A smile for a tip

Hello,
I'm a tarot newbie still working on cards meanings, so i'm here asking for beginners tips. In your early days, did you use any exercise to learn cards meanings? What have worked best for you?

ps. I'm currently reading Tarot for Yourself (Greer) and I'm doing her three cards exercise.
pp. Sorry my poor english.

For me ... lots of things, but especially ... time .

Paciência .... devoção

After that (as the most important) there are lots of techniques. Probably, the best way is to find out your own 'learning style'.

people have different ways of learning best. Find the way that suits you best - the type of learner that you are - you will learn better and quicker if you apply the method that suits you;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_styles

Good luck - have fun with it !

Thanks! I'll search for my learn style.

Hi Passarelli,

I wish i would have learned earlier about storybook-style reading, or simply reading what i see being enacted in the pictures regardless if they matched traditional meanings or not. My readings were really static for a long time because i was so afraid of veering from my two or three memorized versions of each card. That and reading for myself out loud; makes a huge difference vs. just 'thinking' the meaning. I know, i know you're talking to yourself, and it feels a little weird at first, but you can bypass your brain in a good way. i don't remember if greer went into that in that particular book or not.

She emphasizes the intuition training. And About speaking out loud and telling a story, I'll try this technique.

Thanks for the tips.

Edit: Yesterday I picked up The Tower and the first thing that came to my mind was "get out of your comfort zone", nothing too drastic relatade to this card, and this worked for my day like a charm. I'm trying to use my intuition, but some times it is hard (especially when my super-ego overpower my Id), and some meaning would help.

There is debate about memorized meanings vs. intuition, but I don't think they have to be mutually exclusive. Learning the meanings helped me develop that intuition. What I did was make one flash card each day. The point of the cards was to have a list of meanings, but mostly it was to make the card. When I was making each one, I researched the card in question online, in the LWB and in the two books I had. Then I took all that information and wrote down the meanings that made the most sense to me. I did use the flashcards to review what meant what (and had them by me for reference for a while), but the most learning I got was from handwriting each card. Doing so over the span of 78 days made it less intimidating.

Dark Victory '39 said:

I wish i would have learned earlier about storybook-style reading, or simply reading what i see being enacted in the pictures regardless if they matched traditional meanings or not.

Click to expand...

Yes, this^. When I began learning, I think I looked more at books than at the actual cards. I was very concerned about memorizing the meanings. This is not to suggest that books and traditional meanings are not important; they are. I just want to emphasize really looking at the cards and studying the figures and the scenes they are in.

Dark Victory '39 said:

I wish i would have learned earlier about storybook-style reading, or simply reading what i see being enacted in the pictures regardless if they matched traditional meanings or not.

Click to expand...

I really like this method as well. I'm a bit of a newbie myself, OP (been reading for around 6 months), but in addition to learning standard interpretations I always try and allow myself to understand the cards depending on the context of my spread.

I think this plays a big role based on which deck you own, too. For example, in my deck the Empress is a dark, sexual, mysterious figure as opposed to looking especially nurturing or motherly. I frequently get her when needing to "create my own domain" and see her very much the equal to the Emperor in power and doing what needs to be done.

Sometimes she might still represent that loving aspect, but to me she represents much more. I think the more you read the more you'll develop these personal feelings toward cards, and since they're tools that allow you to understand more about yourself and others, these stories will change and grow depending on your circumstances. I've found it helps a lot to allow yourself to see the cards in a different light instead of clinging too tightly to pre-established definitions.

In the end of Middle School, I remember that I was depending on the internet for keywords. I tried to memorize it, but I found it a bore.I didn't like it that every time I did a reading I had to search the tarot key to know they keyword. Then I had to pick which keyword made any sense. I quit after that. I didn't found any joy in it.

I did not want to go out of my way to study tarot. I just wanted a divination tool, so I can foretell people future. And in a few books I had in Wicca talked about tarot, so why not join the club?

It was not until my brother gifted me "The Tarot Playbook" that I finally started to enjoy tarot. I like the idea that instead of being too serious in tarot and memorizing a bunch of keywords that I can have fun with it.

It was because of this that I finally started to take tarot seriously and trying to find books that met my certain needs. This is why know I have many books on tarot and starting to appreciate the Rider Waite Smith tarot and Thoth tarot a lot.

Passarelli said:

Hello,
I'm a tarot newbie still working on cards meanings, so i'm here asking for beginners tips. In your early days, did you use any exercise to learn cards meanings? What have worked best for you?

Click to expand...

Time. Using your cards for hours each evening, day after day, week after week, month after month.

I'm still learning today.

I started learning in the 1970s.