Are there tarot teachers in the UK?

Hi guys,

I started learning how to read the tarot on my own last year but didn't even get through learning the cards and I gave up. There were too many books with too many different meanings. Is there any way I could have one to one lessons with a teacher?

Most Tarot readers would be happy to help you learn although I would advise a bit of caution in that you will be learning a Tarot method that 'they' use, which is not always the best method for you. In a way I support learning it yourself, that way you will use the decks and systems that you have a connection with and will not be swayed by someone else's meanings. You will then have the option to discover the side of Tarot which you personally are interested in without having someone else's baggage to try and forget or adapt.

The reason that Aeclectic is a good place to learn is because its eclectic... hence the name. Read everyone's ideas and methods, try to understand all of them, and then..... make your own mind up.

Someone in the forum told me the best way to teach yourself Tarot is to live each card.

It was suggested that I pull three cards a day and watch how they play through my day.

This method helped me quite a bit.

And there are links here (under the button "learn" ) that will help when you are stuck to find a thread.....

Welcome, by the way

I have an idea how you feel as I too, became completely addled by the books and various meanings, and when I started I did not have internet access and so could not get at this marvellous forum.

In one of the many books I later read the recommendation that you "put the books away and go through the deck writing down what you think the card means", which is really good advice that I wish I had received earlier.

After many years of struggling I am now just starting to make progress, and the breakthrough for me has been in starting to develop my own meanings and not worrying quite so much about whether they are the right meanings according to someone else.

You have, at last, come to the right place. A whole new world is about to open up for you. I hope you have as much fun and learn as much as I have by coming here.

I am a beginner too and I would like to just add to everyone's thoughts ... I tried to just learn from the books, but a very special person became my mentor and she told me that I need to develop my intuitive side and my learning would advance much more that way, and she is absolutely right. I do a daily one card draw and 3 card spread everyday and I interpret them based on what I think and feel. I also have gotten in the habit of taking my deck and drawing one card at a time and writing down in my journal what my impressions are of the card's illustration. When you do this you can see how your inituitiveness broadens out and you'll be suprised by how your impressions change based on different situations before you. I sometimes refer back to the books for validation, usually when I'm not getting the feel for a card, and what I have found is that my inituition was correct, not in the sense of the "keywords" that the books give but in the action phrases that come with them. Hope this is helpful to you!

Speaking up for classes!

There are many different learning styles (some say four and others twelve and so on) - but the point is that some people learn better from a book, others from hands-on trial and error experience and others from classes - and even then the teacher's style of teaching may work for you or not.

I often say I can teach a person in one class what took me nearly seven years to learn about reading the cards. In fact, I can have newbies reading the cards with just one 15 minute exercise.

On the other hand, you can study and practice tarot for a lifetime and still feel there is more to learn (like me).

I've taken close to a dozen in-depth tarot courses (of 10 to 12 or more weeks) and hundreds of workshops and lectures. A good class is well-worth it. Even a bad class will show you all the things you don't ever want to do.

I find I remember spreads and processes better when I learn them in person from someone. I also find myself repeating in readings "catch-phrases" that I picked up from a teacher—even more than those I read - partly because I got a deeper sense of the significance from the body language and empathic imprint. I felt it to the core of my being. A good teacher can impart this.

A live (or even internet/chat) class gives you other people to talk to and practice with—you'll find plenty of variety. The energy and enthusiasm plus responsibility to learn the material will keep you going long after you would have gotten stuck by yourself. A decent teacher will teach what they know and do best so, even if it's not "your way," you'll know what that method looks and feels like. And, being forced to do something uncomfortable, takes you past your normal limits, expanding your skill range.

I once took a class from a teacher who would read a Celtic Cross in about three minutes and, if she didn't like the outcome card, would put it down as Card 1 of a new Celtic Spread. Sometimes she'd read three or four spreads in a row in under ten minutes, trying to get an answer she liked! Watching her, I determined I would stick with a single Celtic Spread (no clarifying cards, either) until I got it, and I've never regretted that decision. I also got one or two very helpful techniques from that same teacher.

Suggestion: When you don't like or agree with what a teacher says then ask yourself why and what you might do differently. Take notes in class on what other possibilities exist, different than the one being taught. I've gotten some of my best material this way - and it's uniquely mine!

Mary

tarot courses

Here are some links for tarot courses in the uk:

http://www.inbaal.com
Inbaal used to be on Psychic TV - she has a structured course in which she encourages you to do your own thing! while giving you options and guideance which you can take on board - or not!

http://www.annejirsch.com/
A simple course to get you going, and then developing your own way.

There is also an excellent correspondance course from Australia - very indepth, but not hindering your own ways....
Not just about the tarot, but how to practice as well. http://www.learnthetarot.com/

There are also courses through http://www.tarotprofessionals.com. I can't comment on these as I have not done them!

Hope this helps
Jenn

I teach tarot classes in Suffolk: http://www.majortom.biz/classes.htm

To celebrate the new century i joined a local evening class to learn the tarot which i'd begun to study with some seriousness at least a year before.
This was the best investment i ever made at £100 for six months. We also read for each other in the pub on the harbour afterwards, much to the nonplussment of the few local patrons.
Our teacher Pam was an excellent adept of many years experience, imparting knowledge handed down to her from more than one source, not always following conventionaly printed attributes and interpretations.
We all 'passed' the exam and were issued with a certificate which would seem nutty to the nuts and bolts world of everyday nuttrdomics, of that i'm sure.