jrr01
How do you guys do it to remember the meanings for each tarot card? I find it too difficult to remember 156 meanings if you count the upright & reversed...! Any tips...?
Thanx in advance...
Thanx in advance...
Little to no memory
lefty
edited
afrosaxon
Hi jrr,
Unless you've been in the game for many, many moons, you probably won't memorize even half the meanings of EVERY tarot card in the deck. Why?
--Because meanings vary from deck to deck; each creator puts his/her own spin on the meanings.
--intuitive flashes that are totally opposite of what a book or esteemed learning source might say...especially when you are going by what the image on the card tells you, instead of simply saying "Oh, that's the 3 of cups. Lots of celebration, or are you getting married or having a baby?"
--cards are read in relation to the other card(s) in the spread; that has a major effect on how a card(s) is interpreted...and the combinations are endless!
Then there are those weird variations on a card...there is a thread in the Using Tarot Cards section (somewhere) about weird card meanings.
Take the Tower, for instance. The traditional meaning is that of false constructs/beliefs crashing down, to make way for truer, more lasting ones. HOWEVER...the Tower has also been interpreted as:
--a change in residence
--orgasm
--shockingly in love
--marriage
--pregnancy
--electrical problems
Meanings are gathered through trial and error, and reading, and study. My advice: read the cards, pay attention to what pops into your head and gut (even if it contradicts the "156 meanings" you're learning), and keep it moving.
Welcome to the jungle.
And lefty, it doesnt' matter if you have 5 posts or 5,000...your opinions are equally valid.
Just my $.02.
T.
Unless you've been in the game for many, many moons, you probably won't memorize even half the meanings of EVERY tarot card in the deck. Why?
--Because meanings vary from deck to deck; each creator puts his/her own spin on the meanings.
--intuitive flashes that are totally opposite of what a book or esteemed learning source might say...especially when you are going by what the image on the card tells you, instead of simply saying "Oh, that's the 3 of cups. Lots of celebration, or are you getting married or having a baby?"
--cards are read in relation to the other card(s) in the spread; that has a major effect on how a card(s) is interpreted...and the combinations are endless!
Then there are those weird variations on a card...there is a thread in the Using Tarot Cards section (somewhere) about weird card meanings.
Take the Tower, for instance. The traditional meaning is that of false constructs/beliefs crashing down, to make way for truer, more lasting ones. HOWEVER...the Tower has also been interpreted as:
--a change in residence
--orgasm
--shockingly in love
--marriage
--pregnancy
--electrical problems
Meanings are gathered through trial and error, and reading, and study. My advice: read the cards, pay attention to what pops into your head and gut (even if it contradicts the "156 meanings" you're learning), and keep it moving.
Welcome to the jungle.
And lefty, it doesnt' matter if you have 5 posts or 5,000...your opinions are equally valid.
Just my $.02.
T.
Le Fanu
Im no expert, but I wouldn´t immediately think you´ve got 156 meanings to internalise.
It makes sense to me to get the 78 main meanings straight in your head (and Im sure others here will give loads of tips and ideas and approaches), but for the reverse meanings, I suspect it is better for you yourself to think about what a natural reversed or blocked meaning would be for whatever upright meanings you end up settling for.
Surely it´s much more natural that way. I think the initial phase for any tarot novice is to get the upright readings and only much later decide if you want to use reverse meanings and how you can give the meanings you have a "reversed" slant... Then it´s not strictly "memorising"...
O and jrr01; love the atavar!!!
It makes sense to me to get the 78 main meanings straight in your head (and Im sure others here will give loads of tips and ideas and approaches), but for the reverse meanings, I suspect it is better for you yourself to think about what a natural reversed or blocked meaning would be for whatever upright meanings you end up settling for.
Surely it´s much more natural that way. I think the initial phase for any tarot novice is to get the upright readings and only much later decide if you want to use reverse meanings and how you can give the meanings you have a "reversed" slant... Then it´s not strictly "memorising"...
O and jrr01; love the atavar!!!
wytchwood
I agree with Le Fanu, it's gonna be overwhelming if you set out to learn '156 meanings' straight off, as if you need to commit this information to memory before you can even start to benefit from using the tarot. In reality, you could work on familiarising yourself with the 'main' meanings for each card, take a few cards at a time, perhaps starting with the ones you least understand, and use the cards often, look through them a lot, this way you're up and running straight away and improving your understanding the whole time, and for me this is what tarot is all about. You will no doubt find that you already 'get' some of them straight off, and others are bound to have layers of meaning you had not expected, and this will deepen with time, more so when you move onto using lots of decks as (like others have said here) each tarot deck creator has their own take on things and these filter into your tarot vocabulary when you use those decks. The whole way you understand the cards and how you read will evolve continually, deepening and changing each time you read.
The other thing worth remembering is that some cards seem to have more layers of meaning than others. With some cards you will find that knowing the basic meaning is enough, it just changes flavour and strength according to other factors, whereas other cards traditionally have a number of sometimes unrelated meanings (which can get confusing) and for this reason it's impossible to say how many different interpretations you have to 'know' altogether, for me it's more being able to get really creative how those cards can apply in different situations, and the more creative I am able to be in a reading, the more the answers seem to come through...
If reversals seem like you're doubling the number of meanings to remember, you have a number of things you can do. Firstly you could not use them, at least not to begin with, or if you really do want to, then remember that the meaning of the upright card is 'weakened' by the reversal, which may make it an opposite in some cases, or just a negative equivalent, or a weaker answer and so on. So really, there's not a whole new set of meanings, just read them in a negative light.
The other thing worth remembering is that some cards seem to have more layers of meaning than others. With some cards you will find that knowing the basic meaning is enough, it just changes flavour and strength according to other factors, whereas other cards traditionally have a number of sometimes unrelated meanings (which can get confusing) and for this reason it's impossible to say how many different interpretations you have to 'know' altogether, for me it's more being able to get really creative how those cards can apply in different situations, and the more creative I am able to be in a reading, the more the answers seem to come through...
If reversals seem like you're doubling the number of meanings to remember, you have a number of things you can do. Firstly you could not use them, at least not to begin with, or if you really do want to, then remember that the meaning of the upright card is 'weakened' by the reversal, which may make it an opposite in some cases, or just a negative equivalent, or a weaker answer and so on. So really, there's not a whole new set of meanings, just read them in a negative light.
Sinduction
You could always read the card instead of memorizing the "meanings."
But seriously, if you must, take it in steps. First work with the majors only then move on to the wands, then the cups, etc.
Then it's not so overwhelming.
But once you do all that and have a nice foundation, you will throw it all out the window and read the pictures
But seriously, if you must, take it in steps. First work with the majors only then move on to the wands, then the cups, etc.
Then it's not so overwhelming.
But once you do all that and have a nice foundation, you will throw it all out the window and read the pictures
WolfyJames
My advices are:
- Practive, practice and practice.
- Keep a journal of your readings.
Start with a 3-cards spreads and do not add more cards for now (like Past/Present/Future spread), there are many 3-cards spreads in the Spreads Forums. Read about anything, your job, your love life, your pets, and try to read people close to you about anything too. You can do daily readings too everyday. Note your readings in your journals. You will notice some cards come back more often and you will remember them more easily as you see them more often, you will be able to relate them to real life events too
I seem to remember better when I practice then just by readings books. Well, in my case it worked.
- Practive, practice and practice.
- Keep a journal of your readings.
Start with a 3-cards spreads and do not add more cards for now (like Past/Present/Future spread), there are many 3-cards spreads in the Spreads Forums. Read about anything, your job, your love life, your pets, and try to read people close to you about anything too. You can do daily readings too everyday. Note your readings in your journals. You will notice some cards come back more often and you will remember them more easily as you see them more often, you will be able to relate them to real life events too
I seem to remember better when I practice then just by readings books. Well, in my case it worked.
Ange
Do as Sinduction suggests.
Start with one suit, look closely at the first card, pick out all the details and see if it is suggesting anything to you...go and look at the 7 of Swords for instance...straight away you can see a chap with a load of swords in his arms, running off, looking behind him with a sneaky look on his face,,,so he's pinched them...and he's running off with them.....
Then look it up in the book.....see how what you have seen matches the meaning...deceit etc.
Write down what you see in each card, and then jot down any differences that the book gives, and see if there is anything you have missed.
And the Majors....take one to bed with you...lie and study it before you put out the light....then totally relax. Bring the card to mind, and pretend the card is big, and you can walk into it.....step into the card....for instance, the Magician....and stand at the side of him and see what he has on his table...see how he can make anything happen. Notice all that is there around him...and when you have done, step out of the card again and let the card go back to it's normal size in your mind. You will never foget that card....so then do the same with the rest...
These are just a few of the things that I did,....
Ang x
Start with one suit, look closely at the first card, pick out all the details and see if it is suggesting anything to you...go and look at the 7 of Swords for instance...straight away you can see a chap with a load of swords in his arms, running off, looking behind him with a sneaky look on his face,,,so he's pinched them...and he's running off with them.....
Then look it up in the book.....see how what you have seen matches the meaning...deceit etc.
Write down what you see in each card, and then jot down any differences that the book gives, and see if there is anything you have missed.
And the Majors....take one to bed with you...lie and study it before you put out the light....then totally relax. Bring the card to mind, and pretend the card is big, and you can walk into it.....step into the card....for instance, the Magician....and stand at the side of him and see what he has on his table...see how he can make anything happen. Notice all that is there around him...and when you have done, step out of the card again and let the card go back to it's normal size in your mind. You will never foget that card....so then do the same with the rest...
These are just a few of the things that I did,....
Ang x
LadySquee
jrr01 said:How do you guys do it to remember the meanings for each tarot card? I find it too difficult to remember 156 meanings if you count the upright & reversed...! Any tips...
Thanx in advance...
I have been studying Tarot for over 6 months now, and I don't know all the meanings.
First of all...DON'T START LEARNING REVERSALS YET!!!! As a newbie, studying reversals before you even know what all the upright positions mean is just going to make things extremely complicated.
To be honest, when I was first learning, I did spreads on myself. I used and still use learntarot.com/cards for meanings. Anyway, I did spreads on myself, and researched the meaning of each card, and I found the more that card resonated with me in the position it was in, and it was a card that I could connect to real things in my life, I found that those cards, I knew the meaning by heart.
For example, the first cards I ever pulled for myself were the 9 of Swords and The Hermit. I was at a bad time in my life, and I knew exactly what the cards were trying to say to me. Whenever I see those cards, I am able to interpret them from feeling rather than looking up the "definition".
Don't expect to learn all the meanings by heart for a while.
I started an online Tarot journal and started making entries that contained notes about the cards as groups. First the Aces, then the Twos, etc. Putting the meanings into my own words and going with what I felt about them and writing it out helped me a lot.
I hope that helps you some!
WolfyJames
LadySquee said:
LadySquee explains better what I meant by constantly reading ourselves. When we can match cards to events of our lives, we get their meanings better. Otherwise it's very theoric and on paper if you just read books first before dabbling with the cards.
