I just wanted to post out of gratitude for these wonderful posts. They gave me a lot of perspective and inspiration. After reading them, I found a little blank notebook and set aside two pages for each Major Arcana card and one for each Minor Arcana card, and then proceeded to write down my own impressions and lessons from the cards. I had the most fabulous and revelatory time doing this that I sat up in bed for hours doing it, totally focused!
And indeed, some of what I wrote echoed what I'd read elsewhere, but the understanding became internalized, came alive, when it came about from my own perception and analysis, examples and stories from my own life, rather than from someone else. And the instances where I came up with a different approach to the card really expanded my intuited and felt sense for the cards. And most strikingly, everything I wrote down about the cards reflected an understanding of life and its lessons that extends far beyond tarot for me.
And I really love your balanced approach, Umbrae, the mix of yin and yang, the tenderness and care paired with directness and authority. It's given me a lot of ideas and understanding for how to approach doing readings for others if and when I ever begin to do so.