Stories thread of how we all got into reading Tarot.

[Sharla]

Thought it would be an interesting thread for everyone to share their stories of the reasons they started to learn to read Tarot.

So here's my story...

Once upon a time there was a teenage girl called Sharla and she was interested in all things mysterious and wonderful.....Yes i was, i was sort of getting books on spells at this point and looking into cosmic ordering and Angels etc, and my best friend at that time was totally like me we once got a real old witchcraft book we found in an old bookstore, bought it but when we took it back to my friends house we didnt even dare look at it lol, in the end we both got so petrified of it and what it might do to us we threw it in the bin >cringe<

Anyway this friend bought me for xmas a tarot set, it was this one http://www.mamayoky.com/sitebuilder/images/Tarot_Tin_of_Tarot-252x238.jpg, i actually still have it now and when i got it me and her sort of drifted apart due to circumstances so we never really got the chance to get into Tarot, and they just got left, i did get them out occasionally but when i friends around or something and i used to just sit with the book and say the meanings from the book, which became really boring after a bit lol.

A few years has passed now, and i end up working directly across from a metaphysical store which i loved i was in there nearly every week spending my wages, and i found another Tarot deck what caught my eye which was the Medievel by Luigi Scapini https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2188/3567680694_9d2a46d111_b.jpg, ive actually ruined these now by writing key words around the edges which i wish id never done as i love this deck.

So yes once again didn't really look into them too much it was just a matter of flicking through the LWB for meanings etc, obviously they were talking in double dutch to me, so once again they got left in a drawer for a few years.

>Drumroll<....THEN i met a guy, this is my recent Ex (i have had relationships in the past lol) anyway we were both sooo much in Love and we both fell very quickly for each other too.
We got on so well had so much in common etc he used to come and see me whenever he could etc, we was even trying for a baby.

Anyway a certain day he wasnt replying to my txts and i knew something was up, we had even planned to go out this certain night but nothing. I was distraught to say the least, so yes you guessed it out came the Tarot cards my Luigi Scapini ones that had been in my drawer for a few years untouched, but this was a bad idea because they were making me feel worse as i didn't have a clue what they were telling me and i can tell you i was at a vary bad point in my life going through this.

The only thing is i didn't even write them down to look back on either, i was just pulling card after card after card then trying to peace together through teary eyes what they were saying >shudders< Not a good time !

So anyway to shorten this down a bit, this is what got me into studying Tarot because i thought that next time im in a position where i need answers to something, i want to this time know what they are telling me. And to not be fumbling around in the dark for answers, which realistically can make things a whole lot worse.

So from then on that's exactly what ive done, ive delved into Tarot deeply and now im not saying im any expert by far, but at least i dont still use the 9 of cups as the "wish" card

Love to read some more stories on this thread

 

[Krakken]

My family were heavy card players and there was cards flying everywhere at home.
i found a magazine wth intructions how to use it but i couldnt i guess due to my age 12/13 However that seed was there. Later, In my birthday #15 a friend gave me a bag of candy. The present card attached to the box was "the Rain" in the clown card. That was amazing cause later i found out there was another cards. So i put it togheter and that was my firts deck. No book, just intuition.
I was a esoteric kid LOL. While my friends were playing futboll, i was doing radiestesy experiments and doing ouiji bords out of paper.

Reading tarot for my parents is always a good memory. My brother became my fan and bully (when i was not in The mood to talk about every girlfriend he was dating).

Now just dark grimoire tarot and i! And The family still trusting in my "crazy kid oracle.

 

[AsheSkyler]

I saw some really neat looking cards in the store (that I thought were just playing cards, heh), but I was leery of learning to play them since they were so big and there were more cards than usual. Not exactly a good deck for Go Fish.

A couple of pagan friends had some decks, and they let me borrow their decks and check them out for myself. Wouldn't ya know it, my very first reading I had the cards calling me stubborn? Baaaah...

I've always had an interest in the zodiac and a loose interest in astrology. When I got older and starting poking at it more, Tarot and cartomancy fell easily into place on my lists of interests.

 

[nisaba]

<smile> The search function is a wonderful thing. I think I've answered this question about every six months since I've been here. It's a long (and some say) interesting story, but I don't have the time or heart for it right now.

 

[magpie9]

<smile> The search function is a wonderful thing. I think I've answered this question about every six months since I've been here. It's a long (and some say) interesting story, but I don't have the time or heart for it right now.

What? Not even a link for the curious? Tsk tsk.

 

[Sharla]

What? Not even a link for the curious? Tsk tsk.

I know, Nisaba please at least share with us a previous link.

 

[Achlys]

I am pretty sure I've posted this here before but here goes.

When I was ~12 years old, my family and a friend of mine took a trip to Mystic, CT. My friend and I wandered into a New Age-type shop and they had a ton of different decks behind the counter, lined up the wall to the ceiling in a case. We both decided to look at the cards and the shop owner told us that they were Tarot cards.
The deck that caught my eye was the Thoth tarot and after asking the price, found I had the exact change in my pocket for the cards and instantly bought them, thinking that it was fate. My friend also bought a deck and we looked at them together. I loved the deck and constantly used it, mostly because I liked looking at the cards.
Eventually I stopped looking at the book for meanings and was able to start using my own meanings for a lot of the cards. I started doing readings at craft fairs and things because my mom would have a table for things she would bake and that interest just never went away.

 

[celticnoodle]

<smile> The search function is a wonderful thing. I think I've answered this question about every six months since I've been here. It's a long (and some say) interesting story, but I don't have the time or heart for it right now.

What? Not even a link for the curious? Tsk tsk.

I know! And, nisaba, I am surprised at you. It doesn't seem like you at all. at least a link to your interesting story!

I also have shared my story before here, probably many times too. My mother was a card reader as were many in my family on my maternal side. Everyone in my maternal line did some sort of divination--card readings, crystal ball reading, psychic-mediums, tea leaf, ect. So, I was raised to see this as just a part of life.

However, it was in my adulthood before I began to really get into it. I was working in a jewelry store in the mall when a new hired started. The day we met, she reached out to shake my hand, and as soon as she took it, stopped and looked at me with wide eyes and said, "OMG! do you know how psychic you are??" I never really thought about it, but was shocked to hear her say this, as she didn't know anything about me.

Well, we became very close friends, and she helped me to develop my abilities. She, herself was a wonderful psychic and she also enjoyed doing psychometry and the cards. She was the one who got me into reading cards. I started out reading playing cards, like my mother, but soon graduated to tarot and other oracle cards and the rest is history.

 

[velvetina]

It was Summer, 1981 and I was 17 years old. I'd been given some money as a present & went into the nearest town (I grew up in rural Northumberland) to get my ears pierced. On the way to the jewellery shop, in the local stationery shop, all by itself was a deck of Tarot. the blue box Rider-waite, pre-US games deck.

I bought it immediately. I'd never seen a real-life Tarot deck and was really pleased. arriving home, my mum was drinking tea with a neighbour & I excitedly told them "I've bought some Tarot cards!" and of course they were interested & wanted their fortunes told right away.

So I shuffled the deck, pulled out a card, It was the 7 of swords & I said 'oh, a thief is about!' and here's the thing, that was why the neighbour was there, to warn my mum about a spate of robberies in the village gardens.

And that was that! I was completely entranced. I took the deck everywhere, including school & read for everyone (including some teachers!). One day, the French teacher ('Killer' Brown, so-called because she was bloody terrifying!!) asked me to read for her and afterwards said, "you really need to take this seriously you know!" So I did and have never really looked back!

thank heavens for 'Killer'. (she once tore up my exercise book because I'd failed miserably in a French test !)

 

[celticnoodle]

Velvetina, what a great story and "Killer" sounds like she was a great inspiration to you as well. Apparently--a great teacher.