Newbie To Tarot confused with meanings help

[Emily]

I am focusing on the major arcana right now studying them closely and taking it slowly.

What deck or decks are you using for the course? If its RWS you are using then these courses will give you a firm foundation of the RWS symbology. IMHO this is helpful, it gives structure and an understanding of why the RWS artwork is as it is. Adding your own meanings comes later.

If you are using different decks then maybe the course is designed to give you a taster of different decks and their meanings.

Learning the tarot is a lifelong study.

 

[ghost271]

The only books available when started 25+ years ago were by Eden Gray and AE Waite. I wish I knew that reversibles were an OPTION not a must. And that the meanings could be whatever I wanted them to be.
The Two of Cups could mean something completely different to you than it is to me , and we'd both be right.
I'm teaching a friend to read right now and his meanings of cards are sometimes different than mine but refreshing and eye opening none the less.
With different decks I use, the same two cards could be different to me as well.
So ultimately you are the interpreter and the meanings are your own.

 

[Gracie2k]

Thank you for the replies. I am using Thoth and RWS and told not to move onto other's as yet but I can if I want to turn to another RWS based deck so long as it is very close to the original RWS. Studying the RWS first though. They did say don't take the answers as the answers they are a basis and to form my own also told me to study loads read different books, I am meant to make an alter cloth, tarot bag etc too. I've skipped the sewing crafting part right now though. lol
I don't believe in reversals and I turn cards upright, if a card falls out of the deck, I stick it back in re shuffle. Yet, I have a book about reversals..it's not for me.

 

[Emily]

I learned on the Original RWS but I disliked its limited colours and heavy black outlining. My favourite RWS is the Centennial Edition, it comes with a book about Pamela Colman Smith, some postcards and also Waite's book. I wish I had learned on a deck like this, its colouring is not as harsh as the standard RWS.

It's easier picking a Thoth deck, all you have to do is to decide which size you want.

 

[gregory]

I really can't see how the sewing stuff will help.... What might help is creating your own personal deck (see your other thread !) It will fix YOUR meanings in your mind !

I agree with you about reversals

 

[Sulis]

If you're learning RWS and Thoth together then that may be why you're getting so confused - they are both Golden Dawn decks but are generally thought of as different systems and they are quite different. If I were you, I'd focus on just one system - learning 2 right at the start seems like an exercise in frustration to me.

 

[danieljuk]

Gracie2k make learning as simple as possible. There is a wonderful blog post I read (and can't find now ugh) where it suggests learning and remembering a key word for each card, sometimes a few words. The key word should be personal to you and might not even be the normal conventional theme of the card. It might even be a different word between decks even. Then when you come to it remember that central theme, look at the other cards and work on making a story between them all. See what comes to you

I learnt like many others by learning different authors meanings from books, its great to know every single tiny little interpretation of a card, but its not important. It's what it means to you and practising with your cards over and over is more important. Like learning every spread or every little tiny detail. Gradually you will pick up the things you need to know. I only recently realised that really the personal part of tarot is far more important than knowing an encyclopaedia of knowledge off by heart!

People post all kinds of different interpretations of a card in AT forums spreads. If you learn one thing from Aeclectic it's that your interpretation and reading is never wrong, everyone has a different view! learn from all the other people. I probably learnt more from AT than any book

If you are finding the two courses confusing and you don't want to quit them, can you postpone one till the other one is finished? I would find it confusing doing two at once. I only ever read one tarot book or study a course at a time because I think it would confuse me. People in the course and the course books might do things differently or have different meanings of cards but personalise it to yourself

 

[Grizabella]

Yes, trying to learn Thoth and RWS together is very, very confusing. I did that when I first started, too, not realizing they were two different types of decks. Just pick on---probably RWS----and learn that before branching out into something else.

 

[Gracie2k]

I am only studying one. I have put the second one on hold and I am studying the shorter course. The more in depth is set to one side. I am trying to make key words for each card now. I am so distracted though I can't concentrate very well right now. I keep trying but, I am not able to sit still, I am very restless.
I think the problem with the RWS is there is a few cards in Majors that really don't connect to me. I am not getting the whole concept of them.

Temperance
The World
Wheel of fortune--( does anyone else start singing wheel of fortune song when they come across this card?) Nope that's just me so retro. i hope I don't burst into it when someone is crying during a reading. It's just the wheel of fortune..Oh sorry dear just singing my heart out! Can u imagine the shock n horror on their face?
Judgement -- I am starting to get
Emperor I saw as the man you marry end up as your soulmate
Empress The woman the emperor marries usually his soulmate.


Thanks

 

[SunChariot]

I am taking 2 course on Tarot. I am feeling out of my depth as, I decided to confuse myself very badly. I switched from their views to looking online at other's views and this is where i became lost. Each site each person has their own way with the cards. My problem is where to find the best book as a basis to know the meanings of the cards.
I am struggling. I am studying one course and the plan is then to study the next course.
I don't know how best to rectify the situation. Advice needed please thank you.

That sense of confusion may be part of your leanring process,. I know it was in mine. I can't say I ever took a course in Tarot. But I did read tons of books on meanings and methods (something I would still recommend doing) and yes I also read the meanings of teh real readers here at AT.

I was feeling just what you were at the time. Like WHY can't two books agree on what each card means??? Sometimes two books even had opposite or completely unrelated meanings.

Meaning is changed my so many things: the qusstion, the spread, the position in the spread, other surrounding cards....etc Add to that that each deck is quite different adn the same card in different decks can have quite a diffrent meaming. And that al lot of readere (myself included) take most (most but not all) of the meaning from he card image, not set meanings.

It really is quite difficult to pin a card taht can have almost infinite meaning down to 2 or 3 words. SO all books can never agree on and exact meaning

Whne it comes to individual readers....the cards speak to each of us in a differetn way, that relates best to our unque personality adn way fo viewing teh world. So yes different cards will mean different things to different readerssss.

the thing as a reader is not so much to find what works for one perosn you trust anhd copy them. The thing is to find what works best for you. The indiviual who is you. Differing things and meanings will work for different people.

I think readlings alot fo bookd to see different meanings is good. And necessary. But to see them just as suggesttion, not each one as law. Then you get to decide which of all the meanings of a card feels best to you adn best represents who you are inside and the kind of reader YOU want to be. That too differs from person to person.

For me, I staerted here:

http://www.learntarot.com/

The page is free, but there is a book version of it you could buy too if you want.

Also, you CAN just feel free to invent methids and meanings to things if you need too. If you ever find youreslf thinking that "I wish I had a way to get my cards to do this or that or say this or that...." Invent one. You are always free to do so at any time, For me the whole thing is about experimentation. About trying the new things and meanings out that appeal to you or call to you. Then you keep what works and reject what doesn't (or alter it) adn then over time you will have develiped your system that is yours alone and is the absolute best for the individual who is you.

Babs

What I learnt from that in the end is that the meaning of each card is fluid. It can be changed my so many different things. You could write lik 20 pp in if you treid to list even all the possbiel meanings you oould think of for any one card.