what is what?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 16 May 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Menmay	16 May 2002
When I first got my deck ( Celtic dragon Tarot) it came with a book to help you learn. Tarot was new to me so this book became like a bible to me!! As I learned more I bought new books and soon discovered that not all books have the same meaning!? I was a bit scared that the meanings I had learend from my first book where now wrong. I was so confused I knew that there is no right or wrong way you choose which is best for you. Yet I still feel confused, heres how I am interpurting the cards. Each number has a key word they are: Ace/ I will two/ I know three/ I make four/ I realize five/ I belive six/I choose seven/ the path eigth/ strength nine/wisdom ten/ major changes now for the suits cups/ emotions and love wands/ work swords/ problems pentecles/ money So if I got a three of pentacles I would tell the Querent that they make there own money. Does anyone else do this if so please let me know Im not alone!! Menmay

MeeWah	16 May 2002
Menmay: That is a *very* good approach. I also rely on a "system" of numerical correspondences & the element of the suit. There was a discussion on Talking Tarot: "Non-illustrated pips" by JMD that touched on the subject. You may want to check it out.

Thirteen	17 May 2002
This is the "Key word" system and it can be a very good system. There is a book by that name which teaches this system. It's especially good for people who have been studying the cards for a while, but still haven't gotten a handle on their meanings. It can prove to be a very good foundation for learning the tarot. Remember that while books often agree on the simpler meanings of the cards, they're begin to split, wider and wider apart, as the meanings become more detailed and layered. So, most books will agree that the Fool means "new beginning" but might start to disagree on the deeper meanings like "power of creativity." Don't let it throw you. You absorb meanings which seem right to you--and to the deck your using.

Diana	17 May 2002
edited

MystiqueMoonlight	17 May 2002
I buy a deck and I toss the LWB! I don't read any book that may be written about the deck. I just flick through and get acquainted with them. Sometimes I may research any significant symbols that may be on the individual cards. Your little method sounds great and it will probably serve you well, but as you evolve you will adopt many other methods. I was showing someone my deck today as a matter of fact, she didn't know I read the cards, and she said to me "how can you do Tarot without looking the cards up in the book?" There you have it. Blessed be

Liliana	17 May 2002
This is a lot like the Keyword method taught in Tarot:A Handbook for the Apprentice by Connolly. She has multiple keywords for each, and encourages you to use whichever feels most correct for you. To bad her book has so many MUSTS in it, there is no such thing as a tarot must :THP

Jenny-Li	18 May 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Diana Thirteen: do you remember the author of the book? Or should I go and do a Google search? Not that I'm Thirteen or know if this is the one - I've seen one by a Sylvia Abraham, it's called Tarot - the Key Word System or something like that. Haven't read it though, so I can be sure this is the one Thirteen had in mind....! Bu maybe you "Googled" it already...? Jenny :)

DollChica	18 May 2002
"How To Read The Tarot-The Key Word System" by Sylvia Abraham.

Diana	19 May 2002
edited

Lee	19 May 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Menmay Ace/ I will two/ I know three/ I make four/ I realize five/ I belive six/I choose seven/ the path eigth/ strength nine/wisdom ten/ major changes Hi, Menmay -- When I first looked at your keyword list, it seemed quite intruiging. I was wondering how those meanings were derived, and it was only after reading it a few times that I suddenly realized that they're derived from 1 through 10 of the Major cards. I should have realized that sooner, 'cause I'm very interested in doing just that, interpreting the Minors based on 1-10 of the Majors. I like the way Sylvia Abraham, if that's who it was, worded those keywords. I think it's a fine system. You might want to keep the corresponding Majors in mind, though, which might broaden the interpretation a bit beyond the keyword. For example, if you get the 3 of Pentacles, you can bring to mind the Empress (the 3rd card of the Majors, often described as nurturing), and how she might relate to the suit of Pentacles, which, if you want to broaden it a bit, can stand for any kind of material things (food, clothing, houses, gardening, sex, exercise, etc., etc.). So the 3 of Pentacles might mean treating yourself (nurturing) to a nice dinner (Pentacles), for example. Or a relationship in which you take care of (nurturing) the gardening (Pentacles). But if you're just starting out, I think it would be great to just interpret the cards exactly as you wrote, and only begin to broaden the interpretations as you get more comfortable with them. By the way, you may run into some difficulty if you try to use those meanings with decks which have illustrated Minors, like the Celtic Dragon, because those decks use meanings which will differ from those keywords. The system you describe might work best with decks that have unillustrated Minors (i.e. pip cards, like playing cards). Examples would be the Tarot de Marseilles, the Visconti-Sforza, the Tarot of the Witches, the 1JJ Swiss. Great post! :) -- Lee

The what is what? thread was originally posted on 16 May 2002 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.