Advanced Basics: Your Own Tarot Book

Thirteen

At about this point in your "Basics" career as a tarot reader, you should go out and get yourself a blank book to make into your own "Tarot" book. Perhaps you might even request one for Yuletide, but make sure it's one you want, with the kind of look, cover, feel you want, plenty of pages and the right size to carry around (I recommend something paperback size or a little larger. Too small, and you can't read what you wrote, too big and you can't just pick it up and stuff it into a shoulder bag. Also, consider "ringed" book rather than one with a regular binder, one that will fall open and stay open to the page you want). It doesn't have to be expensive, but it should be special.

Get yourself also a good, fine-lined pen (or if you like, several fine pens of different colors) in which to make notes and drawings in this book. Remember that the book will be yours and yours alone, so don't worry about scratching out mistakes or poor artwork. It only has to make sense to you.

Use the first 22 pages (back and front) to jot down notes, thoughts, info on the Major Arcana. A page might look something like this:

Fool: 0

Planet: Uranus
Element: Air
Letter: Aleph

Symbols:
Pouch: All he will need
Cliff: Straying from the path
Dog: Guide

Meaning: new beginnings, optimism, potential.

Negative Meaning: Reckless abandon, lost in the mind.

Uranus: Originality, inventor, revolutionary.

Etc, etc, etc. You can add in as much or as little as you like. Open up all your tarot books and *jot down the things you feel important* relevant, memorable, true. Anything from the card's hebrew letter to it's connection to other cards (i.e., "The Magician," connects to Aces), to key words (i.e., Priestess: "I Know")--symbols, meanings, correlations, whatever crystalizes the card for you.

These are your personal notes on the cards, your feelings, observations. The bits you feel quantify the card. Which is one of the reasons you don't want to give the cards more than two pages each. If you give them more, you'll just keep writing (we could go on for pages on just the Fool). The idea is to shrink it all down into succient notes, bits, ideas. And, if possible, leave room for more if necessary.

When feeling lost or uninspired or forgetful, you can then flip through the book, get it to re-energize and re-stimulate your mind. And remind you of meanings you may have forgotten.

If you have enough room in the book, and time and the desire to, go onto the minors. But try to give only two pages per #. So, as we did here, two pages for the 3's for example.

Whether or not you decide to add in the minors to the book, go on afterwards to SPREADS. This is what the book is really best for, jotting down spreads you learn or come up with. Just draw little squares and number them, the jot down their corresponding meaning. For example

[] [] []
1 2 3

1 = Past
2 = Present
3 = Future

You get the idea. Use the book for anything Tarot related, including tarot dreams you have, tarot poems you create or find, sketches, thoughts, records of readings, anything that will help you find your own voice and style as a reader. And when you fill it up, remember that you can always start a new book. Just don't fill it up right away. Take your time with it, enjoy and have fun!
 

Jewel

You aren't kicking us out of the nest are you?
 

Thirteen

Jewel (15 Dec, 2001 03:06):
You aren't kicking us out of the nest are you?

Oh, no, no, not yet, wouldn't dream of it. But as we move into spreads, it becomes a good idea to have your own little book on hand. That way you can copy down spreads from this section and have them on hand to practice wherever you go. Like-wise, if you're practicing a spread, and you can't decide how a card might work in the spread, you also have notes in the book to remind you of meanings you may have forgotten, jump-start or just inspire you.

Consider it new materials needed as we move from Tarot 101 to Tarot 102.
 

Jewel

Ohhhhh my!!! Tarot 102!!! Yeah gang we passed Tarot 101 Wooowhoooooo *LOL*.

Actually I have a notebook, but I think I need a three ring binder, I can keep things better organized that way! ... I am glad to hear you are not planning on getting rid of us just yet! ;)

Love & Light,