Reading the meaning you see or from book?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 20 Nov 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

hexadecimal	20 Nov 2003
Hi!! I'm new to tarot reading. And I was wondering when you are looking at a card and trying to interpret it, do you stick with the meaning by the author of the cards, or do you try interpret the meaning of the card as how you see it yourself? Thanks!

jmd	20 Nov 2003
During a reading, it is, in my opinion, far more important to unfold the meaning you see... by all means also consult books to develop further understanding and views of each card - but this could also be done after you have allowed for your own insights to have emerged in a fuller narrative. If you get stuck, a temptation is to reach for a book. Before doing so, maybe a useful process is to ask what small aspect or image in the card jumps out more, and what that small item indicates - irrespective of the 'usual' meaning. Again, only afterwards see what the books say. But by all means, do also read the books in between readings, for they encapsulate, as do many of our posts hereon, reflections by various authors. Just my personal view, of course :)

ros	20 Nov 2003
I read meanings & try to understand it from the picture on the card. Also different meaning from different books & blend them together, It changes the longer you study. Many things in your life will change the meanings as you go along. To get started just keep it simple. Hope this helps.

Star Spirit	20 Nov 2003
Both! That way you can take your intuition as far as you like, but you still have a basis which you can rely on to emphasize your ideas.

lilsher	20 Nov 2003
I honestly don't know where the book meanings end and my meanings start. I have read so many books and whatnot on the subject and stored it all in my brain. Who knows if it's me or someone else talking. :P I think it's important when you're first starting to try to stay away from the book during a reading until you have formulated your own idea from the cards. Then you can look at the book and consider what the meaning there says as well. I'm always reading something new somewhere and going, "Well how about that; I never saw that card like that before."

Jewel-ry	20 Nov 2003
Hi hexadecimal, Something I have actually done with both the Arcus Arcanum Deck and the Rohrig deck was to take each card one by one and write my feelings on the card. I described the card (including the obvious) wrote down any symbolism that I recognized and then documented what I thought was going on or being said. Putting pen to paper is really helpful, also it means you can keep your notes for future reference if you need them. It was a really interesting exercise because it is mostly those interpretations that I remember. This helps you to apply your own meanings and it helps you to remember them. What I find is just starting to happen now is that something will jump out of the card and speak to me. This is only just beginning to happen. It was the advice I got on this forum that helped me. I was told I was trying too hard and I should relax. This I am learning to do and my own meanings are starting to come through. That said I am with everyone else and would say both have their place. Hope this helps Jewel-ry

Jen	20 Nov 2003
In A Magical Course in Tarot, Michele Morgan suggests not reading a tarot book for three months when beginning with tarot. She suggests just reading exactly what you see in the cards. Just describe them outloud very literally and see what happens. Use a spread or lay them out any way you like. I'm trying this method with a new oracle deck. I'm just reading what I see in the cards and not even touching the LWB (little white book).

Umbrae	20 Nov 2003
IMO, what the card tells you - is far more important than what any author says, or even what the picture on the card implies. As James Wanless says in "Voyager Tarot - Way of the Great Oracle" 'You are the Oracle. We use oracles outside of ourselves to recall the great oracle within.' Listening to the cards, allow the flexibility of meaning that allows Tarot to work. Remember, the 5 of Swords should carry a different import with each reading where it appears. Meanings should be fluid and dynamic, like life itself. As for authors…once a word is printed on a page, it’s dead – static – lifeless…

hexadecimal	20 Nov 2003
thanks for the input!! You guys are very helpful and brought new insight to me. :D

Khatruman	20 Nov 2003
You heard advice from the two masters: jmd and umbrae. All I can add is to back them up... If you see a meaning in the card, forget what the book says. You have your answer.

mzmystic	23 Nov 2003
To me, it felt like stepping out of an airplane without a parachute the first few times I read for someone else without consulting a book. What a scary feeling! But it's turned out to be the most awesome experience of, as Umbrae quoted, BEING the Oracle or tapping into it within myself or allowing it to access me from the Universe or whatever happens. When reading for myself, I just reached for a book on a lot of the cards, but that first reading for someone else without the book just blew me away. I just relaxed and let it flow. Later, after the reading, I did check a book or two on a card or two, but only to get further perspective, not to "see if I was right". The querent was very blown away at the accuracy of the reading, but not half as much as I was! I got sidetracked there, but the response I have to your question is that it's really best to do a reading on just what you see first. Check your books later for other insights, but don't discount what you've read in favor of what the books say. Just consider the books as being added information to either use or not, depending on your instincts with that particular reading. However tarot works, (and there are many ways of seeing it) it DOES have a mysterious way of working. Whether it's tapping into our own psychic ability or just prompting our subconscious, it's something beyond what we're able to really understand. Just go with it and trust the process.

Myrrha	23 Nov 2003
This is still a conflict for me. I had never heard of reading the cards intuitively based on the pictures before coming to Aeclectic, and mostly used book meanings, although without actually consulting a book during a reading. It is still hard for me to trust this but my readings are usually a combination now. Recently I got stuck on a card and asked in the "your readings" forum and another aeclectician came up with a book meaning for the card that worked perfectly. It made me think I need to learn more book meanings to use *along with* intuitive insights from the pictures. --Myrrha

Majecot	04 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Jen Just describe them outloud very literally and see what happens. Use a spread or lay them out any way you like. I struggled for years with in the confines of book meanings. I have done exactly that and put the book away ( ok I still keep it handy and read the printed material ;) ) but for the most part I read the cards and not so much book. Make your own book. I took each card and examined them, described them in detail and what I thought they meant. (it is truely a labor of love) and in the end you will find that you that the meanings the cards have for you are the most important.

full deck	05 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by jmd During a reading, it is, in my opinion, far more important to unfold the meaning you see... by all means also consult books to develop further understanding and views of each card - but this could also be done after you have allowed for your own insights to have emerged in a fuller narrative. I agree with this approach very much. I figure any limitations that I encounter in reading are going to be limitations that I or the querent have unwittingly created thus I prefer to push myself in this respect and do my own fishing for context and meaning (little boat; big sea). It's OK to use a book but one should not consider it a THE authority, rather one should gradually study each card by itself and within different contexts. All that takes time and patience.

Rhiannon	06 Dec 2003
What I normally do if a meaning jumps out at me from a card is say something like "This card is usually about such and such, but that's not really what I'm seeing here..." and then I describe what I think it means. After that I ask if that makes sense to the querent. This also helps me to get a better grip on what it is that I'm trying to say... I guess it's sort of a stalling technique, lol. Gives me a few extra seconds to formulate my thoughts into words. It also gives the querent options, but I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Some querents will take the meaning they want rather than the reality. :) R :)

rexenne2003	08 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Khatruman You heard advice from the two masters: jmd and umbrae. All I can add is to back them up... If you see a meaning in the card, forget what the book says. You have your answer. Most definatly. Let me show an example. I did a reading for myself, a seven card quick answer spread. It was a question pertaining to my mother who is constantly asking me to do magic to help make life go her way. And what she was asking this time was unethical to me, and was risking my well being by risking the karma returned to me three-fold. In the postition of Help and advise was Eight of Swords reversed...that was all I needed. I didn't need to interpret the card meaning, seeing it reversed was my answer, a big fat NO. I want to help her, but when it comes to something that is unethical or right down wrong.

Alex	08 Dec 2003
I don't, but I cheat. I often look at the person/ message, listen/read the question, then I think and think for a while and try to make up a scenario, and think about what I'll be saying. Then I do the throw, stare at the cards, and find a way to read that scenario in the cards. I think I pretty much look in the cards for anything that will support something I want to say, be that the number, the MA associations, the picture when there's any, or even the sum of all the majors, reduced to the smallest number.... There are many ways to "cheat". When I read for myself, however, I often look in the books. I'm a fan of books and I love reading them and comparing different interpretations/approaches. I do all the "learning" when I read for myself, but when I read for others I don't pick the books. The only exception is the Osho Zen deck, I ALWAYS refer to the book when reading for others. Alex. Quote: Originally posted by hexadecimal Hi!! I'm new to tarot reading. And I was wondering when you are looking at a card and trying to interpret it, do you stick with the meaning by the author of the cards, or do you try interpret the meaning of the card as how you see it yourself? Thanks!

The Reading the meaning you see or from book? thread was originally posted on 20 Nov 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.