IndigoViolet
The best advice I have got was, tarot is life and life is tarot, so never neglect any chance of spiritual development. It was the single most useful advice I have got for me.
Your best Tarot advice....
ldiddy
I like this tip, definitely an alternative but good way to pick up card meanings.
My #1 tip.... don't just journal, index! I started an index where I have one page for card. Anytime that card comes up in a spread I journal, I record the date and deck used. It helps me to reinforce my own interpretations.
Also, just enjoy Tarot. It's wonderful.
Grizabella
Well, the first thing I'd tell a new person is don't get impatient. Tarot is a never-ending study. It's not just a matter of learning 78 card meanings and 78 reversed meanings and then setting up shop and quitting your day job. Most people aren't ready to go pro for several years and some never do. I feel safe in saying that if your main reason for learning the cards is that you want easy money or you want to feel superior or more special in some way for understanding how the cards speak, then you're in it for the wrong reasons. 
Another tip I'd suggest is not to buy into the idea that the cards have a spirit of their own that doesn't like you or won't speak to you or that you have to believe all the many myths surrounding the cards. They're just a deck of cards---a stack of card stock with pretty pictures. You're just a marvelous creature called a human. But when you and the cards come together, if you've studied well and can open your mind to absorb the message of the spread, then something that seems like magic can occur.
What the heck, I'll add a third tip. If you choose to read for others, learn to put your own judgments aside and don't use the cards to dish out your own opinions. Take a moment or two to step out into impartiality. For instance, maybe your sitter is involved with a married partner or they're married themselves and you think that's scandalous. You aren't going to do your sitter one bit of good if you use the cards as a crutch to give your own judgments. You have to be able to impartially look at the cards in front of you and find what the cards advise without tainting the message. The cards are not about you if you read for someone else. They're about your sitter whose life journey has very little in common with your own sometimes. They may need to go down a path you think isn't moral or right by your own standards but it's necessary for them to learn in their own way, covering their own mistakes and pitfalls to get where they're destined to go.
Another tip I'd suggest is not to buy into the idea that the cards have a spirit of their own that doesn't like you or won't speak to you or that you have to believe all the many myths surrounding the cards. They're just a deck of cards---a stack of card stock with pretty pictures. You're just a marvelous creature called a human. But when you and the cards come together, if you've studied well and can open your mind to absorb the message of the spread, then something that seems like magic can occur.
What the heck, I'll add a third tip.
If you choose to read for others, learn to put your own judgments aside and don't use the cards to dish out your own opinions. Take a moment or two to step out into impartiality. For instance, maybe your sitter is involved with a married partner or they're married themselves and you think that's scandalous. You aren't going to do your sitter one bit of good if you use the cards as a crutch to give your own judgments. You have to be able to impartially look at the cards in front of you and find what the cards advise without tainting the message. The cards are not about you if you read for someone else. They're about your sitter whose life journey has very little in common with your own sometimes. They may need to go down a path you think isn't moral or right by your own standards but it's necessary for them to learn in their own way, covering their own mistakes and pitfalls to get where they're destined to go. Sulis
My advice is to not worry if it looks as if you're getting nowhere fast. Tarot is a journey and it's not to be rushed. It takes time and loads of practice to get confident with the cards (a bit like learning a musical instrument or a new language).
DJP
Wow, everybody's sharing such sage and thoughtful words of wisdom.... it's all brilliant and very inspiring.
This seems pretty mundane in comparison, but another thing I've found very helpful is looking at the gaze and body language of the card's figures, seeing how they relate to each other, and using these observations to decipher a spread's meaning.
Sometimes I'll even lay the cards out in a pyramid shape to increase the number of visual interactions taking place. This recently led to the rather satisfying image of the Hermit pounding downward on the Emperor's head with his staff.
This seems pretty mundane in comparison, but another thing I've found very helpful is looking at the gaze and body language of the card's figures, seeing how they relate to each other, and using these observations to decipher a spread's meaning.
Sometimes I'll even lay the cards out in a pyramid shape to increase the number of visual interactions taking place. This recently led to the rather satisfying image of the Hermit pounding downward on the Emperor's head with his staff.
lantana
- Personally connecting to the cards is how I finally "got" Tarot. Ask yourself what you see in the imagery, even if it goes against the card description in the LWB. Explore how you've experienced a card in your life before. If you have no personal connection to a card, explore why.
- Listen to your gut over the book meaning. These are where the really great readings will come from. Trust yourself! (I need to take my own advice on this one.)
- Learn how the cards connect to each other in a reading. Follow eyes, movement, positioning, and see where they lead. Try to weave the story that the reading is telling you, not just listing off positions. It'll really help push you further.
- Get decks that you like and will actually use. Get decks that you're weirdly attracted to even if they're not your style or favorite theme. Don't get decks just because everyone else has them or they're a standard, but don't write off a deck that you think is too 'mainstream' either.
- Listen to your gut over the book meaning. These are where the really great readings will come from. Trust yourself! (I need to take my own advice on this one.)
- Learn how the cards connect to each other in a reading. Follow eyes, movement, positioning, and see where they lead. Try to weave the story that the reading is telling you, not just listing off positions. It'll really help push you further.
- Get decks that you like and will actually use. Get decks that you're weirdly attracted to even if they're not your style or favorite theme. Don't get decks just because everyone else has them or they're a standard, but don't write off a deck that you think is too 'mainstream' either.
nisaba
You are right at the beginning of a lifelong training course. After forty years, you will still be learning - in fact it's only after twenty-five or thirty years that you know enough to be able to perceive the gaps in your knowledge.
This is the most enriching thing you can possibly do with your life. Enjoy every minute of it, even the very bad, embarrassing readings you do along the way.
Carojulie
Hello,
Wow, there is a lot of treasurable pieces of advice in this thread !
I have several to share, but I will start with one that I had to figure out for myself, one that nobody ever told me. I would have loved to have realised that sooner, it would have saved me a lot of burden and a lot of guilty feelings.
You will often find advice to journal. Most (if not all) books will tell you to keep a tarot journal, as will most of your tarot friends. Sometimes it can sound like an injunction, even.
Dont get me wrong, it is a GREAT advise, and it works wonder. But it is not compulsory, it is not the only way to go, so only do it if you like to write, only if you enjoy it.
How many times were I told to write in my journal, keep a tarot journal, journal my head off (and not only for tarot ! but also for reiki, for lenormand, for sorting out my emotions, etc, etc)
It is indeed an excellent advice, but only if you enjoy writing. If you dont, it will soon become a burden, and a heavy one at that, to the point where you could even be tempted to quit everything altogether.
Personaly, now, if I open a new tarot book and the first thing it tells me is that I have to journal extensively each exercise, it gives me a skin rash. (No, not true, I am exagerating, no skin rash in fact... but what's very likely to happen is that I wont read much further)
The thing is, I already write an awful lot in my profession, my work days are filled with writing, putting ideas together on paper, and typing typing...
After that, the amount of journaling I would "have" to do at home (if I followed all the good advices I received) just makes me want to cry. So, I journal just a little bit (that is probably less than 5% of what I am advised to do), at my own pace, and for the rest, I manage otherwise. It works for me.
I found that a great alternative to writing was to speak your thoughs aloud - that works very well, and your brain will record it (even if it is not recorded on paper)
If physical recording is important to you, you can also record your voice, or make videos, why not ?
For me, I do not feel that need ; just speaking aloud works wonder.
And I am sure that there are other alternatives that I have not tested. Like finding a tarot partner, and sharing aloud to each other your thoughts on a card, on a spread, on a tarot exercise. I would love to do that, actually !
Also, there are other ways to journal than filling pages in a textbook. For me, participating on certain threads of this forum, for example, can counts for tarot journaling.
So, journaling is wonderful, but you dont have to do it if you dont want to.
If you are not averse to it, then find the reasonable balance for you, and find the ways you like to do it the most - maybe mix the ways, if you want.
If you love to journal, fine, you are in for a treat ! If you dont, there are other options.
Good luck !
Wow, there is a lot of treasurable pieces of advice in this thread !
I have several to share, but I will start with one that I had to figure out for myself, one that nobody ever told me. I would have loved to have realised that sooner, it would have saved me a lot of burden and a lot of guilty feelings.
You will often find advice to journal. Most (if not all) books will tell you to keep a tarot journal, as will most of your tarot friends. Sometimes it can sound like an injunction, even.
Dont get me wrong, it is a GREAT advise, and it works wonder. But it is not compulsory, it is not the only way to go, so only do it if you like to write, only if you enjoy it.
How many times were I told to write in my journal, keep a tarot journal, journal my head off (and not only for tarot ! but also for reiki, for lenormand, for sorting out my emotions, etc, etc)
It is indeed an excellent advice, but only if you enjoy writing. If you dont, it will soon become a burden, and a heavy one at that, to the point where you could even be tempted to quit everything altogether.
Personaly, now, if I open a new tarot book and the first thing it tells me is that I have to journal extensively each exercise, it gives me a skin rash. (No, not true, I am exagerating, no skin rash in fact... but what's very likely to happen is that I wont read much further)
The thing is, I already write an awful lot in my profession, my work days are filled with writing, putting ideas together on paper, and typing typing...
After that, the amount of journaling I would "have" to do at home (if I followed all the good advices I received) just makes me want to cry. So, I journal just a little bit (that is probably less than 5% of what I am advised to do), at my own pace, and for the rest, I manage otherwise. It works for me.
I found that a great alternative to writing was to speak your thoughs aloud - that works very well, and your brain will record it (even if it is not recorded on paper)
If physical recording is important to you, you can also record your voice, or make videos, why not ?
For me, I do not feel that need ; just speaking aloud works wonder.
And I am sure that there are other alternatives that I have not tested. Like finding a tarot partner, and sharing aloud to each other your thoughts on a card, on a spread, on a tarot exercise. I would love to do that, actually !
Also, there are other ways to journal than filling pages in a textbook. For me, participating on certain threads of this forum, for example, can counts for tarot journaling.
So, journaling is wonderful, but you dont have to do it if you dont want to.
If you are not averse to it, then find the reasonable balance for you, and find the ways you like to do it the most - maybe mix the ways, if you want.
If you love to journal, fine, you are in for a treat ! If you dont, there are other options.
Good luck !
Nemia
Journaling can mean taking a picture and adding some words.
Another good tip:
if in doubt, search AT!
Another good tip:
if in doubt, search AT!
cybercat
Forget all the myths. There just a mass produced deck of cards no special power nor any special things needs to do . Get one big good workbook and journal and just work through the deck a few times.
