Adept Level, Step 20, 21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card

dadsnook2000

I have been on vacation and the grandchildren caused my computer to be contaminated by a large number of viruses. So, the computer has been an on-again, off-again problem. That, and I inadvertently sent my book home, so I couldn't reference anything. Squeaks has kindly forwarded me the information which is posted below.

Step 20 brings us to the point where we can more effectively asses and compare our favorite deck with other decks. This is an important activity because we do change over time, if we read for others then our needs in serving them can change --- all of which are reason enough to open ourselves to periodically reviewing other decks that may better reflect where we are now. From Squeaks' PM to me, I present the following steps.

STEP 20:2A

1) Take the 7 of swords out of the deck you've been using. Write a brief description of what this card means to you.

2)Take the same card out of several other decks or examine those on the next pages.
** sort them by similarities. How are they similar? How are they different?
** Does the meaning change depending on the version? How?
** In what kind of situation is the 7 of swords most likely to appear?
** How would you read this card in an advice position in a spread? Would the advice change if you used a different deck?
** Review what the booklets that come with the decks say.
** List three keywords or phrases that best express what the 7 of swords is about.

Read the discussion on the 7 of swords that follows, then answer the questions in Activity 20:2B. As before, I would suggest doing the above work in one posting, the following work in another posting.

STEP 20:2B
Now that you've examined several 7 of swords cards (your own and the ones in the book):
** How have your views of the card changed?
** List some keywords or phrases that describe how you see the 7 of swords now. Are you keywords different than those with which you started?
** How would you read this card in an advice position in a spread?
** Which version of this card offers the fullest interpretive possibilities?
** Which card has the most visually unambiguous meaning? (Do you prefer this clarity or more interpretative ambiguity?)
** If you created your own 7 of swords card, what images or ideas would you use? Feel free to steal ideas from the images you've been viewing---it's a very 7 of swords thing to do. (But if you ever publish your deck, do acknowledge your sources of inspiration.)

Step 20:3

Go Fish; the game. Just for fun, swirl several different decks together facedown on the floor, as if in a big pool. Pick a favorite spread and, with your eyes closed, "go fishing" for a card for each position in the spread. Hopefully, the resulting spread will be made up of cards from a variety of decks. Does a particular deck appearing in a position add its own meaning? For instance, the Inner Child Cards, created by Isha and Mark Lerner, in the Past position might bring up childhood memories. In the Future position, it could suggest being more playful or creative. A Marseilles Minor Arcana might lead you to focus on the meaning of number and suit. With the Shapeshifter deck, consider what transformations are possible.

Activity 20:4
Round Robin for Groups

This variation on "Go Fish" is a good way to begin the first session of a tarot class or play. From a pool containing several different decks mixed facedown each person takes out 2 cards. When it's that person's turn to introduce herself, she uses one of the two cards to describe something about herself (or what she wants from the class). She then "gifts" the next person with the remaining card, explaining why she thinks this card is significant to that other person.
The second person says something about why the gift card is appropriate for him, talks about the card they chose, and gifts the next person with his remaining card, explaining why he's giving it. Thus, each person says something about three different cards:
The one they receive, the one they keep, the one they give. (The first person receives her third card at the end, from the last person.) Follow this with a discussion of which decks were the most interesting and why.

Choosing A Reading Deck

It may seem strange to discuss picking a reading deck this late in the book but, with all the new decks coming on the market, it's valuable to think about what qualities in a deck work best for you. You could choose a deck because it's attractive, "traditional", or uses an interesting theme. But how about a deck that speaks at the soul level---a soulmate? Here are some things to think about.

1) Lay out the deck under consideration on the floor or on a large table, as you did in Step 2, Activity 2:2.

-Does the deck physically appeal to you?
Are your drawn to its artistic expression, the materials used, its colors, size, format, etc.? Would cutting off the borders enhance your appreciation of the images?

-Is a systematic or organizational approach important to you? If so, are the suits, numbers, and correspondences clearly delineated? Does the system make sense to you (for example, can you work with wands as air)?

-Are you interested in its symbolic, conceptual, or mythic principles? Do the correspondences to mythis or themes seem forced or natural? Does the story line help you to remember the card meanings and vice versa? How deep is the understanding and use of the concepts?

-Is it important to have pictures on all the cards? if so, can you select a card at random and easily tell a story based on it? How does the story you told relate to what the book says about the card?

2) Lay out the cards from a deck with which you are already very familiar (sometimes called your "comfort deck") next to the deck in question.

-Can you relate what you know about your comfort deck to the new deck?
Can you imagine a dialogue between these two decks?

-Does the new deck have more vitality than your familiar deck? What about it appeals to you?

3)Pick up and shuffle the new deck and select three cards while asking, "What does this deck have to offer me?" Read what the book or booklet says about these cards.

-Is this the kind of advice you want? Do you want to have your future told, receive divine wisdom, explore personality characteristics, get specific and unambiguous answers? Do you prefer responses that emphasize inner resources and growth or that give warnings of problems and events outside your control?

-Is the intent and worldview of the creator compatible with yours? Does the deck present options or tell you facts? Does it suggest you can change events or that you are subject to fate? Do the interpretations make you feel optimistic and empowered or overwhelmed and constrained?

-Is the deck accessible and varied in its use? Can you get both quick feedback and in-depth answers to specific questions? Do you need to learn a complicated system? Do the cards "talk" directly to you?

4)If the deck passes all the previous steps, then shuffle the cards and pick one while asking, "What do I most need to look at in my life right now?" Take this card through all twenty-one ways to read a tarot card.

-By the end of the reading, did the cards seem to have taken on more dimensionality, becoming more vibrant, alive, and colorful?

5)Use this deck to do a reading for someone else, preferably someone you don't know.

-Were you able to use the style of reading you prefer or did this deck demand a different approach?

-Did the cards speak clearly to you? To the querent?

-Is this a deck you want to use primarily for yourself, when reading with others, or both?

Good luck, all. Dave
 

dadsnook2000

Adept Level, Step 20:2A by Dave

My deck of choice is the Fey Tarot. The Seven of Swords card is quite unusual in many ways. A female Fey, in a transparent physical state, stands against a block wall atop a fortress or castle. Her wings have dark red stripes at the tips, as do her hands, sides of her face behind the eyes and above her cheeks, forearms and her thighs. Her eyes are red and she looks over her shoulder to the distant landscape. A large ornamental sword is held in her hands.

The book refers to this sword as sharp and her physical body as being partly stone and partly flesh, a perfect form of camouflage. In either case, this Fey is using the immediate environment to her advantage as she waits for someone or something to develop. So, there is a quality of patience here as well as the ability to make the most of what is available. The red eyes suggest to me the attitude of expecting danger or off seeing the situation through an angry point of view---something that contradicts the pose and situation. Yet, the red stripes suggest a "distractive" element to any foe she engages as they are located at the extremities of the body and will cause deceptive movement in the eyes of others. The body that is translucent is tinted blue, a calming contrast to the red areas.

If I were to summarize impressions of this card, I would note:
* Preparedness
* Patience
* Dangerous attitude
* Use of enviornment and body to hide as well as offer distraction
* The sword as a means of defense and offense

COMPARING

The Motherpeace Tarot 7/Wands card depicts approaching danger in the form of a fox approaching a fenced in chicken yard, seven swords forming a ladder/access up-and-over the fence. Both "waiting" and "approaching danger" are depicted in this card.

The Waite-Smith Tarot 7/Wands, so familiar to all of us, shows a figure stealing away from an encampment with an armload of swords, more than he can carry is available to him. Taking the ability to fight away from an enemy is a theme in this card. The Robin Wood Tarot 7/Wands card mirrors this theme.

Surprisingly to me, the Shapeshifter Tarot 7/Wands shows a creature emerging from a tree, as part of the tree, springing upon an unsuspecting fox who is, itself, in a hunting mode. Here, as in the Fey deck, the threat of one party is a blending into the background before attacking.

The Tarot of Durer depicts the fox stealing away from a hunting party which is moving off in another direction, chasing a false lead or direction.

The other two tarot cards shown in the book depict a fox/predator moving through his environment with the seven swords arranged without being an incorporated element of the scene.

The Fey, Waite-Smith, Durer, Shapeshifter and Robin Wood cards clearly show that one person/creature can cope with, or plan for, the combined might of others or of an unseen and unknown threat. This moves the general themes to the thinking/mental side of confrontation/avoidance issues and not the obvious physical alternative.

So, we could summarize the Seven of Wands card as suggesting preparedness, consideration, the best use of ones skills and advantages in opposition to external threats from others. The thinking warrior, perhaps.

Step 20:2B

Mary Greer notes the meanings of this card in much earlier decks. In those times, given meanings were universally known to tarot readers, requiring the reader to adapt the generalized meaning-set to the situation of the querent and the other cards/positions in the spread. There seemed to have existed a classical or universal approach to tarot reading based upon one's skills and training.

I remember some 15 years ago being dismayed at those who were not using the card-position-relationship approach to card reading but who were instead using intuition or card-picture interpretations as their basis for card reading. As the cartoon character, Pogo, noted, "And now they are us." It is obvious from this exercise, that I have changed over time in how I read the cards ---- perhaps, also, in why I read the cards.

Reading the Fey 7/Wands in an "advice" position, it would seem likely to speak of better adapting to what the playing field offers in terms of resources and using ones abilities and patience to lay the groundwork for future/near-term confrontations and challenges. It is prudent to not make the fight of "you over them" but of "them versus the current flow of the situation", taking yourself to a position of control and watchfulness outside of the problem rather than being immersed directly into the problem.

I admire the Fey, Shapeshifter and Durer tarots for their versions of this card as being quite clear and capable of making an illustrative point for a querent to understand.

Dave
 

squeakmo9

Activity 20:2A

1) Take the 7 of swords out of the deck you've been using. Write a brief description of what this card means to you.

Victorian Romantic 7 of Swords
A soldier in a revolutionary uniform carrying a wooden chest under one arm and a couple of swords over his other shoulder. He also has a satchel slung over his chest with some other stuff hanging about him. His blue socks are decorated with blue ribbons. He walks alone down a pathway, looking back and up over his left shoulder.
To me it seems as if he is leaving home, perhaps to do battle. He takes only what he can carry, and seems that he looks back so as to not forget where he came from.

2)Take the same card out of several other decks or examine those on the next pages.
-sort them by similarities. How are they similar? How are they different?
Out of the eight decks I’m using the VR 7 of swords has much in common with the Universal 7. The body language/stance is very similar. One foot forward, another back in an active walk. Difference is that I can easily identify what it is the figure in the VR values (wooden chest). The Universal has me questioning the purpose of so many swords.

Osho Zen 7 of air & Tarot of the Spirit (ToS) Seven of Wind:
The snakes make them similar and also the key words “Politics”(Osho), and “Many Tongues”(ToS). Difference is no faces on ToS, just snakes, while Osho portrays someone with a mask taken off to reveal an even more sinister character.

Tarot of the Old Path and The World Spirit tarot:
Both have figures turned away or struggling to make their way. Both have swords. The difference is one seems to have given up on something (Tarot of the Old Path), and the World Spirit the figure bends forward to fetch a sword in icy waters.

Thoth and Quest tarot:
Mostly just swords are depicted with the difference of a headless figure in the Quest.

-Does the meaning change depending on the version? How?
There seems to be more deception in the cards with snakes on them (Osho & ToS) giving a darker theme on the 7 of swords. The Quest’s headless figure and keyword “Uselessness” would also give a possible darker interp. The Old Path seems to be giving up while the World Spirit perseveres in picking up yet another sword under oppressive conditions.

-In what kind of situation is the 7 of swords most likely to appear?
I don’t know, it could range from theft to not thinking something clearly through.

-How would you read this card in an advice position in a spread? Would the advice change if you used a different deck?
The Quest’s swords are scattered in mid-air, almost floating with no direction over the headless figure. It’s like take your chances, higher risks. The Thoth has all the swords neatly configured with the key word “Futility”with a crescent moon at the top of card which makes me think of that saying: The road to hell is paved with good intentions.


Activity 20:2B
Now that you've examined several 7 of swords cards (your own and the ones in the book):
-How have your views of the card changed?
The World Spirit Tarot made me think of patience, balance, perseverance. There is something rather peaceful in the hooded figure picking these six swords up (the biggest is a seventh over his shoulder, ornate, apparently his)from an icy river.

-List some keywords or phrases that describe how you see the 7 of swords now. Are you keywords different than those with which you started?
If I were to use the World Spirit tarot in a read then I would keep what I said previous in mind about it, but I don't readily grab for this deck. The RWS version of the seven of swords, probably not. Too much depends on what other cards are around it.
-How would you read this card in an advice position in a spread?
I just noted there is the dark shadow of a ship in the distance, making it even more intriguing...in an advice position...someone may ask you a question that you may either not be able to answer or are unwilling to do so.
-Which version of this card offers the fullest interpretive possibilities?
More possibilities seem evident with the World Spirit version.
-Which card has the most visually unambiguous meaning? (Do you prefer this clarity or more interpretative ambiguity?)
Tarot of the Old Path and VR. They seem pretty straight forward, and I do prefer clarity.
-If you created your own 7 of swords card, what images or ideas would you use? Feel free to steal ideas from the images you've been viewing---it's a very 7 of swords thing to do. (But if you ever publish your deck, do acknowledge your sources of inspiration.)
Very young (5 y.o.?), poor children in ragged clothes picking flowers in a neighbors yard/garden. Quickly running away with their bunches, looking over their shoulders to make sure they have not been seen.
 

squeakmo9

dadsnook2000 said:
Step 20:3

Go Fish; the game. Just for fun, swirl several different decks together facedown on the floor, as if in a big pool. Pick a favorite spread and, with your eyes closed, "go fishing" for a card for each position in the spread. Hopefully, the resulting spread will be made up of cards from a variety of decks.
This was a really interesting exercise. 6 out of my eight decks showed up in a celtic cross spread I did for myself. There was no question.
Does a particular deck appearing in a position add its own meaning? For instance, the Inner Child Cards, created by Isha and Mark Lerner, in the Past position might bring up childhood memories. In the Future position, it could suggest being more playful or creative. A Marseilles Minor Arcana might lead you to focus on the meaning of number and suit. With the Shapeshifter deck, consider what transformations are possible.
For position 7-"who I really am" the Quest 3 of Swords (Mourning) came up. Initially I was puzzled since I am not currently going through any sort of heartache or mourning. Then I focused on the corners of this card which have astrological glyphs and an I-Ching hexagram. Those were the points that made me understand the meaning it was trying to convey, but I had to refer to a couple of different sources. A likely equivalent would have been the reversed RWS 3 of swords to denote heartache in distant past and how it possibly directs future decisions/demeanor. In that sense the RWS would have been easier to interp.
 

squeakmo9

dadsnook2000 said:
Choosing A Reading Deck

It may seem strange to discuss picking a reading deck this late in the book but, with all the new decks coming on the market, it's valuable to think about what qualities in a deck work best for you. You could choose a deck because it's attractive, "traditional", or uses an interesting theme. But how about a deck that speaks at the soul level---a soulmate? Here are some things to think about.

1) Lay out the deck under consideration on the floor or on a large table, as you did in Step 2, Activity 2:2.

-Does the deck physically appeal to you?
Are your drawn to its artistic expression, the materials used, its colors, size, format, etc.? Would cutting off the borders enhance your appreciation of the images?
Yes, I really like my RWS. It is the first deck that I was introduced to and began studying with. I enjoy learning about its sytem(GoldenDawn), and find it universal, traditional. No, I would not cut off its borders.

-Is a systematic or organizational approach important to you? If so, are the suits, numbers, and correspondences clearly delineated? Does the system make sense to you (for example, can you work with wands as air)?
In looking at the few decks I have, I believe they all run on the Golden Dawn system. I would not feel comfortable looking at wands as 'air'-sorry, not my cup of tea.

-Are you interested in its symbolic, conceptual, or mythic principles? Do the correspondences to mythis or themes seem forced or natural? Does the story line help you to remember the card meanings and vice versa? How deep is the understanding and use of the concepts?
A storyline can be most helpful and interesting. Also, I enjoy reading a variety of interps on a certain card or combo of cards from different sources.

-Is it important to have pictures on all the cards? if so, can you select a card at random and easily tell a story based on it? How does the story you told relate to what the book says about the card?
I think every card has a story, and having a second card could also deepen what it is the cards are trying to convey. As I said previous in regards to the 3 of swords, having read it is a card of sorrow...but how you deal with that sorrow, transform it...a story would help enlighten that manner of thought.

2) Lay out the cards from a deck with which you are already very familiar (sometimes called your "comfort deck") next to the deck in question.

-Can you relate what you know about your comfort deck to the new deck?
Can you imagine a dialogue between these two decks?
To a certain extend the new deck can expand the original meaning or train of thought, and as far as dialogue...Perhaps my RWS would wonder why my VR would get so gussied up to go to the same boring party. Something about the VR that would simply puzzle my RWS. That 's the feeling I would get between these two.

-Does the new deck have more vitality than your familiar deck? What about it appeals to you?
The VR gold is simply sumptuous, beautiful, clever. It has a depth that my RWS does not appear to have, not at first glance anyway.

3)Pick up and shuffle the new deck and select three cards while asking, "What does this deck have to offer me?" Read what the book or booklet says about these cards.
Victorian Romantic
Ace of Cups, Queen of Wands, The Hermit, here are the book meanings, respectively.
Opening to new beginnings, A creative approach to the practical, A time of inner searchings.

-Is this the kind of advice you want? Do you want to have your future told, receive divine wisdom, explore personality characteristics, get specific and unambiguous answers? Do you prefer responses that emphasize inner resources and growth or that give warnings of problems and events outside your control?
I prefer responses that emphasize inner resources and growth, and am pleased by the VR's information.

-Is the intent and worldview of the creator compatible with yours? Does the deck present options or tell you facts? Does it suggest you can change events or that you are subject to fate? Do the interpretations make you feel optimistic and empowered or overwhelmed and constrained?
I generally feel empowered by the book interp, and I choose these key phrases, so I had something to do with the way I wish to view these cards. The Victorian Romantic has a great book of interpretations, and the facts regarding how the images were choosen and configured are absolutely fascinating.

-Is the deck accessible and varied in its use? Can you get both quick feedback and in-depth answers to specific questions? Do you need to learn a complicated system? Do the cards "talk" directly to you?
I think this deck is generally I talker even though my experience of it is limited. When I first came upon it, I was the querent, and was quickly taken by it manner of portraying a certain card, namely the 7 of swords. It really blew my mind that it could be so different, so beautiful, yet still be able to relate on a deeper level.

4)If the deck passes all the previous steps, then shuffle the cards and pick one while asking, "What do I most need to look at in my life right now?" Take this card through all twenty-one ways to read a tarot card.
-By the end of the reading, did the cards seem to have taken on more dimensionality, becoming more vibrant, alive, and colorful?
Yes, at first I didn't understand what it was trying to tell me, but as I eased into the steps, it became apparent and meaningful rather quickly.

Well this was my step 20 adept, I skipped the round robin for groups(20:4)since we are in cyberspace and step 5 of "Choosing a Reading Deck" since I do not do face to face readings for strangers.