Reading with only one suit and certain Majors

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 02 Mar 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Gigi	02 Mar 2005
I just finished the book "Tarot in Ten Minutes" (okay, not a very good title/concept but it did provoke thought which is always to the good) and I was introduced to the concept of reading w/only the first 10 cards of the suit that pertains to the question/issue/subject of the reading. The Ace through 10 of Wands are used for questions about work and career. The Ace through 10 of Cups are used for questions about love and friendship. The Ace through 10 of Swords are used for questions about tactics and strategy. The Ace through 10 of Pentacles are used for questions about money and finance. In addition to those 10 cards, one would use 10 of the Majors that also pertain to the subject/issue of the reading. The Magician through The Wheel of Fortune (with Justice placed at the VIII position) for questions about wants and needs. Strength (at the XI position) through Judgement for questions about emotions and feelings. The Kings and Queens of each suit are used for questions about people and places and the Pages and Knights are used for questions about news and messages. Has anyone ever heard of or used this method? If so, what kind of results have you had? What's the community's thoughts about it? All thoughts, opinions and ruminations are welcome and encouraged. Blessings, G.

ncefafn	02 Mar 2005
That's bizarre. Hmmph. I guess if you're trying to learn Tarot, it would make sense to narrow your field of inquiry down at first. And the best way to learn is by doing. But still. What kind of reading are you going to get if what you really need to hear is the Tower, but you've eliminated all the cards except the Cups? What Cup card could adequately express the Tower? No. I don't like it. Back in my day, we had to learn all 78 cards, and we liked it! However, maybe this could start a new trend. Just remove all the cards except the happy ones, and you'll never get a disappointing reading. Or if you're going to be doing a reading for your son, who is having marital difficulties with that daughter-in-law you just can't stand, take out all the happy cards, and bend the edges of the Three of Swords and the Devil. Seriously, though . . . hmmph. Nope, I don't like it. Be interesting to hear what other people think though. Thanks for raising this issue, Gigi. Kim

Thirteen	02 Mar 2005
Tarot in Ten Minutes is not a bad book. It has some good ideas that are useful for nuts and bolts things--like, for example, telling time. However, it's whole purpose is to teach you to read tarot in 10 minutes. This, of necessity, makes it limited and pragmatic. So when it tells you that cups usually are about love and friendship, that's true and useful--but limited. Fine for beginning students trying to learn the cards, get the meanings straight and codify the suits, but not really good for you if you stick to it and start to learn more. So take its recommendations with a grain of salt. As you learn more about the tarot, as readings get easier and card meanings start to expand, you will find that keeping, say, cups out of a questions about work limits the reading. People do not, for example, keep their love and friendship out of work relationships, do they? So keeping cups out of such questions limits answers. Consider, for example, someone asking how they could get better work out of their employees--what if the answer to that question is "Be friendlier with your underlings, listen to and make concessions to their demands...." That answer requires not wands, but cups and swords. 9/Cups, for example, would suggest taking the employees out to lunch, and 2/swords would suggest compromising and making concessions. Leave them out, and you've got no such recommendations coming from the Wands. Wands are about being in charge, not being friendly. In short, if the 10-minute method helps you learn the tarot and understand it, go for it. But don't let any method, especially not a beginners method, keep you from expanding, learning more and trying other things.

Gigi	02 Mar 2005
[quote=ncefafn]"That's bizarre. Hmmph. I guess if you're trying to learn Tarot, it would make sense to narrow your field of inquiry down at first. And the best way to learn is by doing. But still. What kind of reading are you going to get if what you really need to hear is the Tower, but you've eliminated all the cards except the Cups? What Cup card could adequately express the Tower?" That's kind of the way I felt also, ncefafn -- like by not using the entire deck (or at least the entire Major Arcana) I was leaving some vital "stuff" out of the range of possiblity of imparting something to the reading. G.

mnemosyne7	02 Mar 2005
I think it's time for me to write "Tarot in Ten Minutes ... A Day ... For The Rest of Your Life." Mnem

WalesWoman	03 Mar 2005
Actually I sort of learned how to read Tarot in a similar manner, it was from a free tarot site that emailed a lesson once a week, so I think the Majors were covered over several weeks and then each suite after that. Our "homework" was doing a reading with the cards we had covered so far. Talk about some confusing readings. Of course when I was first learning to read, I think they were all confusing. It's probably an ok way to learn to use the cards, but once the basics are learned, not to limit your readings to a particular suit or just reading with majors. It just gets too complicated and confusing and frustrating. Not to mention limiting yourself to majors, etc. makes for some heavy duty readings and I tended to take them way too seriously and was sure my world was crashing around my head just about every day.

ncefafn	03 Mar 2005
WalesWoman wrote: Not to mention limiting yourself to majors, etc. makes for some heavy duty readings and I tended to take them way too seriously and was sure my world was crashing around my head just about every day. Like taking Psych 101 when you're a freshman in college, and thinking every mental illness is something you have. Or now that I'm 40 and a homeowner, I can't bear to watch House Detective on HGTV because every fault he finds in the homes he inspects, I think, "Ohmigod, I have that!" Faulty wiring? I have that! Rotting floor joists? I have that! Crumbling foundation? I have that! It's too, too terrible. And yet I have a friend who prefers to read with majors-only decks, and her clients love her readings. She's building a solid business simply on word of mouth. I guess it all depends on the reader. There are people who can read from tea leaves, why not just 10 cards or 22 cards? "It's a poor musician who blames her instrument," she said, playing the devil's advocate. Kim

psychic sue	03 Mar 2005
I do a similar spread using all the majors and whatever suit you are asking the question about (eg cups - love life). I find it works a treat.

tarotbear	03 Mar 2005
The author R T Kaser happens to be an acquaintance of mine, and I'll tell you a little something: He never intended his book Tarot in Ten Minutes to be an 'instructional' book - i.e.- a book that you read to learn Tarot. He meant it to be a book for you to learn 'about' Tarot - and be used as a workbook, not an academic textbook. All the exercises were created to acquaint you with certain aspects of things, but as he clearly states in the intro, he has 'stacked the deck' to get you the answer you need. Who needs cards about your job when you are asking a question about your sex life? -- Cut out everything not related to the question. I would say read the entire book and do all the exercises - have a party and have all your friends find out which suit card they are, or what your Number cards are -- that what the book is for. But a serious Tarot text? NO WAY!!! LOL!!!! {Sorry, R T -- TTYS!}

snowy25	03 Mar 2005
It also was the way I learned the tarot. At first I thought the suits were just for seperated isues. The Cups were only for emotions, friendship, love etc. And believe me, I realy had a hard time learning the minors so I started books on numberology and tarot. Books, books, books. Imagine the mind of someone who just starts working on the tarot. I know many people who did and tosed away "those damned cards". Most of all they stayed with the meanings of one book and deck. I even met a tarotist in a stand who clamed to never in her life read a book about tarot. She just bought some decks and did spreads for money. You can imagine I didn't sit down for an ectional reading by her. I can imagine beginners get confiused when they don't have to. For the record, I use the whole deck exept for the Shapeshifter. But with this deck I don't do "real tarot readings". I do mixed readings with that one.

Inana	03 Mar 2005
Once I have a reading done in a similar way, but no suit was excluded from the deck. I asked about my studies and the woman separated all the swords from the deck and shuffled them vigorously. Then she shuffled the rest of the deck, and after she put the swords with the other cards and mixed a bit, but trying to keep the swords suit up. I know it’s not the same, but this question has reminded me of that reading, which was accurate by the way. Anyway, I don’t like the idea of reading only with the majors and one suit. I think all suits relate to all aspects in our life. Studies also require passion, relationships need communication and daily work, job can affect how we feel about ourselves, etc… Its an interesting idea, but just for experimenting. But if someone feels comfortable reading that way… guess is ok, I can’t.

Maggie Bell	03 Mar 2005
Got the book .... love it! I enjoyed the exercises and learned a great deal about myself and the cards. It's a good place to start ... and I say this after having gone through Rachel Pollack, Mary Greer and others. In my humble opinion, sometimes it's better to be "simple" as opposed to "deep" when first beginning any new endeavor. I found myself in tarot "overload" due, in part, to "heavy" reading material. Too much of the deep stuff way too soon. Brace yourself, folks, I also have and thoroughly enjoy "The Smart Girl's Guide to Tarot." There's a little wisdom in all our reading. My opinion only, of course ... Maggie

tarotbear	04 Mar 2005
The fact that Tarot in Ten Minutes has been on the shelves for over 10 years should say something about it's appeal. I should only be so lucky!

psychic sue	08 Mar 2005
I think these readings are particulary good when you try and read for yourself. They can clarify the jumble you see before you !! When I first started tarot someone told me another good way of reading for yourself. The Four Aces method - goes like this:- The take out the four aces, shuffle and spread as below. Then you shuffle the rest of the pack and lay out as below. The card on the left is the recent past. The Ace in the middle is the Area of life it relates to and the card on the right is the near future:- 5.......................1(ace).....................6 7........................2(ace)....................8 9........................3(ace)....................10 11.......................4(ace)....................12 Might be of some use to someone. Sue

SexiSadi	08 Mar 2005
I started to learn the same way. I didn't get very far into it though before I said "Enough of this!" I was using an Emily Peach book, Using and Mastering the Tarot, or something like that. After that minor bad expierence, I just decided to jump right in. I felt I got a lot more out of it, as I didn't feel so limited. Also, I would think you would get more out of it by using the whole deck. It's easier to learn meanings when you are looking at cards that appeal to you and that also have something to do with your situation (see Ncefafn's post) Good luck!

The Reading with only one suit and certain Majors thread was originally posted on 02 Mar 2005 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.