Reading without cards

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 17 Dec 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Tarot Sparrow	17 Dec 2003
I started wondering something while in the Your Readings forum. Sometimes when I help a person with a reading they've done, I'll pick up my deck (I only have one) and lay out those cards that they drew so that I can look at them directly to draw meanings. But other times, I will just read the cards onscreen--just picture them in my head without looking at my deck. For me, this is easy, because I only have one deck (Hudes Tarot). But this brings me to my question. Does anyone else read onscreen like this? And, if you do, which cards from which decks in particular pop into your head when you interpret? And why? ;)

Le_Corsair	17 Dec 2003
I looked at the title of this thread, and immediately thought that Umbrae had started it, it sounded like one of his Burn Your Books And Open Your Mind threads. ;) (I'm not poking fun, Umbrae, I actually enjoy your posts, for the most part.) To answer your question, I use RWS decks and variants so often that I inevitably think in RWS terms. I haven't used any other decks often enough to change my mental imagery. Bob :THERM

jog1118	17 Dec 2003
what actually pops up in my mind are keywords (Joan Bunning's). i learned tarot through these keywords and they just keep on popping up whenever there are no cards around... :smoker:

Moonbow*	17 Dec 2003
I can do this because I'm picturing the Spiral Tarot in my head. It was my first deck so if ever I'm 'stuck' the Spiral picture for that card comes into my head. This is the only deck I can do it with because like you with your 'only deck' (so far }) ) I know the Spiral so well because it was my only tarot for quite a long time. Moonbow*

Tarot Sparrow	17 Dec 2003
Well, this is already getting interesting :D

firemaiden	17 Dec 2003
I thought the same thing as Le Corsair when I saw the title of this thread, I thought, "Oh Goodie! now we get to talk about ... well, reading without cards!" The Mouthpiece has said... *Firemaiden speaks in low tones when invoking the title* to try doing the reading *before* looking at the cards. Lay them out face down. Do the reading. Then turn them over to see how you did. HAHAHAH Otherwise, if we are talking about cards, and I don't have any cards in front of me, I'll can call the RWS to mind, or the majors of the Marseilles. I can pull up the Spiral deck in my mind too, the Secret Tarot, maybe the Fey, most of the Margarete Petersen. (But I have all my decks sitting right here in front of me so that never happens :D)

Major Tom	17 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Dead Star Does anyone else read onscreen like this? And, if you do, which cards from which decks in particular pop into your head when you interpret? Yes, I read like this quite often here at Aeclectic. :) I find it saves me the time it takes to get the cards out. :laugh: Now your second question is interesting. Valerie Sim-Behi, with the Comparative Tarot method says something about cards from decks studied comparatively 'suddenly appearing' in the minds' eye even when looking at a different deck. I've noticed that cards you've created will also appear if you studied the card while creating it. ;) I have a variety of decks that I've studied and the one I'm creating and at any given time any of them can appear before me in my mind's eye.

Aoife	17 Dec 2003
This is fascinating..... I've resolutely maintained, whilst secretly suspecting otherwise, that I think in images. This has been the first example to confirm that I do tend to think in terms of words and concepts, which I will then link to images. In this case it does unfortunately tend to be RWS images..... not that I dislike RSW but I do wish that I had reached a stage of being able to call to mind a personal composite image.

TemperanceAngel	17 Dec 2003
*quietly jumping with joy* I LOVE readig without cards, often on Aeclectic I go with my first thought, which my Egyptian Mythology lecturer used to say was the 'original thought.' Often when clients sit down , IRL, I prattle on a bit before I lay cards down, I find cards very grounding and can be referred to, as well as their 'traditional' use (whatever one's perception is of that!) XTAX I look forward to more in this thread ;)

mercenary30	17 Dec 2003
I find it kind of funny that we are discussing reading WITHOUT cards on the Using Tarot Cards board. :D I have RWS themes pop into my head usually, but not necessarily the artwork from RWS, sometimes Robin Wood will make an appearance.

Bean Feasa	17 Dec 2003
This is a really interesting thread, Dead Star (congrats on the cool new avatar too!) Because I post from work and I work with other people all around me there's no question of my looking at cards when I'm reading posts here. (They all think I'm flaky enough already thank you! :)). Because I'm very much a learner, and I've used Rachel Pollack's 78 Degrees of Wisdom as my basic 'textbook' - it's usually the Rider Waite deck pictures that pop into my head, often in black and white the way they're illustrated in the book. The weird thing is I don't actually have the Rider Waite deck (although I do have the Universal Waite). I find as I'm getting to know my other decks though, a maverick picture from one or the other will pop into my head, in full colour. For instance the 6 of Swords in the Spiral, because I love it's atmosphere - all that blue water, and the mysterious wooded island. And the Queen of Pentacles or the Moon in the Tarot of Prague - both so vivid and arresting. So it seems cards from different decks are gradually capturing my eye and my imagination, and are establishing themselves as the definitive version of that card for me.

yve	17 Dec 2003
I'm a very visual person...I even truly believe I have a photographic memory....So when there are discussions about certain cards, spreads or readings, I find myself actually visualizing the cards in my mind. The visualizations are very vivid for me, and I find I don't really need the cards in front of me to understand the thread...however, I did have to really look at and study the cards(I have the images from the many decks I own stored in my mind) to have such images in my mind in the first place, but once I did, they are there to stay! The funny thing is that when I learn a new deck, and although I can visualize the cards from that deck, if I don't quite understand the meanings, I end up bringing up comparable images from my Rider Waite and then do the interpretation from those images...sound confusing?

MeeWah	17 Dec 2003
I read straight from the screen. Usually see in quick images or thoughts upon viewing what is posted, but not necessarily a particular deck that I am aware of. Occasionally, see or think in Tarot cards which vary deck-wise, some of which I am not very familar.

Umbrae	17 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Le_Corsair I looked at the title of this thread, and immediately thought that Umbrae had started it, it sounded like one of his Burn Your Books And Open Your Mind threads. ;) [font=papyrus] [color=black] “Burn your books!”[/font][/color] I feel much better. Currently, I’m doing a series of 7 readings on the Exchange. After they are all complete, I will reveal how each reading was done. Here’s a hint…in the first two used NO TAROT was used…In all seven, I am envisioning less than 5 total Tarot Cards. Keep an eye open for a post on the readings in the very near future… And no, I never lay them out when interpreting someone elses spread. Usually I get lost in the spread description itself…”You lay out the 37 cards in the shape of a 28-PCI for a 36 horse VW – the first card is the root of the root…the second card is the venturi…” and of course, "Now this card, because of the use of the belladonna flower (I think it’s a belladonna flower) has to have this meaning…" [font=papyrus] [color=black] “Bring out your books, bring out your books….” “But I’m not finished reading it yet!” “You are now…”[/font][/color]

Tarot Sparrow	17 Dec 2003
Well I'm glad everyone finds this so interesting. I also thought it was strange to post it in this forum :D But technically it does have to do with using cards, just not in the physical sense. As you can see, I think far too much.

Ivy Rhiannon	09 Jul 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Le_Corsair I looked at the title of this thread, and immediately thought that Umbrae had started it, it sounded like one of his Burn Your Books And Open Your Mind threads. Hey that's my phlosiphy! lol Yep I sorta do this Sometimes I begin to do a reading after I've laid the cards out and things just keep coming, but I dont' pictjure the cards in my head, just say whatever comes. Then I look down and I've finished the reading without looking!

Umbrae	09 Jul 2004
Behold, Umbrae Draco, mouthpiece of Ooolatek the Seditious One Who Tells Only Lies is about to speak…Tremble ye heretics! Burn your minds and open your books! Hmmm no wait, didn’t sound right. Sometimes I lay out the cards, usually when it’s a larger spread like a U’s Relationship or something. However not always. Sometimes it’s just a look at the screen – and I ‘know’. Take the books out of your ears and put them in your mouth!…not right either… IRL readings, beginning with the cards face down, may over time facilitate this same skill. As for the ‘laying the cards face down and reading ‘between the spaces’ first; never ever attempt to ‘justify’ the reading with the cards face down and face up. They should not match. This ain’t a graded test… Fifteen skins on a dead man’s vest, hmmm don’t sound right either… guess no preach-a-fying today… :smoker:

tao51	09 Jul 2004
I cannot stop laughing! Umbrae, you are so funny! I have tried doing a face down reading--picturing it in my head. The results were slightly similar. I do feel that intuition is better than most book-related meanings.--Tao

Imagemaker	09 Jul 2004
Oh, how about this? A thumb reading. Think of your question, then hold up (one) thumb and just observe it without thinking--like looking at a card, see what comes to mind from the shape, lines, marks, colors. If you want to know the outcome, look at your forefinger, which way does it point?

Sillanza	09 Jul 2004
When interpreting spreads posted here on the forum I don't lay out any cards, and typically, I just get thoughts, then maybe an image. RWS style images come to mind, if any images at all, since that's the imagery I'm familiar with.

Ravenswing	09 Jul 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Imagemaker If you want to know the outcome, look at your forefinger, which way does it point? Why, at the Moon, of course.... Just don't get them confused :D fly, well or not Raven

Imagemaker	09 Jul 2004
Sometimes the finger points back at one's self--depends on how you hold your thumb.

Luminessence	09 Jul 2004
When I'm interpreting somebody else's reading online, like on the Your Readings board, I usually don't lay the cards out. As for what card images come into my head, it really varies. Sometimes it's images from the Sacred Circle deck, sometimes from the Robin Wood, sometimes from the Quest, sometimes from the Ancestral Path... I don't really have one deck that I think of right off the top of my head. Now this is making me wonder - I wonder if there's any significance to what card picture pops up when I think of that card during a particular reading?

Ace	10 Jul 2004
To answer the original question, I do occasional "mental card pulls" especially if someone asks a question and I don't have a deck with me right then. I envision a deck spread out face down and pull a card. That card is the one I read. I did this for a couple of friends at a business networking event: I held their hand and asked for an impression about their boyfriends. Amazingly the cards not only appeared, but MOVED. the Fool for one, pirouetted on the edge of his cliff. I told them what I saw, and they were floored, so I guess I saw clear. I usually see Robin Wood cards since that is a deck I used almost constantly, but for the card to move is rare, but fun! As for Luminessence's comment: I can really relate! Not only do I use the Robin Wood, and the Ancestral Path but I might be using one and cards (with their different interp for the same card) will appear in my head. For example, The hanged one in the Ancestral Path will appear when I am reading the Hanged Man in Robin Wood, so that I might say, well it is just isn't developed enough yet to go... instead of the RW interp: you are just taking and not willing to act. Anyway, I would say that the card you see in your head is the one that has the message you need for the reading. Barb

linabeet	10 Jul 2004
Ace - I love the pirouetting fool short film as reading. fantastic. In the last year or so I've found myself skipping using the cards entirely sometimes. It started when I'd be in bed and realized I still had a question to ask but couldn't be bothered to get up. So I say, Intuition, and wait for it to say Yes..., sometimes I have to ground to focus. Then I ask the question and the answer usually pops up definatively before I've finished the question. I've never thought to ask it to show me the tarot image, I just skip that part and go right to the word or feeling answer. Recently I've been combining the two approahes where after I've drawn the card and I want further meaning or specific depth I'll close my eyes and ask intuition what it means. Very effective. And definately a move towards the burning of books, though I would never ever do such a thing you bad boy. great thread.

The Reading without cards thread was originally posted on 17 Dec 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.