remembering help

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 06 Aug 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

sprite	06 Aug 2003
i have a lot of trouble remember the meanings of the cards. there are a few cards i remember or feel when looking put i always have to cheat and look at my book. i know i should be able to look at the cards and just it should come to me but doesnt exactly work that way. so my questions are: 1.what techniques are ways are easiest to learn the cards 2.my deck -haindl- i feel it alot and think i really connect with it but i should be able to read the cards better so - is this maybe not the right deck for me

wavebreaker	06 Aug 2003
Quote: Originally posted by sprite 2.my deck -haindl- i feel it alot and think i really connect with it but i should be able to read the cards better so - is this maybe not the right deck for me That's the first thing that occurred to me when reading your post. Have you tried other decks? I used to have the same problem until I got the World Spirit deck. When I started using it, that was the first time I felt the cards were speaking for themselves... ;)

Umbrae	06 Aug 2003
Most learning systems for Tarot first divide the Minors into their respective suits, then assign the meanings. To understand the cards, not simply learn about them…begin with all the aces, then the twos, then the threes and so on. Why are all the two’s alike? Why are they different? Each minor, also corresponds with one of the first 10 Majors. Get the first 10 down, and the rest fall into place.

Kiama	06 Aug 2003
Tarotlady's suggestion about trying different decks is an excellent one: you may find a deck that you can respond to better, and during the process of trying to find that deck you will be able to see many different versions of each card, which I always find helpful. There are many different ways to 'learn' the meanings of the cards. Book-learning is one way, but one that is difficult and usually puts peopel off Tarot. I also find it switched off my intuition and made me feel reliant on the books instead of my own personal interpretation of the cards. Something I found most helpful when getting to know the cards, was a Tarot journal... Drawing a card every day, and studying it: Writing down what I saw in the card, what I thought that symbolised, any phrases/words that came into my head... Literally anything, even if it seemed mad or silly. Then, I'd read from a book what the card meant, and compare what I had written to it. I try nowadays to blend my personal interpretation of the cards with a bit of traditional book meaning, so comparing my own interpretations with book interpretations really helped here. You could also try drawing your own cards: I found that I really understood the cards better when I had to create the images myself, because I had to ask myself, 'What does this card mean to me, and how will I depict it in a way I can understand?' It doesn't matter if you're not going to make the pictures you draw into cards either: most of my 'Tarot' drawings are on A4 sheets of paper, stuck into a folder of my other artwork. Practicing readings with the cards, even if you're using the book, I also found very useful, since I would come across cards over and over again, and gradually I would build up an understanding of the cards. What helped me most was that each time I did a reading, I would apply the card meaning to the question, and so each reading gave me a new insight into the cards. Instead of simply trying to memorise the meanings of the cards, maybe you would find it easier to take a different approach to reading? (This is where a deck that you respond to and can interpret comes in handy!) I use a 'Say What You See' method: I look at the actual image in the card, and say what is going on, and then think about what all that means. For instance, instead of memorising meanings for the Empress, I will look at the card, and say, "She's a heavily pregnant woman, weaving. This is symbolic for creation and the creative process...." and then I'll be able to run into the interpretation. Talking to others also helps I find, especially here on Aeclectic. I came here 3 years ago (Before the first Aeclectic meltdown when the whole forum was lost and had to be rebuilt again) and have been studying Tarot for 10 years. In the three years here, I learned more about the cards than I did in the other 7 from reading books. Simply because here we have the benefit of hundreds of different people with opinions and wise words and ideas of the cards. Anyway, I think I've rambled on enough. Hope this helps! Kiama

sprite	06 Aug 2003
im so happy everyone is willing to share. theres not many people around me persaonally to talk with or compare notes, im kinda one in my own here. i enjoy the tarot, practice of it and art of it. i gladly appreciate your input and will give ideas i try. i do connect with my decks and my readings are on the money, i want to grow to the point that i can just lay the cards and start talking and make sense.

Alissa	06 Aug 2003
Quote: Originally posted by sprite i want to grow to the point that i can just lay the cards and start talking and make sense. I remember very well the times when reading along in a spread and trying SO HARD to remember the RIGHT definition for each card ... "Didn't the book say this card meant "Be creative?" Was that the Ace of Wands, or the Page of Wands?" My advice would be to look at the cards and find your own associations when the book learning isn't there for you to work from. Book learning may provide a nice platform of card understanding for you to work from, but you can still lay down cards and start talking, even if you don't have the cards' meanings "memorized." If you blank out on a card's meaning, try picking the card up. Look at it closely, hold it right in front of your nose if you want (years of watching my sister read taught me this trick). What grabs your eye? Does the red of the Magician's roses seem to stand out? What does red mean to you, symbolically? What would it mean in conjunction with the words, The Magician, or the rest of the reading thus far? By opening a different form of questioning the cards like this, you may find a different way to keep talking while you read. And you may surprise yourself with the things that spontaneously come out of your mouth. In dance or acting, it's called improv. Don't think, just do. Don't choreograph, just move. Don't remember, just read. That way you can learn to "Improv-ise" your way through the reading.

Kiama	06 Aug 2003
Following along from Alissa's excellent advise... If you do come across a blank, you could also try starting talking about what is happening in the card... "Well, here we have the Magician card, which shows a man holding his magic wand aloft into the air, invoking spirit into his ritual working..." Click. There it is. Suddenly, that sentence (Which I wrote as I was imagining looking at the Magician card from the RWS) turned from 'this is the picture' into 'this is what the magician is doing' into something I could link to meanings. The Magician is invoking spirit I said... And suddenly I know the meaning of the card. Talking. You're not only helping the querent focus on the image, but you feel less embarrassed because you're not just sitting there silent and worried... :D Kiama

MystiqueMoonlight	07 Aug 2003
...all such good advice :) ........ ...... and if all else fails pull a Rune to offer advice for that card or even another card. But for me my Runes always add that extra depth when I need it.

jog1118	07 Aug 2003
everything said was very good...just to add: in defense of book learning: actually, keywords helped me a lot; you can find the most helpful keywords here: http://www.learntarot.com/course.htm#charts also check out the sticky's in the "using the tarot" forum... :smoker:

firemaiden	07 Aug 2003
...anyway, no need to rush things. It will be all new to you only for a while. This all new, not-knowing time, is precious and magical. The time will come when it will be all too familiar, you will have finished reading all the best books, and you will have already bought all your fetish decks, what then? Take advantage of this magical time, when your mind is still partly tarot-virgin, to record your own first impressions of the cards, and what you think they mean. I say take just a few cards a day (or just one) and write your impressions on it in a journal. Have fun. :)

matfav	07 Aug 2003
The brain is divided into the right and left hemphere. The right hemisphere deals with creative visualisation - colors pics symbols, whereas the left deals with words numbers and logic. The tarot is a pictograph of life. linking the brains hemisheres thus opening the third eye. learn the fundemental meaning of the cards, this satisfies the left brain, look and feel the cards intuively, this satisfies the right brain and trust....... Waite Rider deck is best also thoth, most decks use these as core metaphysical foundations.

cjtarot	07 Aug 2003
Hi, I had trouble with all the minors..so I learned the suites, then what each number represented..and put the 2 together..for instance.. ace of wands.. ace is the begining,wand is movement..so the ace of wands was the begining of a journey..and depending on the question or surounding cards..an emotional, spiritual or physical jorney.. from there I created a cheet sheet..by typing what I learned, it helped me remeber.. Good luck and FYI. If you want a copy of the cheat sheet let me know. I can email it to you. Blessings, Cj

The remembering help thread was originally posted on 06 Aug 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.