Teaching someone Tarot?

[AnemoneRosie]

Sometimes I have people come up to me who want to learn; I'm not really in the business of teaching so I tend to turn them down. I'm starting to think that maybe I don't want to keep turning them down though.

Does anyone teach Tarot to others? How do you go about it, short of referring them to blogs? I'm self-taught so I don't know how to explain what I do; I just do it.

 

[blueeyetea]

If you can't explain what you do, I would agree that teaching someone else would be difficult. Since it's not really an interest of yours to teach others, I'd say keep referring them to blogs, or suggests a couple of books to get them started.

If they're really serious about learning they can find another teacher or join a class. I took an online class, and I thought it was money well spent. Besides that, I know that tarot classes are available in my community through the leisure program at the school board.

 

[gregory]

Sometimes I have people come up to me who want to learn; I'm not really in the business of teaching so I tend to turn them down. I'm starting to think that maybe I don't want to keep turning them down though.

Does anyone teach Tarot to others? How do you go about it, short of referring them to blogs? I'm self-taught so I don't know how to explain what I do; I just do it.

No-one has ever been mad enough to ask me, but if I felt up to it, I'd sit down with them, have them start reading, and try and talk them through being stuck. I'm a great believer in learning by doing.

There's also Lynda Cowles' DVD, Tarot Stripped Bare....

 

[AnemoneRosie]

No-one has ever been mad enough to ask me, but if I felt up to it, I'd sit down with them, have them start reading, and try and talk them through being stuck. I'm a great believer in learning by doing.

There's also Lynda Cowles' DVD, Tarot Stripped Bare....

I'm a huge believer in learning by doing as well - after all, that's how I managed to teach myself. I suppose that getting them to just play with their new cards would help them bond with the deck and teach them to read it intuitively. If they wanted to branch out from there then they'd be free to do so?

 

[JylliM]

Teaching can be a great learning experience. I started teaching violin after being one of the lucky ones who it came naturally to so I never had to think about how I did it. I also dabble in school teaching - same, never had to think about how to do that stuff before. Teaching a skill makes you have to really think about nuts and bolts, and explore new approaches when something doesn't work for the student. It deepens your understanding of what you do, and makes you fill in gaps in your knowledge which you didn't realise were there.
So, if you feel any inclination to do it at all...never know, it could be useful for your own reading skills! By the same token, if it's a drag, just don't! You don't want it taking away the enjoyment of what you do.

 

[Mi-Shell]

I occasionally teach Tarot to new readers and so have developed a whole course / curriculum as to how to introduce what aspects.... I do not take groups larger than 8 people for that.
After initial explanations the most important is, getting a pack of cards into their hands, pair them up and then one reads for the other and vice versa.
I have also developed ways of how to deal with difficult cards.
Making up scenarios like:
Romeo and Juliet: Romeo's mom goes to a reader and the death card shows up together with the tower and the.... ?? 10 of swords???
What advice will the sitter give the mom, sensing the dire outcome and trying to give advice to avert, what she is sensing.
But we also had a lot of funny scenarios, that reflect those "off the wall questions " a reader sometimes gets.
We also compare different decks and styles of reading, so new readers find the style and imagery, they best connect with.
It usually is a fun journey for everyone.
in the picture you see "students" mulling over a deck that is new to them and a 3 card reading.

 

[Cocobird55]

I pretty much taught myself, using books, online classes and Aeclectic. Barnes and Noble used to offer classes, and I took the tarot one, based on Joan Bunning's book, three times.

It took me a long time to feel that I was reading to try reading, and the Reading Circle here helped immensely.

 

[nisaba]

Have done, will do again.

How do you go about it, short of referring them to blogs?

I would never have thought of referring anyone to a blog and calling that teaching them. What could a blog possibly say to them that you couldn't? How did people run classes before the internet was invented?

I'm self-taught so I don't know how to explain what I do; I just do it.

So get them to do it, too. I usually run the first class more-or-lass as a Q and A, and try and explode some of the sillier myths about Tarot that regularly do the rounds (even from teachers and, yes, blogs), tell them a little bit about the history of Tarot in Europe, and acquaint them with different styles of decks.

From then on, just get them to do it. Get them to spread cards and talk about them. Make suggestions. Set homework, getting them to concentrate on one card per day, and report back on that homework to you.

They'll be reading in no time.

 

[SunChariot]

Sometimes I have people come up to me who want to learn; I'm not really in the business of teaching so I tend to turn them down. I'm starting to think that maybe I don't want to keep turning them down though.

Does anyone teach Tarot to others? How do you go about it, short of referring them to blogs? I'm self-taught so I don't know how to explain what I do; I just do it.

I would just explain my views that there is no one way to do it, no one size fits all. That each reader is an individual and has to find the way that works for them. Which may be very different for what works for others.

I would refer them to the books I found most helpful and of course to AT. And tell them to not be afraid to experiment and try new things. To let it all be a joy. And to follow where their heart and soul leads them. Because that is what will make them the best reader. That good readings do not come from the intellect, but from the heart and soul. The path to connect to that is not the same for each person, nor should it be.

I guess in the end, I would try to show them how to also be a self-taught reader, since that is what I am too. And what I grew to love. The voyage of finding yourself in this way, to me is priceless.

I wouldn't want a teacher telling me how to find me. I am the one best suited to find that. And to be a reader, I believe you need to "find yourself" find your true inner self and work from there.

Babs

 

[SuziDreams]

As a learner it helped greatly when I found it wasn't totally necessary to learn the meaning of every card before attempting readings, just looking at the imagery and learning some numerology helped enormously, learning the meanings came much more easily after that. So I'd recommend that as a starting point for a teacher.