describing tarot

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 06 Nov 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

loveinspirit	06 Nov 2004
i have a friend who has just brought herself a pack of tarot cards and a book.. she has asked me to help her learn. what is the best way that i can describe the in's and out's of the tarot with out confusing her to much.

MeeWah	06 Nov 2004
Loveinspirit: Perhaps explain your own process of learning first. If your friend has online access, do point her to the Aeclectic Tarot Forums to peruse the various forums. As ATF can be overwhelming, suggest she get acquainted with her deck & book to provide a perspective. She can see if her deck is discussed in Tarot Decks; also check out Using Tarot Cards & Talking Tarot. About midway down the ATF mainpage is a heading: Learn the basics of Tarot cards. It contains links to various resources including Thirteen's excellent Tarot Card Meanings: http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/

Ace	06 Nov 2004
My idea about learning tarot is: Tarot, this is (your friend). (Your Friend), this is tarot. Now you two go off and play! She might find a basic meaning set helpful, but tell her to look it over and PUT IT ASIDE! One way that helped me begin (besides journaling which is covered MUCH better all over this site by more talented others!) is to lay out the cards in rows, ace to King, and Fool to Wheel and Strength (that is 11 isn't it?) to World and find corralations between them vertically and horizonally. Make up stories about the pictures, etc. That will help her start interpreting them. Then Hang out HERE at AT. And read for lots of people! Tell her good luck, isn't it a great journey to begin? edited for typos

Fulgour	06 Nov 2004
Bonding with a deck, and being guided along by a nice author, is a wonderful start, and something that can never be repeated. I have often wondered what it would be like to do over again! People find more of themselves in the cards than anything else, discovering their beliefs and feelings, facing the big questions... This is a special time for your friend, even if she loses interest.

RedMaple	06 Nov 2004
With friends who have an interest in Tarot, we often exchange readings. Even for people really new to Tarot, this can be a great way for them to learn, and to develop confidence in their ability to read and trust the images as well as their intuition. I begin by reading for them. I talk about each card and its position, how it relates to other cards in the spread, what's in the image, what feelings I'm having about it, what it makes me think of.....I just try to make my whole process available to them. Then I lay out a spread for myself. At first, I read the cards myself, encouraging them to add anything they see. Often we are both surprised by the different details we focus on, the different perspectives, and how the reading deepens with two of us working on it. It's also fun. I think it motivates them and gives them the confidence to really work with the cards on their own. RedMaple

Fulgour	12 Nov 2004
loveinspirit wrote: i have a friend who has just brought herself a pack of tarot cards and a book.. she has asked me to help her learn. what is the best way that i can describe the in's and out's of the tarot with out confusing her to much. How have things been going? Do you see the lights coming on?

Anna	12 Nov 2004
I've been teaching some of my friends too, it just kind of happened that way. My friends have always been a bit sceptical, but over the last few months, I've begun asking them if I can practice readings on them. I have been amazed by how much they have changed their minds!! They began by seeing it as a bit of entertainment, but now, they ask me for readings whenever something comes up that they would like some guidance on. I don't ever have to offer anymore :D Anyway, what happened was, after I had done readings for them, I asked them if they would do a reading in return for me. I told them to not worry about what the cards are supposed to mean, and just look at the pictures and see how they fit in with my question. Their readings were wonderful! One friend is even thinking of buying her own deck! I think the experience of acctually DOING Tarot is the best way to learn. Especially so with the Tarot of Marseilles, the more I use it, the more I realise that the 78 cards contain everything that you need to know.

SunChariot	13 Nov 2004
I found this on another bb and I thought it was great advise for a beginner. I just sent it to a friend who was starting too. It's about the importance of not getting to attached to the book meanings. Yes I did tell the author I loved her advice and was passing it around. She said she was happy to help, so I hope this helps you too. I will add the post here: Simple Tarot Course: Reading the cards with ease Introduction This short tutorial is meant for someone with basic knowledge of tarot cards. Throughout the course I will be working from the assumption that you’ve read a little about tarot cards and have a basic understanding of how they work. As such, please ensure that you ask questions if you don’t understand a concept. For this course you will need a tarot deck. This deck should preferably be a Rider-Waite deck, or at least be based on the Rider-Waite symbolism. If you are unsure whether your deck fits this description, please ask me and I will let you know. You will also need a notebook and pen to write down any notes that you find interesting. Also, to make life easier, please organize your cards by suit and in numerical order. Don’t forget to bring an open mind, and a small dose of skepticism. Please remember that this course is meant to get you reading cards quickly, easily, and accurately. It is not meant to be a full course in the art of tarot cards. If you do want further information and instruction, please contact me and I will recommend some amazing books that I have read. Part One: Reading the cards with your mind, not your books The first lesson that every tarot card reader has to learn is to put the instruction book down. As soon as you stop relying on a book to tell you the meaning of the cards, the quality of your readings will skyrocket! In fact, I would recommend never reading the book at all. Just pick up a deck of tarot cards that look good to you, and follow a few basic rules. The rest will follow. What I’m saying is that the instruction book won’t contain the meaning of your cards, even if it claims to. That would be impossible! Tarot cards work by using pictures to trigger emotions in your subconscious, and then translating those into messages. Unless the book has a copy of your subconscious, there’s no way that they could create their meanings. The images are complex, and are designed to trigger different emotions within each person, and from one situation to another. Have you noticed that every book has a slightly different meaning for the cards? That’s because, as the authors became experts, they stopped using the memorized meanings, and developed their own. As they advanced, they realized that the cards don’t dictate their meaning. Instead, the meaning comes from within the reader. I know this can be fairly complicated, and at times goes against what most tarot card readers would say. A lot of readers would claim that each card has a set meaning, and that it’s written in stone. I can’t stress enough, that the meaning of each card is fluid, and MUST come from the emotional response that builds within you when you see the card in a spread. Here’s an exercise that can start you thinking about the emotions of tarot cards, rather than the meaning. Flip through your deck of cards a couple of times. Pick out the three cards that scared you the most, and three cards that make you the happiest. Then, pick one card, for any reason, and ask yourselves these questions. 1.) What emotion does this card invoke within you? 2.) Was there a specific element that caused this emotion? 3.) Can you think of a time in your life when you felt this way? 4.) What are the characters in the card doing? 5.) Why are they doing it? 6.) Are they feeling the same emotions you are? 7.) What is each character looking at? Why? 8.) What isn’t each character looking at? Why? 9.) Thing of the card as a photograph. What was happening right before the picture was taken? 10.) What happened right after the picture was taken? By the time you’ve answered all these questions, you are already able to interpret the meaning of the card. I’ll show you an example. This card is very powerful to me, and it makes me feel sad simply by looking at it. Here’s how I would have answered the above questions. 1.) I feel sad when I look at this card 2.) His bowed head, and the way he looks withdrawn makes me feel sad. 3.) I can think of many times I’ve felt this way, particularly when I’m heart broken 4.) He’s looking at the three cups on the ground. He’s bowing his head 5.) He is sad, and perhaps feels shameful. He’s wearing a black close that seems to be hiding his body. Perhaps it represents hiding his emotional pain. 6.) Yes, I feel sadness when I look at this card, and I definitely believe he feels sadness. 7.) He’s looking at the three spilt cups because he has lost the contents. He is sad and is wishing that there was some way to get them back. He is wishing there was a way to turn back time and stop the cups from falling. 8.) He’s not looking at the cups behind him, or the river, bridge, or castle. This is because he’s so focused on his tragedy that he has completely forgotten their existence. 9.) Right before this scene, he was carrying five cups. They were delicately balanced in his arms. The contents were precious and priceless. Just one cup could bring him all the happiness in the world, and he had FIVE! He was on his way home from a long journey, and decided to take the fast way across the river. Instead of taking the safe route of the bridge, he decided to walk across the river. He was just about to wade in the water, when three cups fell out of his hands. The contents, merging with the river, lost forever. 10.)Right after this scene he realizes that he still has two cups, enough to make him happy forever. He picks up the remaining cups and walks home over the bridge. However, he always wonders what would have happened if he had brought home all five cups. So, imagine you drew this card while doing a reading. How would you interpret it? Based on my answers above, I would answer the following way: You have recently experienced strong emotional pain. You have felt a loss in your life. You felt as though you had everything in life that you would ever need to be happy. You were too cocky though, you forgot how vulnerable happiness is. You tried to find the easy way out all the time, and in the end it lost you your happiness. You’ve withdrawn from life in sadness, and you spend a lot of time alone. What you don’t see is that you’ve only lost one small part of what made you happy in life. You are forgetting what you still have to be grateful for. You need to grab hold of these things and go back to living your life. You need to learn to be happy with what you have. You will always wonder what could have happened if you hadn’t made such a big mistake, but don’t be saddened by these thoughts, because you know deep inside that you’re happy and that you’ve learned your lesson.. Now, this is a fairly long winded answer, but it makes it clear that just by carefully examining the cards, you can find a lot of information. Here’s a meaning that was taken out of “The complete idiot’s guide to Tarot and fortune telling” “The five of cups always represents loss of some kind, usually something or someone you’ve been attached to. When this happens, you can find it difficult to explain how you feel inside; you’re experiencing grief, loss, or heartache, and it’s hard to express those painful emotions” As you can see, the meanings are a little different, but for the most part, they are saying the same thing.

The describing tarot thread was originally posted on 06 Nov 2004 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.