How to connect the cards 2gether

[bellaluna]

Ive been reading for a short time now,just really for family. I can read each card individually,but I do not understand how to put it all 2gether? Does that come in time? I've read the posts,reading the books,but putting 2 cards 2gether or however many, I am lost.Please tell me that there is hope for me and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


Dawn

[HudsonGray]

Keep paying attention to the meanings of the positions the cards are put in. If you know which is past & which is present, you can look at both cards in those positions & see the progression. Then check the other position meanings & relate each to the ones around it.

For instance, if the Tower is in the 'internal known' position and the 9 of Swords is in the 'future results' position--um...you've got a lot to resolve to have a nice outcome on the problem.

Basically, look at each basic card meaning in comparison to the card positions & what's next to them. They form a sort of story. You should pick it up pretty quick.

Try a practice run of 3 cards & work your way up. It's really hard to put a 12 card reading together when you're first learning. Start with 2 cards or 3 cards & work your way up.

[Sinta]

Well, all the advice give seems to work for me. So it might not work for you, but give it a try.

When laying a spread, you no doubt have a reason/question on laying out a spread... lay the cards down onto the table. Maybe you're making your own spread or using another spread. Eitherways, each position has a certain meaning. If you're using spread you have learned, you should at least know or have it written somewhere what the positions mean.

Turn one card over, just as they are numbered. Like 1 first and then so on... As you turn over each card stop, before turning the next one over. Think about the meaning of the card you presently have before you. Once you've settled on the meaning which suits the reason/question (i technically have around 2 meanings to go around) turn the next one over. Once you've looked through all the cards, you simply have to find the link. With the description of the positions, and the meaning.

As Hudson Gray said :They form a sort of story. You should pick it up pretty quick.

With practice i bleieve the deeper meaning in spreads could be found... but once you lay a spread, the links should be simple and able to be seen (unless it's a very bad reading, which hasn't happened to me yet, so i doubt to you ) there's always a link somewhere.

[wavebreaker]

I think it's a matter of practice. I had difficulties putting cards together at first as well, especially with larger spreads.
You could try sticking to small spreads for now, just three cards for example. Keep doing them and try to look at the bigger picture, to see whether you can connect the three cards. If you can't, leave the reading on the table and look at it again later. Sometimes if you leave it for a bit and come back at a later time, it might strike you right away. Or write the writing down and look at it again a few days later.

Maybe the deck you're using makes a difference too. Do you feel like the deck is intuitive enough for you? I started using the Rider-Waite, which I could work with very well, but then I got another deck (the World Spirit) which worked a lot better for me, because the images spoke to me much more.

And keep practising...

[Trogon]

bellaluna;

I had trouble with this aspect of reading the Tarot for quite a while as well. And I agree with tarotlady that practice is perhaps your best tool for learning how to put these together. However, having said that, I will tell you what finally really made it click for me; I posted a reading using the Celtic Cross spread in the "Your Readings" forum and several people gave their interpretations on it including how the cards related to one another. Taking an actual reading which I had done and hearing how someone else was putting it together into an interrelated patchwork of meanings really helped me to see how this worked. I'm still practicing, but I am improving.

I would suggest posting an actual reading you've done for someone. Then go back & compare your interpretation & how you put the story together, to what other (perhaps more experienced) readers are seeing in the exact same layout.

[SherryZoned]

Someone mentioned turning a card over one by one..Good idea..if you still seem to have a problem because you know there are other cards to look at...Trying asking a question..turn over one card...See what you get from that card..Then ask another questiont that wasnt fully understood from the first card..or if that first card leads to another questions..Pull one more card..go sloww...if you get overwhelmed..stop for awhile..Go back to it later...

[darkmoon84]

Im also lost like bellaluna. I started giving readings not too long ago to family members and close friends. Right now Im giving 3-7 card readings. More or less I can connect the cards but when they are reversed....I get so frustrated because they never say anything to me. I always have to read the book that came with my Universal Waite deck because no matter how long I look at the card its just so difficult.

Also in like an Obstacle position, sometimes I get positive cards and I dont know how to make them an obtacle. Am I doing anything wrong? Am I ever going to learn? Do I need patience?

Please give some advice, how did you do it? Do I have to read a lot of books? Practice with myself? What can I do? I just want to at least give good 7 card readings...

Alicia

[Shaymus]

Originally Posted by darkmoon84

Also in like an Obstacle position, sometimes I get positive cards and I dont know how to make them an obtacle. Am I doing anything wrong? Am I ever going to learn? Do I need patience?
Alicia

For "positive" cards in 'negative' positions, I usually look at the more negative meanings for those positive cards. For example, if the Sun appears as an obstacle, perhaps it relates more to the 'burnout' properties of the Sun. The Sun gives joy and growth, but can also cause deserts and kill. Perhaps things are too hot and easily burn out.

And as for getting the meanings of the 'story' behind the whole spread, I think this may be one of the more difficult aspects of learning to read spreads. That's why I always use spread positions because I can see all kinds of interpretations for cards laid without positional meanings.

However, using spreads and given 2 or more tarot readers, I'm sure each would come up with a slightly different story, but I bet all of those stories would ring true. It just takes practice, so don't sweat it. I tend to view spreads as still shots from a movie, and the trick is to reassemble the plot line for that movie.

Shaymus

[Bridget]

One way I sometimes make connections between cards is by noticing symbols or images they share. For instance, if I got the RWS 6 of pentacles in a reading with Justice, I might connect them because they both have scales.

Now say Justice was in the position for the situation, and 6p for the past. Maybe I once had to divide my resources between two different demands, and now I feel judged or am judging myself harshly because I didn't balance them as well as I wished too. Or, I'm trying to right the balance now.

Than I might look for things in other cards that suggest balance - the man and woman in the Lovers, or the sphinxes in the Chariot, or a 2 of any suit. And I build on that idea, using what I know of the card and position meanings as well.

Originally Posted by darkmoon84

Also in like an Obstacle position, sometimes I get positive cards and I dont know how to make them an obtacle.

Take a positive personality trait, like a great gift for logic and abstract thinking. This is a wonderful gift when doing higher mathematics, but could be a liability in a situation that calls for emotional sensitivity. I think "positive" cards are the same way. The Sun card is great, but not if you really need a Moon experience.

[Grizabella]

Originally Posted by darkmoon84

Im also lost like bellaluna. I started giving readings not too long ago to family members and close friends. Right now Im giving 3-7 card readings. More or less I can connect the cards but when they are reversed....I get so frustrated because they never say anything to me. I always have to read the book that came with my Universal Waite deck because no matter how long I look at the card its just so difficult.

Also in like an Obstacle position, sometimes I get positive cards and I dont know how to make them an obtacle. Am I doing anything wrong? Am I ever going to learn? Do I need patience?

Please give some advice, how did you do it? Do I have to read a lot of books? Practice with myself? What can I do? I just want to at least give good 7 card readings...

Alicia

I haven't finished reading the whole thread yet, but I just wanted to say that I recommend you just learn the upright meanings for now, Alicia. Many people never do go on to using reversed cards. I never have. I've been reading for several years and haven't found the need for reversals in all that time. The cards give me their message upright. There isn't any iron-clad rule that you have to use reversals if you don't choose to, and when first learning, it's a lot easier to stick to upright meanings.