The freedom of interpretation cards

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 18 Jan 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

maya	18 Jan 2004
The freedom of interpreting cards The more that I read through the threads the more ambivalent I feel. There are so many great posts and many weird posts on the other side. It is very good to let our imagination free. Yet, if we see in every card the same or interpret things into – which are fantasy instead of intuition or knowledge – then symbols give up their unique tones and expressions. I am happy in seeing the cards as sequences of development where one thing builds up on the former and vs. One thing that is given is the card, the picture. What I must add is my knowledge plus my intuition. Then the cards become living pictures and we can read life in them [font=times] [font=times][/font] [font=times][/font][font=times][/font] [font=times]

firemaiden	18 Jan 2004
Quote: Originally posted by maya It is very good to let our imagination free. Yet, if we see in every card the same or interpret things into – which are fantasy instead of intuition or knowledge – then symbols give up their unique tones and expressions. Hi Maya, you've brought up an important point, something which you've undoubtedly noticed is an issue of ongoing exploration on this forum. If I understand you correctly, you are wondering if the importance of the symbols of the original tarot might get lost if we use our imaginations too freely to divine into them, is that right? Of course, it depends on what we use tarot for, or as one forum poster, Umbrae, has often asked us: why do we read? Speaking completely personally here, and not for the forum, or for any other members, I learned the sort of general Rider Waite meanings of all the cards, first. From books, and from the threads on this forum. But recently I have become more interested in what has been called "Image Therapy". I am thinking of an article on the web called Use of Self Developed Skills for Holistic Psychological Imagery Therapy - The Tarot -- first linked to on this site by Eberhardt in his thread Tarot Therapy I try not to let what I already know about the cards influence me too much, and just let random throught-associations flow up from the pictures. For this reason, I prefer to use cards with very evocative and dense pictures, and I prefer not to know them very well, but to be looking at them as though for the first time. Usually, some detail in the picture will stand out, maybe a linguistic element -- for example in the Bruegel tarot on the Queen of Swords, the Queen has her foot on a snake, holding it down. I told the friend I was reading for, "you are trying to keep a lid on your emotions" - hold the snake down, keep the painful, potentially biting and poisonous thoughts at bay. This may have very little to do with the Queen of Swords, but it had everything to do with my friend.... Depending on your feeling about what, if anything, we may be connecting with or tapping into when we read, you may call it mere "fantasy" or you may call it divination, gasp....

maya	18 Jan 2004
well, thanks for the link. I believe there were wise women and men who created tarot based on universal truth. I seek this truth when dealing with tarot. I guess what we can do is trying to connect to this unconscious sources within our soul that would bestow us with this reconstructed truth. So it is good to learn traditional meanings and with these let our own imagination fly into the unknown as the fool who is even not feared to be ridiculed. But it cannot be done with thinking and logical interpretation. [font=times] [font=times][/font] [font=times][/font][font=times][/font] [font=times]

Indigo Rose	18 Jan 2004
Hi Maya. I believe Tarot has some very clear and universal meanings. I also agree that intuition, personal experience, and imagination play an important part in the Tarot journey. However, perhaps in a "Hierophant" sort of way I am firm believer in having a traditional foundation with which to build upon; without one there can be NO building.....it will not stand and will lack form. There is a certain amount of discipline required to learn and understand the basic foundations of TAROT, but I believe this aspect is very important. Blessings, Indigo Rose

firemaiden	18 Jan 2004
Quote: Originally posted by maya So it is good to learn traditional meanings and with these let our own imagination fly into the unknown as the fool who is even not feared to be ridiculed. But it cannot be done with thinking and logical interpretation. It is very often said on this site that one needs to shut down the logical brain to allow the intuitive mind to kick in. I understand what is meant.... to a degree, we have to enter a different state of consciousness, I guess, where a more interior, deeper, more imagistic mind can speak. Yet at the same time, I strongly believe that here is a false dichotomy of sorts. That the logic mind participates, even when it is taking a bit of a back seat. I see the logic mind as the mind of language. Without this aspect to our mind, our images would never find voice. I was once studying poetry written on the "demarcation line" between madness and reason. One of the poets was Henri Michaux. I love to quote some of his crazy stuff. He experimented with all kinds of over the border writing, writing with mescaline, with dream states, etc. The interesting idea which came up was that you can only write on the frontier, but you cannot cross it. Once you cross over the border leaving reason behind, there will only be silence. No writing. No language... I continue to believe that the duality logic vs. intuition is a false one, that both participate equally, and the most powerful readers will be those who have full command of all faculties.

Keslynn	18 Jan 2004
Wow, firemaiden, that was an incredibly insightful post! I agree wholeheartedly. :) Kes

Macavity	18 Jan 2004
Quote: Originally posted by firemaiden That the logic mind participates, even when it is taking a bit of a back seat. I see the logic mind as the mind of language. Without this aspect to our mind, our images would never find voice. Yup, I think that's an absolutely pivotal point that often gets neglected or (shall we say) somewhat downplayed? I think factual psychiatric studies demonstrate that the intuitive side of the brain is pretty well useless alone, without the interpretive skills of the other side. A TV documentary (I wish I could remember it properly!) showed clinical effects of exactly such lack or imbalances. Functional, intelligent (indeed cheerful!) adults who had (for some reason) simply lost this... connection or perhaps long term MEMORY functions? In animal flash-card studies they were e.g. still ABLE to distinguish quadrapeds from bipeds but quite UNABLE to distinguish (interpret the images into language) cats from dogs? Of course some of them had also developed fascinating (and devious!) strategies to circumvent these difficulties in everyday life... Yet the truth remains that it just seems so MUCH easier to avail oneself of ALL the available resouces... however meagre those might be? :D Macavity

maya	18 Jan 2004
hi firemaiden, henri michaux? I like that man, especially his paintings. What about Lautréamont? Quote: Yet at the same time, I strongly believe that here is a false dichotomy of sorts. That the logic mind participates, even when it is taking a bit of a back seat. I see the logic mind as the mind of language. Without this aspect to our mind, our images would never find voice. I agree fully. They are complementary. They are different colours of one rainbow. Can there be a right dichotomy which would hold separation? Quote: I continue to believe that the duality logic vs. intuition is a false one, that both participate equally, and the most powerful readers will be those who have full command of all faculties. I agree. Both participate equally. But we can consciously change the weight we give them depending on the purpose. Without logic we would have no decision. Without intuition and sub- and unconscious we would have no beauty or art. I do not necessarily see logic mind as the mind of language. Do you think a drunken man is logical? He may say low things and yet he may express the truth nobody likes to hear. Let´s see some interesting thing: Number 4 is equal to logical mind. E.g. the Greeks said so. Now 1+2+3+4 equal 10 and so logic is part of the gears in a clockwork. The clock is card number 10. It is nice to talk with you guys. [font=times] [font=times][/font] [font=times][/font][font=times][/font] [font=times]

firemaiden	18 Jan 2004
Yes!! Some of my favorites: Lautréamont Nerval Baudelaire Michaux Breton ETA Hoffmann...

maya	18 Jan 2004
and Pierre Mabille. this might bring us back because he gives space to the Rosicrucians to speak in one of his books and they certainly are very much responsible that we have these decks in the form we know them today.

The The freedom of interpretation cards thread was originally posted on 18 Jan 2004 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.