How do you interpret cards with weird combinations?

[Emma_Leviathan]

Lately this has been an obstacle for me. If I were to be doing a reading for someone or for myself and I ask a question, I would just get weird cards and it's weird for me to understand what the ards are trying to tell me.
For instance, if I were to ask the cards how someone would be feeling, I would get maybe Major Arcana cards such as The Empress or the World.
Or maybe, if I were to be asking something like 'How can I move forward in life' or something, I would get something like 7 of swords, 5 of wands or 9 of swords' Again, these are just examples.
Another would be weird combination cards, like yesterday I did a reading for myself that I had posted on My Readings because I had no idea how to interpret them the question was
How does he feel about me?
And I got the cards 9 of swords, the lovers, and 4 of wands, or something like that. And I just had a really hard time combing them all together to make a 'story' alas, even if I were to pick the same ards for anyone elses reading, I still wouldn't have understood the cards, so my emotions wouldn't have gotten in the way. Anyway, when I posted them on My Readings, my interpretation was all over the place. But then, a couple of people told me how they saw the cards and everything just clicked! It made so much sense, but when I tried to do it, it was just giberish to me.
Where I'm getting at basically is
How do you interpret the cards when the cards seem to 'not fit' in the question' or a weird combination
I hope this made sense.

 

[beekie]

I have this same problem at times. I can't help but ask "how the heck does THIS answer my question?" Brigit Esselmont (biddytarot.com) did a web cast a few weeks ago and she provided this simple, insightful method, to use when you feel stuck. Take a card, and answer these questions:

- Whats Happening
- Whats the outcome
- Whats the moral of the story

This helps you to tell the story of the card, then you can kind of piece it together. Here is an example on a reading I did when asked how someone felt towards me. I got the 7 of Wands. (Pagan Cat deck)

Happening- A cat is growling and having to defend himself and his flag so that others don't capture it

Outcome- If he maintains his ground, him and his flag will be safe

Moral- Stand your ground and defend what is important to you

Super simple and it really helps understand the meanings. I've used this on multiple cards and have an easier time putting things together!

 

[rwcarter]

In terms of techniques and not specific interpretations, look at the question and then bend (not physically!) the card to answer the question.

Q: How does X feel about me?
A: Empress

Well, the Empress is the quintessential mother figure. How does a mother feel? Lovingly, caring, warmly. What does a mother do? Nurture (X feels like he wants to nurture you, which is great if X is a boss/mentor type and not so great if you've got your eye on X....), support, nourish, etc.

Q: How can one move forward?
A: 7 Swords

Well, the 7S is often seen as the sneaky or underhanded card. So in order to move forward, be sneaky or underhanded. The figure in the 7 is taking a different approach to the situation. (Assuming RWS here) Instead of confronting his opponents directly, he's taking an indirect path instead. So in order to move forward you may need to try something different that you would normally never have thought of trying.

The list goes on, but I have to run now.

HTH,
Rodney

 

[Emma_Leviathan]

I have this same problem at times. I can't help but ask "how the heck does THIS answer my question?" Brigit Esselmont (biddytarot.com) did a web cast a few weeks ago and she provided this simple, insightful method, to use when you feel stuck. Take a card, and answer these questions:
- Whats Happening
- Whats the outcome
- Whats the moral of the story
Happening- A cat is growling and having to defend himself and his flag so that others don't capture it

Outcome- If he maintains his ground, him and his flag will be safe

Moral- Stand your ground and defend what is important to you

Super simple and it really helps understand the meanings. I've used this on multiple cards and have an easier time putting things together!

Ah! Biddy, her blog is very helpful! Maybe I should start looking at it that way!. But sometimes the cards really don't tell a story, oftern times it will be just a weird picture (I have the Deviant Moon) Maybe if I had the Rider deck, it will be different .
But I definitely love this technique and I shall be doing this when I can

 

[tarotcognito]

I ran into this problem a lot when I first started out with the Tarot - still do once in a while, but a lot less often. I don't know how long you've been reading/studying the Tarot, but with practice comes experience and trust in one's intuition.

Perhaps one way to try to make it less painful or frustrating would be to limit yourself to a combo of two cards maximum (no clarifiers allowed! until such a time as you feel more comfortable and confident with your reading.

Hope this helps a little.

 

[Emma_Leviathan]

In terms of techniques and not specific interpretations, look at the question and then bend (not physically!) the card to answer the question.

Q: How can one move forward?
A: 7 Swords

Well, the 7S is often seen as the sneaky or underhanded card. So in order to move forward, be sneaky or underhanded. The figure in the 7 is taking a different approach to the situation. (Assuming RWS here) Instead of confronting his opponents directly, he's taking an indirect path instead. So in order to move forward you may need to try something different that you would normally never have thought of trying.

The list goes on, but I have to run now.

HTH,
Rodney

I never thought of it like that! I always thought that 'negative' cards were negative and didn't know how to approach them with questions like that. Maybe I should just try to think outside the box!

 

[Grizabella]

Negative cards are always negative----except when they're not!

I don't know if you use reversed cards or not, but I don't. Sometimes this is a case where you're supposed to read a card reversed, though. If the meaning you're used to falling back on for that card isn't working, try reading it upside down, so to speak.

The 7 of Swords is a good example. We think of it as a "negative" card--the theives card. But it can also mean that sometimes you have to kind of dance around an issue on tiptoes in order to get past it. You aren't being dishonest or ripping someone off, you're just not quite hitting it head on and causing a big commotion, if you know what I mean.