What is the measure of a "correct" reading?

Tanga said:

And this - 2 opposite meanings would fit for me with upright and reversed (and sometimes a "reversed meaning" can be read even when the card is upright

Click to expand...

I have appreciated the nuanced approach to reversals I have seen on AT. Having been working in a vacuum, I have to confess to not using them in most of my readings, but I am definitely edging towards reconsidering that. Perhaps I will start using reversals more with one deck specifically and see how things click.

magicjack said:

But look at the cards together. The cards feed off of one another. The meanings change. And you might as well know, they will keep changing. When you think you know it all, it's time for you to expand your knowledge.

Click to expand...

So true! About a year ago I finally felt comfortable enough with the basic meanings in the cards to start looking at some of the ties and symbolism. Would I read this differently for a Pices and a Leo? Not to mention the more basic question of how would the 5 of cups change read next to The Devil vs The Lovers? How about next to Temperance? There is just so much to take in that no formula could account for it all! It has to be experience and intuition.

page of ghosts said:

I really look forward to developing more personal impressions like that from the cards so I think you're lucky in that regards actually!

Click to expand...

Thanks, that's super sweet of you to say! I can't really recommend my method, but you could try locking yourself in a closet for a few years.

Do you have the Halloween Tarot, published by US Games, by any chance? Their Page of Ghosts (cups) card is just the cutest.

Michael Sternbach said:

Also, we must not look at a card as a stand alone thing. As it is supposed to provide an answer to a particular query, its exact meaning tends to vary within certain boundaries from case to case.

Click to expand...

I hadn't thought about meanings varying based on the question put to them. That is am interesting thought!

Barleywine said:

The second one may just show a thought process that has traveled a bit farther along the "resolution probability curve" than the other.... I would see it as depending upon the context and the position in the spread.

Click to expand...

You know, it's really interesting how you resolved those two seemingly contradictory readings. I imagine all of that praise is well deserved. You sound like a great reader!

TK_Finch said:

You know, it's really interesting how you resolved those two seemingly contradictory readings. I imagine all of that praise is well deserved. You sound like a great reader!

Click to expand...

Thanks, but I consider my tarot skills in the same way I do my skiing: basically as a "perennial advanced intermediate." Just when I think I've got it knocked, I come around a corner and there's a big field of 4-foot-high moguls. I don't think one ever "masters" tarot in any final sense, it's a life-long learning experience that evolves between one human encounter and the next. it's the interaction that keeps me growing.

TK_Finch said:

Thanks, that's super sweet of you to say! I can't really recommend my method, but you could try locking yourself in a closet for a few years.

Do you have the Halloween Tarot, published by US Games, by any chance? Their Page of Ghosts (cups) card is just the cutest.

Click to expand...

Yeah I do have the Halloween Tarot! It's one of my favourites so my username is a nod to it

Michael Sternbach said:

Also, we must not look at a card as a stand alone thing. As it is supposed to provide an answer to a particular query, its exact meaning tends to vary within certain boundaries from case to case.

Click to expand...

This is very true for me. Even going through a new deck and writing down my own meanings for the cards does not feel useful because the meanings are new each time in response to the questions and in relation to other cards.

The measure of a "correct" meaning is how helpful the reading is in understanding a situation, sparking a new insight or shifting my energy.

I haven't read all the posts in this thread yet, but wanted to chime in anyway.

I read cards in combination more than individually. For instance, the 2 of Swords/Hermit could mean that someone has taken some time out to just work things out on their own. They want to be in seclusion to think things over. That's just an over-simplification, but you probably get the idea.

As for the measure of a "correct" reading, I guess just time. It will pan out as you've read---or not---in due time.

I might not understand what you've asked, though. Do you mean by "correct" that the things you've seen in the cards prove to be true? Or do you mean "correct" as in the question you've asked and laying out the spread, etc. are properly done. The intention or the procedure, I guess it might be said.