Teaching Tarot

Isarma

So this is it... after a long wait, I now have the confirmation that I will start teaching Tarot in a "school" right here in Lisbon. The presentation day is at October 12th....
The thing is..... I'M IN PANIC!!! It's the first time I will teach tarot, I have all the arcanes ready for teaching, but I do not have a clue if it is good.
So I count on your opinion:
I will start with The Fool, and then the others, following the Foll's path over the deck.... I will teach two cards a day.
I will tell the students to have a Tarot Journal / Diary, and they will have notes there about the card of the month, the week, and the day.
They will take notes of what whatever they feel like is related to the card they got for theyr day, coincidences, signs, if the card works as a warning, as a tip, has an predictive archetype....
They will do reading exercices every class, even if they don't know all the "passwords" for the cards, in a way that they can develop theyr intuition independently of the card "meanings".
In the first class I would like to make a questionaire, these ar the questions:
Name:
Astrological data:
Why did you decided to make this course?
Do you have any previous knowlege of Tarot?
I you do, do you read cards often?
With what card do you identify the most?
Why?
In what aspects to you think that knowing Tarot will pe positive in your life?


So these ar some of the questions... I would love your opinion on this, and I'm opened fo sugestions!
Thank you :)
 

Summersweet

Congratulations Isarma!

How long will the course be? Is it going to be everyday for so many days/weeks??

I was thinking with your questionnaire to have something about what they expect and if they have any worries, then you could work towards if so many want to learn a certain spread or be more intutive with reading, also with worries I know when I first started reading it was pretty daunting so many meanings so maybe knowing if anyone has any concerns you can address them too.

What about setting up a format for their daily card to give some direction on what they look at in the card. Doesn't have to be complicated, just like the card, Symbols in the card that stand out for me, how the cards makes me feel, how the card relates to my day, something like that.

Maybe before telling the meaning of each card ask what they think it means, first impressions will get it to be more interactive and also get away from the feeling I need a book to read. (I've done this before with a few friends who had no knowledge of the cards and they were impression how they could see what it meant at a basic level, I think that may help some newbies)

That's just a few ideas anyway
 

Isarma

thank you very much, I will use your ideas :) the classes will be every at fridays, at 07:00 pm, since October till June
 

Isarma

this is soo cool! thank you!!
 

Raya

One way I've heard of teaching it would be to focus on symbols before individual cards' meanings. That way the students can explore and use the cards before they know all the individual meanings. They can play with the tarot right away, and most people are anxious to play with them when they first get them. Then add on a couple cards' meanings a day, like you say.

For example, I taught a friend these symbols first: major vs minor arcana, court cards in general mean people or personalities, suit meanings, numbers, animals, and to look carefully at the environment of the card, the postures of the people, etc.; and that was a good grounding for her, I think.

Just a couple ideas. ;) Good luck! You sound like you're going to be a great teacher!
 

Isarma

yes, most of all focus on simbols :) you have great ideas, all of you!
Do you think it's a nice thing to have play music while they are doing theyr reading exercyces?? I think it would be great, but I'm afraid they do not focus, or that they instead feel like if they are in a "trance" and just let me taken by the sounds....
 

Raya

Hmm... maybe no music to begin with. But as you see them getting more comfortable in class, you could try and see. Personally, I get distracted quite easily, and I've been doing cards for a couple of years.
 

ana luisa

Parabéns! It´s great to know that you´re going to be a teacher like me! It´s a real blast once you manage to relax and actually "enjoy" the teaching. The suggestions given here were excellent. I don´t have much to add. However, if you want to work with their intuitions, or help them use them, do some comparisons between symbols and the way they present themselves in different cards. For exemple, water can be manifested in many ways. As a stationary lake, a flowing river, wine in a cup, etc. One may suggest movement, the other, containement, reservation, shyness, etc. Just keep in mind something I heard once and that changed the way I saw teaching. Don´t teach the book, teach the students. Good luck!! :)
 

Isarma

UAU I dind't know you were a tarot teacher... How long do you teach?
 
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