Study question

Hi everyone,

I've been studying through the cards since December of last year and have learned the Major Arcana cards to my preliminary satisfaction to allow myself to continue on through the deck. I am now ready to start studying the suit cards and would like some advice as to how to approach these.

For those of you who have learned the Tarot, would you recommend learning the cards by suit first or by number first? By this, I am asking if you feel it better to learn all wands then all pents then swords then cups or to rather go learn all aces, all 1's, all 2's, etc. in that order?

At this point I cannot see a real difference really but I am wondering if in hindsight I will go back and realize that one approach would have been more advantageous to the other for learning.

What would you suggest?

Thanks!

try it both ways... going through by suit will give you an in-depth look at the energy of that suit's element. Going numerically will give you a sense of how the numbers in each suit work together (along with their MA counterpart).

Combine those two and you'll be well on your way to never feeling the urge to look up a keyword for a particular card - suit plus number plus symbolic information you get from the image will tell the tale.

Suits

The most important thing , isn't what other books say, but it is what you feel the card is saying to you. Go through each suit, pick one first, let's say wands. Let's also for arguments sake say it is the Rider-Waite deck. You see a hand coming forth from a cloud. This is known as the hand of God-goddess , the Universe. Handing you a wand. What does this mean to you?

Then go through and read also what the card means in whatever book you are using. This will give it deeper meaning. Not just memorizing the cards, but knowing what they mean.

It helps to write down your impressions in a journal. You can add to it later, as you get more attuned to the images, and more insights.
K

This approach will speed up your progress.

Learn the general meanings from all those that have traveled this path before you. There is no sense in reinventing the wheel. Take advantage of previous research. Later examine and discover personal nuances.

Familiarize yourself using a few good books that address the basics. You can split the suits and numbers up if you want. I would do it more than one way to keep it interesting.

Once you have a general idea of the overall process and how each card works the finer points will come easier and naturally.

I strongly discourage the feel-you-way-through-each-card approach as a beginning. Kindergarten precedes college. Intimate expertise follows general understanding. It does not lead to it.

You have already been given some good advice.

What I personally found to be the easier way to go is first do a general approach to each suit: what element is related to each suit, the energy that represents, its positive & negative characteristics, etc...

Then move to study them by number: what each number represents, how that relates to the suits, what have the cards in common, what not, how they relate to their Major,...

After that, one can go card by card in a deeper way and follow the entire suits.
The reason why I suggest this is because you will go faster (doing 4 cards each time) getting a general impression. You learn to connects the suits and general energy of each number too.

But really, it doesn't really matter the order. The important is doing it the way it makes you feel more comfortable.

What did it for me in the beginning was to make sure I didn't overwhelm myself by pressuring myself to study the cards in too many ways.

I realized that I didn't want to study the numbers or anything in order. I just wanted to draw a daily card or two for myself, see what jumped out at me, get my own reactions and meanings, then look it up. I'd then consider the number and glance at a list of what the numbers mean.

I tried to pay attention to the things that stood out instead of forcing myself to consider every single aspect.

For instance, I had read about "elemental dignities" in which you take the element that is most represented into consideration, ignore other cards, and blah blah. It just didn't sit well with me. Others really enjoy reading elementals and I didn't.

I also don't pay much attention to seeing what direction a person is facing to tell if there's a "looking to the past" influence and so forth. I felt that considering too many things would confuse me as a new reader.

So I just did a daily draw and learned that way about what the images, colors, facial expressions say to me.

...lovely advice from ALL of you!

I really like what you said, "M", about learning the meanings of the cards. I am one to feel that a Tarot reading without using the knowledge of the past is not a Tarot reading at all but rather an intuitive reading using Tarot cards...big difference!

My approach was to go through the cards one by one and recording my impressions in my journal...then I set those aside and purposely forgot what I felt...my next step has been to go through the cards one by one, studying the meanings and keywords given by others through a few resources that I feel represent the meanings well. When I have learned the cards in this manner, I want to go back to MY notes to help personalize the meanings to me, throwing out what I do not feel fits and keeping what enhances the meanings that I previously learned through the books.

I still am not sure what approach I will take, whether to learn the numbers first or the suits, but it sounds to me like there is no real advantage or disadvantage to either going on what you all have written. Obviously using both approaches will be the best bet, and I will do that, but it does not sound like it matters which comes first in my study...I spose it just depends on whether I want to learn about basic numerology first or basic elements first. As I write this, I am leaning more towards learning the suits first but I guess I won't know until I get back to studying.

Thanks to you all for the encouragement and advice.

If you like workbooks, I would highly recommend the book 21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card by Mary Greer. We also have a great study group here on the forum of that book that anyone can jump into any time.

Good luck in your studies, and remember learning tarot is not a destination, it is a journey. Enjoy!

numbers