Pour the Tea, Pull a Card, by Sheila

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Three steps. Nothing comes in the mail.

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Plus 2 printable bonuses

free ~~$24~~.

The No-Memorizing Card. Two pages to keep with your deck: the picture questions, the four suits, the numbers one to ten, the people cards and the big ones. Worth ~~$12~~, free
The Reading Notebook. Six pages to print: a week of morning cards, my mother's question, two roads, and room for your own meanings. Worth ~~$12~~, free

I. The problem

You bought the deck. Then the little booklet asked you to memorize 78 cards.

So the deck went back in its box, and the box went in a drawer. I've seen it happen to friend after friend. Nobody ever asked me to memorize anything. My mother put a card on the table and asked, "What's happening in the picture?" That's where this book starts.

"If I asked every day, I'd stop listening." My mother, on why she only read on Sunday nights.

78 meanings. Every card gets a paragraph, and the upside down ones get another. You turn a card over and your mind goes blank. You don't need any of it: a suit, a number and the picture let you read 40 cards on your first night.
The Death card. It turns up and your stomach drops. No card can tell you that someone is going to die or get sick. You'll see what the man who wrote the old booklet really said about Death, the Tower and the Devil, and how I read them.
One more shuffle. You didn't like the answer, so you asked again. And again. I did it five times in one night, years ago. The book has the rules I've kept ever since.
"Is this yours?" Someone in the family finds the deck. My grandmother found my mother's. You'll get plain words for that moment, with no sermon in either direction.
The money. Paid readings, a "curse" that only comes off for a fee, crystals, cloths and collector decks you never needed. You can start tonight with a deck you print yourself and a cheap notebook.

What a card can tell you with nothing memorized

Ask the suit one question. Then count the number like a garden: ace the seed, two the pair, three the sprout, five the storm, ten the harvest.

Cups (or Hearts)	How do I feel?
Wands (or Clubs)	What do I want?
Swords (or Spades)	What am I thinking?
Pentacles (or Diamonds)	What's going on with my stuff?
Five of Cups	A storm in my feelings

From chapters 6 and 7. A plain deck of playing cards works for these 40 cards too.

You don't need to know what a card means. You need to know what to ask it.

II. What's inside

Seven parts. Nothing to memorize, nothing to predict, nothing else to buy.

The history, the dates and the quotations come from museums, libraries, court papers, the Pew Research Center and the consumer warnings of the FTC and AARP. Where historians disagree, the book says so. The card descriptions follow Pamela Colman Smith's drawings for the 1909 deck.

Part 1 · Start Without Spending a Dime (4 chapters)

My mother's deck in the drawer, where tarot really came from, the 1909 deck you can print tonight, and tarot, oracle or Lenormand.

Part 2 · Cards Without Memorizing (7 chapters)

Read the picture first, the four suits, one to ten as a story, the people cards, the twenty-two big ones, upside down cards (optional) and the notebook that teaches you.

Part 3 · Three Spreads (4 chapters)

One card with your morning tea, my mother's question in three cards, two roads for a decision, and how to ask a question the cards can hold.

Part 4 · The Cards That Scare People (3 chapters)

Death, the Tower, the Devil and the Moon, and the swords that keep you up at night.

Part 5 · Reading Yourself Without Getting Hooked (2 chapters)

The night I shuffled five times, and when to put the deck down and talk to a person.

Part 6 · Family and Faith (2 chapters)

The day my grandmother found the cards, and what to say when they find yours.

Part 7 · Don't Let Anyone Scam You (3 chapters)

The curse that costs money to lift, the mass-mailed "psychic" letters, and what I stopped buying.

See all the chapters

Before You Shuffle
My Mother's Deck in the Drawer
A Card Game From Italy
The Deck You Can Print Tonight
Tarot, Oracle or Lenormand?
Read the Picture First
Four Suits, Four Corners of a Life
One to Ten Is a Story
The People Cards
The Twenty-Two Big Ones
Upside Down Cards
The Notebook That Teaches You
One Card With Your Morning Tea
My Mother's Question
Two Roads
Ask a Question the Cards Can Hold
Death Is Not Who You Think
The Tower, the Devil and the Moon
The Swords That Keep You Up at Night
The Night I Shuffled Five Times
When to Put the Deck Down
The Day My Grandmother Found the Cards
What to Say When They Find Your Deck
The Curse That Costs Money to Lift
Letters, Hotlines and Fine Print
What I Stopped Buying
The Last Cup
The Deck on One Page
A Note From Sheila

Three boxes that run through the book

Try it tonightOne small thing to do with your deck before bed, usually with a pencil.
Over a cup of teaShort stories from my mother's dining table and my own.
From the man who wrote the bookletWhat the 1910 guide to that deck actually said, in its own words.

At the back: The Deck on One Page, the suits, the numbers, the people cards, the twenty-two big ones and the three spreads in one place.

III. Who it's for

I'm not going to tell your fortune. I'm going to help you read your own cards.

I don't believe a card can tell you who will call, whether you'll get the job or how a doctor's appointment will go. This book won't pretend it can. What the cards can do is show you a corner of your own life you forgot to look in.

It's for you if

Your deck sits in a drawer because 78 meanings felt like homework
Certain cards scare you and you'd like to know why they shouldn't
You catch yourself shuffling again until you like the answer
Someone at home might find your deck and you don't know what you'd say
You're tired of paying for readings and things you didn't need

It's not for you if

You want predictions. There are none in here
You want someone to read for you. I don't sell readings
You need help with your health, money or the law. That's a doctor, a bank or a lawyer

If tonight is a hard night, don't buy a book. Call or text 988, any hour, any day. It's free and confidential, and you don't have to be in danger to reach out.

IV. Who I am Sheila

I learned on Sunday nights, at my mother's dining table, with a cup of tea.

My mother kept her deck in the second drawer of the sideboard, under the good tablecloths, wrapped in a faded blue handkerchief. On Sunday nights she read for herself under the lamp, with strong black tea in a chipped white cup. She never predicted a thing, and she never made me memorize a meaning. She asked one question, and you'll find it in chapter 13.

I've read the cards most of my life, nearly always for myself, and now and then for a friend or a neighbor over a pot of tea. I have never charged anyone for a reading, and I don't sell them. My cards sit on a table by the window, and my notebooks fill a long shelf.

This book won't tell you what's coming. It will help you look at where you are.

V. The e-book

Pay once. Read it on any device, today.

$49.99$27

$49.99 is the regular price. $27 is the launch price.

This is an e-book, a digital download. Nothing is printed or mailed.

25 chapters in seven parts, plus The Deck on One Page
Plus 2 printable bonuses, free (worth ~~$24~~)
A 121-page PDF laid out like a book, and an EPUB for e-readers, tablets and phones
Download on the page that opens right after you pay. The link works for 30 days, so bookmark it
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VI. My other book

Sage that sets off the smoke alarm? My other book clears the house without burning a thing.

Open the Windows is for the home around the cards: when the smoke bothers someone you live with, when you rent or have a cat, when you're not sure about white sage and palo santo, or when the house feels heavy after an argument, a loss or the holidays. Fresh air, a broom, water, a bell and a simmer pot, with the history behind each one. Rituals, not remedies.

Both e-books together are $39. When you press the button to get this one, you can choose both.

Only want the home book? It has its own page →

VII. Questions

Before you ask

Is this a printed book?

No. It's an e-book: a 121-page PDF and an EPUB. Nothing comes in the mail. You can print the PDF yourself, and the two bonuses are made to be printed.

How do I get it?

You pay on a secure Stripe checkout, and the page that opens right after has your files. Nothing is sent by email, so save them there and bookmark the page. The link works for 30 days.

Will the cards tell me my future?

No, and I'd be careful around anyone who says they will. This book is for reflection, not prediction. The cards are a mirror and a conversation: they help you see how you feel about something. The decisions stay yours.

Do I need to buy a special deck?

No. The 1909 deck drawn by Pamela Colman Smith is in the public domain in the United States, and chapter 3 shows you how to print it from scans of the original. Any deck with a picture on every card works, and so does a plain deck of playing cards for most of the book.

Is tarot against my faith?

I won't tell you what your faith allows. That's between you and your faith. Chapter 21 tells what happened when my grandmother, who came to Sunday dinner straight from church, found my mother's deck, and how they kept eating Sunday dinner at the same table anyway.

Do you sell readings?

No. I have never charged anyone for a reading and I never will. The whole point of the book is that you read for yourself.

What if I don't like it?

Write to me at info@oldbenchbooks.online within 48 hours of your purchase and you'll get your money back.

The last page

Don't let 78 meanings keep your deck in the drawer another Sunday.

Pour the tea. Pull one card. Look at the picture and ask what's happening in it. That's how my mother did it, and it's how you can start this week.