How Do YOU Read?

Candles, crystals, cloth (& wine) are nice when I feel like making a thing of it. I don't do that much though.

I do always always think, chant or speak an invocation I wrote while shuffling the cards before a reading, even just for a daily draw of one or two cards. Then when done I thank the cards while shuffle a little more.

I usually read in my bedroom and the bed is my table.. I use either a velvet spreadcloth or a wooden board that I have and I tend to just sit for a minute or two to ground myself and focus my mind then I shuffle and lay out the cards.. I do like to have some incense burning and I often have a candle too but apart from that I don't have much ritual at all.
My bedroom is where I have my magical area though and there are always things to represent each element there; pebbles, crystals and hag stones for Earth, incense for Air, a candle for Fire and a small bowl of water for Water.

Over the years I've streamlined my process quite a bit. Now I just unwrap the cloth around the cards and lay it on the table, get the cards "settled in" (which usually just means shuffling them a few times to clear the energy and prime them a bit) and I'm ready to go. The fetching of water is also an important part of this, not the least reason being so I don't lose my voice while reading!

Reading on my bed

First, I want to make sure I have all 78 cards (sometimes they stay in the box and I don't notice). So I lay 13 cards in a row, face up, and make 5 more rows below it. Laying the cards face up help me internalize the artist's interpretation of each card. The rows should all have 13 cards each.

I care the most about whether my draws are random enough. I straighten my comforter on my bed and spread all the cards so they take up most of the available space, then move the cards around as if playing in sand.

I found that the softness of the comforter makes mixing the cards easier than using a table and cloth. I will then make a ring of cards around a space at least a foot wide, and pick whichever cards are in the vicinity of the spread's card position, and flip them. I take care to flip horizontally, otherwise I might interfere with reversals in some cards but not in others. After reading I don't do anything special, just return them to the box.