Your own quirks, peculiarities, and habits...

BTW, today when I put my cards away, sure enough, I made sure the one facing out was "positive." Never thought of it before I read about it here--odd how important it feels now.

Calcifer said:

I know for certain that I was taught (and picked up) some tarot habits that are probably unique . One that stands out for myself is that I never shuffle the cards for a reading with all 78 cards, I always have the significator, or another card removed so that the deck is reduced to 77 cards... taught to me by the older female relatives that taught me originally. I'm sure they believed that the "magic" only happened when 77 cards were used. I have no idea where they may have picked it up. Regardless, I've kept the practice.

How about you guys ? You do anything that you feel may be your own creation or twist on something ?

Michael

Click to expand...

Many many things. Some quirks that just happened along the way. Like also the way I pick the cards after shuffling. I hold the deck upright in my hands, with all the images facing me. Then close my eyes and feel my way through the deck, removing the ones that FEEL like they are the answer and putting them down Then I read them. (I don't use spreads)

Many more things I do have not happened randomly but were things I purposely developed. Like my reversals method.

Any like my meaning for the Knights (upright). I just up and decided one day that empathy and being able to really imagine things from another person's viewpoint, walking a mile in their shoes...etc were important aspects of life to me. And things I might want to talk about in readings. I realized I had not real card that talked about that. That might tell a reader to get out of their mind and imagine it from the other person's side.

So as I am wont to do, I decided I wanted my decks to be able to do that and it just remained a question of how...After thinking a while, it dawned on me that my meanings for the Page and Knight were very similar. Page was about facing something totally new to you, that you have never experienced firsthand. Knight was about something you have SOME experience with, but very little. It dawned on me that I could combine those two meaings in the Page, letting the Page symbolize something you have no or very little experience with....

And then that freed the Knight to take on the new meaning. So that is what I did. Knights (upright) for me, are about stopping and trying to imagine you were the other person and how it would be to be in their position. Knights of Cups are about imagine what you would feel if you were that other person. Knight of Swords is about imagining what you might be thinking if you were them....etc.

My Tarot meanings are very much my own. Because I have done this a lot. Whenever I think of something I think would be useful to talk about in readings and my cards don't normally have a way to tell me that, I up and invent one. The Knights thing was just one example, I do it a lot. I have always feel free to invent any methods I want to. Whatever works for you works, not matter how you came to it.

Babs