general question about interpreting

Hi everyone...

I've had my own deck for 1 week now. I only found out what the deck was today, thanks to this forum.

Over the net ive seen different meanings for the cards. Although most ideas are simmilar, the specifics vary from deck to deck.

I've read somewhere, that i have to trust my instincts and interpret them the way I see them; the way a card visually presents itself. However, sometimes, what i see contradicts/or differs from the standard definitions they have been given on various net sources...

should I trust my judgement more? or should Interpret them with the given definitions?

what do you think?

many thanks!

shadowedge said:

Hi everyone...

I've had my own deck for 1 week now. I only found out what the deck was today, thanks to this forum....................


should I trust my judgement more? or should Interpret them with the given definitions?

what do you think?

many thanks!

Click to expand...

Trust your intuition, when you are lost use the base meanings of the cards for now, they are sign posts to some degree. Judgment will not serve you, trust will

Yes, but this person has a pagan-kabbalistic deck with Swords-Fire/Wands-Air attributions.

If you like it and like working with it, you might want to pick up the companion book. Not to adhere to slavishly, but at least to get a clue at what the deck creators were doing, because it's not a standard tarot. It's still a nice one, and it'll still work, but it's a bit different to the way they're usually designed.

I'd do both ways. Trust your intution. Then read what they creator has written about his deck. Then either try to find a synthesis of both or decide which interpretation feels better.

Intuition is better on the long-run of reading Tarot. But I think it's also good to know what others have to say about the cards.

Just my 2cents from a person who LOVES to read. Blessings, Astraea Aurora

I think when it comes to the Majors, the only way I found to really understand them was to brainstorm each card. Read the descriptions in a 'universal' book that has meanings which apply to most decks. then take a paper and pencil and think about one card. Write down everything that comes into your mind, like word association but not, if you know what I mean. I think the reason this works is that the Majors are abstract concepts and it is very difficult to learn their meanings from words in a book. They have to be explored.

The minors may seem more daunting at first as there are so many, but you will find that in the long run, these cards are much easier to grasp as they relate to tangible events and situations, such as 'strife', 'swiftness', separation', material gain', etc., all easy concepts to grasp.

I think books are fine to learn the basics, but you need to go your own way once you've memorized the basic meanings. It's good to have a book in case you get stuck, but not so good if you get into the habit of running to it all the time (we've all been there!), you need to have confidence and search your own mind for the meanings sooner or later.

Hope this helps.

Zoe

shadowedge said:

Hi everyone...

I've had my own deck for 1 week now. I only found out what the deck was today, thanks to this forum.

Over the net ive seen different meanings for the cards. Although most ideas are simmilar, the specifics vary from deck to deck.

I've read somewhere, that i have to trust my instincts and interpret them the way I see them; the way a card visually presents itself. However, sometimes, what i see contradicts/or differs from the standard definitions they have been given on various net sources...

should I trust my judgement more? or should Interpret them with the given definitions?

what do you think?

many thanks!

Click to expand...

IMHO, when your judgment differens from the standard definitions, go with what you feel it means and reject the stardard meaning. The meanings are, at best, just a starting point. No book can every contain anything but the tip of the iceberg of what a card could potentially mean. Meaning is changed by so many things: by the question, by surrounding cards, etc and so forth. No book can ever take all that into account. It is, in the end, up to the reader to feel and sense what the cards mean in any particular reading.

On top of that it is even possible to read without using the standard meanings much at all. Many peopke read that way, myself included.

Bar

I've actually run into this situation many times myself. I trust my instincts, as hard as it is sometimes to do. so far though, i've realized that trusting my instincts first work out for the best.

I do find myself 2nd guessing once in awhile, and pulling out my fav. tarot book with the card meanings. that poor book has been used so much, the binding has come undone, and the pages are all loose now. I've also used it to write in my own meanings/notes as I often see each card, and things I've picked up through other sources. but, it's interesting to note, that about 98% of the time, my instincts serve me well!

I liked wytchwood's comments

the majors will eventually fall into
a description of a worldview
for lack of a better word
the minors, as she says
talk about specifics
but even here, we see
a division of these ideas
among four suits

zb

intuition v. book meanings

In the beginning it helps to practice with the book meanings until you get to know the decks you use. Over time, just glancing over the spread will coax your intuitive sense, and you will find yourself overwhelmed with a certain "Impression". Sometimes this will happen quite automatically - recently I saw a bunch of wands, one next to the other, like five in a row - and I could not help but think - "eech, this is going to require so much work". And that was exactly what that day felt like, "a lot of effort". Textbook- wise and card for card this would not have made sense, but intuitively it smacked me in the face.