Barleywine
That is the method I use, except I apply it only to the pips 1-10, not the court cards:
Thanks! That was my thinking, too: the court cards don't need to be associated, their meaning is already clear enough.
That is the method I use, except I apply it only to the pips 1-10, not the court cards:
It seems to me there's basically four possibilities for reading with pip cards:
1) Numerology (in which I include any esoteric correspondence including astrology, GD, pips-as-trumps, etc., which when you boil them down are really simply different ways to assign meanings to numbers and suits)
2) Mentally linking the cards with the corresponding illustrations in scenic-pip decks (could be RWS or other-than-RWS)
3) Memorizing non-numerical meanings for the cards (for example, as in the Personal Prophesy/The Message playing-card system by Deborah Leigh, or as in Etteilla), in which meanings are assigned to cards seemingly at random, without regard to card number)
4) Interpreting the images and parts of images like a Rorschach test, with no regard for predetermined meanings, a la Enrique
By "anecdotal" I mean fashioning a fluid, imaginitive - perhaps "visionary" in its best sense - narrative out of the discrete "story" elements of the spread, rather than just factually ennumerating its components. I want to tell a compelling story, not just recite the alphabet. I want as much "juice" as I can get out of my readings. Getting caught up in the kind of "deconstructionist" mentality implied in some methods of interpretation strikes me as more than a little anemic.
A while back I read Lee's LoS TdM book, and there I found my favourite way to the pip cards and haven't looked back since.... even though I've noticed, that Lee himself has perhaps abandoned this pip technique....
Here's a link to an old thread I started about this 'storyline' approach:
http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=195984
B.
I'm a bit late jumping into this conversation, but Barleywine describes perfectly the kind of reading style I'm striving for. I try to see each pip card as a vortex of energy rather than as a signifier for a set of symbols or meanings. On my Tarot-Heritage website, in the Cartomancy section, I have a series of suggestions for how to look closely at each card in the context of the other pip cards in a way that will bring out the unique personality of each one. I don't use Qabalah or any other system, and I keep numerology and elements to a minimum. If you get up-close and personal with the cards, you really don't need external labels like "five of air" (although that can help when you get stuck for inspiration during a reading).
I never really tried it, but a deck with only trumps, aces, and courts would, I think, be great for casual divination. Sallie Nichols reads this way in her book "Jung and Tarot." That would give you 42 cards, six more than Lenormand decks.For some people, the way of least resistance may be to avoid using the TdM at all. For me, however, since I find the TdM to be irresistibly attractive, perhaps it is best just to avoid using the minors. Although such a truncated deck may be less suitable for casual divination, it is certainly feasible for meditation.
Yes, that's certainly a good option: include all the picture cards. That Nichols book is brilliant in many ways.I never really tried it, but a deck with only trumps, aces, and courts would, I think, be great for casual divination. Sallie Nichols reads this way in her book "Jung and Tarot." That would give you 42 cards, six more than Lenormand decks.
For some people, the way of least resistance may be to avoid using the TdM at all. For me, however, since I find the TdM to be irresistibly attractive, perhaps it is best just to avoid using the minors. Although such a truncated deck may be less suitable for casual divination, it is certainly feasible for meditation.
For me, however, since I find the TdM to be irresistibly attractive, perhaps it is best just to avoid using the minors. Although such a truncated deck may be less suitable for casual divination, it is certainly feasible for meditation.