nikki0914
I'm new to this and just recently got my first deck. I have had readings before and i noticed that they write on their cards. I was just wondering what the best way to go about doing that would be. thanks
Writing on the tarot
Grizabella
Welcome to AT, nikki. 
You've come to the best place for learning about the cards and socializing with others who use tarot.
Not everyone writes on their cards. I think relatively few do, in fact. I don't. It's a matter of choice, though. I don't know what the best way to do it would be. I think if you want to write on your cards to help yourself learn, you should just do it in whatever way will be the best help to you. Maybe on your first deck, you could write things that are of help to you and then you can get a second deck without the writings that you can use after you've learned.
You've come to the best place for learning about the cards and socializing with others who use tarot. Not everyone writes on their cards. I think relatively few do, in fact. I don't. It's a matter of choice, though. I don't know what the best way to do it would be. I think if you want to write on your cards to help yourself learn, you should just do it in whatever way will be the best help to you. Maybe on your first deck, you could write things that are of help to you and then you can get a second deck without the writings that you can use after you've learned.
BLFO
I wrote on my first deck. I only wrote key phrases of what the card meant so I could remember what a card stand for. However, take note, those key phrases won't help you to know what a card means in relationship to a spread necessarily.
For instance, I may write on a 3 pentacles card "recognition" because in the RiderWaite deck it looks like a man is doing engravings on a wall and two people who is observing his work is inquiring about his services because they like the work he is doing. They are recognizing his talent.
Let's say that you get 3 pentacles in a romance reading for a relationship that seems one-sided, for you and you ask how the person feels about you and you get the 3 pentacles. You see the word on the card "recognition" and it makes no sense to you. This supposedly is a good card but you are in a bad relationship. You have to do word play. If you want recognition, you are also could possibly searching for approval. The person feels that you are too needy and is always trying to fish out positive confirmations from them.
I say use the cards with writings on them as flash cards to familiarize yourself with tarot, if you don't have the meaning of the all the 78 cards memorized. However, once you do, buy a new deck. Seeing the writing can hinder your reading, because you will focus on writing instead of looking at the card illustrations. Sometimes it is through the card's illustration that gives you an intuitive message, but not literal meaning of the card and the notes you write.
For instance, I may write on a 3 pentacles card "recognition" because in the RiderWaite deck it looks like a man is doing engravings on a wall and two people who is observing his work is inquiring about his services because they like the work he is doing. They are recognizing his talent.
Let's say that you get 3 pentacles in a romance reading for a relationship that seems one-sided, for you and you ask how the person feels about you and you get the 3 pentacles. You see the word on the card "recognition" and it makes no sense to you. This supposedly is a good card but you are in a bad relationship. You have to do word play. If you want recognition, you are also could possibly searching for approval. The person feels that you are too needy and is always trying to fish out positive confirmations from them.
I say use the cards with writings on them as flash cards to familiarize yourself with tarot, if you don't have the meaning of the all the 78 cards memorized. However, once you do, buy a new deck. Seeing the writing can hinder your reading, because you will focus on writing instead of looking at the card illustrations. Sometimes it is through the card's illustration that gives you an intuitive message, but not literal meaning of the card and the notes you write.
SunChariot
I would never write on a deck. How they look to me is very important, plus I consider them such a highly spiritual tool, in my heart writing on them would be defacing them.
And anyway, I don't read by keywords or have set meanings really for the cards. I read more intuitively. That means the same card never means the same thing twice and that there would be no purpose to writing on them for me personally.
Bar
And anyway, I don't read by keywords or have set meanings really for the cards. I read more intuitively. That means the same card never means the same thing twice and that there would be no purpose to writing on them for me personally.
Bar
celticnoodle
nikki0914, when i first began to read cards, i took a tarot class from a reader who had been reading for about 20yrs. he recommended using labels, (such as mailing labels you can purchase at staples or other office supply stores), and writing key words/phrases on them. these labels can then be attached to the back side of the individual tarot card.
he suggested doing this, so that when you are ready to take them off the card, you can do so without destroying the card itself. sounded like a great idea to me, and so i did this to a few of my tarot card sets. however, when i did try to peel them off one set, I realized it's not all that easy! i have since decided not to peel them off now---but you may want to keep all this--good & bad in mind regarding this method.
by the way, the labels come in packages of over 78, so you can buy one package and have plenty of labels for a tarot deck. also, they are not expensive, and run about $4.00 per pack. I do think, if you want to write key words on the deck, this is the best route, w/o having to actually write on your cards.
he suggested doing this, so that when you are ready to take them off the card, you can do so without destroying the card itself. sounded like a great idea to me, and so i did this to a few of my tarot card sets. however, when i did try to peel them off one set, I realized it's not all that easy! i have since decided not to peel them off now---but you may want to keep all this--good & bad in mind regarding this method.
by the way, the labels come in packages of over 78, so you can buy one package and have plenty of labels for a tarot deck. also, they are not expensive, and run about $4.00 per pack. I do think, if you want to write key words on the deck, this is the best route, w/o having to actually write on your cards.
Grizabella
Alcohol will take the labels off without damaging the cards, I think. You could try it with one before labelling all your cards if you're concerned about it.
nicki
SunChariot said:
I agree, i couldn't imagine writing on a deck! I have a journal that i write in then its there if i need to refer to it, I have the Starter Tarot and keywords are actually printed on these, but i did find myself looking at these all the time so you can become too dependant and not actually try to interpret the cards
nicki
Apollonia
Nope, I would never, ever write on a deck, because I feel key words limit one's ability to interpret the cards intuitively, and might predispose the reader to a narrow set of interpretations. My advice: use a journal, and have at least one page for each card, because you'll continually add to the range and shadings of card meanings.
mollymawk
----------------
Thirteen
Keywords Can Work Miracles!
That said, I learned by way of keyword interpetation and I think you can see from my posts that I am by no means limited in my ability to interpet the cards intuitively. To the contrary, NO OTHER METHOD clicked the cards into place for me. It was a real lightbulb moment for me. *Click* and it all came brilliantly clear.
For me (and this is only for me), using keywords not only got me reading tarot cards almost instantly, but it also opened the door--wide open to my intuition and that whole other psychic universe. Far from limiting me, it was the first step in an ongoing journey. From keywords I went on to read books, visit tarot forums and, yes, create a journal. But if not for keywords, I would have NEVER been able to take that first step. Journals do NOT work for everyone, any more than books work for everyone, or meditation, or studying a card a day. We each have our own methods for connecting to our intuition and psychic abilities, and I would never disrespect any method that managed to do that for someone.
So please don't make such bias assumptions about keyword methods of learning tarot cards. Such methods are not for everyone, but for some, they're magic, and very much the opposite of limiting.
I would never write on a deck either, they're sacroscant to me.Apollonia said:
That said, I learned by way of keyword interpetation and I think you can see from my posts that I am by no means limited in my ability to interpet the cards intuitively. To the contrary, NO OTHER METHOD clicked the cards into place for me. It was a real lightbulb moment for me. *Click* and it all came brilliantly clear.
For me (and this is only for me), using keywords not only got me reading tarot cards almost instantly, but it also opened the door--wide open to my intuition and that whole other psychic universe. Far from limiting me, it was the first step in an ongoing journey. From keywords I went on to read books, visit tarot forums and, yes, create a journal. But if not for keywords, I would have NEVER been able to take that first step. Journals do NOT work for everyone, any more than books work for everyone, or meditation, or studying a card a day. We each have our own methods for connecting to our intuition and psychic abilities, and I would never disrespect any method that managed to do that for someone.
So please don't make such bias assumptions about keyword methods of learning tarot cards. Such methods are not for everyone, but for some, they're magic, and very much the opposite of limiting.
