Differences In Decks- How Do You Read Them?

This question is undoubtably going to put me pretty far down on the novice-meter but I am a novice, so I guess I may as well ask.

So, I have become pretty familiar with the Rider-Waite deck. Very familiar with the Minor Arcana, however less so with the Court Cards. I am still learning more and more about the Major Arcana. However, I am intersted in buying a new deck or two. But I have some questions.
The meanings of cards, obviously differs from deck to deck. I have learned the meanings of the Rider-Waite deck by reading about them and then using them a bunch to gain my own fuller understanding. Is there a good way to go about learning the meanings of a new deck? There is no "Official Meanings" page for other decks on this website, for example. What would be the best way to go about learning the meanings of a new deck?

Just go ahead and read with them. But be patient with yourself because it might feel really weird if the rws has been your only deck. Don't give up if you feel frustrated and feel you can't read; this feeling will pass.
good luck - you can do it

I've been reading for maybe 5 years, which makes me something of a novice too. I can only tell you how I handle it- sometimes it works out, other times I'm left wondering what it is I'm looking at.

Normally, I read with decks that don't have pictorial pips- in other words, I'm reading with decks like the so called "Tarot de Marseille" style of cards. The amount of variation between 2 different TdM decks is less than what you see between more contemporary decks, but I think that you can use similar reading methods.

Basically, I have an idea in mind as to what each card means. It is a very soft meaning- not at all set in stone. Sometimes, it is little more than a single keyword for a card that I use as a starting point. The rest of the meaning (the meaning within the spread I'm trying to read) is given by the context of the question and the surrounding cards. If the card has a figure depicted on it, who is the figure looking at? What does their body language say? Strangely enough, the same card will seem to be conveying a different message when looked at with fresh eyes, and certainly the "same" card from different decks will carry different meanings- even in the same context. really, the best way is to just *look* at the card. If you are like me, you have watched cartoons your whole life. If you let go of the nervousness of "I'm reading tarot: am I doing it right?" and just *look* at the cards, you can read the attitudes and actions that are there for you to see in a fairly clear visual language... just like a cartoon.

As an example: For me, the page of swords is something of a smart alec conceited arse. But at times, this conceited attitude can be appropriate, so suddenly the smart alec is no longer an arse, maybe he's got a sharp wit that makes him an ideal companion. Even slight differences in a card can convey differences in meaning without compromising the boroader meaning of a given card.

-tb

And sometimes the page of swords is just the inquisitive type, always curious, always asking questions: who? what? why? when? how?

It might help as you are reading to say the meanings out loud, as if you were reading a sentence. You'll hear it and the lightbulb of "meaning" will go off.

Thank you, this was useful. However, I'm still at a bit of a loss. I understand that I have to sort of let go of "strict" meanings of cards. But I need SOMEthing to go on. I have a feeling that if I go solely on the look of the card, I will be "inaccurate." For example, with the RW deck, I would look at the 8 of Swords and say that the path behind her is blocked but the path ahead is free. She is just blind to this fact and thinks that she is blocked everywhere.


Thinking about this, I suppose that is not too far from the "actual" meaning of the card. Is looking at the image the best way to get a handle on it's meaning? And I would not be able to get really any idea of the cards' meanings in the case of the Court Cards.

FutureMoth said:

Thinking about this, I suppose that is not too far from the "actual" meaning of the card. Is looking at the image the best way to get a handle on it's meaning? And I would not be able to get really any idea of the cards' meanings in the case of the Court Cards.

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Consider that the meanings can be different even in different readings using the same cards.

One method I like to use is to hold the general meanings I've come to know in my mind gently, as a foundation, but to loosen up and let whatever part of the image or whatever thought wants to make itself prominent in that moment come forward. I've found that this is a good way to help me adjust to new decks.

But keep in mind there are different styles of decks, so you might want to familiarize yourself with the major differences and then look for one in the style you prefer and with images you think you can live and read with.

Nevada

Nevada said:

One method I like to use is to hold the general meanings I've come to know in my mind gently, as a foundation, but to loosen up and let whatever part of the image or whatever thought wants to make itself prominent in that moment come forward.

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How, though, did you come up with the general meaning that you hold gently in your mind?

I don't hold any generic meaning in my mind. But whatever - I can draw the same card from the same deck 2 days in a row and get something completely different from it ! Which is why I really think you have to trust what you see in front of you.

FutureMoth said:

How, though, did you come up with the general meaning that you hold gently in your mind?

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Well, I've been using tarot for 20 some years, and I started out trying to memorize meanings from the books that came with the decks. First Voyager, and then for a long time the Thoth. After a while, and after also acquiring some RWS style decks, I began to just have an idea of what the general meanings were. One thing that helped a lot was getting to know the suits and numbers. Knowing that, for instance, the 7 of cups was about watery influences multiplied and stretched past certain points of stability. After the cycling of the 6, more choices led to feeling overloaded or overwhelmed by too many choices, some of which were illusory.

Once you get to that point of knowing the suits and numbers a little better, beyond memorization, to knowing what the cards are about, that's knowledge that can translate over to any deck and any reading fairly well.

But as gregory points out, sometimes the card in a reading isn't about the general meaning at all. In fact, I find that often they aren't. Sometimes the 7 of Cups means what the picture brings to my mind in that moment, and that changes from reading to reading. But the general meaning I have in my mind often helps me understand that, too.

In essence, it's less about memorizing and more about knowing and taking in what this reading has to say. I'm not sure there's any way to get to it more quickly than to read, read, read, and that would be, in my opinion, both books and cards. But the best books don't give you meanings to memorize so much as a way to come to know the cards and to see them in a reading. For that it's better to have some good books about tarot in general than just books written for particular decks.

I like Mary Greer's book about reversals and her Tarot For Your Self. The best general book by far that I've read is Gail Fairfield's Choice Centered Tarot. It's been revised and has a new title now, but you can find it by looking up her name at Amazon.

Nevada

FutureMoth said:

Thank you, this was useful. However, I'm still at a bit of a loss. I understand that I have to sort of let go of "strict" meanings of cards. But I need SOMEthing to go on. I have a feeling that if I go solely on the look of the card, I will be "inaccurate."

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Not necessarily. Many good readers would tell you that the best thing you can do is to ignore book meanings for cards, and read based solely on your own intuitive reading of the card. This is my school of thought.

-tb