Importance of imagery on cards in interpretation

I was wondering how important imagery is in aiding in interpretation . How important is it ?

Depends on whether you read using just the interpretations or whether you read the images. I do both. I have lots of decks and I figure part of the reason I use a particular deck for a particular reading is because of the imagery in that deck. It could be whether the people on two cards are facing each other or away from each other or a symbol that repeats across cards.

When I do RED Exchanges with the Priapo deck, that imagery is so far removed from RWS imagery that I only read the images and don't even try to apply "standard" interpretations to the cards.

rwcarter said:

Depends on whether you read using just the interpretations or whether you read the images. I do both. I have lots of decks and I figure part of the reason I use a particular deck for a particular reading is because of the imagery in that deck. It could be whether the people on two cards are facing each other or away from each other or a symbol that repeats across cards.

When I do RED Exchanges with the Priapo deck, that imagery is so far removed from RWS imagery that I only read the images and don't even try to apply "standard" interpretations to the cards.

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I'm beginning to be drawn to the imagery in addition to meanings . Before it was all about meanings.
I only own one deck. It is not Rider Waite. So I have to rely on my take on the images. So I doubt myself .
I'm new.

I feel the same way as rwcarter that it depends on how you read. I use both meanings and images as well. I lean more towards images because I like to use intuition and I feel mine is sparked by images, sometimes I'm off and the meaning of the card would be better suited than what I had gotten from the image but for me it's practice at this point so it's all about learning about myself and how to interpret my intuition. I personally think it's good to learn many ways of reading that way you can have different views on interpretation and pick which suits you best.

tigerlilybug said:

I feel the same way as rwcarter that it depends on how you read. I use both meanings and images as well. I lean more towards images because I like to use intuition and I feel mine is sparked by images, sometimes I'm off and the meaning of the card would be better suited than what I had gotten from the image but for me it's practice at this point so it's all about learning about myself and how to interpret my intuition. I personally think it's good to learn many ways of reading that way you can have different views on interpretation and pick which suits you best.

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I agree. As I learn the meanings more other ways to look at the cards are presenting themselves .

The cards have images for a reason - if we were meant to read using memorised meanings or key-words, blank cards with titles written on them would be all the Tarot we need.

Look at the pictures. What do they make you feel? It's different in every deck.

I actually use both definitions and images equally. The attributions and "theoretical" stuff serves as the base, while the image gives the flavor. I could do it without the images (and there are even decks that do away with the images, among them the Tarot of Color), but it wouldn't be the same. It isn't as satisfying.

In this sense all Golden Dawn decks are the same, but it's in the images where the deck creators get a chance to shine. If it weren't for the images, the RWS and Thoth would be almost identical.

I find that more and more each deck has its own quirks, to the point that I also was going to ask a question like this today, specifically about Tarot of the Old Path and other decks this may pertain to: to me, Tarot of the Old Path has a lot of cards which in other decks would mean something else, but in this deck (and not even according to the book and LWB for it, which I have and have read), some of the cards mean more creepy or distasteful, or simply alternative (which I am NOT saying is creepy or distasteful, folks) things to me than in other decks: three of cauldrons means to me a threesome or poly situation and is specifically sexual as opposed to just something like a 'community celebration', and nine of cups usually means a bunch of drunks or people getting wasted, as opposed to the 'wish card' or any of the other usual meanings, and the two of cauldrons seems creepy and evasive, not like 'loving and healing union of opposites' or equal meeting of minds or romance or any of that. As a matter of fact, today's project for me is to go through the whole deck in tiny detail and find if there are cards which mean to me something like 'community celebration' and other wholesome things. I also have other decks where the LWB has great quotes (Universal Fantasy, some of Dark Angels), which I find very helpful with the images too. I think that for me it's just feeling what the card means, and either choosing to go with that or deciding if somehow the mainstream version applies more (which is just another use of insight). I do find that sometimes on this board people will get upset and say that 'this isn't what a card means' if I read for them, so lately I am very specific and make notes in the posts saying that in this deck, this is what it means to me, to avoid confusion.

I was also going to say that if I offer a few decks to people and they choose one that has alternative meanings, then I figure that that is just part of the reading: somehow the decks find the right people, so the folks who do have poly lifestyles, say, or work in bars or sexwork or something more often wind up with decks with cards that talk about that--YMMV.

AriesVirgoAscending said:

I was wondering how important imagery is in aiding in interpretation . How important is it ?

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For me, not much. When I pull a card I see the suit and the number, those alone carry a lot of information, I am already seeing an answer. I dont need a picture at all. I do come from a background of reading from playing cards, where I see images in my head. It is my clients who love seeing the tarot cards, they are beautiful. Their meanings are a bit different, I have only been using tarot for eight years, still learning Still getting use to seeing pictures on the cards, sometimes the imagine in my mind is not the picture on the card. I do enjoy using tarot, a whole new dimension in reading. It does not matter what tarot deck I use. When I feel stuck I will go to the picture.

If I were to have a student, I would probably have them start with the minors with blank cards, add the pictures in after they got the suits and numbers down, that is how I was taught.

Great question, loved reading the responces.

I've found that with just a basic idea surrounding the 'definition' to the card is almost moot compared to the images derived from the THOTH and Waite decks. My first deck was a THOTH from a tag sale sans "little white book" and just by working to translate the names of the cards from French I was able to very successfully do a full cross spread. The images are the essential aspect that transcends time and language.

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Agreement with PAMUYA, the question is excellent and I'm curious to read more responses.

Go with your intuition! How does the image on the card tell the story?

Good luck!