Taking on 'Personal Students'

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 02 Jan 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Kiama	02 Jan 2003
After seeing my best friend's inherent interest in Tarot, the occult, Paganism, etc, and seeing her repsonse to the cards when I asked her to intepret them by saying what she saw in the pictures (She had never read any of the book meanings at the time) it ocurred to me that maybe I should help her along (Give her a little nudge... })) and get her a Tarot deck, plus a copy of Living the Tarot by Amber Jayanti... I also e-mailed her links to many threads in Aeclectic and Thirteen's Tarot Basics for her to peruse in her free time. Then she woudl text me and phone and ask questions, ask for advice, ask for my opinion on certain cards. And I found myself sddenly meeting up with her, both with decks in bag, and giving her impromptu 'lessons'... She already knew 'how' one reads the cards, how to shuffle, how to spread, because she had seen me do it so many tmes. Thus, she doesn't use the book or lwb at all, but interprets according to what she sees. Afte reading many texts of hers saying what she thinks this or that card means, I must say, I am amazed at how she has managed to pick up on the card's many meanings and different levels without a book... Her 10 of Wands interpretation really hit home: 'In the 10 of Wands, theres a dude carrying sticks. Cud dis b symbolic of tryin 2 achieve summit wich is causin u grief or putting pressure on u?' Brilliant! She had never read the book meaning for that card... :D After 3 days of impromptu 'crash courses' in the wider world of Tarot from me, in a pub usually, or cafe or park, my best friend was going online into chatrooms, and offering readings to aybody who would like one. Only simple 3-card ones, but they were all spot-on, and she interpreted them so well! I had a reading from her myself, and I was amazed at how acurately she interpreted the cards, and how our minds are pretty much identical when it comes to what we se in certain cards! When she asked me if she did okay in my reading, I couldn't say anything but 'Everything you said, I would have said aswell. You ommitted nothing, included everything, and delivered it beautifully.' I am so pleased I have taken the time to help somebody get started with Tarot. And, although I have stopped her from making the stupid mistakes I did, I'm sure she will make mistakes of her own which she can learn from. Well, that's my story. Its still unfolding, cuz my friend has only been learning about a week (Though if you got a reading from her you'd probably think she'd been learning much longer!) Has anybody else taken on 'personal students' or tried to teach another person about Tarot? Kiama

kayne	02 Jan 2003
Feels good doesn't it? :D Excellent Kaima. And answering her questions and encouraging discussion with her about tarot makes you think about the cards in a different way and forces you to evaluate your interpretation of the cards. It's a win - win situation. :) Enjoy! (So, has she joined Aeclectic yet... :D)

The Taking on 'Personal Students' thread was originally posted on 02 Jan 2003 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.