Best way to start learning

[SunChariot]

I agree with Gia that reading makes use of our psychic ability. That is why it's such an individual thing and the path to learning to access that in the best way(s) is different for each of us.

No you don't have to have a well-developed intuition to start out as a reader. I personally had NO intuition when I stared out. Tarot is, in and of itself, a tool that teaches you to use and devlop your intuition. As they say, intuition is like a muscle. It grows stronger and stronger with use.

Babs

 

[gypsiejones71]

To me, psychic ability is any information that is recieved from any other than the standard 5 senses. I can only speak from my point of view; when i am doing readings i pick up on very subtle vibes from the querant, and i combine this with information i receive from the cards. What results is usually information about them that they consider 'psychic' in some cases. And of course, it technically is when u think about it... But the important thing is that the person you read for feels connected and guided by your reading! Should always leave your querant in a much better frame of mind

 

[Sinduction]

I never had any either until I found meditation. Meditating allows us to access a different part of the brain. It takes a while to train yourself but even if you start with 2 minutes a day and increase a minute each week, you will see fantastic results in a short time. Search youtube for guided meditations.

Now, before I read, I take a few moments to get my brain to where it needs to be. But, I've also been meditating for 10 years or so. I try to do 20 minutes twice a day but sometimes I skip and sometimes I get lost in my meditations and can waste a good hour.

 

[Carla]

Ok I've had tarot cards a while but found them confusing so not bothered with them for a while but I really would like to learn how to read them. from what I've read the best way is to look at each card and write down what you see in the card what it means to you. Is this a good way to start? What is next thing to do? small spreads or something else? Also I have 2 decks the Johnathan Dee Tin of tarot the real deck and the Rider Waite deck that I printed off computer and coloured myself. Will the deck I coloured still work for readings? Also will both of the same card mean same/similar things in a reading like if the Fool is in place 2 in a reading will it mean the same thing which ever deck I use?

Lastly how long did it take you to get a basic understanding of reading tarot?

I don't know if it's the best way, but what I did was get a blank book and divide into 78 sections, and I just started gathering meanings of each card from all sorts of sources. Also added little notes about what some of the images were in the cards (I started with and still mainly use RWS decks). I would sit with a deck and test myself by saying aloud a keyword for each card as I turned it over. If I got it at once, I'd put it in one pile. If I hesitated or didn't know, I put it in another pile. It wasn't just the key work I was after but that confident feeling inside that I understood the nuance of the card. Then I'd go through the 'other' pile and if needed look up things in books. I used to just sit and do this while watching television. (In fact, I still handle decks every day, but I don't have to play the flashcard game anymore. I do sit and study cards from various decks every night, though. Just looking at, thinking about, staring at them. Okay, I'm a bit obsessed!) I also did practice readings using the books. I'd look up meanings as needed, then look at the whole spread and practice stringing them together in a story. I read for fictional characters, my stuffed animals, imaginary clients. Then I found AT and started exchanging readings with people. All the while I was reading tarot books. (And accumulating decks!) After a few months, I began forcing myself to read without looking in a book. I would sometimes look things up after to see if my interpretation was close to any book meanings (I would use my personal journal because each card had lots of meanings I'd gathered from all kinds of sources, so I could see the range of interpretations from various readers). I was studying pretty intensely, though, and you might take longer--or shorter! I'd say by 6 months I was able to read without consulting books. When I'd been reading a year, I went to a tarot conference where seasoned readers at my table expressed surprise that I'd only been reading a year. That was a real confidence booster.

As to being psychic, I do not consider myself psychic. However, I am open. I trust the universe, and I trust the tarot as a tool to channel those energies into my mind. I trust what comes to me during a reading. I don't know--does that make me psychic? I never see ladies in purple hats! But I almost always seem to get to the heart of what the querent is feeling, so I suppose that is something. I know I have a long way to go, it's still early days for me.

Good luck in your tarot journey!

 

[Gia]

To me, psychic ability is any information that is recieved from any other than the standard 5 senses. I can only speak from my point of view; when i am doing readings i pick up on very subtle vibes from the querant, and i combine this with information i receive from the cards. What results is usually information about them that they consider 'psychic' in some cases. And of course, it technically is when u think about it... But the important thing is that the person you read for feels connected and guided by your reading! Should always leave your querant in a much better frame of mind

Yes, yes, yes! What she said!

 

[Styx]

I don't know if it's the best way, but what I did was get a blank book and divide into 78 sections, and I just started gathering meanings of each card from all sorts of sources. Also added little notes about what some of the images were in the cards (I started with and still mainly use RWS decks). I would sit with a deck and test myself by saying aloud a keyword for each card as I turned it over. If I got it at once, I'd put it in one pile. If I hesitated or didn't know, I put it in another pile. It wasn't just the key work I was after but that confident feeling inside that I understood the nuance of the card. Then I'd go through the 'other' pile and if needed look up things in books. I used to just sit and do this while watching television. (In fact, I still handle decks every day, but I don't have to play the flashcard game anymore. I do sit and study cards from various decks every night, though. Just looking at, thinking about, staring at them. Okay, I'm a bit obsessed!) I also did practice readings using the books. I'd look up meanings as needed, then look at the whole spread and practice stringing them together in a story. I read for fictional characters, my stuffed animals, imaginary clients. Then I found AT and started exchanging readings with people. All the while I was reading tarot books. (And accumulating decks!) After a few months, I began forcing myself to read without looking in a book. I would sometimes look things up after to see if my interpretation was close to any book meanings (I would use my personal journal because each card had lots of meanings I'd gathered from all kinds of sources, so I could see the range of interpretations from various readers). I was studying pretty intensely, though, and you might take longer--or shorter! I'd say by 6 months I was able to read without consulting books. When I'd been reading a year, I went to a tarot conference where seasoned readers at my table expressed surprise that I'd only been reading a year. That was a real confidence booster.

As to being psychic, I do not consider myself psychic. However, I am open. I trust the universe, and I trust the tarot as a tool to channel those energies into my mind. I trust what comes to me during a reading. I don't know--does that make me psychic? I never see ladies in purple hats! But I almost always seem to get to the heart of what the querent is feeling, so I suppose that is something. I know I have a long way to go, it's still early days for me.

Good luck in your tarot journey!

Carla, if your obsessed, then I am, and in a quite similar way ! Someone on this thread used the world "voraciously" to qualify the way she had gathered information about Tarot... That was THE word for me.
I started my Tarot journey seven months ago and I still feel like I know nothing, but AT is a great way to learn. I too had a journal in which I would report any new meaning for each card. In the end, the most interesting thing I learned was that there is no fixed meaning, especially out of the web created by the 78 cards... Practically speaking, I handle a deck as often as I can; if I'm not studying my cards or reading them, still I have a deck close to me and cast a glance at it from time to time. I'm not sure about the best way to learn tarot, but the readings I found on youtube or on tarot blogs really helped me to make sense out of the abstract meanings I could have found in books or elsewhere.