Urgent question for Tarot teachers!

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 11 Feb 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

spunch	11 Feb 2004
Help! Some of you might know that I am an English teacher. I teach mainly business English, but every so often we have some sort of a "free lesson" where the students choose the topic of their choice. My students know that I am interested in tarot cards (they only know that - that I am "interested") and requested today's lesson to be about the tarot. So I have three hours to prepare a two-hour lesson. To introduce tarot cards to them. I've decided that I am going to do only major arcana, and it's going to be very very very tuch upon lesson. But what would you do if you had a similar problem? How would you proceed? I thought I would give them major arcana printed out, just to familiarize them with the images. After that I would ask them is there a particular card that appeals to them and why. After that I would ask them to try to look at the symbolism beyond the obvious image. For example, that The Fool is not a fool, but that he is a seeker, i would ask them to brainstorm what a foolish behaviour might represent, what a fool used to be on a court (entertaining people, saying out loud freely what everybody thought but wouldn't dare to utter). After that I thought I would give them some history and background (very briefly) and to try to explain how personal insight and universal knowledge is combined in Tarot (I find the sentence by Joann Bunning "Tarot is a mirror that reflects back to you the hidden aspects of your own unique awareness" very helpful). Later we might look at some keywords and I would hand them out more detailed description of major arcana cards. Then they could think of a problem or about themselves in general, draw a card and read the description of it. I only have four people at today's lesson, so it's not going to be many people and opinions to listen to. But I am a bit lost. Can you help. Please, write some of your suggestions within the next three hours. I would much appreciate that. Davor

Kiama	11 Feb 2004
Hi spunch, Usually, if I am only doing a one-off lesson on Tarot like you, I won't go into the traditional card meanings at all, but instead tell the students that through study of the symbols, etc, they can work the meanings out themselves. I often play a game called 'Gifts and Secrets' to prove this, which involves people being dealt four cards each from the Tarot deck. First, they choose one card (they can look) to tell the rest of the group something about themselves that they see in that card, based on the symbolism, etc. Secondly, they randomly (without looking) choose one card that they say nothing about, but let everybody else tell them about themselves through that card, using symbolism, etc. Thirdly they choose one card (they can look) to give as a 'gift' to another player, telling them what it means based on the symbolism, etc in the card. (eg- 3 of Cups, "I give you the gift of joy...") Finally, they can either keep the last card as a secret for themselves, or they can show everybody and everybody can discuss that card. (From Tarot Games and Fun, by Maura D. Shaw and Cait Johnson.) I also like to show people the Major Arcana laid out in order, so they can see what it all looks like, and I explain that this is usually known as the 'Fools Journey'. Sometimes I briefly take them through this Fools Journey. Brief Tarot History is always interesting, as is an explanation of how to interpret the cards. For a one-off lesson I tell people the 'say what you see' intuitive approach, which is basically 'what do you see in the card? What symbols, etc? And what does that mean to you?' I then often grab a 'volunteer' }) who has never done anything with Tarot before, and get them to do a reading for me, using the 'say what you see' method of interpreting the cards. I have never had anybody be anything but spot-on accurate in this reading, despite their inexperience. It always amazes the rest of the class, who find it encouraging that somebody with so little experience can read the cards. But throughout I emphasize that Tarot can be a life-long study. You could also discuss the nature of the future, free will, and how it all coincides with Tarot, or you could bust a few myths (eg- you can't buy your own Tarot deck...) These one-off lessons I usually make informal and fun, and hope I provide an open doorway to allow people to explore Tarot further if they wish. Hope this helps, Kiama

spunch	11 Feb 2004
Kiama, that was SOOOO helpful! You definitely have more experience in teaching tarot than me. This is what I want - to please my students, to touch upon the tarot cards' symbolism very briefly and to make this lesson fun and not so mysterious. You definitely helped me out a lot! Thanks a lot once again! Love Davor

The Urgent question for Tarot teachers! thread was originally posted on 11 Feb 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.