Questions

Ok.. so i kind of get what the cards mean... what they instinctivly say to me.
but a new or a different deck i suddnly don't understand..

and ok so i've memorized meanings... How do you all seem to just get how they relate to the question? Do you just know?

and Accuracy rates??? anyone know how accurate they've been???

I'm thinking of going back to work as a tarot reader, but i suppose i lost my mojo or my confidence in my accuracy or how it relates to a person or question?

any advice?

LK,

Lots of questions there! Let's see how much help I can be typing one-handed cause the puppy is asleep on the other hand in my lap....

First don't try to apply a memorized meaning in the context of a spread position. If you only ever see the 3 Swords as heartache or the Tower as ruin, then you're limiting the possibilities for those cards. For me, interpreting the scene in the card (if there is one) helps me. Sometimes I end up paying more attention to the scene and/or symbols in the card and basing my interpretation on those instead of on what the card "traditionally" means.

At least for me, each deck has a slightly different look and feel. If they are decks from the same school (RWS, Thoth, Golden Dawn, TdM, etc), they'll probably have similarities between them, but slightly different focuses. As I noted earlier about the Lovers, some decks play up the relationship angle of the card and some play up the choice angle of it. So you can't necessarily transfer the meanings from one deck to another.

I don't worry about accuracy in my tarot readings since I don't normally do predictive readings. Even if I were to do predictive readings, I still wouldn't worry about accuracy so much because I believe that the reading is based on factors present at the time of the reading. If a reading says that something isn't going to happen, I don't believe that's set in stone. We all have Free Will and can change an outcome that we don't like.

HTH,
Rodney

My opinion:

Memorized meanings won't cut it. Anyone can pick up a book and memorize card meanings and just regurgitate them when a card comes up. Is that reading tarot? I don't think so. Tarot is much more than that.

One needs to look at the cards and study them. One needs to see how the images on the cards flow into the next card of the spread. One needs to go with her gut feeling--sometimes regardless of the cards--I think. It takes years of study and practice to be able to read tarot. And maybe more years of study and practice to read them well. (Again, my opinion.) Anything less is selling yourself and your seekers short.

If you paid a good chunk of money to a reader who had merely memorized a bunch of pre-printed meanings and reiterated them to you as the cards came up, how would you feel about that reader and your reading?

thanks

Ok..so i guess i'll do what i have always done...but i'll add the rest of the sceen into my process.

I'll need to really focous on what each card seems to say to me and write it down.

thank you

Beth

Also forgot to add, that you should check the Study Group to see what people have posted about the deck(s) you're using. I believe the Gilded has its own Individual Study Group. For something like the Universal Goddesses, you might have to search the main Study Group for individual posts. That will show you insights that others have made about the cards, and hopefully some or all of those insights will help expand the width and breadth of meanings you ascribe to any given card.

Rodney

And I'll add that when you're new and just starting out with Tarot, it's a good idea to stick to one deck and one deck only. As Rodney said, there *are* similarities between decks, but it's difficult for a beginner to see them because you're relying on those memorized meanings, not on the "spirit" of the card. Think of it like the letter of the law vs. the spirit of the law. This isn't to say that the book meanings are of no use. You have to start somewhere and keywords or book meanings are a perfectly good place to start. You just want to be able to move past that start, to not be trapped by it.

Thus, a young law student might well memorize the laws as written, but if you want to start practicing the law, and eventually become a judge (so to speak), you have to get behind the meanings. In the case of the cards, you have to know why the cards have that meaning, how the images connect to the meaning, and how they adjust and change given the question, the circumstances.

This is not something you'll learn overnight. There are steps we all go through, and they each have their moments of confusion and enlightenment. Take it slow, and don't try to do it all. Start with becoming familiar with your deck, and understanding why those images might mean what the book and others think they mean. Don't switch decks and confuse yourself further--leave that till later. Till you understand the spirit of the card, not just the meaning.

Another point is to 'not' think your mojo is gone. As your mood differs daily
for any and every reason, there will be days where you read a spread and are not as pleased with what you interpret. If you have been away from your cards,
then likely you need to re-introduce yourself. Like Thirteen said, concentrate on
one deck and cement a bond.
GMB!: