Facing east or looking to the past?

[browneyes]

Thank you for the advice.
I do journal everyday. I do a 3 card spread for the day but don't try to interpret them until the evening so I can look back on the day's events and liken them to the cards.
Being a Virgo, maybe I'm just trying to scrutinise the meanings too closely!

 

[Thirteen]

I'm beginning to find tarot is getting really complicated.
I started off by sort off understanding what it's about, but the more I read the more confused I get.
I can lay out some cards, get what I think they could mean, but then other interpretations jump into my head and I lose all sense of any of the meanings!

This is a common step along the way to becoming a "master" of the cards (that's in quotes as none of us ever really "master" them or stop learning). Anyone who loves the cards and wants to be a real tarot reader goes through this stage. It comes when you leave the "apprentice" levels and move into "journeyman" levels. Don't worry, your instincts will kick in and you will know which of the many interpretations is the right one.

For now, just let all those interpretations comes to you; don't let them overwhelm you, but rather, revel in them, as you would looking up at stars in the night sky. Understanding this complexity means that you're beginning to understand how the tarot can be read for just about any situation, and why images from the middle ages can still be relevant in an age of computers and space stations. Pretty cool, huh?

 

[browneyes]

Thanks Thirteen.

Words of wisdom as usual!

 

[SunChariot]

I read somewhere that the man in the 9 of Wands is facing east (Aquarian, Morgan-Greer and RW decks) - looking to a new dawn and reinforced determination. But I've also read that they are looking to the past which would not imply a new dawn. The same with the 2 of Wands.
Then I wondered about the Knight of Wands and the Knight of Swords. They're both facing the past/east.
Should they be viewed as looking eastwardly or to the past? And what would looking to the past actually mean?

A card means to you exactly what YOU choose for it to mean. No more, no less. The cards are YOUR tools to use in they way that gives you the best readings. Please remember there are no "shoulds" in Tarot. Any advice you come upon of what others think something means is just a suggestion, now a law you have or follow. It is up to you to find what works best for you.

My suggestion is if you have a choice between deciding between two meanings. EG if you want to decide between if something means a new dawning or looking at the past, stop and think which meaning would enhance your readings most. Which meaning would help you do the best readings you can.

If you already have a way for the cards to tell you something is related to the past, perhaps you don't need to separate ways for the cards to tell you the same thing. If you don't have a way for your cards to tell you a new day is dawning then perhaps you need one. This is a decision you have to make. Personally I use a sunrise in teh image to tell me a new day is dawning. So I have that covered in that way. For me anyone looking/facing left is thinking of the past, if they are looking/facing right it is about the future. But you have to choose what works best for you.

And you are always free to invent your own meaning for something as well, you don't have to rely on ones you have heard. Anything you can dream up if it works for you, go with it.

Tarot is not a thing that has set rules, you have to feel your way to the best path for you.

Babs

 

[SunChariot]

I'm beginning to find tarot is getting really complicated.
I started off by sort off understanding what it's about, but the more I read the more confused I get.
I can lay out some cards, get what I think they could mean, but then other interpretations jump into my head and I lose all sense of any of the meanings!

Isn't that the beginning of wisdom? ... that the less you think you know the wiser you are becoming.

Tarot is not that complicated, it's just that we sometimes tend to make it so at the beginning by overthinking things. I think ultimately it might be something that works best when working from the heart and soul and intuition, than from the mind and trying to find rules for things. You just learn and improve as you go, as with anything you learn. No one can tell you what works for you, you have to go inside and find it.

Babs

 

[lucifall]

I'm beginning to find tarot is getting really complicated.
I started off by sort off understanding what it's about, but the more I read the more confused I get.
I can lay out some cards, get what I think they could mean, but then other interpretations jump into my head and I lose all sense of any of the meanings!

Maybe that is the reason why Tarot,
is a Life-Filling "Hobby",
Something you will NEVER get ready with.
Just because it has so much Never-Ending Insights.

Don't let it confuse you: EMBRACE IT!

Light Lucifall

 

[SunChariot]

Tarot is infinite, just as life is. In fact, for Tarot to be able to represent eacn and every aspect of life it would have to be. Both are topics that you could study all the rest of your life and never learn it all. But they're both totally fascinating.

Babs

 

[PAMUYA]

Isn't that the beginning of wisdom? ... that the less you think you know the wiser you are becoming.

Tarot is not that complicated, it's just that we sometimes tend to make it so at the beginning by overthinking things. I think ultimately it might be something that works best when working from the heart and soul and intuition, than from the mind and trying to find rules for things. You just learn and improve as you go, as with anything you learn. No one can tell you what works for you, you have to go inside and find it.

Babs

So true, when I was 18, I knew everything, each year after I got dumber...

The magic is already with in you, it will come.