Madame Endora's Study KEYWORDS

[Chronata]

I wanted to open a thread on keywords because I was curious about how others feel about them...

Do you use them regularly in your readings? Only sometimes?
Or like me...do you really find them to be distracting...and ignore them completely?

Well...not entirely true...I don't ignore them ALL of the time...
On occasion, I will be reading with these cards, and a card will come up...and my mind will just go blank. I mean...I've got NOTHING!
And then...somewhere in the back of my brain...there is this little nagging voice...oh wait...Yes...there are WORDS on that card! I wonder what they say?

And when I read them...suddenly there is meaning there...yes! That's what this card is about! That's why it showed up in this reading!
The cards themselves are so beautiful...and the symbols chosen are so chock full of meaning...that this doesn't happen that often!

So...what about the rest of you?
Keywords...or no keywords?

 

[September Pixie]

Great Idea!

I use them sometimes if I am not sure how the cards fit into the reading, but its also helpful because the questor can also pull some insight from the cards if you are reading face to face

 

[lunakasha]

GREAT thread!!!

I try not to get too hung up on the keywords in this deck....but I do not rule them out entirely either. My first approach when I begin a reading is to try to block them out completely and just focus on the image itself...what is the card trying to say to me that is relevant to this particular reading and this querent....

Only after looking at my initial reaction to the card will I consider the relevance of the keywords and/or LWB meanings....or sometimes I do not refer to them at all, if those meanings do not "click" with what I have already taken from the card.

Here is a good example:

One of my first readings with this deck, and the first one for someone other than myself....he was an acquaintance at the time so I was pretty much reading "blind", did not know much about him on a personal level.

The reading was moving along nicely until I turned over the Outcome card:
THE RAVEN!!!

Now as you know, the Raven in this deck is described as follows:

KW: Darkness Looms on the Horizon (EEEEEK!!!!)

The raven is an omen of warning or ill portent. This dark creature is a harbinger of the shadows and a scavenger among the ruins. Darkness looms on the horizon. Take heed.

OK....you REALLY can't get a more negative card in this deck, am I right??? I would compare it to The Tower in tarot...not good.

HOWEVER....when I looked at this card, in this particular reading, I did not get any kind of negative feeling at all!!! I personally am quite fond of ravens and do not believe that they are necessarily "evil" in and of themselves, any more so than are black cats or wolves (both of whom have gotten some negative PR through the years, LOL).

So...I looked at the card, keeping an open mind, and got the feeling that the raven was representing communication, that he is a messenger, and that it was unclear to me what that message was specifically...but for the querent to be aware and open to receiving his message.

As it turned out....my friend was VERY pleased by the appearance of the raven in his reading....he felt a strong, personal connection to this bird as one of his animal spirit guides.....

So, in this case, the keywords and LWB were way off the mark.....

Luna

 

[Chronata]

oh luna..forgive me...but this is TOO funny....when I first scanned your post I misread it...and saw "blind" and thought you were reading for a blind person!
...and for the "Darkness looms on the Horizon" card...to show up in a blind person's reading? LOL! That's just too horrible! Glad I misunderstood that!

I think you're right, Pixie...reading these for clients, the keywords often add another dimension to the reading...one that may be very personal for the querant, who may or may not tell me if the keywords mean anything to them!
but it is a way for the client to really connect with the cards themselves...where they can already get a layer of meaning without waiting for me to interpret them.