This could also be named "Props and Skills", or "We(e) within Universe" or... feel free to think up your own name for the game.

 

It is a good thing to have good friends - they can bring stuff to your attention you wouldn't ever think about.

 

One such friend told me that she felt as if some "readers" have somehow come upon my "Get The Start Right"-post and went straight into business with nothing but the method outlined there. "Nah, can't be" is what I thought, but evidence presented made it hard to maintain that stance.

 

What in blazes is so hard to understand about the words "Start" and "Beginning"!?

Sure, that method can carry you a long way, given the following prerequisites: You only use the cards for yourself and you only read periodically, about once in three months maximum, and even then, by your tenth year of doing so at the very latest, by way of pondering and re-examination you will have grown beyond it, no doubt.

 

With that cleared up, "Onwards!", as some fella once put it.

 

The main point is this: Tarot doesn't work per se.

It is and will be the reader who makes it work.

 

Assuming the Tarot or any form of cards/divinatory tool work by default is like getting a pup and assuming it will grow into a well-behaved dog no matter what you do.

Which is precisely why it is a challenging profession, very much so.

 

Here are some of the things I have noted along the way:

 

Beginners luck is in effect: For the first few dozens of reads, things will likely be easy, especially if the one reading doesn't ponder too much about whatever method and meaning they have been presented and go by.

That is history as soon as you start to ponder what the cards are truly about for you, for then your energetic field starts to deviate and develop - and that process is highly favoured by the universe we live in.

Once started, there is no going back, you will have to proceed - or leave.

"Just don't ponder" is not an option either, for after a while your reads will be off - it is how the universe extends its invitation to grow.

In my dictionary, a reader worth their salt is one who proceeded.

 

Next thing: You will encounter reads going beyond your imagination. This can happen at any stage, for we are human.

Our imagination is limited and to top it off, we live inside something unimaginable.

Unimaginably beautiful, yet also the opposite thereof.

"To imagine" is a skill in itself, it has to be trained. "Flexed" is the fitting word here.

It happened to me recently - got it figured out and intended to write a two-part blog-entry about it, but the first part got deleted and without it, the second doesn't quiet line up nicely.

On that note, I can certainly see why it got deleted and do respect the decision of the moderators - it is their job to keep things moderate, after all.

And our imagination mostly fails us when things go into the very extremes of "extreme".

You may stumble about or over it in relationship readings (I do not recommend reading for couples with both present at the table) and readings concerning big business, especially when those intersect with religion and politics. It is plain inhumane stuff and flexing ones imagination becomes a cruel task indeed.

Nonetheless, depending on how far you want to take your art, it may have to be done.

Messing up the shuffle-and-draw is so basic you should be well beyond it once you call yourself a reader.

 

Luckily, this universe is as forgiving as it is cruel, so the above mentioned effect (bungling a read for you simply could not imagine) can also appear during reads where you look far into the future - and there is stuff happening in the cards, lots of stuff. Yet, the year was/is a boring one.

In such cases, it can be conducive to look into what has happened/is happening not in your or your clients life but in the life of humanity as a whole, you may well have tuned into something bigger than intended when doing said read.

The second lucky aspect is that in most of these cases, the cards are still spot-on, thereby leaving a clue to where we failed in our interpretation.

 

Three is the charm, so here's anotherone. Funnily enough it appears once you have attained a certain level of proficiency:

Your cards switch their way of talking. Spontaneously.

 

The easiest observable instance is when you ask a Yes/No and the cards present you with a story and vice versa, you ask for a story and the cards heavily pinpoint the positives and the negatives, turning it into a clear Yes/No read.

For example, the question was "What will happen if I attend this'n'that summit?" and the answer is: "No, don't go, stay away from there!"

Simple one, No? Here's seconds: "Should I pick that job?" and the answer is "No, you are fine the way it is, stick with it and success will come" presented in the following way: XIII, L'Empereur, Le Soleil.

The opposition between the first two cards will be so glaringly obvious it'll almost hurt the eyes.

The same sequence may appear, and the opposition isn't tangible at all. Then, it is safe to go by the standarts applying to Yes/No-questions, a plain "Yes" in this case.

 

The reason being, as we aquaint ourselves with the energies around us, so do they aquaint themselves with us.

The "like learning a language"-metaphor to cartomancy holds true.

If you learn with a native speaker, they will pick up on your progress and stop to talk with you like you were a foreigner/infant and instead treat you like a native.

 

There's more (lots), but here a conclusion fits nicely: A seasoned reader is not someone who never fails or never failed at all, that's just stupidity at work.

It is one who failed, understood why and grew beyond it, times and time again.

So much so that you sense when you are off during the read and are able to correct yourself on the spot.

 

Needless to say, that doesn't come cheap.

 

Starting to be a reader is one of the easiest things in the world -

sticking with the art and developing it into even a slight degree of mastery is one of the hardest things you could attempt.

 

For whatever stage you're currently at, myself included, here is the response of the universe:

 

"You will learn so much more!"