Want to Know How You Interpret

As I'm sure many of you have discovered, there are many ways that you can read or interpret the tarot. I've read like four books on the subject, and it seems everyone has a different way of doing it! For example, my mother in law has been reading tarot for EVER and does some amazing readings. But she couldn't teach me anything, because she says it just comes to her. Since I got my new deck (Legacy of the Divine, by Ciro Marchetti) the cards do speak to me, and yet I still find myself flipping through the book. I feel like this is slowing my progress. Does anyone have any advice? Im sure everyone has their own way, but perhaps a little experimenting could help me find my bearings. Thanks so much!

Practice, persistence, and keep take notes... but that's me.
Also, pay attention to the pictures. Is the character in one card facing another card, and has their back to another? What are the expressions on their faces and how does it make you feel? And I personally find elements of the cards a huge help and I'm always quick to suggest that to newbs. Fire and Water don't go together, neither to Air and Earth. Fire and Air are active, Fire and Earth are passive. Water and Air are active, Water and Earth are passive... think about how the elements relate to one another, because it's a clue to how Card A relates to Card B.

Study your cards, keep an open mind, and go with what feels right. I personally wouldn't fret about needing to look through the books, especially if you new... but don't try to rely on them so much. Test yourself, try to do readings without the books and if nothing comes to mind take a quick glance. Find the pace that's right for you and stick to it.

Ditch the books and read the cards.

This means really looking at them. Just look. Sit with them and listen. It is that easy and that difficult. Also, more info if you click the "website" button under this post. ETA- where did that button go? Perhaps in my profile?

It does take time and practice but you need to learn how tarot speaks to you. Every one of us is different. There is no right answer, only the one that is right for you.

Ask 100 different readers what a single card means and you will get 100 different answers.

I know this answer doesn't help you at all, but you are on a journey that only you can take. And the answers are in your cards.

Another viewpoint: it is a very good book. And I think it is fine to start off with a solid base, but eventually, you'll have to set off without the net underneath. Maybe try and interpret the cards without the book first and then check. In time the information from the book will become just more background information, but, helpful!

Sinduction said:

Ditch the books and read the cards.

This means really looking at them. Just look. Sit with them and listen. It is that easy and that difficult.

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Hum... I have to disagree.
Sinduction's suggestion is good, but it does not work for everybody. Like for me, lol!

For a long time I have felt very incompetent at reading because the advice on how to learn the cards was usually the same: sit down, look at the pictures, read them. That easy, and that difficult, just like Sinduction said. But for me it did not work.

This advice of "ditch the book and the read the cards" creates unnecessary pressure on the folk who cannot do that. You feel that the message should simply come to you, and instead you face the cards and feel you mind go blank.

So, my suggestion: do that if you feel it works for you. Now, if just looking at the pictures says nothing at all to you, then try to create a solid base of knowledge (well, you should try to have one even if you can read a deck without any book ). Read the "Legacy of the Divine" book, but also look for other books on traditional tarot symbolism and history (like Robert Place's The Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination). Alternate practice with studying.

Practice for me is very important, but my practice only became helpful when my knowledge about tarot became more solid. I also find that, for me, it helps a LOT trying to relate the cards with personal situation and emotions. I always try to think about which card could symbolize what I am living, or the emotion that I am feeling.

So... there's nothing wrong with reading the books and studying them. Not everyone can read the pictures straight out the box, and you shouldn't force yourself to do it if it's not your nature.

The problem is becoming dependant on them. Make a conscious effort not to depend on the book for every reading, but don't discard them completely from your practice.

Very Insightful

Thank you all so much for your advice. =) All of you had really great ideas that's I'm definitely gonna jot down so I can practice =) I've got like 3 tarot books I refer to (if that doesn't say how new I am, I don't know what does!) but I've found I have the most trouble with minor arcana. If they have scenes on them, then I can usually 'hear' what they're telling me. I guess I'm just going to have to practice and open up a little. =) Once again, thank you all! Any suggestions are great!

Nuri, it may help to think back to any skill you have learned: riding a bike, or swimming, or playing a musical instrument, or other. At first, you cannot get away from instruction and help and you think you will never be able to do it, then you realize you are doing it. Then you realize you are doing it very well, and finally one day if you persevere, you realize that you are doing it without thinking, and someday, even introducing subtleties that bring finesse to your practice. You will get there!

Read a good solid book that meshes with you. Absorb it. Then go over to the Your Readings forum and poke around. Look at a person's question, and before you even get to the cards, feel the answer in your gut or whatever psychic ability you are prone to (I'm a feeler). Then look at the cards... and see where your senses pick up and pick the reading apart on what you know about the cards and what you already felt/saw. You need knowledge and intuition to function as a tarot reader. If it's in your brain, it's there to be tapped into at any time through intuitive means.

I've only been doing this for a little while. And in my short day here on the forum, it seems like my gut instinct seem to be counter or at least in a completely different direction than other peoples'. And the only things that have helped me through it are 3 lessons:

1.)It's ok to not know. Of course, if someone is paying you, you had better know something, but still, in general, it's ok to need a book for reference. Hell, i use a book all the time, mainly because there is an entire suit that i rarely draw more than one card of, so im not used to them yet. But still, ignorance is a condition that cannot be overcome if it is feared.

2.)It's ok to be different in interpretation. Different people see different things, based on their connection to their decks and their overall gifts and any psychic ability they may have. I have a small amount of empathic ability (can't feel every emotion, but i can almost smell supressed pain) and whenever i do a reading, i always see feelings, whereas others see actions or choices sometimes. IT's ok to not see what everyone else sees

3.) It's ok to be wrong. Once again, if you're going professional, it might be nice to know what yourre talking about, but still, every day? Thinking that the Queen of Swords inverted represents your mother when it really is revealing a situation you're going through is not going to kill you.

As for technique? i for one am all for this: use the book until you get to know your cards. Then, once you know them, let THEM tell YOU what they are trying to say. For example (and please dont kill me for this example) the High Priestess always talked to Miss Cleo about secrets, but she always talks to me about silence, stillness, and finding the inner voice therin. It's almost all she says to me.

So in other words, dont worry

In my personal opinion, this is probably the best piece of advice so far.

Use the book as much as you need to use the book , concentrate on getting better but don't put too much pressure on yourself. Some people can understand the cards without a lot of effort, other people need to concentrate on learning their language.

You'll know the best time to step away from the books and start working on the cards using only your intuition.

Zechariah13 said:

I've only been doing this for a little while. And in my short day here on the
.forum, it seems like my gut instinct seem to be counter or at least in a completely different direction than other peoples'. And the only things that have helped me through it are 3 lessons:

1.)It's ok to not know. Of course, if someone is paying you, you had better know something, but still, in general, it's ok to need a book for reference. Hell, i use a book all the time, mainly because there is an entire suit that i rarely draw more than one card of, so im not used to them yet. But still, ignorance is a condition that cannot be overcome if it is feared.

2.)It's ok to be different in interpretation. Different people see different things, based on their connection to their decks and their overall gifts and any psychic ability they may have. I have a small amount of empathic ability (can't feel every emotion, but i can almost smell supressed pain) and whenever i do a reading, i always see feelings, whereas others see actions or choices sometimes. IT's ok to not see what everyone else sees.

3.) It's ok to be wrong. Once again, if you're going professional, it might be nice to know what yourre talking about, but still, every day? Thinking that the Queen of Swords inverted represents your mother when it really is revealing a situation you're going through is not going to kill you.
As for technique? i for one am all for this: use the book until you get to know your cards. Then, once you know them, let THEM tell YOU what they are trying to say. For example (and please dont kill me for this example) the High Priestess always talked to Miss Cleo about secrets, but she always talks to me about silence, stillness, and finding the inner voice therin. It's almost all she says to me.

So in other words, dont worry

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The part in bold is important. Experience is the best teacher and you're bound to fall, take notes on your readings and pay attention to what goes on around you.

Do readings on things you already know the answers too to get a feel of what certain cards mean. Say you know your pet in and out, do a reading on their personality. Go to your favourite TV show, book, or movie and do a reading on that, or your feelings on something that you already know the answers too. I think this is one of the best ways to associate certain traits of certain cards to your subject.