Hey! I'm sort of a tarot amateur. I still need to use a book to figure out the meaning of my cards. I usually end up doing 5 card relationship spreads or I do the Celtic Cross, if I want to get a general overview of life. I prefer a quiet environment-music wavers my concentration. No rituals or cleansing for me though (too much work in my opinion). I'm still trying to grasp what exactly the cards mean though, so I tend to not take my readings very seriously, since I'm not a 100% sure what they mean. I usually do them on a flat surface. If I have a table large enough to spread the deck out in a moon shape, I do it on the table. If I don't I do it on my bed. NEVER on the floor, I think it's disrespectful. I used to sleep with my cards under my pillow to see if I'd have interesting dreams. I did.