Nan

I get frustrated when I have to continually look up meanings. I think I have got some of them and then....
How long does it take before you really have the meanings and all the possible meanings down?
What methods seem to work best? I am using repitition of use I think.
Does learning the book meaning seem to be the best thing to do when you want to also learn intuitive reading?

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Nancy

Seeking wisdom
Sending Light and Love

Heavensent

Hi Nan. It's good to know the general meaning, but what I have learned with Tarot is to go with your gut feeling, your intuition which I feel is God/universe/spirit world...whatever you call it speaking to you. Sure it helps to learn the traditional meanings, but more often than not traditional meanings may not apply in your readings. Just go with what you feel and/or see in the pictures in the card and how it relates to the other cards. That's how I learned. I looked up the book meanings, but it didn't get good until I learned to look at the pictures, feel the feeling, trust those feelings/thoughts and how it all related to the question asked or what the cards were trying to communicate. Hope this helps.

WhiteRaven

Sit down with your deck, notebook, and pen. Take each card, one by one, and write in your notebook "your" impressions of the card. What you see, and feel. Doesn't have to be what the "book" says....it's what you feel inside that is right. Listen to your little voice. Each time you do a reading, write in the notebook....whether it's a full reading or just a one card a day....write it in the notebook.

We call this journaling and I think that many tarot readers that have been doing this a very long time still write and journal their thoughts and impressions.

Journalling is a very important step in the learning process....throw out the books....I think Umbrae has a burning book thread somewhere here in the thread.

Another good resource is reading....read for folks...for yourself....a lot. Join some of the reading circles and practice...that's what they are there for.

Journal, and practice....and best of luck...you're in the right place here in AT....this forum has all the information and folks to help you on your path.

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"And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet
and the winds long to play with your hair." ~Kahlil Gibran~

Baroli

Nan, I used to wonder that many years ago, until I realized that I will never learn the meanings of the cards. I mean you have upright and then reversed Sheesh!!! It's enough to make you nuts. But here's a thought. When you read the cards, read the cards. Don't worry about what the "tried and true" meanings are. What does the little voice in your head say? What do you see in the cards? How do they make you feel? What colors stand out to you? What does that color mean to you?

You don't need to memorize trite meanings in order to read the Tarot.

Some would say yes you do, to get a base. Just try for an experiment to read one card without the safety net and see what happens. It will be ok, I promise. Then once you do that, write it down, keep a journal. I would start with one card, then after a while move to two.

There is someone here who can explain this better than I. Here are his threads take a gander:

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=10772

I hope this helps.

Baroli

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Nan

yes, to both of you.
and what a great link. I will have to spend some time there.
I have been doing some readings intuitively and it sure feels right on. I have been concerned that since I just don't have all the means 'down'. I might really not be doing the right thing, and your right learning all the meaning - which seem to change from deck to deck and then reverse, it is at times overwheming to thing about achieveing such a thing.

thanks

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Nancy

Seeking wisdom
Sending Light and Love

celticnoodle

though reading the interpretations in books is a good way to help you to get to understand the cards, don't try to memorize meanings to read cards. everyone has a different 'idea' as to what the card means to them.

i did read a variety of books with meanings for each card, and i do believe it is a good start. but what you need to do, is look at each individual card and try to determine what it is that YOU see in the card. What does the figure in the card look like? what colors are there? what do these colors remind you of? what is the person in the card doing? how do they look? are they angry? are they peaceful? sickly looking? stern? what animals/plants, etc. are portrayed in the card? what do they generally mean, symbolically? what do they mean to you?

it may take awhile to be able to do this, but this is how you truly read the cards. I have one book that i used mostly. i would read what that author said was the 'meaning' and then I took the same card from my deck out and looked at it. sometimes I could 'see' what the author saw. sometimes i could not. so, i wrote down what I saw on the page of this book, (became my journal book too) and would continually see how I saw it when I did readings. sometimes i came to realize my interp was better then his (at least for me). sometimes i changed my interp to yet another one. sometimes it incorporated his & mine together. sometimes i realized i now see it as he did.

also, read through others readings here on this site, and see if you can tell what they see in each card and if you can see that also. another thing is to refer to the number. aces refer to beginnings, and so, whenever you see an ace appear, think of number one. the start. a beginning. twos are a couple, so think of it as such. threes as adding one more, so, think of threes as a group thing. and so on. play the games, do the exercises and read others readings. you'll catch on before you know it! this is my opinion anyhow. i'm sure a lot of people will have different ideas and disagree with me. but this will be one idea and one way to get started. yes, i do still look through this one book, and I occasionally buy others and read through them too, for ideas. but i honestly try to get the feeling myself of what that card is telling me and i go with that. sometimes I'm wrong. most of the time it turns out right.

6 Haunted Days

A combination of study and opening up to trust in your intuition and inner High Priestess. Constant practice with readings and playing with the cards brings both of those areas together and expands them.

And by study, I don't mean just studying card meanings, I also mean study of numerology, astrology, colour symbology, myths, folktales, things that have a direct bearing on the images, card connections and interpertations.

Miss 6

dadsnook2000

And then you could participate in the "21 Ways To Read A Tarot Card" Study Group, using Mary Greer's wonderful book. While the initial group of participants has already completed the Apprentice Level steps, several are currently starting that level. All of us who have moved on to the Adept Level are still monitoring, encouraging and helping those who are just starting out.

This approach does indeed give you many tools to read any card in any deck, and the exercises are very practical. If you seriously want to learn then you should review this Study Group and consider joining. Dave

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le fey

Ah, I was just about to suggest Greer's "21 Steps" and the study group here! You'll learn all sorts of methods to get to know your cards and by the end of it you'll be able to sort out which methods work best for you.

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