Memorizing...

[Dream Seeker]

I've been trying to memorize the cards as best as I can. All I know is Death (upright). I used to know more, but it's kind of all drained away. I couldn't find any threads for tips on learning all the meanings. I know there are things like flash cards, but it doesn't really help.
I work best with games, so if you know a game that would be wonderful to hear! I learn from things like freerice.com. It's easy to study and learn, but of course they don't have a tarot section.
I need to learn both upright and reversed meanings. It's really annoying to have to sift through my papers to look at the meanings, I would really love to know them at the top of my head.

 

[Juliana]

Do you do well with learning from audio? There are a couple fabulous podcasts that have gone through the arcana and described the cards in great detail. It really helped me because I learn from hearing something explained. One is the Tarot Tribe podcast (which is still going through them now), and the other is the Texas Tarot podcast (which hasn't put out a new podcast for years, but I still find their old podcasts invaluable).

As for games, I've heard great things about the book Tarot Playbook, although I haven't bought it yet. It is supposedly a whole collection of games to help you get acquainted with the cards. Not sure if it focuses on meanings though.

 

[celticnoodle]

what I'd recommend is not memorizing the cards- but participate in reading exchange circles here on AT and look at each card as a separate picture first. What does that picture tell YOU? Then, when you decide what each cards picture tells you, look at each card in relationship to the other cards around it and try to find the story in them together. That is real tarot reading.

Go with your gut instincts first. Its fine to read through meanings, but trust me what is considered the 'meaning' in one LWB is a bit different in another LWB. Best to follow your own gut instincts on what the message is.

If you're still stuck, then find a book to look up each meaning for awhile. Soon enough, you'll find that you don't need the book. You'll be relaxed enough and not too worried about what the accepted "meaning" is per card, but to read it as you feel the meaning is.

the best way to learn the cards is to read constantly for yourself and others. Just keep at it. read, read, read. start off with small spreads, like 3 cards and perhaps no more then 5 cards at first. get comfortable with that way of reading and move on with bigger spreads. Or stick with the 3 - 5 cards only.

 

[swedishfish612]

When I first started to learn Tarot in 2008, I tried straight up memorization. I learned maybe a handful of cards that way. When I decided to pick it back up again this year, I went about it differently. I bought a spiral notebook and went through my deck card by card. Started with the minors (I'm not sure why, think I read that advice somewhere) and looked at the card first, and wrote down my first impressions.

For example, here are my notes on the 8 of Cups (using the Deviant Moon deck):

- cemetery, gravestones, 8 cups, woman walks away with hands up
- disgusted? angry?
- perhaps the past? cemetery/gravestones mean the past is dead to her, she's moving on

And then after I ran out of thoughts, then I'd read the LWB (Little White Book) that came with my deck, as well as the traditional interpretation in the book I was studying with (Joan Bunning's Learning the Tarot) and I'd add the "real" meanings to my notebook as well. Sometimes I was way off base with my impressions vs. the actual meaning of the card, but often I was pretty darned close.

Doing it this way was a lot of fun and I didn't have to work to memorize meanings anymore. I'd see the card and I'd just know/remember what it was about. (At least on the surface. There are so many possible ways of interpreting a card!)

 

[swedishfish612]

Forgot to add- I also found daily draws to be valuable. Still do, in fact! I'd ask for one card to guide my day...perhaps a prediction for the day, or something I needed to be thinking about, or something I needed to learn. I'd pull my card, record it as well as possible relevance to the day I had ahead. Each night, I'd come back to my notebook and make a few notes about how the card related to my day.

 

[Carla]

Unlike the received wisdom of going with your gut instinct, I did more or less memorize meanings when I first started. Over time I have taken on a variety of meanings for each card, as well as my own ideas. But without the foundation of memorizing basic meanings, I would have been at a loss. So everyone is different.

As to how to memorize, try learning the meaning for a card by referring to it often while studying the card image looking for clues as to how the author of that meaning came up with it. If you can see it and it makes sense to you, add that meaning to your repertoire. If a particular meaning never does make sense to you, don't bother with it. As you study each card, make up stories about what is going on there. The more you think about a card, the more you internalize its meaning.

 

[Disa]

All great advice. I, like Carla, felt I needed a firm foundation. Once I had that down, my intuition could go to work. What helped me was to just break it down by Suits- what do cups mean? What does the number of cups mean, etc... It's a life long process, so take it slow- there is always more to learn.

 

[raeanne]

Hi Dream Seeker,
Instead of just trying to memorize a list of key words, get the card out and match each key word with something in the picture. For example, if you have the key word 'carefree' for The Fool card in the RWS deck, what item in the picture reminds you of the word carefree? Did you see the movie "Forest Gump"? This movie starts and ends with a feather drifting aimlessly - a perfect image of the word 'carefree'. There is a feather in the cap of The Fool! So, you can use the image of the feather to help you remember the word 'carefree'. By making it a matching game, you might find it easier to remember the key words. You can also make your own 'key word' list by looking at each detail of the picture and write your own key word to go with that item. For example: The Fool card in the RWS deck has a yellow sky. What does the color yellow mean to you? Usually the color yellow is associated with the words 'happy', 'sunny', 'cheerful', etc. Instead of memorizing, you just have to look at the picture and find your key words right there in the picture. Just an idea.

 

[magpie9]

the best keyword collection I've ever see is in Robin Wood's tarot book She has a way with choosing a few words that really say it and sticking the mind. I find them good with any RWS deck. For instance, her keyword for 5 Swords i "Nah-na-nah-nya-nya" from our collective childhoods!
She alo explains in great detail why she chose what color in a card, and the symbolism of all the things in it...it complete but not heavy. If you use the deck, all the better, but I find it relates very well to any RWS deck.
The pictures are great for your intuition and storytelling, too, and the cours are great for the personalities of the court cards. altogether a terrific learning book...and deck.No memorization. No dust. No esoterics. just a beginning place on your path.

 

[celticnoodle]

I love swedishfish's advice too. If you're good at journeling (I am not!), its the way to go.

I also would highly recommend what swedishfish mentioned about memorzing what each suit means. It's not a bad thing to read through books though and get their ideas of meanings and see if you can identify with that. But, I am very much a intuitive reader. that said, after awhile, you just can't seem to forget certain accepted meanings assigned to cards, either. fives seem to always mean either conflict or challenges to me and tens the end of something and the start of a something new. I really think within time you'll get to a point where you are feeling more sure of your abilites and really the best way for this is to also practice constantly with readings.

I also second magpies suggestion of the Robin Wood tarot. its a well done deck and the book is excellent too.

whatever you decide to try, just make sure it is fun for you and not a chore. Keeping it fun will mean it'll stay with you. If it is like a chore, then it is also easily forgotten.