[Robinsong]

So I can't believe how much more I am learning now that I am here! But of course it makes you have more questions also! I started out learning (www.tarotinstitute.com) that you interpret the ace's and magus as "pay attention" to .....legal contract, abundance in love etc. all together then all the 2's together and so on. Now as I am reading everyones threads on learning I think I should be doing card order by cups, swords etc. and there "story" from beggining to end. Thats how it would make sence but that site said different - where can I find out what to do. Is this too confusing?

[AJ]

I don't know anything about the Thoth deck but I was looking this page over at the link you provided above
http://tarotinstitute.com/short/really/index.html
and it just makes me sad. Talk about boxing yourself into being a caged parrot.

Keywords are nice when we begin because they let us use the cards with some semblance of confidence, they give us a tool to start with. But the cards are so much more, each one has a world of stories to give us depending on the time, draw, and need at the moment.

I haven't been using the cards all that long but I can look back and see a lot of different stages I've worked through on the way to today's understanding of the cards, and I greatly look forward to all the stages to come. Tarot is a growth subject, not a static one.

I've read every tarot book I've come across, many of them several times. I take what I need at that time and leave the rest. None of them are law, be flexible in your learning and it will come a lot easier. And you'll never be done learning so enjoy the journey, and welcome to AT...truly a great learning source in itself...and here too, take what you want and leave the rest. No one here is TarotGod although a few would be surprised to know that

[Robinsong]

Maybe that is why I am so confused because after learning those lessons what I felt didn't fit in making me think i've been wrong.

[elvenstar]

Hi Robinsong, regarding your more specific question, I see it like this. The numbers represent one dimension, the suits another. There's merit in looking at both sets simultaneously, if that makes sense. So if you've been looking at them in groups of aces, twos etc. that's great. If you now want to move on getting the feel of progression within the same suit that's great too. This is in fact how they are presented in the Book of Thoth, first by number, then again by suit.

I think awareness of both aspects is necessary

[mercury8]

I came across the Tarot quite by accident. I went into a used book store looking for a book on astrology and came out with my first tarot deck. I started off by looking at the cards for the symbolism and gradually began doing readings for myself-I believe that's the best way to learn. And the more you begin to practice, the better you become. One particular piece of literature that has helped me, if that suits you is called the The Journey of the Major Arcana, which helps you to understand the Journey of the Tarot. I read this in a book called Everyday Tarot Magic by Dorothy Morrison (and somewhere else, but I can't remember). I didn't find the rest of the book so useful, but the passage on the Journey of the Fool through the Major Arcana, was very interesting and helps put the Tarot into perspective. Having a good starting deck helps as well. I think the Rider Waite-Smith (RWS) is pretty much the standard. Plus there are scores of books written for the RWS. For starters, I have heard the Thoth can be a little much. My experience with the Tarot, though, tells me that it is just as good (if not better) to use your own intuition with the cards, than to rely on someone else's judgement. My best readings have come from within, and without the help of a rigid set of rules. Hope this helps

[ravenest]

I think the 'story' each suit tells is better appreciated by previous knowledge acrued by Tarot studies and not as readily availible at the begining. However one could start by gatting a realisation of the overall flavour and intent of the suit. Then that story that the suit symbolises is modified, chapter by chapter by the number. To get this one needs to look at what the numbers represent, either by attributing them to their sephirothic placement or by the Naples arrangement from the Book of Thoth.

Eg, take Cups; the ace is pure expression, unity, and since we live in duality, it is a bit hard to understand, so the highest aspect we can understand of it is love, pure love that is. If we feel pure love (and not conditional or related to something else - like I love my husband, or I love a beer after work or whatever - just love in itself) then that spreads out and permeates our being and environment and we feel ourselves surrounded by an abundence of love. This leads on to the other numbers, and like any story it has its ups and downs and one state leads to another.

Or it can be a simpler strory without the philosophy. One can start backwards from the Knights quest and follow the cards back down to the root energy.

Have fun.