Differences in meanings...

I've got one or two Tarot books, and I was having a browse though today comparing meanings of each card in each book....oh I know I shouldn't be so daft, but there you go, I was a bit bored....

2 of Swords. In one the 2 is about having the swords crossed over the heart to protect against hurt feelings etc , while in the other the meaning was virtually a copy of the 8 of Swords,....

No wonder anyone new gets so confused, and it's no wonder there are so many posts and questions about the card meanings eh...

Ang x

There's a lot to be said for not listening to books, as you might say.... Trust your own meanings !

Meanings aren't fixed. (Well, at least they shouldn't be.) There are times when each of the meanings you've listed for the 2 Swords may be applicable.

As I keep saying, the meanings in a book are those that resonate with the author of the book. They may or may not resonate with the person who's reading the book. So I always tell people to keep what resonates and discard what doesn't. And just because it's in a book doesn't make it gospel.

So I welcome the differences in meanings cause I may see a meaning that would never have occurred to me otherwise. But I know that I don't have to accept every meaning that I see.

Rodney

rwcarter said:

Meanings aren't fixed. (Well, at least they shouldn't be.) There are times when each of the meanings you've listed for the 2 Swords may be applicable.

As I keep saying, the meanings in a book are those that resonate with the author of the book. They may or may not resonate with the person who's reading the book. So I always tell people to keep what resonates and discard what doesn't. And just because it's in a book doesn't make it gospel.

So I welcome the differences in meanings cause I may see a meaning that would never have occurred to me otherwise. But I know that I don't have to accept every meaning that I see.

Rodney

Click to expand...

Exactly...but we are in a position that we can accept other meanings/variations and not get confused by it.

If I were doing a reading on a bad relationship for instance, and the 8 swords came up, then depending on what other cards had come up in the spread, I might well say that the 8 was saying they felt bound and couldn't get away from the relationship even though they wanted to....

But in the same situation, if it were the 2 that appeared, then I would quite possibly say the same about that card.....with a bit added about their feelings too.

Which is all very well for ones who have a grip of it all, but I've seen posts on here, and I've done it myself in the early stages, where till confidence grows, just a bare few words are said about each card, very often the keywords,....cos I think that no matter what we say about going with what we see in the card, there has to be an initial structure, and there has been that structure for many years....a likeness to the meanings.....for the tradition of reading to have been able to carry on as it has.

And so back to the person that thinks about the Tarot and has an urge to get into it, and goes out and buys a deck and a book...

I can understand there being differences with individual authers with decks they have created, the ones that don't follow the RW tradition of images for instance....that auther is putting across what the cards he has created mean to him/her.

But my thoughts are that to aid people who are learning the Tarot, then at least the mainstream/tutor books should all sign from the same hymn sheet as it were...

End of ramble....lol I know what I'm trying to say, but it's getting it out right that's the problem....

Ang x

Ange said:

But my thoughts are that to aid people who are learning the Tarot, then at least the mainstream/tutor books should all sign from the same hymn sheet as it were...

Click to expand...

But if they're all going to say the same thing, then there only needs to be one book, right? (Well, one book for Thoth decks and one book for RWS decks.)

I understand what you mean though about confusing those who are just beginning their tarot journeys. Cause I can remember when I was there and was trying to make sense of the varied meanings I found for the same cards in different books. But back then I believed that if it was written in a book that it had to be gospel and I didn't know that I could simply disregard any meaning that didn't seem "right" to me.

I don't think that limiting the width and breadth of meanings is the answer though. Although it would be nice to see a disclaimer in all the books that contain meanings that says something like, "These are some of the possible meanings for the cards. You may already have other meanings, and you're free to come up with additional ones. And if one or more of the meanings in this book don't make sense to you, you should feel free to ignore them." But that's never gonna happen....

So I think it needs to be a ground-up kind of thing where those of us who know better let those who believe they have to make all the different meanings work together know that they really don't. They have a lot more freedom than that.

Rodney

I used to read years ago and that was just by what the cards said to me but then I stopped reading for a long time. About 10 years ago I picked it up again because I really missed the cards and decided I didn't care what other people thought of it. But this time I decided I would learn more about Tarot. I bought masses of books and read all of them. What I discovered was I still read by intuition but no knowledge is wasted. Reading all those books gave me a better understanding of tarot history, helped me become more interested in other decks, alternate meanings and meeting other people interested in tarot like the great community here.

rwcarter said:

But if they're all going to say the same thing, then there only needs to be one book, right? (Well, one book for Thoth decks and one book for RWS decks.)

Click to expand...

And no readers - you can just look it all up !

Same with you Angi, I've got a pile of books related to tarot and every book had their own different meanings. It takes me a while to move on with it since I'm new to tarot it keeps me changing my own view to a card. That makes me feel bored and leave it for years and I'm back for fresh view of tarot. Waaaa!

rwcarter said:

I understand what you mean though about confusing those who are just beginning their tarot journeys. Cause I can remember when I was there and was trying to make sense of the varied meanings I found for the same cards in different books. But back then I believed that if it was written in a book that it had to be gospel and I didn't know that I could simply disregard any meaning that didn't seem "right" to me.

So I think it needs to be a ground-up kind of thing where those of us who know better let those who believe they have to make all the different meanings work together know that they really don't. They have a lot more freedom than that.

Rodney

Click to expand...

That's right Rodney...

So maybe when new members on here posts their readings, and they mention that they are new to Tarot, it might be worth just having a bit of a chat to say something like all books are different, look to see what YOU see in the card before looking in any book etc etc....so we can put them on the right road early on, before they try to take in all sorts that may or may not be quite the thing....

Ang x

kwesifriends said:

Same with you Angi, I've got a pile of books related to tarot and every book had their own different meanings. It takes me a while to move on with it since I'm new to tarot it keeps me changing my own view to a card. That makes me feel bored and leave it for years and I'm back for fresh view of tarot. Waaaa!

Click to expand...

And this is what happens....as Wesifriends says....

Thinking or the thread, Is Tarot Dying....maybe more would take it up and stick with it, if it were'nt so confusing to new ones....

Ang x