How to use Interpretations in Book

In the book Jessica McBeth says that we should come up with our
own interpretations of the cards and what they mean for us, but what if that varies too greatly from what the book says !!!

If you draw certain cards it's supposed to mean certain things.
If we rely solely on our own interpretations of the cards then having a book to interpret them just mucks things up, doesn't it ?

Or are we to gain our own insights first , then look at what the book says and try to reconcile these two factors ?????

This is the only thing I find a little confusing !!!

The book says to do the exercises and to become acquainted with what the cards mean to us before reading their interpretations in the book. This is what I did, and to my astonishment almost none of my meanings coincided with the book's! I think that the faeries are so particularly well-molded to us and our needs that our own meanings work best -- the book is there as a guide when we hit the occasional blank spot, but otherwise I almost never use it.

Well, Shadow Wolf, your life experience differs from mine just like there are no two people who lived exactly the same life. So, I think that what Jessica Macbeth was trying to say in the book is that faeries speak to each of others in a language that we understand. We might call same things with different names. Where one sees affection, another one sees dependency. Cards are a set of concepts that you are free to interpret yourself. Good luck with it! And remember that card meanings are subject to change without notice.

Octopus, I think that is beautifully stated. You have summed up the divination process so well -- not only in terms of cards, but other forms. Thank you!

eehhh (*blushes*). Thank you, Astraea!

The first person who created a tarot deck didn't know what the cards or the symbols they were drawing ment. It wasn't until years and years and years of generation after generation deciphering the Tarot that Tarot has as many books and interpratations as it does. What I'm saying is, so what if your definitions don't have a thing to do with what the book says! Thats part of being a reader. You don't learn what love is by reading the definition now do you? Of course not, you learn by experiencing it yourself. Experience the faeries, open your mind and heart up to them, and they will tell you what they have to say. Throw the book to the side. If you're having a hard time understanding or hearing what a particular faerie is trying to tell you, then go through the excercising that JM offers in the beginning of the book, don't look up the meanings, or if your curiousity has really got a hold on you, then go ahead, look it up, but if its not in conjunction with what you are feeling, then don't pay attention to it. Faeries want to be heard personally, not read about!

Thanks a lot !!!

All of that advice was very helpful.

So far I have a few key words down of only about 10 of the cards.
I know how each card makes me feel and what I think about it, but I can't always put those thoughts and feelings into words.

I guess I'll just have to let it sit in my heart for a while and understanding will come in time.

I love having fairies living with me !!!

They do keep life interesting !!!

I know a lot more about myself in the 4 days they have been here. They lit the proberbial fire under me and got me moving along on my path again. I had been stuck in one place for what seemed like an awfully long time. They came along, and just like that * I'm unstuck and moving along nicely again !!!!

Not that they gave me much of a choice you understand !!!(lol)