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I had my first encounter with the Tarot when I was 8 years old, and was fascinated by the strange pictures in the book I was reading.
I actually got my first pack when I was 13, but found the learning curve a bit too steep at the time, and got rid of them due to circumstances which would be too off topic to explain here.
I really got into them when at the age of 24, I acquired the Thoth deck, and I too found them overwhelming at first but I persevered and found that it didn't matter how complex the images were, as they meant very little to me at the time and some of the symbols stood out a bit more than the others which helped me to associate them with the reading in hand, being of a significant nature, and this enabled me to develop my clairvoyant abilities to a better degree.
At first I used the booklet included with the cards to interpret the meanings, doing many readings a day to get the general keywords associated with each card fixed in my memory.
I would do readings for friends, joining the keywords in such a way as to form a story, or narrative which would make sense in a logical way, and this proved a success more often than not.
Another good way of practising, is to do a general reading for the following day, interpreting it and looking out for possible significant events the day after to verify, or otherwise the previous day's reading. I found this a good way of getting accustomed to the way the Tarot cards work.
The other posts above also give excellent advice on their use, so I will try not to repeat too much of what they say.
My favourite book on the tarot is, surprisingly enough, a book called 'The Tarot' by Alfred douglas, as it gives simple meanings, and a good selection of spreads to get you started, along with a comprehensive overview of the history and background of the cards.
I generally use the Golden Dawn spread described in the booklet, and a modified version of the Celtic Cross, whereby I lay down three cards for every one that people normally use in this spread, in the same manner as the Golden Dawn spread.
This results in a spread which has thirty cards as opposed to the normal ten, which most people would probably consider overkill, but I never liked the method of using reversed cards, as the majority of my readings were dominated by them, and this used to make me feel depressed, so the thirty card method has stuck with me, and I have found it to be very effective for my purposes.
The Thoth deck did overwhelm me at first, (Especially seeing as I was sometimes using thirty of them.) so I also bought a pack of Morgan Greer, as I liked the colours, the similarity to the Rider Waite pictures, and the fact that they had Stars on the back (Very significant for me-Every man and every woman is a Star, and all that).
There are many different and contradictory ideas concerning the meaning and methods of the Tarot, and it's best not to get too involved in all this, as it's very confusing.
Everyone has their own ideas concerning them, and I found I automatically adopted the bits that were relevant to my own way of doing things, so it's best not to rush the process of learning, and to allow your method to develop at your own pace. As the above posts point out; there are no rules, only guidelines and youwill automatically develop your own preferences from there.
Hope you find this helpful.
Yours in light and darkness.
Steve.
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Tarot, the connection between
Geegee Tarot Apr 21 2005, 05:46 AM
Apr 21 2005, 05:46 AM
