Barleywine
Measured in lifetimes?
This question might more properly be phrased: "How long does it take to arrive at one's 'comfort zone' in understanding and applying the tarot in divination?" The pat answer is that it's entirely personal and individual, no two people are alike. But let's suppose you have a steady flow of sympathetic sitters, access to all of the best resources, and all the time in the world to study and practice. It seems that a year would easily be enough to gain some confidence in your abilities, proportionally more if you don't have all of these luxuries. In my own experience, it took a year or so to feel that I was capable of delivering "adequate" readings that weren't largely propped up by standard keyword meanings, although looking back on them now I would probably find them laughably rudimentary. Prioritization, integtration and meaningful synthesis of all of the cards in a spread in order to come up with a useful narrative were the highest hurdles to get over. But I had prior experience synthesizing horoscope elements in astrology, so the idea wasn't entirely foreign to me. Also, I spent most of my first year studying and contemplating the "esoteric underbelly" of tarot rather than performing "live" readings.
This question might more properly be phrased: "How long does it take to arrive at one's 'comfort zone' in understanding and applying the tarot in divination?" The pat answer is that it's entirely personal and individual, no two people are alike. But let's suppose you have a steady flow of sympathetic sitters, access to all of the best resources, and all the time in the world to study and practice. It seems that a year would easily be enough to gain some confidence in your abilities, proportionally more if you don't have all of these luxuries. In my own experience, it took a year or so to feel that I was capable of delivering "adequate" readings that weren't largely propped up by standard keyword meanings, although looking back on them now I would probably find them laughably rudimentary. Prioritization, integtration and meaningful synthesis of all of the cards in a spread in order to come up with a useful narrative were the highest hurdles to get over. But I had prior experience synthesizing horoscope elements in astrology, so the idea wasn't entirely foreign to me. Also, I spent most of my first year studying and contemplating the "esoteric underbelly" of tarot rather than performing "live" readings.
