Intuition - Anyone Throw away the books?

The "throw out the books" was an opinion someone adamantly expressed and I think then folks got afraid to speak up and say anything else. I came blundering in not knowing any better so I stuck my foot in my mouth a few times because I didn't believe it was possible to learn with absolutely never, ever having picked up a book. My opinion was that somebody wasn't being exactly truthful about that. Anyway, I ended up just leaving that issue alone for the most part for a long time, but now I feel like it's time to speak up and say to read books! Do whatever it takes for you to learn what you need to know. And personally, in my opinion, what you need to know is not 100% found in your intuitive nature when it comes to Tarot. If it is, save yourself some money and make yourself a "found items" oracle for free and read that.

But don't set yourself up as a professional Tarot reader charging money if you're still relying on the book to find your card meanings! And don't do it online, either, figuring nobody on the other end of an email is going to know you're getting your meanings by looking the cards up in the book. They'll know and then you'll have made yourself a bad reputation. Reading the cards isn't just book meanings. It's a whole lot more and if you're relying on the book, it's going to show.

Grizabella said:

But don't set yourself up as a professional Tarot reader charging money if you're still relying on the book to find your card meanings! And don't do it online, either, figuring nobody on the other end of an email is going to know you're getting your meanings by looking the cards up in the book. They'll know and then you'll have made yourself a bad reputation. Reading the cards isn't just book meanings. It's a whole lot more and if you're relying on the book, it's going to show.

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Good grief, I have absolutely NO intention of doing that, nor did I mention doing anything of the sort!

Grizabella said:

But don't set yourself up as a professional Tarot reader charging money if you're still relying on the book to find your card meanings! And don't do it online, either, figuring nobody on the other end of an email is going to know you're getting your meanings by looking the cards up in the book. They'll know and then you'll have made yourself a bad reputation. Reading the cards isn't just book meanings. It's a whole lot more and if you're relying on the book, it's going to show.

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shells said:

Good grief, I have absolutely NO intention of doing that, nor did I mention doing anything of the sort!

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I think Griz just meant there is readers on the internet who do that! they charge money (sometimes quite a lot) for looking up meanings in books and its not a good idea to do it professionally if you ever wanted to go that direction!

I do look up meanings in books all the time and use different books. The different interpretations help me to really get an idea and feel for the card. I don't use just one interpretation but many sources. For some cards I feel I really know them and don't need to turn to a book and really get a feel for it! I am improving in this area! I think my intuitive reading is just beginning and its in year 2 of learning the tarot seriously. I can understand why it takes years to really grasp it

You can get overwhelmed reading up on each card though, its a careful balance between learning and using them too much! the end goal is what each card means to you personally, that's the important thing

shells said:

Good grief, I have absolutely NO intention of doing that, nor did I mention doing anything of the sort!

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I didn't mean you in particular. I was using "you" generically there. I should have made that clear, I guess. Thank you to danieljuk for realizing that.

Thankyou for clearing that up! Although I havn't touched my cards since late 2009, I started using them in 1997 or 98, so not a rank newbie, but still nowhere near knowledgeable enough to even consider asking for money for readings.

Since starting this thread, I have done a number of readings writing down my intuitive impressions before reading the meanings in my books. I'm actually quite surprised at how relevant my interpretations of each card has been so far, due to my memory problems, I honestly did not think that I could remember anything relevant to any card in the deck.

I certainly couldn't explain the details of any card without having it sitting in front of me, but definitely an 'Ah-ha' moment in being able to interpret symbols, images, colours etc from my existing knowledge. Time to expland that knowldge base methinks!

If you've already done a lot of book study, I think it's impossible for it to go poof and to do a completely intuitive reading. Even if you aren't consciously trying to access it, it's running in the background feeding your intuition, your subconscious. Using both conscious knowledge and intuition just creates a more multi-layered reading IMO.

I agree Goldenwolf, I'm just quite amazed (given my memory) that the 'stuff' I have read over the years, and would have sworn I am incapable of remembering has actually been retained and that I am able to access it

This might not be such a big deal to anyone who does not have memory problems, and I certainly couldn't sit down and pass a written exam on it, but its a wonderful feeling to know that at least some information from the hundreds of books I have read in the past has been retained in my swiss cheese brain - LOL even if I need to be in a slightly altered state to be able to access it!

Gives me hope that with practice I will be able to read tarot intuitively in the future rather than having to use the LWB as a dictionary for each reading

Don't worry about it. Symbols aren't exact like numbers (which are themselves symbols). They can convey quite abstract and mysterious concepts, and it isn't a question of how well you can define them in a reading, but how well you assimilate the wordless feelings they convey. An ourobouros is a snake biting its tail, yes, but infinity can't actually be described in words, you have to feel it in yourself without them. Building a habit of understanding the symbols viscerally is immensely rewarding in reading, and can add depth you never imagined.

Seems like you're on the right track!