Help with readings

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 29 Apr 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

SunCat	29 Apr 2005
Hi I am a new member to the notice boards, and was wondering if any body has any ideas, on how or what i should do to help my situation. For many years i was facinated by the Tarot, and by chance i can across somebody who taught tarot. and it was like a speed dating course. in 5 weeks i have been able to learn the tarot cards but only basic meanings, i have spent days and days looking at the pack and i am unable to see anything else or than the basic meanings, I have been taught, also i feel very dissapointed with the spreads that i try and read they really dont make many sense, How can i be sure that what i am saying is not a load of mumbo jumbo, surley if i was to say to you 10-15 years ago you had to juggle money? 99% of people could say that was quite true. if i was to say that in the past you had a disagreement with a close friend which i feel is a boyfriend situation? 99% of people would agree that as well. If i said there is a mother or mother like figure who helped you through this, surley that leaves a wide open gap for it to be anybody. I guess what i am saying is surley that a card reading could be 99% accurate to just about everybody, useing the same cards in the same spread. i do now feel quite dissapointed. so any ideas?

Ahria	29 Apr 2005
SunCat there has been a thread started just about this and now i cant see to find it :P, but basically that is just your starting point you need to start using you initution to start seeing differnent thing and how they merge together to tell a story :) Oh and welcome to AT :D

SunCat	29 Apr 2005
Thanks for the reply but it still dosnt answer many of my questions?

Vadella	29 Apr 2005
Welcome to AT. Try searching this website. It has offered me an immense amount of ideas, help... I've learned more here than from any book or course. It takes time. Good luck. Vad

Airial	29 Apr 2005
Hi SunCat! Welcome... Great to see another UK member here on AT. Still new here too, but in the few short weeks since I joined the community here, I have learned so much from all the information thats shared on the boards. As I`m sure you will too. The most difficult thing, but definately the best thing for me, was letting the *basic meanings* be a *reference* rather than the *only way* to view a particular card either individually or in a spread. So I now choose a card a day,keep a journal and note the thoughts and feelings the card stir in me. It has helped me gain a *personal* insight on what the Tarot is saying to me. Just a thought.... One of the things that stopped me progressing with my first deck, was the sad fact... I just was`nt *feeling* much from them. But glad to say that with the Deck I`m using now, I find my thoughts flow.

Webwitch	29 Apr 2005
Hello and welcome SunCat. I'm sure you will find the assistance you need here at Aeclectic. Me, I'm still learning, so I will leave the advice to those more experienced readers. Cheers, Webwitch :)

Major Tom	30 Apr 2005
Welcome to the community. :) SunCat wrote: I guess what i am saying is surley that a card reading could be 99% accurate to just about everybody, useing the same cards in the same spread. i do now feel quite dissapointed. so any ideas? Yep, you could do it that way if you wanted and there are books around to tell you how to weave a story that will apply to most people. However, with experience and practice, you can weave a story that is specific to the person you're reading for. Aeclectic's Tarot Info, Articles and Resources are a good place to start getting some ideas on how you can learn to read beyond the generalities that apply to most people. I look forward to sharing with you and learning from you. Enjoy.

SunCat	30 Apr 2005
Many Thanks to all of you have sent me a reply, i will take on board what has been said thank you

Thirteen	01 May 2005
SunCat wrote: I guess what i am saying is surley that a card reading could be 99% accurate to just about everybody Here's the first thing to remember--you're NOT talking about 10-15 years ago. With most spreads (and as I beginner you should start with 6-7 card spreads, not big ones like the Celtic Cross), your time period is 30-60 days. So you would say: "Last month, you broke up with your boyfriend."--Hm. Not 99% would agree any more, would they? But you're not going to say that unless you get a very powerful feeling on that score. Here's the other thing you have to understand about readings, basic meanings are broad for a reason--how can you get specifics into a single card? You can't have one card that's for "Boyfriend's mother got hit by a car." But what you can have is a Knight of pentacles, Empress, a reversed chariot and 4/Swords. Let's put those together with our querent. You say, "A young man who's working hard and saving up his money?" And the querent says, "Oh, that's my boyfriend." And you say, "I'm sensing this woman's related to him--his mother. Reversed Chariot...was there a problem with a car?" "Oh, my gosh!" says the querent. "That's so right! She was in an accident." And you shake your head and point to 4/swords, "How long was she laid up?" Now those same four cards, given a different person, could lead to a different conversation. When you describe the young knight, the querent might say, "That's my brother," and the Empress might be his motherly boss. And maybe instead of an accident there's been car trouble or the buses are on strike and--4/swords everyone has to stay home. You see, the basic meanings are basic for a reason--they HAVE to be flexable so that the rich and complex variety of stories can be told. Make them specific, one card for "mom gets hit by a car" and that's the only story that card can tell. My point is, readings are not just you telling the story. It's you, the cards AND the querent. You may start vague (unless inspiration really hits), but as the querent confirms or denys, the story will come clear. The question or subject will also direct things. Did the querent ask about love? And what "clusters" are you seeing--lots of pentacles? Then this might be work related. Lots of cups? Love/Family related. Many "5's"--conflicts. These give you clues on how to narrow down the meaning from broad story, to specific. As the past becomes clear, the direction of the futures--of possiblities and outcome will come clear. The Judgement card follows 4/Swords as the outcome card and you say, "Mom's going to need more surgery, but she'll make a full recovery." The flexablity of meaning in the cards is their strength, not their weakness.

HudsonGray	01 May 2005
Book learning only gets you so far, now you start the THINKING! There's good ideas here with what the others have already said. You can also try a 1 card draw at the end of the day thinking as you draw 'this represents part of my day'--look at it, see the standard meaning, then see how it really did apply in some way to your day. That way you get around the edge of the book learning & into practical application to your own life. Got the 10 of Swords? Did someone stab you in the back in some way? Was there an accupuncture treatment done? Was a project FINALLY finished & done with? Were you feeling like that at the end of the work day? Are there still 10 projects still on your plate for tomorrow but you're dead tired & don't want to think about it-yet know you bring work home with you...? Etc. See how that particular card you pull has shown in some way what happened to you during the last 12 or 24 hours. Sometimes it's just the image on the card that's applicable. For instance, the necklace on the Yak card in the Animal Lords Tarot was spot on for a circumstance at home one reading--it was the exact look of the Immunity Necklace used on the at-the-time Survivor show, and having that show up caused a LOT of laughter about being 'voted off the island'. The card meaning had nothing to do with the reading, it was all about the necklace that time. The more you use the deck, the more you learn. Be patient.

SunCat	02 May 2005
Dear thirtheenth Moon of all the post sent to me, yours make a great deal of sense, thank you very much for the way you decribed it. as a newbie its hard to see the woods for the trees as we say in England. Many thanks

mullein	03 May 2005
suncat...5 weeks is not enough i spent 14 months doing a certificate course taking 14 tests then a final exam then 12 months doing a diploma course..and 12 years later i am still learning..try dealing 3 cards at random forget what you know about them and write a story of what you can see and feel..make it come alive..this is a usefull exercise to practise..i did another diploma course a year ago to keep my brain ticking over...another thing you could do is write an imaginary question ..i.e someone with relationship problems then deal a spread and write a short story of the answer and what you can see for the person asking the question..or even get someone you know to give you the question and write the answer..another thing you could do is write a story about the court cards as a family..with practise you will get their..i used to get people to give me 10 numbers between 1 and 78 then i would shuffle and count the cards out to what numbers they gave me then write them a reading..and see how accurate it was..i used to like doing it best with friends of friends that i had never met then i could see if it was accurate or not..happy studying..i live in the uk and have never heard of speed courses for tarot it sounds really tacky..i guess its another money maker for someone..

SunCat	03 May 2005
Dera Mullein, many thaks for your in put i will try some of your sudjestions however in our neck of the woods, we dont get the chance to go along o study centers, so that is why when i say this course advertised for £100 for an eight week course, i jumped at the chance. How every in many ways it has taken the mystery out of the the tarot cards for me, and has left me kind of flat.

snowy25	03 May 2005
Hi SunCat and welcome to AT. It may be helpfull to go to the study group section. I've seen on your profile you have the Raider Waite. You could get a lot out of the information there. What I often do when I study a new deck is to get a notebook and make notes about the cardmeanings of every card. But they have to be meanings that you didn't learn in the course. Good luck Snowy

mingbop	03 May 2005
I was just going to say the same as somebody else has --have a wee bit more patience woman ! I read tarot since I was about 12-13...and I'm 55 now and still learnin from the people in here ! ...and Airial, where are you ? I'm up in the hills in the borders . Mary

SunCat	04 May 2005
Dear snowy thanks for the sudgestion on how to go futher forward on reading Raider Waite.I think that a brillent idea, thanks as for the other person yes i know im a bit impatiant. again many thanks for you Help Suncat

Asenath	28 May 2005
On the same note, I've read posts where the posters have said that the cards that they were using weren't giving them a good reading (the suggested remedy being some sort of purification ritual), but there are other posts that say you can't pick the wrong card cause the cards never lie. From that point of view, how would you be able to determine if and when the readings are becomming inaccurate? I'm confused???

HudsonGray	28 May 2005
Asenath, it would be how you feel about the cards & spread when you do the reading. If the cards just don't make any sense & you've got no intuitive connection or any 'aha!' moments, that's when the trouble comes in. Sometimes a purification helps (whether it's for our subconscious or actually does do something for the deck is unclear), but you also can't pick a wrong card (a block on the meanings is very common in our heads). Be patient & see where the feeling of 'something wrong' is coming from & treat it based on that.

light2000	31 May 2005
Dear SunCat!! I guees that all of the tarot readers pass this fase of yours. I have one too!! At the begin it seems that you only say what you had read at the books, but if you pratice a lot you will learn more about tarot. Do a reading and write on paper than 2 moths later read that. you will find what you have done wrong and what you have done right. I think that is the best way to learn it. Sure it takes time, but i think that is very usefull. But it seems that you want everthing (you remember myself), you can see a problem whith a women and like you said she could be a mother or a kind of. You must use your intuition or see like the spread are for see this details. For example the spread have a family part you see that everthing is good at the family, so this querent if he have a problem whith a women sure is not the mom. If at the spread have a love part and you see that is no good, maybe the problem whith a women is at love. But maybe he doesnt have a mom she past away so she can be his mother in law.And so on. Dont expect tarot be an open book, life isnt easy and small. And ourselfs are complicated animals. So if tarot talks about us and our lifes how tarot can explane everthing whith all of the details. If i ask you about yourself, you can say everthing about you? i think no. If i ask you why you have done something or why you like something you can explane me the reason whith all of the details? I think no. Why you at similar situations you act diferently? Wht you dont have always the same behavior? I think that you understand my point of view. When we talk about humans everthing seems whith no meaning, even psycology can explain why people raise at the same situations have different reactions. So if you use the tarot frequently you will discover that it is a good auto-aid instrument. Dont expect that the cards say mother, grand-mother, a kind of mother, but you can say a person like a mother is.... I hope i could helped you, thirteen had said a good things that can help you too. And like all the things at your life, dont expect to be simple.

stella01904	31 May 2005
MM ~ Something I still do is "converse" with my decks, whether it's Tarot or some other oracle. I'll shuffle and think about something that happened already "This is when we moved to the yellow house"...cut a card, and read it according to that. You learn how to apply the cards to specific things that way, you generalise less. Keep a journal and note down your three-card spreads, also, (both the cards and interps) and do LOTS of them - not only on your personal life but on current events, also. Leave some space for commentary so you can come back after you've seen how it all turns out. See where you were right, where you were wrong. Eventually you will have a set of personal meanings for cards, not just "juggling money", etc. BB, Stella

The Help with readings thread was originally posted on 29 Apr 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.