"Intuition" versus "book learned"

kisou

celticnoodle said:
there are times when i just do not know how to interpret the card though, and i may look at a book to get an idea.

Which was what I felt was my problem! I would pull out a card, stare at it, then have no real recollection about what it's SUPPOSED to mean, and instead just try and deduce it on my own, taking full liberty at interpreting it ((though of course taking into consideration symboligy that's presented)) by what I felt it was supposed to mean.

Afterwards it was a trip to the book and hoping that I wasn't off by a longshot.

It's actually a little embarrassing...!!
 

lilangel09

I tried using intuition which is usually far off but then the book meaning pops up in reality so I scratch out what I thought and put the book meaning. I'll just have to keep on my Tarot journey and try to pick up on more messages the Tarot tells me....
 

Grizabella

By all means, go with your intuition. Your knowledge of book meanings is just a springboard, as many of us have said. As you continue reading the cards, you'll learn to become more comfortable with that streak of intuition----that psychic flash---and you'll stop thinking it might not be right. :)
 

celticnoodle

kisou said:
Which was what I felt was my problem! I would pull out a card, stare at it, then have no real recollection about what it's SUPPOSED to mean, and instead just try and deduce it on my own, taking full liberty at interpreting it ((though of course taking into consideration symboligy that's presented)) by what I felt it was supposed to mean.

Afterwards it was a trip to the book and hoping that I wasn't off by a longshot.

It's actually a little embarrassing...!!
yep, been there done that, in fact just recently! luckily, i was reading for my sister, and i was brutely honest with her that I was not 100% sure about it. later, when home, i found something on that card that fit, and it was suddenly that AHA! moment. So, a quick email to sis, and we both agreed in that sense, the book meaning fit much better than my 'gut' feeling did, (that I really pulled out of thin air, because I had no idea what it was meaning!)
 

SarahRose

I think about this too, especially since Im still a beginner. I feel like Im in the middle of a Catch-22 sometimes - I feel claustrophobic when I read off of the definitions in books, but then I feel like I could be "wrong" if I just "willy-nilly" read what I think.

Generally, though, I still look up keywords and go off of that, applying it, looking at the picture, etc.
 

vision777

i want to know if anybody here ever started reading tarot with out a book? like you know, you just had the cards and you had " your own meanings to the cards? I m still in the learning process and this is one of the places i come when i need in sight about tarot cards.
 

Thirteen

Both!

mollymawk said:
I don't think it's supposed to be either intuition or learning. They're not mutually exclusive. And the more you learn, the more your intuition has to draw on :)
I think this hits it on the head. Newbies tend to think they HAVE to do it by the books, and some elders think that all books should be tossed out the window. But it's not--not EVER either/or. As mollymawk so rightly put it, they are not mutually exclusive.

Of course, yes, you do what works. Some people can start in a void. Others can't. And just because some can rely entirely on intuition doesn't mean all should. And just because some found that key-to-the-tarot in a book, doesn't mean all will.

From my years learning and reading and teaching and observing others, I've found that it almost always takes a mix. Most times you start with a book, but you quickly learn to rely on intuition AS WELL. Toss in a little help from real people, their advice and observations, and pretty soon, like a symphony, it all comes together.

One instrument rarely creates the music, and one color rarely creates the pictures. Mix, match, use more of this and less of that, until it becomes your own. Never rely entirely on one thing, and never assume that just because something works well, that you should ignore the other.
 

tarotreader2007

I like to think of the definitions in books as very general areas in which the meaning can be in. Always go with your intuition first as that is what the tarot reflects. If you feel the card is saying one thing, say it. I've gotten really weird cards before that I've gotten very non-traditional meanings from and when I tell the querent my interpretation, I'm almost always right on the money. The problem I think with books is that it tries to make tarot more mathematical as opposed to reading your own intuition.

I'm not sure what other people get, but when I read the cards, after looking at them for a while, I can feel the querent's feelings and present state in the cards. In this way, I"m very much an empath.

I know what the book definitions are and for some cards, they work really well. However, if a card gives you a feeling, go with it.

tarotreader2007

**PEACE**
 

kerri28

So I guess my question is--- how much creedence should be given to intuition versus what you read in a book? Or the other way around.

Depends on the individual reading. Sometimes the bookmeaning comes through for me and then off shoot intuitive bits and pieces are added to that. Then there are the readings when the card is solely intuitive.
 

Apocalipstick

Then there's just plain life experience. The more life experience you have, the more nuanced your readings can become. This isn't to say that a young reader can't be good, or even great, but a good reader at 21 will have excellent chances of being a brilliant reader at 50.

Yes, there are people who have an innate facility with understanding symbols, who just seem to "get it" when everyone else doesn't, but even they will benefit from being around the block a few times. No amount of reading books or intuiting meanings will substitute for that.