Help With Tarot Needed

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 11 Jun 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Holly Ariadna	11 Jun 2003
Hey there! I've recently starting reading a bit about Tarot, and I've bought a Robin Wood deck which I really like. I haven't really done any readings yet even though I've had the deck for a few months because it seems pretty useless to do it by reading everything in the information booklet, but instead I've tried to think a bit about the different cards, etc. Now, I'm wondering if anyone would like to help me a bit. I don't really know how... Maybe by helping me to learn more about the cards, or to interpret them better? Well, if anyone is interested, post here, or PM me. :) Thanks in advance! Blessings, Holly

allibee	11 Jun 2003
Hello Holly, great to meet you, and you are certainly in the right place to start exploring the tarot. May I suggest two things? Firstly there are Thirteen's basic' s posted here to begin with http://www.aeclectic.net/basics/index.html and then a trot over to Joan Bunning's www.learntarot.com. Many people here have started their tarot journey at these two starting posts, and I wish you all the best. allibee by the way, I hope you know that your life will never be the same again, LOL

wavebreaker	11 Jun 2003
Hi Holly, welcome! :) Have you checked out Thirteen's Tarot Basics? They are a great way to start learning! Another source you might find helpful is Joan Bunning's website Learning the Tarot. There's also a book about the Robin Wood tarot, which might help you understand this deck better. Apart from that I would suggest you browse around these forums. You'll find many subjects here that may help you get started. And ask if you have any more questions! ;) Edited to add: allibee and I must have posted at the same time. Great minds think alike... :D

allibee	11 Jun 2003
hows that for a coincidence :O)

Holly Ariadna	11 Jun 2003
Hee hee, thanks both of you. :D I'm off to read those pages now. allibee, I kind of got that pretty clear when I became a Wiccan & a Witch. So I'm pretty sure the Tarot cards will change my life a lot as well, and let me just say - I love changes like that. :nod:

Mimers	11 Jun 2003
Hi Holly, Welcome to Aeclectic. You have found a great site to help you explore Tarot. The people here are friendly and patient. Don't feel there is any question or thought you can't post. Here are a few tips that I found very usefull for learning Tarot. 1. Keep a Tarot Journal- There are many different ways. Whatever suits you best. What I do is I keep 2 notebooks. One for readings and one for everything else. I went through my deck and wrote down my feelings on each card. I reccomend leaving blank pages here so that you can go back and add things as you progress. Many use a thring ring binder so they can add pages. Don't rush through this. It took me a year or so to really go through the whole deck. 2. Go ahead and do readings! Do one to three card readings. Write them in your Reading Journal. This is a great way to learn the cards and how they read together. And it's fun. So you won't get bored. Remember, there is no right or wrong answers. You don't have to look up every card. Write down what you see and then look them up if you want to. 3. Ask questions- If you are not sure about anything come here and start a thread. You will get lots of feedback. 4. Have fun with it. 5. Don't spend too much time here. LOL this place can become addicting. When I first joined back in January, I spent a lot of time here and realized I was not spending any time with my cards! Now I have a balance. I would also suggest sticking with one deck for the time being. One mistake I made was buying a bunch of different decks while I was still fairly new. Kind of muddled my brain. But, that was just me. Look forward to seeing you around. Mimi

tarotpharot	11 Jun 2003
Hi Holly. Welcome to Eclectic. That's a great deck you have IMO. I've used Robin's deck for several years now, and find a wonderful connection with it. As have many, I initially began with the Rider-Waite deck. Robin's deck appeal's to me spiritually (much more so than Waite), yet the card images are familar enough to non-readers to seem familiar. The book which Robin wrote to accompany the deck is invaluable! Not so much as to "teach" you the "correct" meanings for the cards, but as an aide in developing your own craft. Inside you'll discover why Robin included certain elements, some of which are probably immediately obvious, but others of which are so subtle that many people (including myself) would probably miss. Here's an example of the entry concerning the Fool: ********************************** This card shows a young blond man dressed as a harlequin. He is playing the flute, and dancing near the edge of a precipice. Near his feet is a little dog. Key - Pay Attention. The meaning of this card is thoughtless innocence, and lighthearted folly. A lack of discipline. A lack of experience that can be dangerous. Great freedom, although with a connotation of foolishness. Idealistic youth, creativity. Seeing only the goal, and not possible difficulties along the way. I dressed the fool as a harlequin to show that he is a lover, with sharp wits, although he may also be somewhat of a buffoon, and liable to be hurt in the end. I gave him a white shirt to show his purity. His vest is yellow and blue to show sun and shadow, light and dark. His moods may be mercurial, and vary between these extremes at the drop of a hat. He wears red and white on his left leg for the Lord and purity. Red is often a color associated with the Lord, the God of the Hunt, and squares are also often symbolic of masculinity or rigidity. On his right leg are the green and white stripes of the Lady. Green and white are her colors for a good part of the year. But usually the right, active side is seen as masculine, and the left, intuitive side as feminine. He has them reversed to show that although he is aware of the forms, he doesn't really understand. Or perhaps he flaunts the convention in an act of youthful rebellion, to assert his freedom and independence! He dances, carefree, to the sounds of a pipe. In many decks, he is carrying a staff which symbolizes the wand of will and life (we'll get more into that in the chapter about the suit of Wands.) In my deck, I decided to transform the wand into a pipe, because I see him as playing with his will and life; having fun, and making pretty tunes with them, but in a larger sense doing just as he wants with them, with little regard for the consequences. Far from a staff to steady his steps, he has made them into a flute to dance to! And dancing on the edge is very dangerous. He wears the white roses of freedom in a wreath around his head. There are five of them, to symbolize the five elements; earth, air, fire, water and spirit. He knows of all of them, which gives him freedom in each. But the knowledge is still only at his head level. It has not penetrated to his heart, and he isn't paying attention to any of it! Stuck into the wreath is a long red feather, symbolizing his courage. He is brave, even if it's mostly the bravery of ignorance. (He isn't afraid, because he has no idea how badly he can be hurt.) He wears a pack on his back, strapped on with the white ribbons of guilelessness. In it he carries all the things he needs to get along in the world. But they are strapped down behind him, and not really accessible. I gave him five ribbons for the five senses. They are what he has bound his life up with. When he reaches for something he needs, he hits them first, and is usually distracted by their beauty. He dances on bright spring grass, to show this is a youthful thing. The grass is strewn with pairs of red and white flowers for fearlessness and innocence. His eyes are on the distant vista of the mountains, which stand for knowledge and enlightenment. That may be a good thing, but in this case it means that he is completely unaware that he is about to dance right off the edge of a cliff! A little white dog, which symbolizes his friends, or his own unconscious mind, is trying desperately to warn him of the danger. But so far he is not paying any attention. Sometimes, when this card comes up in a reading, the little dog looks like it's just dancing along with him, aware of the brink, but unwilling to disturb it's master. In that case, I read it as people who are so enamored of his charisma that they are sure that he does really know what he is doing, all appearances to the contrary notwithstanding. If he is going to go over, then that must be the right thing to do, and they'll go right over with him! Below him is the valley which symbolizes the deeper parts of his own soul, with the stream of his unconscious running through and watering it. In a very real way, it's the depths within himself that he is about to tumble into. Three trees grow up from the valley to the level where he walks. These symbolize his body, mind, and soul. They are the parts of which he is made, which rise from his inner self until they are seen by all, although their roots remain hidden. As he dances, three butterflies flit around him. Butterflies in the Tarot stand for transformation. If he doesn't watch out, he is going to have a transformative event! (Oh please, Gods, not another learning experience!) I gave him three to show the future, which is rosy; the present, which is a blank sheet; and the past, which is golden. He is facing the future, but the past and present are both behind him, and he isn't looking at them at all. In other words, he is paying very little attention to where he is now. The sun shines brightly on him, and there are no clouds in his sky. ********************************** Only the artists perspective would lend someone this much detail about an image! As mentioned in a previous post, you could order the book (if you're interested) from Amazon, or directly from Robin herself. Here is a link directly to information about the book: http://www.robinwood.com/Catalog/Books/BookSet.html Blessings of the day, Brad }) TarotPharot

Silaria	18 Jun 2003
Holly, I'm so glad to see you joined this community. I'm sure the folks here will really be able to provide you with insight and advice beyond even my miniscule (in comparison) knowledge. All: I pointed Holly here knowing she needed help. While I've tried to help her, I can only provide a point of view as I see things while encouraging her to discover how she views the cards. My hope was to provide her with a place where she can see multiple points of view to help her grow. Because I LOVE this site (though I don't post often) I knew this was where to send her. :) To start her off I suggested she spend a day with each card, mediate on it and discover what the picture said to her BEFORE looking it up in a book. I also suggested journaling things. Be good to her... even though I know you will. :D She's a great gal and very interested in learning.

sagitarian	18 Jun 2003
I don't have the Robin deck, but when I do get a new deck and trying to establish my personal relationship with it, what I do is pull a daily card from it (or do 3 card readings, but I've found for me 1 card is enough, and much simpliar). I record down what I feel from the card. If nothing is coming to me, or I don't feel anything, then I just start writing down what the card looks like, what I like/dislike about the card, and see if I can find something symbolic in that and try to relate it to my day. I've also heard of people pulling dream cards, cards to help you meditate/think on something in particular as you lay down and go to sleep. Perhaps this might be useful too. I would keep a journal of the daily draws, and then when you feel up to it, start doing 3 card readings.

The Help With Tarot Needed thread was originally posted on 11 Jun 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.