Who here considers themselves a beginner / learner ?

[Twoflower]

Now I know that to a degree everyone here is learning, and that "beginners mind" is a valuable asset at any stage ;-) but I thought that it might be nice to occasionally revel in the solace of others who feel similarly occasionally overwhelmed

How are you going about your learning? By doing? By studying? Taking a class?

Fancy bouncing stuff off each other and sharing the dubious benefits of our Dummies Minds ? I thought it might be an interesting addition to the process

T

 

[Carla]

I am a beginner and learner. I have a tarot journal and a blog and a notebook which I hope someday will be my personal reference tome. I'm working my way through Universal Waite in an IDS at the moment. And I'm using Mary K Greer's Tarot for Yourself to help.

 

[olivia1]

Now I know that to a degree everyone here is learning, and that "beginners mind" is a valuable asset at any stage ;-) but I thought that it might be nice to occasionally revel in the solace of others who feel similarly occasionally overwhelmed

How are you going about your learning? By doing? By studying? Taking a class?

Fancy bouncing stuff off each other and sharing the dubious benefits of our Dummies Minds ? I thought it might be an interesting addition to the process

T

I'm a beginner (I've only been reading for 14 months). I have already learned the book meanings so I further my "tarot education" mainly by doing as many reading as I can. I believe I learn the most by playing in the Tarot Games section and doing as many reading exchanges as I can. However, I also really enjoy looking at other people's readings and seeing how they interpret the cards. Oh and I keep a journal of "predictions" which I update with prediction outcomes.

 

[AJ]

I'll always be a beginner because there is something new to learn every day

 

[DaisyDragonfly]

I'm definitely a learner. Whatever I do, I'm always just scratching the surface.

So I've joined the Intensive Deck Study as well as the 78 Week Study. I pull at least one card for myself everyday and journal it. I participate in reading exchanges here. I read books - currently, Rachel Pollack's 'Tarot Wisdom'. I may focus on one deck at a time, but I continue to collect others, because of the valuable lessons learned from comparison.

Always learning. It's wonderful!

 

[Sulis]

I don't really think of myself as a beginner anymore but I'm definitely a learner and always will be - there's always something new with tarot.

I can remember that feeling of being overwhelmed very well and also the feeling that I just wasn't getting anywhere and probably never would. It took me at least 4 - 5 years before I actually felt as if I knew anything .

I found that my learning curve went up very quickly when I stopped second guessing my readings with book meanings. I still read books on tarot and I'll always do so but when I'm doing a reading it's the cards that count and what they say to me. Once I'd learned to trust that I seemed to come on in leaps and bounds. I used to be forever looking up card meanings just to see if certain authors had anything to add to my reading and it left me confused (to say the least).
Now I still look at what tarot authors have to say but I realise that when I'm doing a reading what I see and what I say is the most important thing.

 

[moderndayruth]

I'll always be a beginner because there is something new to learn every day

Same here

 

[Twoflower]

Carla - blog bookmarked

Olivia - I've not really ventured in to the "games" section - maybe I'll take a look this evening.

Journalling does seem to be a common practice (and recommendation). I seem to spend most of my day nearer a computer than to a notepad (certainly at work) so I've begun by using a blog - but I think that might need to change a bit as not everything I want to note is worth sharing (or indeed needs to shared in some cases...)

I still read books on tarot and I'll always do so but when I'm doing a reading it's the cards that count and what they say to me. Once I'd learned to trust that I seemed to come on in leaps and bounds. I used to be forever looking up card meanings just to see if certain authors had anything to add to my reading and it left me confused (to say the least).

Nicely put imho. I think the difference between being book-bound and being able to use them as additional sources of information is your (or rather "ones" but that always sounds so uptight to me ) mental state when reading: if I get caught in "ok I need to be remembering this" or "I need to understand and agree with this" then it doesn't work, and invariably I neither remember or understand anyway, but when approached for the most part as a casual read then the bits that resonate stick, and the bits that don't (this time around) fall away - no biggie. But it's too easy (in my experience thus far) to get sucked in to feeling that you need to be gaining new knowledge every day - in that frame of mind I'm almost guaranteed not to.

I "joined" the 78 week study group and that seems to be good for me - a semi-formal structure that means I don't think for 5 minutes then note my findings - they can be chewed over on and off all week (and again at any future date of course,but you get my drift)

And because I wanted to "play" more frequently I'm doing a kind of "Personal Deck Reflections" exercise with the same deck (RWS) . Part of me wants to flip that to another deck when they arrive, but another thinks that it's helping move by general underlying learning along. We'll see.

I tell you one thing though: I don't think I could hold the course of trying to learn and internalise this stuff without the external validation of comments and feedback, so this forum is an absolute gem

Book-wise I have Tarot For Life by Paul Quinn at the side of my bed, the LWB in my tarot bag, "Pictoral Key" bookmarked on the net and the "learn" area of this site (although not all at once). Oh, and I click around in all your blogs and steal your insights where they appeal

 

[celticnoodle]

Now I know that to a degree everyone here is learning, and that "beginners mind" is a valuable asset at any stage ;-) but I thought that it might be nice to occasionally revel in the solace of others who feel similarly occasionally overwhelmed

How are you going about your learning? By doing? By studying? Taking a class?

Fancy bouncing stuff off each other and sharing the dubious benefits of our Dummies Minds ? I thought it might be an interesting addition to the process

T

i definitely consider myself a beginner still. I am always learning something in tarot and probably will continue to do so the rest of my life. I don't know how others feel, but I just cannot think anyone is truly a "master tarot reader". some are better then others--but I'm sure they still have a lot to learn. I learn best by doing. constantly reading tarot for others.

I have tried to keep journals, but I'm not good at that. I also like to read different books on the art of tarot reading--various books, various authors. but actually reading the cards is the best way for me - to learn, and playing games with the cards is another great way to improve the skills! and, of course no place better for any of this but right here on AT!

 

[kittiann]

I am definitely still a beginner. I've played with my RWS on and off for five years or so, but I'd never studied more than the LWB until the beginning of this year.

Just recently, I started to change my style of study. I'd been studying the Thoth and various GD decks intensely: read the Book of Thoth, read Lon DuQuette's book on the deck, read the Liber T.. but hadn't yet actually done any readings with the thing! It was very interesting, but I think I overloaded my brain so I'm taking a break and just doing a daily draw with my Rumi tarot. I think it's important to look at both sides, reading and study, instead of concentrating on just one, or it becomes easy to get burnt out.