Many standard tarot decks have 78 cards. Non-standard ones can have more or less. Either way, thinking about needing to learn the meanings of that many cards could seem a bit daunting for beginners to using tarot cards. But it needn't be difficult. There are various approaches you can use to learn them, it's more important to find a way that you enjoy.
When I started learning Tarot I would focus on learning the meanings prescribed by the included guidebook. I'd go through the cards in the deck and see what meanings were given. Then I would do readings, use the book meanings and then try and get more from my intuition. I imagine other people do that too.
However I've shifted to a different technique now which I find works better for me: instead of going through the deck and looking at the guidebook meanings and trying to learn them that way, I look at each card and see what my own intuitive interpretation of the imagery and symbology is first. I then compare that to what the guidebook says. I find that usually my interpretation is the very close, and in one case identical, to that given in the book. If there is any part of the imagery that I feel I don't understand I will then see what the book says. Once I've gone through the deck this way then I'll start doing readings with the cards.
For me, learning the cards this ways helps me connect to and remember interpretations of the imagery far more quickly. I believe it cements those interpretations into the mind and the subconscious in a more natural way, and so is recalled more easily when doing readings. And it's so enjoyable to do this with a deck which has stunning artwork!
What has also helped me is to get some knowledge of traditional tarot card meanings. These are often related to astrological and Kabbalah teachings and symbolism, some of which I knew already so understanding some of these traditional card meanings was not too difficult. There are of course some decks that deviate from those meanings and assign their own, but many decks are based on those traditional ones. Some use a combination of both. Learning these can provide you with new symbology and meanings that you may not have had, and so provide an expanded range of interpretations for you to use when reading cards.
Learning tradtional card meanings, or just the guidebook meanings gives you something to work with - you need to start somewhere. The traditional meanings can provide a good grounding to learning tarot. However if you are highly intuitive it's possible that you can jump right in and work with tarot cards without knowing much about card symbolism or esoteric meanings. After all it's about tapping into your intuition, and some people don't need much imagery to be able to do that. On the whole though most newcomers to tarot need to have that tarot 'language' to work with in the beginning, and then as their intuition develops the meanings will become more nuanced for them.
I might change my technique of learning the cards in the future, but for now on my journey this is what seems to work well for me. Below I've listed some of the different suggestions for learning the cards I've come across in recent months.
- Try and memorise the meanings of each card (probably the hardest way!)
- Leave a card somewhere you can see it each day to connect to help connect to it visually and think about the meaning
- Do a one card reading each day - ask a question you would be interested to know about for example 'what do I need to focus on today' and draw one card. Then use your intuition with the guidebook. Actively using the cards is probably one of the best ways to learn them.
- Buy a beginners guide to tarot style book to help understand traditional card meanings
- Use a traditional deck such as the Rider Waite deck to learn common tarot meanings
Image courtesy of Rain Love https://bit.ly/2M6zocw
No comments:
Post a Comment