Is it helpful to read several books while learning?

[witzipoo]

Thanks for all of the suggestions!

Hi again! Thank you so much for all of the suggestions! I will finish my Joan Bunning book (1 book at a time) & then read the others (by Mary K Greer & Juliet Sharman-Burke), but will start reading! I tried my second reading last night & felt totally bumfuzzled through most of it. Certain cards resonated for me & others made no sense. I wrote down the cards & positions to go back & study later. (It was late & I was very tired) I guess I thought I should have a basic understanding of the meanings first but I guess I need to re-think this. The cooking analogy really makes sense! (I suck in the kitchen!) Ha. Ha. I have to say that I do consider myself a very intuitive person - always have been. When I first got my Revelations deck I looked at several of the cards & came up with my understanding then checked the book to find that I was totally in the same ball park. I love the Revelations deck. I definately speaks to me. I guess I just get so focused on doing it "right" that I thought I should learn with the RW. I just don't relax & let it happen. However, I don't carry myself through life that way! Whatever! Now, I'm considering changing my "first" study deck to Revelations.
Just jump in! I'm a Gemini. On the cusp - 5/22 Does this explain the fact that I'm intuitive yet can also be so analytical! I'm a walking contradiction! Ha. Ha. Okay, now I'm rambling. Too much coffee!!! The kids are in bed.
Thank you everyone for taking a piece of your time to reply! I really do appreciate it!

 

[SunChariot]

I think that's quite normal for a beginner when you felt sure of what certain cards meant and not about others. I know that was very much my experience when I started. And I am sure most people's. And honestly it still happens occasionally to me when I'm not sure what a card is trying to say. That's when people pull clarifiers to help things make more sense. Tarot is like any other skill, you improve with practice. And you can't expect to be an expert of have everything down pat when you are just starting. And it's somewhat of a lifelong learning experience, although one of the more rewarding I have ever come across.

It's also not uncommon to have more trouble reading when tired.

I know what helped me, when I was first starting, I kept a journal with all my readings (I still do of course). But I often found that even the readings that I was sure were way off and made no sense really were much more accurate than I thought when I looked back at them months later, after the events they spoke of had already come to pass. I'll bet you will find this too.

As for "doing it right". There is not "right" way really to do anything in Tarot. It is a matter of finding the path that is right for you. That may be what one persin does here, it may be what another does instead, a combination of many methods, or you may well just invent a way that is unique to you. Tarot is a very personal path, imho. It's about finding your path. How you read is related to your very individual life path. It is how you chose to connect to whatever powers you think give us the answers, be that the universe, the collective unconscious.... HOW you connect to a higher power and what benefits you seek from it has to be a personal choice to me.

Have fun, enjoy the process, try new things, experiment, and don't be hard on yourself if something you try doesn't work for you. That just means yuo are one step closer recognizing your true path.

Babs

 

[ZenMusic]

After reading the Bunning and maybe anothe for an alternative view.. I can not image a better way to learn reading than to use a book with guided readings..... Tarot As Your Companion: A Practical Guide to the Rider-Waite and Crowley Thoth Tarot Decks by Hajo Banzhaf..

This presents a simple but powerful 4 card spread, and then gives an interpretation for every card in every position.. if you do a reading each day, read the text and learn those 4 cards a bit deeper each day... you will grow in understanding..

When anyone begins tarot.. i think they have little idea of the depth it contains.. and how long they will be learning... there is layer upon layer of meaning... it's wonderful... but just find your own way to learning....

doesn't matter all that much how you put together your first pass understanding.. you will build on that over and over again.. until each card becomes an old friend filled with deep significance.. and then your intuition kicks in .. and takes it to a entirely deeper level...

it's great fun.. and a great spiritual/personal growth/ path for many..

 

[Genny]

Well, as some books would advise you to throw away, not literally of course , your references and take a gander at the cards for a few minutes first. That's true.

Look at them without thinking..write some hints in the journal..pick up them references..rethink..look at the card again..repeat to all 78 cards..then look for someone to do a reading to. XD

After that, i start reading the whole book for help in what to do next.

 

[ana luisa]

I have nothing really new to add to the wonderful suggestions of all AT members but I think that as far as books are concerned, to me, Greer´s "Tarot for Yourself" exercises are excellent for helping you create your own interpretation for the cards. "Entering a card" is simply fabulous and her suggestion to add scent, warmth, sounds to the the card as you "experience" it is priceless. Again, do keep a journal to record these impressions and the best of luck!

 

[witzipoo]

Thanks everyone!

I do know that we all have our own journey & we all struggle in different areas & blossom in others. I'm not sure why I asked the best way to learn because I do know that we all have to find our own way but, I'm so glad I asked. Wonderful suggestions! I really love the support & encouragement I feel from all of you! It means so much!

 

[WhiteWizzard]

Recently started studying card meanings, a few months ago

What I do is think of a particular friend or person I know, hold their image in my mind, shuffle the cards. Cut the deck in two, select the lower portion, deal off three cards , the next being the first in the Celtic cross. deal off another three cards , then the second in the Celtic cross, so on. Recording what I see and my interpretation into a book. This way getting experience at interpretations , during the week ahead perhaps meeting up with those people, finding out how accurate I was, usually with amazing results

 

[Alissa]

I found too many books was confusing when I started adding them in, after years of reading Tarot without them. For me, reading books was like listening to a crowd of "experts" all tell me their varying views on Tarot... instead of clarifying, they confused me with too many outside opinions. One of my first posts on this forum was trying to clear up crap that I had read and how it conflicted with my own "inner meanings" for the cards.

The Tarot books I read now are interesting, but for myself, I don't recommend reading books at all for learning how to read Tarot.

Just read your cards and listen inside.

 

[zachlost]

Now, I'm considering changing my "first" study deck to Revelations.

It was definitely my first "study deck". It's got a lot of notes crammed in between the lines

 

[Crowqueen]

Just jump in! I'm a Gemini. On the cusp - 5/22 Does this explain the fact that I'm intuitive yet can also be so analytical! I'm a walking contradiction! Ha. Ha. Okay, now I'm rambling. Too much coffee!!! The kids are in bed.
Thank you everyone for taking a piece of your time to reply! I really do appreciate it!

You definitely sound like one! Gemini is the twins, so your "twin" nature will be evident. I too am a bit like that, my "card of cards" is the Chariot, which is also dual nature, though the duality in my case is pulling me apart and I have to learn to harness both sides of it. You are the Fool, going by your birthday number (22), stepping off on an intriguing journey with nary a care in the world and bags of healthy curiosity. Welcome to it!

I read a good book by Wilma Carroll - a no-holds-barred psychic - whose method was simple - go through the cards in a deck and look at what you see in the deck. I did this for my Avalon deck looking more at the archetypes and situations represented in the (non-RW) imagery and came up with a political oracle deck at the end rather than a strictly tarot deck. I've tended to use that method throughout, though if I get stuck I crib from the Little White Book and then look at the context of the question. I find most of the books giving an introduction to the cards - as opposed to going deeper into history or iconography - are all much of a muchness. I like Terry Donaldson's "Step-by-Step Tarot" and often use it as a quickie card of the day oracle, but buying one book and sticking to it is by far the best method of working with "crib" books.