tarot schools/lessons?

is there a place that offers great lessons at an affordable price? where do you recccomend? or are classes not a good idea? thoughts?

I know you probably mean in person classes, but the very best place to learn is here on AT. Aside from a minimal fee if you want to subscribe here, AT is free and it's a gold mine of information, mentoring and training.

I think relying only on one teacher by going to classes is not a good idea as you will receive only their idea of how to do tarot and I think that it would limit your experience and knowledge. Studying online is not only free but you have hundreds of ideas, interpretations etc to study, you would not be following a single teacher, you would have access to an overwhelming amount of knowledge that you could pick and choose from to suit your needs. Also, tarot is a very wide open subject with no hard and fast rules, so a single teacher would prove to be very limiting.

I'm actually in the process of trying to open up a tarot school in my area...

I guess it depends on how the school/teacher is conducting the class. If they are making you memorize fixed meanings for the cards and requiring that you read with some patented reading style, then it would be very very very bad.

I'd stay away from classes unless they are of the history or symbology variety. Learning the history and symbols of your deck is one thing...Being a trained Tarot monkey is quite another.

The best person to teach you how to read the cards is you.

I'll bet there are teachers who encourage people to read in their own style and to use the meanings that make sense to the individual. I think a real life class would be great, then you can get a lot of face to face reading practice. You could do a search in your area for tarot classes, some metaphysical shops offer them, though I've never been to one for tarot- they sure are expensive. There are lots on online spiritual sites that offer tarot classes. Some are free, some you have to pay to attend.

Disa

Joan Bunning has a downloadable course that's free on her site: www.learntarot.com

I think the Joan Bunning site and Aeclectic are excellent resources. However if you want interaction with an instructor, why don't you try one of the Tarot School's teleclasses. You could also consider the Teleclass with Robert Place this Wed via Tarot Connections which is more affordable.

The choice to participate in a class is yours. I personally have found it enriching to be in a class with some structure. I don't think there is anything wrong with getting different ideas concerning Tarot and it uses and meanings.

Good luck!
Mimi

willowfox said:

Studying online... you would have access to an overwhelming amount of knowledge

Click to expand...

That is precisely why attending a class can be a good start. One can branch out after they have a foundation.

Not everyone works well with self-study so to say all teachers are useless because they only teach one narrow path does a disservice to teachers as well as students.

There are many teachers out there. I started tarot with an online course that used Joan Bunning's book. I don't know if I would have gotten as much out of the course had I been doing it on my own. It was good to have interaction from the teacher (who did not promote standard meanings and only one way to read) and the other students.

Teresa Michelsen at tarotmoon.com occasionally offers email courses that are reasonably priced and are very interactive and rich. She doesn't have anything open right now, but I'd highly recommend it - she's good at motivating students to share their own ideas and approaches it from a 'let's all learn together' angle.