Reading Tarot Online: How to Hold Space Through a Screen

A lot of people asked me to do a video about reading tarot on Zoom, and I went back and forth on how to approach it. I thought about doing a really technical video. How to set up your camera, what ring light to get, how to angle your desk. And then I realised that I’m not a tech YouTuber, and honestly, the way I’ve got my setup is tailored to my house, my desk, and all the other stuff I do alongside tarot. I’m a techy, nerdy kind of person, so I enjoy playing around with all of that, but a lot of what I’ve got is far more than any tarot reader would actually need.

You don’t need a fancy computer. You don’t need a fancy camera or a fancy microphone. It does make you look professional, I guess, but it’s really not needed. What is needed is you being able to show up in the same way as you would in person. And that’s what this is really about.

Making People Comfortable

When I’m doing a tarot reading in person, the first thing I do is try to get people feeling comfortable. That might be as simple as making sure they’re okay in their seat, that they know where things are in the space, that they’re not feeling anxious about where the bathroom is or what that weird ornament on the shelf looks like. You want to demystify things. You want the space to feel nice, not distracting.

On Zoom, you want to do the same thing. Whatever platform you’re using, you want to make sure that you’re comfortable with it, that you’re confident with it, that you’re in control. I’d recommend doing a few practice runs, making sure you know the software before you’re using it live. Whether it’s timers, backgrounds, screen sharing, whatever. You also want to make sure that you’re comfortable with the space you’re holding and what that involves.

When I start a Zoom reading, I’ll usually check that they know where to find the mute button for their microphone. Just make sure they feel comfortable and give that little bit of time to build some rapport, because you don’t want to just dive straight in. You really don’t want it to be that, halfway through, they say, “I’ve actually not been able to hear you for the last 20 minutes.” That gets awkward.

Opening the Reading

I find that having some kind of practice to open a reading really helps me get into the right zone. Not a heavy, ritualised thing, just something that grounds me mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The physical part is the comfortability stuff I already talked about. I’ve done readings on Zoom where someone’s sat in a weird position because they thought they needed good lighting on their face, and I’m like, don’t worry about that. I’ll make sure I’ve got good lighting on mine.

That matters especially if you’re holding cards up to the screen. You want to make sure people can actually see them. And check that the focus settings on your camera aren’t doing that thing where it auto focuses in a way that makes the cards blurry. I’ve had that a few times. The fancier the equipment gets, the more it tries to be helpful in ways that are really, really unhelpful.

I always start with a meditation every reading. It feels very different doing it through Zoom than it does in the same space as somebody. If you can hear all of their background noises while you’re trying to ground, it can be really distracting. You could mute your earphones during the meditation. I’ve done that a couple of times. You could ask them to mute their mic. Or you just power through it. But you need to be aware that these distractions might happen, and you need a way to deal with them.

Showing the Cards

In terms of actually doing the reading, there are a couple of things that are slightly different on Zoom. The biggest one is the cards. In person, you’re typically laying them out on a table. On Zoom, you probably need to hold them up, or if you’ve got the ability, you might have a second camera showing your table. That’s quite advanced. I don’t do that, but it is a way to do it.

Don’t let this be a real barrier, though. When a client comes to a reading with you, you’re the one using these cards as a tool. They don’t need to see the cards necessarily. They wouldn’t ever if you were doing a phone reading, right? Just make sure that if you are showing the cards, they’re clear.

Silence and Checking In

You also want to think about how you deal with silence. In the same room as somebody, silence can be a really powerful thing. It gives people space to think, and in a tarot reading that’s incredibly important. If I pull the Hermit in reverse and I say, “I feel like you’ve had that time isolating and actually now it’s time to come out of that isolation. How does that feel for you?” and then I immediately start jumping in with “Does that feel uncomfortable? Does that feel scary? Does that feel big?” I’m putting ideas in their head and I’m just filling the silence because it feels awkward.

Sure, silence does feel uncomfortable on Zoom. It can feel even more so than in person. But you don’t want to be jumping to fill it all the time. The tricky bit is that sometimes the silence is because their camera has stopped working, their phone has run out of battery, or their internet has lagged. You need to be aware of both possibilities.

It can be tempting, especially if you’re reading for somebody who’s a bit reserved, to just talk and talk and talk. And then after ten minutes of you talking, they say, “Oh yes, sorry, I think I heard you when you mentioned the Hanged One, but then it cut out.” You’ve pulled six other cards since then and they didn’t hear a word of it.

So check in. “Is this making sense? What do you think about that? How does that feel?” I think “Does this make sense?” is probably the question I ask most in any tarot reading, because I want to make sure what I’m saying is landing. In an online reading, that matters even more. If they’re being quiet, it might be because they’re really contemplating. Or it might be because they can’t hear you.

When the Tech Goes Wrong

There will be times when it cuts out. You have to judge in the moment whether what you missed was important. Sometimes people are externally processing. They might say something like, “Oh well, yeah, if the High Priestess comes out in reverse, but yeah, my intuition has been blocked,” and then it cuts out for a bit. You might not catch every detail. You have to decide whether to stop and ask them to repeat it, or whether you got enough to keep going.

The thing to remember is this: whether a reading lands for you or whether it lands for the client are two very different things. Ultimately, you want the reading to land for the client. If a technical glitch is going to mean they have to disrupt their processing and it becomes a barrier to the reading landing, sometimes it’s better not to over-correct. If they can’t hear what you’re saying, that’s different. Be prepared to repeat yourself. Be prepared to recap.

That’s why using the recording feature on Zoom can be really helpful. Cloud recording is the safer option. Local recording means it records on your computer and theirs, but if they disconnect and turn their phone off, you’ve lost that recording. Cloud recording means that, as long as the connections were working, the recording should be fine.

And sometimes you might need to switch halfway through from a Zoom call to a phone call or a voice note to wrap things up. It takes time to figure out what works for you.

The Cards Are the Same

This is the real reason I think Zoom can be such a powerful way to read. Whether you’re doing it in person or online, the cards are the same. They mean the same thing. The spreads are the same. A lot of what you’re doing mechanically is the same. The only thing that’s different is that the client can’t touch the cards, and for a lot of readers that’s not an issue anyway.

You can still give them choices. Sometimes I’ll shuffle the cards, split the deck into three piles, and say, “Choose pile one, pile two, or pile three.” They pick, I set the others aside, and I draw from their pile. With oracle cards, I can’t fan them out on a table like I would in person, so sometimes I’ll say, “Pick a number between one and 30,” and I’ll count through the deck to their number. It works. It’s finding ways to translate that in-person experience to online and make sure the person being read for still feels involved.

Why Some People Prefer It

And this is what I keep coming back to. A lot of people actually prefer Zoom readings. They can be in their own space. They don’t have to leave their house or their office or wherever they’re staying. They can be in the environment they want to be in. If the reading gets emotional or brings up something they weren’t expecting, they’re already at home. They don’t have to navigate the outside world while they’re in a vulnerable state.

I know a lot of my clients, even ones who live down the road, will still book an online reading because it’s more comfortable or more convenient for them. And that’s fine. The experience can be just as good.

Keep It Simple

Don’t get bogged down by all the technical bollocks. The simpler you do it, the better it will be for the most part. The less shit there is to go wrong, the more comfortable the session will be.

I tried the two-camera setup at one point. Cards on the desk, client can see the cards as an extra screen, me on the main camera. It just got too confusing. Now I’ve got my old iPhone at the top of my desk as the camera, which gives me good quality, but it means I have to sit in a specific way to be visible. It’s not as comfortable as I’d like, but it works. Before tarot I was doing music production, so I had this whole desk setup where I never needed to be on camera. Now I do, and I’m making it work.

But I’ve also done Zoom readings with just my iPad propped up on the table where I do my in-person readings, and that worked just as well. The only reason I use the bigger setup is because otherwise I’d never use this computer. Which is a rubbish reason, I know.

The point is: you don’t need the fancy stuff. You need to be comfortable, you need the client to be comfortable, and you need to make sure the reading lands. Everything else is just details.