any one else like me???

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 16 Feb 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

cheekyminx	16 Feb 2003
I've used the major arcana for years now & for some unknown reason I can't read the minor? As hard as I try, nothing comes to mind. I dislike reading & even though I have about 7 tarot books I just can't seem to grasp the minor. Also the amount of cards there to learn *sigh* Oh I don't know. :-( I know that cups is water, emotional, swords is air, mental, pentacles is earth, work, coins is fire, financial. Ace's are new beginnings.....but to read the cards, mental blank.....HELP! I'd appreciate some advice here. Thanks

HudsonGray	16 Feb 2003
Sometimes looking at the entire suit helps remember the cards better. Each suite has a story sequence going on. From creative start (aces) to completion (tens), and the courts are either people or attributes of people. Lay each suit out in a row & look for connections & flow. There's a start, a building on that start (two's), a new factor added either for good or bad (threes), etc. Then lay all the suits out one above the other & look vertically at what all the aces show, what all the 2's show, the 3's, etc. It makes them a LOT easier to remember & you'll start seeing the connections there. Look at the differences in the 10's as the completion stages. Then look at it all again with the suit meanings (emotions, words, matieral gain, etc.) in place. This way is a lot better than trying to memorize 5 meanings per card on an individual basis.

Laurel	17 Feb 2003
Cheekyminx, what deck are you reading with? Its possible that getting a different one, with pictures that strongly suggest meanings to you might help a lot. And taking one minor card a day, and just looking at it a little and writing about it in a journal might help. ~LAS

Macavity	17 Feb 2003
I've been making a concerted effort on the minors for some time now... For me anyway, I suspect my problem is associating NUMBERS with images and meaning. I am much happier with a keyWORD! This seems to work well for me and perhaps particularly if you are trying (like me) to do this for more than one deck... Looking through several decks and a (fairly) diverse symbolism, I try to come up with (and memorise) ONE keyword for each numbered card of the minor arcana. I actually use the "standard" ones from the Crowley-Thoth tarot, which already(!) gives quite a good match to the image of many occult-based decks. To memorise cards, I sit at my table and turn over the Thoth cards alongside the corresponding cards in the other deck and try to focus on that keyword, while looking at the the deck image(s). I assume a simple LIST of keywords would work just as well as the physical Thoth deck, provided they were reasonably sensible? ;) Where there is a significant CLASH between the word and the deck imagery, that can actually become just as (more?) memorable. Thus the two of wand's "Dominion" can now (for me anyway) evoke an image of the RWS "guy and globe" and work through a similar process for a couple of other decks which I am interested in reading. The keyword can also "trigger" memories of the "standard" meaning - or I can "wing-it" by looking more subjectively at the image. I can now even begin to extend this for pip decks... and even (ironically!) back to the Crowley Thoth itself - Heheh :D Hmmm: Rather an circuitous way of getting at things - If it seems too bizarre, well that's me. LOL. But it might work for someone else too? :) Macavity

truthsayer	17 Feb 2003
Quote: Originally posted by cheekyminx76 I've used the major arcana for years now & for some unknown reason I can't read the minor? As hard as I try, nothing comes to mind. I dislike reading & even though I have about 7 tarot books I just can't seem to grasp the minor. Also the amount of cards there to learn *sigh* Oh I don't know. :-( I know that cups is water, emotional, swords is air, mental, pentacles is earth, work, coins is fire, financial. Ace's are new beginnings.....but to read the cards, mental blank.....HELP! I'd appreciate some advice here. Thanks the first question that pops into my mind is why are you trying to force yourself to learn something you don't enjoy learning? why are you forcing yourself to read tarot when you don't like it?perhaps your mind is trying to tell you something that you don't want to hear. i know it's nearly impossible to force myself to do something that i don't like. i find that my mind sets up all kinds of obstacles to make it as difficult as possible. perhaps not being able to grasp the minors is one of those obstacles? if you don't like doing something, it doesn't matter how many books you read on the topic. you probably will only end up more frustrated than ever and still not learn what you "think" you want to learn. is there peer pressure for you to learn tarot or is this self-inflicted pressure? do you have any problems reading the majors? if you enjoy reading the majors, then concentrate on those. there are several majors only decks out that you might enjoy. another thought is that you might enjoy oracle decks more than tarot if you feel determined to learn a method of divination. tarot should be an endless joyous journey of lifetime learning not a goal oriented destination that you feel to frustrated to continue. i have been studying tarot for 27 years and i still have as much enthusiasm for it as i did when i started. i still don't feel completely comfortable with major or minor arcana but that only gives me additional incentive to learn. it sounds as if you feel little incentive to learn. life is way too short to force yourself to learn things you don't feel motivated to learn.

lunalafey	18 Feb 2003
truthsayer has a point...if it ain't broke..don't fix it... BUT if you do want to become familar with the minors, try writing a little story that fits the cards image that incorporates it's meaning....writing helps to absorb info.

jmd	18 Feb 2003
There are numerous ways one could respond, and I'm sure you'll get an even greater variety than has already been posted. From the first post, I gather that the Majors are fine, but that the minors are problematic, seemingly, (at least partly) because the minors, though having an established association with the four elements, otherwise appear to have a lack. Of course, if all that is used is the elements, than there is something somehow lacking - either image, or numerical differentiation. May I suggest that for each of the numbers 1-10 a brief keyword is developed, which can then be merged with the element in question. Each is able to come up with a meaningful list (which may be somewhat at variance with another's), but here is one possible one: Ace - pure impulse/raw energy two - balance/balancing/equalising three - communication/Mercurial/synthesising four - stability/firmness five - difficulty/creative resolution/knowledge six - harmony/ease of flow/peace seven - spiritual dimensions/guidance eight - cornucopia/abundance/gift nine - illusory/hope/fear ten - completion/resolution These are not, of course, the only possibilities - and other suggestions (such as linking each to the Major Arcana of the same numerical value) are undoubtedly forthcoming. One trick is, as mentioned earlier, to take, for example, all the fours - how is (using the list) stability or firmness of Coins (stubborn? unshifting? solid financial support?) different to stability of wands, swords or cups? Hope this gives possibly a different but useful perspective :)

Aerin	18 Feb 2003
Are you using a pips deck? Or one with vague symbolism on the minors? I learnt on a R-W clone, and the pictures on the cards were very helpful when it came to relating the picture to a little story about the card. Some authors are also better than others when it comes to explaining the progression through the deck. Now, when I use a pips deck, I spend a minute recalling the images that go with the cards from other decks and that triggers the keywords for me. Aerin

raeanne	18 Feb 2003
Quote: Originally posted by cheekyminx76 I dislike reading & even though I have about 7 tarot books I just can't seem to grasp the minor. Hi Cheeky, Just to clarify something.....When you say that you dislike reading, do you mean "reading books" or "reading cards"? I took it to mean that you don't like to read books but I think some people may have taken it the other way. Robin Wood's book, "The Book" is an excellent book for learning the symbolism on the minors and it is fairly easy and fun to read. Mary Greer's "Tarot for Yourself" is a good workbook with some reading and then some assignments for you to do. I also really liked the book that comes with the Buckland Romani Tarot. A lot of people didn't like this one but I did because it asks a bunch of questions (such as: Why is this thing on the card? What's beside the river? Where is the wagon going? Etc., etc.) These questions helped me learn to ask my own questions and see the answer for myself. Also, if you don't like to read books, maybe there are some "books on tape" that you can listen to. If not, maybe we all can e-mail the publishers about getting tarot books put on CD or tape. I don't have the time to read as many books as I would like to read but if there were some tarot books on CDs, I could listen to them on my way to and from work each day. In the meantime, maybe a friend could read a chapter or two on tape for you. So, keep enjoying the Majors and don't worry about not including the Minors.

phirefly	19 Feb 2003
i learned using the mythic tarot. i love mythology. each suit retells a mythological story that you can follow along with the cards. the stories kind of follow the same flow which helps you see the parallels between the numbered cards. this did, however, leave me a little weak on the court cards as the stories ran only ace through ten. another idea as far as decks go is to try something like the osho zen or gill decks. they both have key words on the card that will help you. of course, that might be a hinderance, too. i know that my brother and i have both had problems using the osho zen deck in which we would read the word on the card rather than actually reading the card itself. err... does that even make sense? it's too late to be articulate ;P additionally, some of those sorts of decks use atraditional meanings for the cards and might not help you learn how to read the traditional meanings of the minor arcana. but what others have mentioned about learning them by suit and number first make a lot of sense. it'll give you a good foundation.

Athara	19 Feb 2003
Try Thirteen's Tarot Basic on Aeclectics homepage. There you will find a little story for each Major and Minor. Personally, I found it very helpful... Good luck!

Angel Star	19 Feb 2003
I have been reading tarot for like 4 years and sometimes the minors can still leaving me thinking what? lol! Really just give yourself time. I especially still have some confusion with the 3 of wands and 2 of wands and I don't know why at all. These cards no matter what deck just leave me stumped for some reason. Practice is the key and its ok if sometimes you don't get the meaning of them all when your just learning there are so many of them plus the Court cards. The best thing I did was to just keep doing readings and trusting my intuition and I own alot of books on the tarot to help me with some of the meanings. Ask your Tarot Angel to help you if you feel stuck. I do all the time.

miranda	19 Feb 2003
yea i also have issues with the minor.. & certain ones or the life of me will NOT no matter how much i study the symbols certain ones just dont give me any feeling at all & then there is the posotive cards such as the 3 of pentacles that gives me a nengetive feeeeling everytime i see it i often get that one confused with the 5 of pentacles..

cheekyminx	20 Feb 2003
Quote: Originally posted by raeanne Just to clarify something.....When you say that you dislike reading, do you mean "reading books" or "reading cards"? I took it to mean that you don't like to read books but I think some people may have taken it the other way. Hi raeanne. Yes. That's exactly what I mean. For some unknown reason I just CAN'T be arsed to read a book, or anything that has too many words in it ;-) hence making it extremely hard for me to read Tarot books......but I've done really well with the major arcana. Rarely would I pick up a Tarot book & look up a meaning to a card. But I thought to myself the other day "Minx, your gonna pick up that Celtic Tarot book & do some reading & learn the minors, you've gotta do it" lol Just when I do, I get disturbed....hmm its odd! Never mind!! I'll do it! Thank you everyone for replying to my thread!!! Its always great to know there are people out there to offer a hand :-) Cheers!

The any one else like me??? thread was originally posted on 16 Feb 2003 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.