cardwitch
I'm very curious about how people are doing readings while in a transitional period between RWS and TdM. Do you just study the heck out of TdM before you even try reading? I landed a copy of the Jodo book, and I've been following the Eye Rhymes threads here, but I still kinda lean on my personal associations of the RWS deck.
I'm still very new to the TdM, but I've just jumped right in, trying to read with my intuition while studying everything I can about it on the side. I've actually carried over a lot more from playing card cartomancy than the RWS, especially with Coins and Cups, because the arrangement of suit elements in those cards is nearly identical to playing cards. The Wands/Batons and Swords suits are more of a challenge (Especially Swords. They're all just so similar.).
I don't believe that the understanding of Tarot is a fixed entity; it evolves. Some of the more recent expositions are by Ben-Dov, Enrique, and Jodorowsky. In earlier centuries there were important esoteric contributions by Etteilla, Gébelin, Levi, Wirth, Papus, Mathers, etc.
This is such a good point. Every generation reinterprets the Tarot. What we see in the cards says as much about us as it does them.