Ok few questions

koolchick

Has anyone else found tarot confusing to start with? Like how to know what cards mean in a reading ect. Or is it just me?

Who is it best to start doing readings for first? People you know well or people you don't know and why

Do the cards have same meanings in different pack like does the fool card mean the same things in the golden dawn tarot as it means in say the universal waite tarot and any other decks.
 

Skysteel

koolchick said:
Has anyone else found tarot confusing to start with?

Half this site wouldn't exist if that weren’t the case.

koolchick said:
Who is it best to start doing readings for first?

Yourself.

koolchick said:
Do the cards have same meanings in different pack like does the fool card mean the same things in the golden dawn tarot as it means in say the universal waite tarot and any other decks.

Cards have different meanings to different readers, let alone between different decks.
 

koolchick

Cards have different meanings to different readers, let alone between different decks.[/QUOTE]


So that is where it starts confusing. So you say the fool for example means different things in different decks to the same person? What about when reading for someone else could one card say fool mean something to the reader that it would never mean to someone else or does it mean similatr things to the people who you give reading to?
 

Apollonia

koolchick said:
So that is where it starts confusing. So you say the fool for example means different things in different decks to the same person? What about when reading for someone else could one card say fool mean something to the reader that it would never mean to someone else or does it mean similatr things to the people who you give reading to?

Well, for me, a card has several ways of delivering its message:
1) The traditional meaning I have learned or memorized for it
2) The meaning it takes on from being in a certain position
3) The meaning it takes on from surrounding cards, if any
4) The meaning I intuitively receive from the illustration in that particular deck's rendition of the card
5) Additional meanings I have gained for that card through my own experience of reading for myself and others

In a single reading, I may use any or all of these ways of figuring out what the card is saying. That's why the Tarot is such a fascinating study and practice--there is no point at which you can say, "There--I'm done. I've learned all there is to know."

I feel it doesn't matter who you start out reading for, just so long as you are comfortable. The most important thing when beginning is to practice, practice, practice with your cards. Read for yourself, for friends and family, for Aeclectic members, for political figures and celebrities, for fictional characters. Just keep reading, and you will find your unique way of interpreting the cards. And enjoy!
 

Fulgour

Tarot Wags Our Tails

I was outside earlier today, working in the garden~
it's winter now but it's been mild here after a thaw.

My senses were so alive, the air is turning freezing,
and so many things in nature were beaming vibes...
and just as a human my sense of smell is miniscule
while animals can 'read' the air for all of it's signals.

Maybe, I thought, the Tarot is like a bridge back to
being powerfully in touch with all of our own senses
that are now taken up in our lives with other tasks?

I once read that the part of the brain in humans that
governs memory, is in animals where smells are kept,
in other words, we do remember things, but at a loss.

Tarot might be our eyes and ears, our sight and smell,
in a way restored, because we've made a place for it.

I've always thought it would be revealing if we people
still had tails like our friends the dogs. Wagging can't
be faked, and maybe we'd all know each other better.
 

WolfSinger

Welcome, kookchick!

Although the same card may have different shades of meaning in different decks, there's usually an underlying energy to the card that different decks' authors get their meanings from. I've found that reading a lot of books and looking at different decks has helped me find the common basis and strip away all the details the various authors put into their meanings, to just get a basic feel for what the card is about, and get my own meaning from that. But for a beginner, you can just go with some basic card interpretations like those in Thirteen's Tarot Basics on this site.

Also, you don't have to always do a full reading. Drawing a single card each morning to study is a good way to get to know the Tarot. You can also do exercises like pulling out all the Queens, for instance, to compare what you see in them. And as others have mentioned, just reading the wealth of information on this site can help immensely in learning what others have found about the Tarot.
 

Satori

Whoa Fulgour.
Pass the shrooms....:D

I wouldn't mind wagging, but if there is any butt sniffing involved, well, I gotta pass on that.


koolchick, your questions are so wonderful! I think you have a great journey ahead of you. For now, focus on the deck you are using. Don't be concerned by the other decks and the other meanings.

Just let the feelings and emotions and images wash over you when you read. Enjoy the sights and sounds, and make note of what really pops in the card when you look at it. It might even be the things that are missing from the card, the things that you wonder about when you look at it.

And if you can take my friend Fulgour's advice, then someday when you are sitting with your pack of cards, and your tail is just a waggin' well then, you truly have activated your Tarot senses!
 

Annabelle

Hi koolchick :)

Definitely yes - I found tarot confusing when I first started. It takes some time, learning to work with 78 cards. Seventy-eight. That's a lot, when you stop and think about it.

My advice - start with one deck, one book, and readings for yourself.

If you stick with it (and if you hang out on the Aeclectic forums much) you will soon learn that "book meanings" aren't all there is to it, and that different readers will see different things in different decks. Reading tarot is a very situational experience, at least for me. The same card isn't going to mean the same thing all the time - depends on the question asked, the spread being used, and so forth.

But start with one deck. One book. And an open and inquisitive mind.

Oh yeah. One more thing. Small spreads are better to begin with than large spreads. Your deck may have come with a little pamphlet that shows you something called the Celtic Cross, with 10 or 11 cards. That's a whopping big spread to start out with, and isn't usually needed for most questions. Try a 3 card Past Present Future spread instead . . .
 

WalesWoman

Lots of good advice already, so I won't say the same things.

Just like a rain cloud on the horizon will bring many different observations and reactions from hope to someone having a drought, relief for some who are too hot, groans from the ones who wanted a fun in the sun day, worry when the river beds are spilling over... that is how each of the tarot cards can mean so many things to so many people and still be true for each and every time.

One of the things that helped me become less confused was asking the "right" questions that begin with:
Who?
How?
What?
Why?
Where?
... they end up sounding like an lesson in writing.

But if you frame your questions to be fairly specific, it is much easier to understand what the meanings of the cards are for you for that particular "positional" question.

Do read for yourself... about yourself, it becomes a real adventure of self exploration and discovery... and much easier to understand than trying to figure out if so and so likes you or not. Do small spreads and then start looking to see how they might manifest during the coming days and weeks and months. You will be surprised to start thinking in terms of tarot, and not to be alarmed when this happens... you have not lost your mind, you are actually synthesizing all this information into practical knowledge in a way and that is how our minds puzzle it out.

A daily card or daily 3 card spread is great... first to guess what sort of day you will have and then figure out how it manifested itself. It can be pretty amazing and surprising as well.

Write out your thoughts as you look at the cards, no matter how silly or "off" they might seem to the meanings you get from the books. That is your intuition talking to you, so listen to it and in time you will learn to trust that inner voice and not worry about what the LWB or any other tarot author -ity says it means.

Mainly enjoy, have fun and try out lots of spreads... make up your own.
 

Psychebleu

koolchick said:
Has anyone else found tarot confusing to start with? Like how to know what cards mean in a reading ect. Or is it just me?

When I started reading, I used the one book I had to look up meanings as I went along. I didn't start as an 'intuitive' reader at all.
So, no, I don't think it's just you. Even after reading for years, there is always room for expanding personal meanings, and new decks to explore, so confusion may never end. :)


koolchick said:
Who is it best to start doing readings for first? People you know well or people you don't know and why

Depend on personality I think. If you are really excited, yet easily discouraged about your ability, and mostly need plenty of encouragement and to get the hang of it, then family and friends are probably best. I should say, willing and enthusiatic family and friends - you'll get plenty of feedback and can easily follow-up and confirm what you read.
If you are a natural skeptic, and more simply curious and exploring - willing strangers, and people you don't know well may be best; it can help to suspend you own disbelief! If you don't mind just jumping in that way.
Also, I don't think there anything wrong at all with reading for yourself. When learning, I think reading for yourself is best of all - you have ample time to go at your own pace.


koolchick said:
Do the cards have same meanings in different pack like does the fool card mean the same things in the golden dawn tarot as it means in say the universal waite tarot and any other decks.

I think all Golden Dawn/RWS clones have the general same meanings. It's a kind of tradition. Depends on the creator and their attitude toward the purpose of the tarot. It's in GD type decks that you see the Fool having meanings such as "New path, innocence, faith..." In some decks and traditions, it may simply mean "foolishness"!
So no, not all the same.
Then, there are many meanings even within one tradition, and that doesn't count all the personal meanings developed and discoverd through giving readings.