I have owned Tarot cards for a few years but use them only sporadically, so I still consider myself a beginner. One problem I keep running into is that I am easily discouraged when I draw a card or a spread and it does not seem to fit at all with either the spread or the question. For example earlier today I did a reading for how to cultivate peace in 2017 and drew the Queen of Wands (using Tarot Mucha, in which the Queen of Wands looks rather unpleasant and stroppy!). I did my best to interpret this but in the back of my head I couldn't stop wondering why something more fitting in my eyes didn't come up. I know the answer to this is probably just that I need to keep practising in order to access the many, many meanings each card can have but I just feel so discouraged each time the card doesn't seem right to me. I find sometimes I don't want to do a reading in case the reading doesn't make sense, which then makes me doubt whether it's worth trying in the first place... I start to feel like I must be doing something wrong, like I'm just not intuitive enough, or like I'm losing faith in the whole concept of Tarot.
Anyway, I suppose what I'm asking is whether anyone else has had this problem and what is the best way to get past my narrowmindedness?
Here is my take on what you said above.
I believe that the right answers always come up if we ask a question, as long as not distracted at the time and we are actually paying attention to what we're doing. That the cards (or whatever you believe answers us when we ask)
want to answer us and will consistently if there is something we really want to know. That is something we can depend on.
That means when the answer has not made sense, it is usually on the reader who has misunderstood something. It happens, we're all human and sometimes things are clearer than at other times.
Another thing to consider is that ALL card meanings contain both sides of the coin to them: the positive and the negative sides, the theme and it's opposite...(and everything in between).
So let's say The Lovers card can say either that there is love there, or that there is not love there. The Empress can say that someone is very caring, or that it would benefit them to become more caring...
So let's say you asked how to cultivate peace in 2017 and there is this stroppy unpleasant looking woman on the Queen of Wands. I agree with you 100% that the advice is not likely to be to emulate this woman and try to be like her. That is not likely to be the path to take. To achieve peace.
The meaning is more likely to be asking you to take a good look at her and to try to NOT be like her. To work to eliminate any aspects of her that remain in you atm. Even if they are small things, try to let them go. Little things maybe like impatience, apathy in certain situations, whatever you see in her. Letting them go is what will bring you more peace. Put another way, if you want to experience peace, first you need to eliminate what is not peaceful inside you. When you clear that out, what remains IS peace.
Maybe it's not so much about expecting a card that feels fitting to you, but more about going into it trusting that wisdom will be given to you by the card even though you cannot anticipate in advance the form it will take. Then it is just your job to decipher the meaning. Sometimes its better not to try to anticipate the form the wisdom will come in in advance. Because if we expect something to show up in one place, we may look for it there and not look elsewhere or see the true answer that is in another place altogether.
Maybe when cards don't feel right to you (or they dont tell you what you expect to see)...better to try not to have any expectations. If you can, I think clearing those out as much as you can would help you.
Honestly I think that it all it is. The only expectation you need to hold onto is that the cards will work and answer. Drop any other preconceived notions and try not to imagine or anticipate what will come up in advance, I believe that only gets in the way. When you get the answer, it can be a bit like a jigsaw puzzle, as it can require some clear thought and you have to put the pieces together.
Babs