I love how quickly new expressions spring up on the internet. Such a thing happened quite spontaneously and delightfully in a recent tarot class on YouTube live.

The class was on three-card spreads. We were talking about the many ways to read three cards. I brought up that we can read them linearly, or we can ‘moosh’ their meanings together to create many messages.

At the time, I wasn’t even sure that ‘moosh’ was a word, or even if that was what I was saying. I think I was combining ‘mush’ and ‘smoosh’. Later, I looked the word up. Luckily, it doesn’t seem to have any off-color meanings in the urban dictionary. Most sources see it as an alternative spelling of ‘mush’.

I knew ‘tarot mooshing’ had become a thing because people in the class were talking about it in the comments.

‘I moosh’.

‘I’m a moosher.’

‘I love to moosh.’

‘I can’t moosh.’

‘I want to learn to moosh.’

Just like that, tarot mooshing was formalized, and will now forever be a real tarot technique.

I’ve taught this technique prior to it receiving this creative name.

Now that it has a name, I would like to share a few more thoughts about it.

Tarot mooshing can be used as an adjunct to a reading in an effort to gain more information and more clarity. Tarot mooshing can also be the predominate technique by which a reading is given.

We can moosh any group of cards. When using a positioned spread, it is best to read the cards within their positions and add whatever information you can by mooshing. Sometimes I will moosh first, and then consider the individual cards within their positions. Other times I will read the individual cards in their positions first, and then look at the ways the cards can interreact with each other.

When reading a group of cards that are not arranged in a positioned spread, the mooshing technique can become even more important. If the cards were drawn to answer a specific question, each card may be considered in the context of that question. Yet, it is even more helpful to look at the cards as a group and see how their meanings combine to answer the question.

When mooshing a positioned spread, you have to let the cards come out of their positions and see how they interact with each other in groups.

In any case, this frivolously named technique involves looking at what the cards may have in common with one another, as well as ways cards may be direct opposites to one another.

When looking for similarities, look for cards of the same suit, and of the same number or rank. Look for cards with similar images. Look for cards with similar colors.

Consider the similarities you find and consider what those similarities might tell you in the context of the question, or the matter at hand.

Think about keywords that cards may have in common. Do you see more than one card that speaks of balance, for example, or of forward motion, or of communication, or of education?

Basically, the more cards you find that strengthen each other’s meanings, the more that meaning will become a central theme in your reading.

When you find opposites, consider what that may say to you. Are there opposing forces at play, or decisions to be made?

Whether or not you want to use this funny new word for this tarot technique doesn’t matter. What does matter is that we understand that when we see how the cards connect to each other, work with each other and speak to each other, our readings become more accurate, more nuanced, and more informative.