Things I Did That You May Find Helpful and Things I Wish I Had Known
Read The Book But Don’t Take It For Holy Writ!
When I bought my first Tarot deck (because if I didn’t, I’d never get one!), I immediately read the book that came with it thoroughly. I mean thoroughly. I highlighted bits in the definitions and meanings and even had side-notes in the margins of each page. Think of how you study and prep for a college project—this was how marked-up this book was. While this wasn’t a bad thing to do, it made it harder on myself when I began reading because I felt like those were the meanings and the cards only meant those interpretations. It creates a rigidness to your readings. Knowledge is power and reading is great but it must be coupled with intuition.
Spend Time With The Cards.
After about a month of reading and working with the cards, book in hand, I had read somewhere—I can’t recall where exactly—about spending time with each card and see what it has to say to you. Now, it isn’t recommended to work with several cards at one go because, quite frankly, you’ll exhaust yourself. This wasn’t what I had thought and I stayed up all night, doing each card one-at-a-time. I still have those notes and most still resonate with me. I took one card and would focus on what is it saying? What is happening in the picture? If they could speak, how would they explain what they are doing and why? What is the energy? The element? I would get rather detailed—hence, why I recommend one card a day. You could very well do more but take it slow. Give yourself amble time to connect to the card at hand.
Not Everyone Has Pure Intentions When Asking For A Reading.
I had a best friend in college who showed up, unannounced, at my dorm room where I had the door open—we all did in that building because we all were a close knit family and constantly flitted from room to room—and noticed I was sitting on my bed with some cards. At first, because I was on the other side of the room, he thought they were regular playing cards but soon realized they weren’t. I told him I was practicing my Tarot reading and he asked me to read for him. I agreed because he was a good friend. He wanted me to give him an overall picture of his older sister. What was she like? I had never done a reading like this but honestly, it wasn’t hard. I kept telling him things and he would sit there with an amused smile that left me confused and feeling quite silly. I told him his sister was married and he nodded but never removed that smile from his face. Eventually I began questioning if he even had a sister and asked him a couple of times, “You don’t have a sister, do you?” He shrugged and wouldn’t tell me. The cards told me she was real…but I wasn’t sure. After the reading, he told me he did in fact have an older sister, who was married, and embodied everything I had said. He’d just wanted to see what I would say without any information. However, he simply was playing “Test the Tarot Reader”, something I do not find amusing.
Not Everyone Wants To Know The Truth.
I was reading at home for my mom and then my little brother. He had a friend staying the night who decided what the hell and got me to read for him. He was a bit of a player and the cards certainly called him out for it. It got specific too and considering he had asked me, “which girl should I choose” I told him the cards are indicating a brunette and a blonde along with many other details. However, the cards did not support who he was truly rooting for—the girl with more money (*insert eye roll*) and that they called out his behavior. He wanted a long-term relationship but the cards told me that so long as he continued acting as he was, this wasn’t going to be achieved anytime soon. (Trust me, I was very careful in how I worded all of this!) Well, he got pissed and started to say that I shouldn’t be messing with this and that it was the Devil’s work…yada, yada. After that, I was very careful for who I read for. People want answers when it suits them but don’t like being called to face their own BS.
Set Boundaries.
This was the hardest lesson for me, especially since it dealt with my own mother. She constantly wanted Tarot readings—honestly, she became quite addicted. However, she would never ask anything but “What is in store for me this month?” The answer: Whatever you want to happen. I would read her cards and tell her but eventually I felt hounded and lost interest in reading. I would cringe when I saw my cards because I could only hear that one question. I went from reading several card readings to a simple three card spread because I was uninspired. I was disinterested. I was annoyed. This seeped into my cards in a way and it took me a while before I returned to my passion for Tarot reading. I almost never picked my cards back up. Set boundaries. Tell them what questions are appropriate, have them understand that they don’t show the future—only what is probable to happen— and be specific on when you’ll read. I would be watching a movie and she would sit down and tell me to pull out my cards.
Trust Your Intuition.
We all are terrified of being wrong, of feeling like a fraud, or don’t feel confident 100% of the time. That’s okay. However, we must learn to trust ourselves. The book may say one thing about a card but I have found the meanings completely change depending on the question and surrounding cards. Go with what first pops into your mind because it’s likely the correct meaning for the reading at hand. If it isn’t the “traditional” meaning, that’s okay. Go with it. The meanings in the books are very straight, forward, and general. The context is what brings out the meaning. You don’t need to memorize every meaning and then figure out which fits into the reading. That would be frustrating! As I mentioned above, reading and learning more is always great but don’t discount what you feel is the correct interpretation.
Comments