Still looking at the book after all these years!

[blackroseivy]

I am frustrated. I have been reading since 1978. Long time, right? Well, I do use plenty of intuition when I read - but I am STILL looking at books!!! I think I do this WAY too much. Does anyone have any suggestions? Sometimes I look at the cards & I'm lost!!

 

[Ace]

I have days like that too. I force myself to relax and think of what the book meaning is (and no, I don't look at a book, and I don't believe you don't have it memorized) then I starting working on the picture and descibing it. Sometimes that helps too. Sometimes the card just doesn't mean anything right away. But relax and wait, it will come.

you might be trying to remember what the card is SUPPOSED to mean instead of what it means RIGHT NOW. Which may be a meaning that is totally new and even very strange for that particular card. which means the universe is telling you something. So put the book away, it will actually keep you from being the really great reader you are!

On the other hand. I once read for someone who was on heavy Prozac. And the cards meant NOTHING at all. I picked up the Fool and could not make hide nor hair of it! It was the drugs blocking me. So sometimes you have to have the querent close their eyes and take a few deep breaths to open up to your reading.

But practice with out the book (for your friends maybe) and you will gain confidence!
Ace

 

[Fulgour]

reel time

Based on your target market you could record
on tape and then check the cards afterwards,
then if the books don't agree just ignore them.

Hope this Helps!

 

[Sulis]

When you're doing a reading and you want to get that little bit more from a card so you reach for the book just stop, count to 10, breathe deeply then go back to the card.

Describe what you see, think about the elements, the picture, the number.

Just give yourself time - you'll realise you may not need the book as much as you think.

Love

Sulis xx

 

[lark]

Get more books!
I have over 150 tarot books and what stops me is never being able to decide which book to look in.

 

[Grizabella]

I find that the more I refer to books, the weaker my confidence in my own reading becomes till finally I feel like I can't read at all without using a book anymore. The best way to do without the books is------to do without them! Just start reading the cards and force yourself not to consult a book. Your confidence will grow from there, the more you do it. Then just read the books in between times. Don't use them to determine what your readings say. Just read them during "off" times when you're not reading cards for yourself or someone else, as a means of increasing your knowledge of the cards in general.

 

[Elven]

I love books!!

I still use books to bring me back to the basics. But I like to use my own books!! None of them published of course! They're my notes that Ive made over the years.
I started with a blank book - divided it up into 22 seperate sections for Major cards, and four suit sections for the Minors. Its easier to refer to that trying to find something by looking through all the published books!!

I dont see anything wrong with referencing from books! Thats what they're for and I love considering others insights! It doesnt take away from any intuition - IMHO - it maybe your intuition thats asking you to look at the book. You may only need to see one word for something to start flowing that has nothing to do with the full written meaning.

If books are hindering you though, maybe try to read the cards somewhere you cant access a book.

Be strong - glue the pages together!! *joke*

Many Blessings
Elven x

 

[sunny2]

Hi Danubhe
Your question and the replies you have received have made me realise it is reading the book that has made me lose confidence in my reading ability.
Normally I shuffle the cards and turn each card over and then proceed to read it using my own intuition, which has worked very well for a number of years. Recently though I have noticed for some weird reason, unbeknown to me, that I have felt the need to check my meanings to those in the book. When I have checked the book the explanation I have given has agreed with the books meaning. But it is driving me up the wall so much I dread reading for people anymore.
I agree with the comments made here , take deep breaths and use your own intuition as you have been. That's what i'm going to be doing from now on after reading your thread, so thanks here to everyone for helping me to get back on track.
sunny

 

[Little Baron]

I have many books here but I hardly touch them.

If I do read them, like someone else suggested, I read them away from the deck and not as a resource.

I think it was the Marseille that changed things for me - when I realised that I couldn't just look things up so easily and when I realised that most of the other meanings didn't make sense for that deck. Then, my little bronze note-book was the only one I used - it has ideas I have had about the cards as I have been going along, and sometimes, I do reach for that.

I worry every time that I turn over a card these days for another person.

Will I get it right???

And then I stop and think.

Get it right for who?

Who is it that is interpreting this card? Bunning, Donaldson, Pollack or Place?

Or is it me?

I look at the symbols, elements, numbers. I try to feel the card's energy and colouring. I look to it's left and then to it's right.

In terms of other decks, I think that the lack of 'help' found about the Marseille has also aided my work with them because I still don't reach for the books. I think that it is all inside me. I just need to relax and pause and somehow, it starts to release and I try to 'get it right' for the person I am reading for. The traditional meaning begins but it is with the understanding of the querant that the card really starts to make sense and come alive. That is when I develop a deeper relationship with it and see things that you'll never find in a book.

Does this make sense? It has not been something that happened over night. It took time and it is only recently that I realised just how much I wasn't reliant on the books.

LB

 

[Mimers]

When I go to the coffee shop to do readings, I leave my books at home forcing me to just go by what I see. I do like Sulis suggested and just start describing the card when I am stuck. Usually leads to great readings!