Intuition - Anyone Throw away the books?

shells said:

closrapexa, it was the book 'meanings' for each card that I was referring to. I have a terrible memory, so I've never been able to 'remember' the book meanings, no matter how many times I read the book (much to my frustration!).

Symbols, colours, numerology etc, those things all interest me and I think will help trigger intuitive interpretations, LOL although I guess the accuracy of such is yet to be seen?

Click to expand...

When l first started out with tarot l did read the meanings to give me a sense of what each card meant, it did help. After a while the books were put aside, because l got into the cycle of "l have forgotten that meaning must refer to book" in the end it slowed me up, gave me headaches and l was not allowing my own intuition to work. After letting the books take a back seat my readings became a lot stronger l felt lighter and l became more confident in what l gave. Like you l use colour for interpretations and that has served me well. Thats why l like to choose a deck that has good colouring that speaks to me.
So do not worry about remembering meanings, let your own intuitive self take pride of place.

Yes, absolutely. And you might like to join in with the Intuitive Studies Group reading circle (monthly) where we BAN book meanings and anything learned at all. It helps with developing that side, a lot.

gregory said:

And you might like to join in with the Intuitive Studies Group reading circle (monthly) where we BAN book meanings and anything learned at all. It helps with developing that side, a lot.

Click to expand...

How ones one 'ban anything learned at all' ??? LOL! (I understand where you are coming from.)

In truth, when I get a new deck I always read the LWB - ONCE - in case there is some new twist or interesting revelation contained within it - then I TOSS IT IN THE BACK OF A DRAWER AND FORGET IT EXISTS! LOL!

I have not 'looked in a book' (other than my own) for years!

tarotbear said:

How ones one 'ban anything learned at all' ??? LOL! (I understand where you are coming from.)

In truth, when I get a new deck I always read the LWB - ONCE - in case there is some new twist or interesting revelation contained within it - then I TOSS IT IN THE BACK OF A DRAWER AND FORGET IT EXISTS! LOL!

I have not 'looked in a book' (other than my own) for years!

Click to expand...

You know what I mean - as you say. But basically - you pull ten swords and it is NOT disaster, it is (hang on while I dig out a deck here) a man breaking free from a stack of swords and winning out over them. And he might be royal, as he wears a purple sash, and he is among clouds which suggests even more rising above crap. No time to do much more - but you see what I mean. Oh - and the swords are interestingly varied - I would go into that further if I didn't have to go grocery shopping...

If there were kabbalistic symbols on there - not that I know them - it would be more a matter of a curved thing in the corner, or something.

shells said:

I'm so relieved to learn that this isn't just a silly idea, thank you!

Click to expand...

Not silly at all! It's the best idea...because the cards will have more personal meaning for you if you decide what they mean when you read them.

When I used to teach tarot classes, the first thing I would have my students do, is go through each and every card and jot down what they saw...just describing what was in the card was the first step.
Then attributing a story to the card...what was the person feeling? what were they about to do?
Then, attributing a personal story (if they could) that was similar to the one in the card.

Then we talked symbols,and actual meanings...but by then, the student "knew" those cards, and adding on meanings was easier.

And of course, we talked about how meanings can change on a case by case basis!

They were basically exercises that taught intuition.

When I first started I did what Chronata said above...wrote down my own meanings...then I went to books and extracted what I thought was useful.
I only read psychicly now...and if I do read a book I usually end up thinking..."well that's nice he sees it that way, but in my experience that combination of cards suggests this."..and then that's the end of that book.
Not that I think it's my way or the highway...it's just that it brings back to my mind very forcefully that they are just people with their own opinions...not demi gods of tarot.

As a new reader I remember thinking these great minds know so much more than I do.
Now I realise they are just people with opinions and nothing in tarot is written in stone..
...the cards react to the question...we can't fit a round peg in a square hole, so reading by reading, situation by situation, question by question....over time you see patterns repeat and you learn from that.

Your take on a card in the (now moment) of first seeing it is the best interpretation for you.

I know I need to trust my own intuition more when reading for other (I am used to doing it for myself) and relying less on the concrete meanings... I think when you read 'intuitively' it opens you to see the play/interconnectedness between the cards better and how the spread flows... When I focus too much on textbook meanings the readings tend to become fragmented. I am presently actually studying traditional meanings more lately, in the past I used primarily very visual decks and relied almost completely on reading intuitively, but incorporating more standard decks now I think it is worth a gander as to why something is numbered/ structured/ suited the way it is, and what the archaic meanings of them are. The artwork is not random, it is there to symbolize meaning and awaken our subconscious recognition of symbols, and tuning into that part of ourselves I think we become more perceptive to other types of communication and information perception.

What then would be the best way of testing (developing?) the accuracy of intuitive readings? Obviously practice, and I have already done some for myself that seem pretty well spot on.

I am planning to offer some readings here in exchange for feedback, but would it be prudent to start with questions relating to the past so that the accuracy can be determined straight away, or should I just jump in with any type of question readings? I feel it probably does not really matter, other than my ego would appreciate the immediate confirmation of a past question.

Hi Shells,
In my experience the cards tend to clam up if I start demanding accuracy.
My approach to intuitive readings is to speak what a I see and feel from the cards, then i share their message.
The client then filters this through their own experience and this is how we achieve the veneer of accuracy.

However it's the message the cards want to send not the accuracy the reader seeks that comes through.

Tarot can't really be tested, it doesn't really work like that. Sometimes you get answers you didn't expect, sometimes it tells you what should have happened, what could happen or what should. That's why it's called "divination." Accurate it can be, but it certainly isn't Google.