who began developing elaborate systems of correspondence between tarot cards, Kabbalah, astrology, and numerology that form the basis of modern tarot esotericism.

The pivotal moment in tarot history for English-speaking practitioners came in 1909, when the Order of the Golden Dawn member Arthur Edward Waite commissioned the artist Pamela Colman Smith (both a practicing esotericist and a professional illustrator) to create a new deck. The Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) deck, named for publisher Rider, author Waite, and artist Smith, was the first deck to give illustrated scenes to all 56 minor arcana cards rather than only the 22 trumps (major arcana). This innovation made the deck dramatically more accessible for intuitive reading and established the visual language that the vast majority of modern decks derive from.

Choosing Your First (or Next) Tarot Deck

With thousands of tarot decks now available, choosing one can feel overwhelming. Here is the guidance that experienced teachers consistently offer.

For beginners, start with the Rider-Waite-Smith deck or a close derivative. The reason is practical: the vast majority of tarot books, online resources, and teaching materials are written with RWS imagery in mind. Learning the cards on an RWS deck means every resource you encounter will reinforce and deepen your learning. Once you know the system, any deck becomes accessible because you understand what it is interpreting from.

Rachel Pollack, author of Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom (1980, 1983), widely considered the most important tarot commentary book in the English language, spent decades with the RWS deck and found inexhaustible depth in its imagery. In a 2020 interview for Autostraddle, she described the deck as "a complete system for understanding human experience" and encouraged practitioners to "learn the cards deeply rather than seeking novelty." Her view is that most practitioners benefit from working with one deck for an extended period rather than collecting many decks without developing depth with any of them.

For experienced readers seeking a second or specialized deck, the following categories are worth exploring: Marseille-style decks (the older French tradition, with unillustrated pips, excellent for intuitive and kabbalistic work); Thoth deck (designed by Aleister Crowley and painted by Lady Frieda Harris, rich in astrological and Hermetic symbolism); and the growing category of diversity-centered decks that re-imagine the traditional RWS imagery with more inclusive representation.

Reading Cloths and Surface Accessories

A reading cloth creates a designated, energetically clean surface for laying out tarot cards. Beyond the practical function of protecting the cards from a surface that may carry other energetic signatures, the cloth serves a ceremonial purpose: placing it signals that what follows is set apart from ordinary activity and deserves a different quality of attention.

Traditional materials for reading cloths include silk (historically preferred because silk is said not to absorb or transmit other energies), velvet (which holds cards in place and provides a rich visual background), and natural cotton (practical and easily washed). Many practitioners have cloths in colors associated with their practice: black for grounding and containment, purple for intuition, deep red for depth and passion, or cream for clarity and openness.

Some practitioners use cloths printed with a compass rose, the four elements, a sacred geometry pattern, or a specific spread layout that guides card placement. These printed reading cloths can be useful for beginners learning a specific spread but tend to limit the flexibility of a mature practice where spreads are adapted to each reading's needs.

Storage: Pouches, Boxes, and Wrappings

How a deck is stored reflects and reinforces the practitioner's relationship with it. The most common storage options are cloth pouches (drawstring bags in silk or velvet), wooden or decorative boxes, and traditional silk or linen wrapping cloths.

A pouch is the most portable option and the most widely used. It protects the deck physically while keeping it accessible. Many practitioners have multiple pouches, using different ones for different contexts (home readings, professional readings, travel). The pouch should be used only for the deck, not stuffed with other items, and should be replaced when it becomes worn or energetically heavy.

A wooden box is more ceremonially significant and provides better physical protection for decks with delicate borders or gilding. Some practitioners keep a box on their reading altar that serves as the deck's permanent home, creating a physical anchor for the practice space. Cedar, oak, or other sacred woods are traditional choices; sandalwood-inlaid boxes are prized for their aromatic and energetic properties.

Crystals for Tarot Practice

Crystals serve multiple functions in tarot practice: cleansing and charging the deck between readings, amplifying the reader's intuitive connection during reading, providing protection from energetic interference, and anchoring the reading space with specific energetic qualities.

Clear quartz is the most versatile tarot crystal. A crystal point placed on top of a deck overnight clears accumulated energies and amplifies the deck's clarity for subsequent readings. Clear quartz also amplifies whatever intention is set for the reading session, making it a useful companion during the reading itself when placed near the spread.

Amethyst supports intuitive perception and psychic sensitivity. Many tarot readers keep an amethyst cluster on their reading altar or hold a tumbled amethyst before beginning a reading to open the intuitive channel. Amethyst is also said to protect against psychic intrusion, which is relevant when reading for others whose energy field comes into contact with your own during the reading process.

Selenite is prized specifically for its cleansing properties. A selenite stick or wand can be placed across a tarot deck after a particularly heavy or draining reading to clear it rapidly. Unlike most crystals, selenite does not require cleansing itself, making it a reliable cleansing tool for other objects in the practice space.

Black tourmaline provides protection from negative energies and psychic intrusion. Placing a piece of black tourmaline at the edge of the reading cloth creates an energetic boundary for the reading space, particularly useful when reading for others in a professional context.

Candles, Incense, and Reading Altars

Creating a dedicated reading space transforms tarot from an occasional activity into a sustained practice. A physical altar for tarot work serves the same function as a meditation cushion: it creates a spatial anchor for the practice that signals to the psyche that something different is being entered.

Candles are among the oldest reading accessories and the most universally used. A lit candle creates atmosphere, provides a focus point for concentration, and in many traditions is understood to invite the presence of guiding forces and help spirits. The color of the candle can be aligned with the intention of the reading: white for clarity and all-purpose use, purple for psychic work and deep inner guidance, black for protection and uncovering hidden truths, blue for communication and emotional depth.

Incense creates an aromatic atmosphere that shifts the mental state toward receptive, intuitive awareness. Frankincense is widely used in divination contexts across many traditions for its documented effects on consciousness and its association with sacred space. Sandalwood supports the theta brainwave state associated with intuitive perception. Lavender calms anxiety and opens the heart, useful when reading on emotionally charged situations.

Tarot Journaling: The Most Underused Tool

Of all the accessories available to a tarot practitioner, the journal is the one that most directly develops real skill and depth. A dedicated tarot journal serves multiple functions simultaneously: it creates a record of readings that can be reviewed for accuracy and patterns over time; it develops the practitioner's personal vocabulary for each card; and it cultivates the reflective capacity that distinguishes deep tarot work from superficial card-flipping.

The most effective tarot journaling practice begins with the daily card draw: each morning, draw a single card and spend five minutes writing about it before the day begins. Notice what the imagery evokes immediately (what do you see? what feeling does it produce?), what you already know about the card's traditional meaning, and what question or theme it might be relevant to in your current life. At the end of the day, return to the entry and note what actually happened - how did the card's themes show up in experience?

Over weeks and months of this practice, you develop a living, personalized relationship with each card that no book can provide. Rachel Pollack emphasizes that the most important tarot meanings are the ones you discover through your own experience with the cards, not the ones you read in books. The journal is where that personal dictionary is built.

Spread Resources and Guidebooks

A tarot spread is the layout of cards in a reading, with each position given a specific meaning (past, present, future; situation, obstacle, advice; mind, body, spirit; and so on). Hundreds of spreads exist, from the simple three-card pull to complex 10+ card arrangements like the Celtic Cross. Learning a few versatile spreads thoroughly is more valuable than knowing many spreads superficially.

Essential guidebooks for the serious practitioner include: Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack (the foundational interpretive commentary); Tarot for Your Self by Mary K. Greer (worksheets and exercises for using tarot in self-exploration); The Ultimate Guide to Tarot by Liz Dean (comprehensive but accessible reference); 21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card by Mary K. Greer (exercises to develop multiple approaches to card interpretation); and Kitchen Table Tarot by Melissa Cynova (a warm, pragmatic guide to reading for others).

Cleansing and Charging Your Deck

Regular deck cleansing is a practice that most serious tarot readers maintain and many beginners overlook. A deck that has been used in many readings, handled by many people, or left in a cluttered or energetically heavy environment benefits from periodic cleansing to restore its clarity and responsiveness.

Building a Serious Tarot Practice

The accessories described in this guide support a practice, but the practice itself requires consistent engagement over time. Rachel Pollack, in her preface to the updated edition of Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom (2019), writes: "Tarot is not learned in a day or a year. It is a relationship that deepens as you bring more of your life to it." This is the key insight that separates practitioners who develop genuine skill from those who remain perpetually beginner.

A serious practice involves: daily card work (either a draw and journal or a brief study of one card); monthly full spread readings (the Celtic Cross or a 7-10 card spread appropriate to your current questions); regular study of the symbolism embedded in your deck (the Kabbalah, astrology, numerology, and mythological references that Waite and Smith encoded in the RWS imagery); and periodic review of your journal to track patterns and accuracy over time.

Working with a tarot study group or community of fellow practitioners accelerates learning dramatically. Reading for others (with their permission and appropriate humility about what tarot can and cannot do) develops skills that solo practice cannot develop, particularly the ability to set aside personal assumptions and read for what is actually present in someone else's situation.

Understanding the Symbolism in Your Deck

The Rider-Waite-Smith deck is not a collection of randomly chosen images. Every element of every card was deliberately chosen by Arthur Edward Waite (who specified the symbolic content) and Pamela Colman Smith (who translated the specifications into visual form) to encode a specific set of correspondences drawn from Kabbalah, astrology, numerology, and alchemical symbolism. Understanding these encoding systems dramatically deepens the quality of readings.

The 22 Major Arcana cards correspond to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet and to the 22 paths connecting the 10 sephiroth of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. The Fool (numbered 0 or placed outside the sequence) is the spirit beginning its journey through manifestation. Each subsequent card represents a stage in that journey: The Magician corresponds to the first path and to Mercury, The High Priestess to the second path and to the Moon, The Empress to Venus and the creative feminine principle, and so on through The World (Saturn, completion and return to source).

The four suits of the Minor Arcana correspond to the four elements: Wands to Fire (will, passion, creativity), Cups to Water (emotion, intuition, relationship), Swords to Air (thought, conflict, communication), and Pentacles to Earth (material reality, the body, practical affairs). This elemental correspondence system means that understanding the four elements provides instant intuitive access to any minor arcana card: a Ten of Cups is elemental Water at its fullest expression; a Five of Swords is Air in a state of conflict and aftermath.

Ethics and Responsibility in Tarot Reading

As tarot grows in popularity and more practitioners begin reading for others (professionally or informally), ethical questions become increasingly important. The history of tarot includes plenty of exploitation, from Victorian fortune tellers using cold reading techniques to manipulate vulnerable clients to contemporary online readers charging large sums for "curse removal" services. A serious practitioner must develop a clear ethical framework for their work.

The foundational ethical principle in tarot reading for others is that the reading serves the querent's autonomy and insight rather than creating dependence. A good reading empowers the person to make their own decisions with greater clarity and self-knowledge. A harmful reading creates fear, dependence, or a sense that their future is fixed and determined. Mary K. Greer addresses this explicitly in Tarot for Others, writing that the reader's role is "not to predict but to illuminate possibilities and the forces currently at work."

Practical ethical guidelines include: only reading for someone with their explicit consent; maintaining confidentiality about the contents of readings; being honest about the limits of what tarot can tell you (it does not predict specific events with certainty); never diagnosing medical or legal situations; and acknowledging when a question or situation is beyond your skill level and referring the person to appropriate professional help.