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Just a brief and deeply profound thought in this. If you don't get the question right you will not get the answer you need. So yes, the question is THE most important thing. You may get useful information, but if you ask the cards what will happen if you do X, and what you really want to know is WHETHER you should, the answer will be skewed, as the cards will assume you are going ahead. Also - woolly questions are what gives us the opportunity to cheat. I don't read for myself, as I know perfectly well that I will cheat. Don't get the answer I hoped for ? Yeah, but actualy this COULD refer to this other aspect of my life - yeah that fits in a way I find acceptable.... That said, one of the most significant YES moments I ever got was a side issue I saw in the card (remember, I use the images, not the learned meanings, so maybe this doesn't happen to others !) right at the end of the reading, nothing to do with the question (which I had answered to the sitter's satisfaction.) It was a sort of by the way thing, and it was a direct hit.

Welcome back @BrightEye! A Knapp-Hall study group this week, interesting 😀

I was 15 when I got my first deck, which was the 1JJ Swiss, I had been reading playing cards and the ladies in the shop recommended the 1JJ Swiss because of that. I vaguely remember seeing the RWS and the Thoth but went with the deck they recommended, I also had the book to go with it by Stuart Kaplan. I never took to the deck but I do remember knowing about the black silk. My Nan actually gifted me a piece of black silk from her remnants box. That deck is still around, in storage at the moment, wrapped up in the black silk for all these years. Unfortunately, it didn't help me bond with the deck. Oh well.

https://www.tarotforum.net/threads/knapp-hall-tarot-symbols.301936/ I have found this on AT, some of which explains the small symbols on the Minors, which are very mysterious to me.

I like both of these points. It doesn't make any sense to ask a question if you/the querent doesn't care about the answer, does it? Then, I suppose, it's fair enough to just do a general reading without previously forming a burning question to answer. We members probably often do that here on the TT&Me reading circles, just because we are trying to learn more about tarot reading itself—not because we have some huge ongoing issue in our lives. However, setting up a structure (a spread) nearly always gives some usable information. If you don't ask a question or set up a spread, what do you get? Just cards. What they might refer to, you just have to guess. (If you're truly psychic, a few random cards may be enough, but if you're psychic you probably don't need cards anyway. 😊) On the other hand, a spread gives you—the reader—a starting point to begin the reading. It may prove intriguing to the querent as well. There is a difference between the Hierophant card plonked down with no reference at all, and the Hierophant card that appears in a spread position labeled 'Past.'

I tend to hear their voice in my head and/or see their face as we communicate. And it’s not that the communication happens randomly - I do not hear voices haphazardly- but it happens when my mind is in a receptive state. During busier times with a lot of real life struggles, they’ll begin communication when I’m in bed and about to fall asleep. It’s their clever way to get through to me when my thoughts aren’t too loud to drown out their voices. But in times when I want a stronger contact, I’ll deliberately pause during the day and allow for communication. Or I might do a journey/trance work to allow for visions and more elaborate input.

@Marina y'know when you're reading the cards for someone... and you just KNOW that a particular comment or message is for them? Like somewhere in your being there's just something nudging you to say X - and that X may have just popped into your head even though it may not necessarily be a strict traditional card interpretation? This is the feeling I have gotten. No very often. But I've had it. So - when I was lying down having my Reiki initiations and I saw myself sitting at a bar... and then casually looked down and saw a white dog at my side (a white wolf/arctic fox) - I just KNEW - that it was not something I'd just made up in my head. I HEARD the floorboards creaking like someone was walking around me towards the nearby wall (I had my eyes closed) - and I knew it wasn't my tutor, because she was standing over me (I could feel the warmth of her body). And I knew there was no-one else in the house. I could go on... For me - these things have only happened when I was not trying to find a guide. And - I did a large share of TRYING. What with guided meditations, path working, reading books on the subject etc. But it was like - when I stopped really trying - after I'd done all the research I could - that it just happened.

Creating a designated spread for the question at hand really helps understanding the issue to begin with. It's like mapping the terrain. However ... ... we are are dealing with an oracle. Sometimes an answer can be found by distancing oneself from the initial objective and trying to understand what the cards are talking about irrespective of the topic we're focused on.

I follow Lise Abbadie since quite some time and now the date for her Kickstarter campaign is set: 1 October. Le Tarot de la Grande Ourse.

Oh, interesting question. A question about questions ;-) For me, the question is really important, and that's why I create my own spreads. If I use a ready-made spread, it must really fit my goal of what I want to know. And I don't do spreadless readings, I need the structure of a spread with positions. I can do a permutation later, but I always start out with a spread. And I create the spread to give me a maximum amount of information with the minimum number of cards. I don't like bloated spreads that are difficult to pull together. Even if I do a grand tableau with tarot, I won't read all the cards; I'll focus on the main messages. I can do all this only after really giving thought to the question. I develop the spread from the question, then I lay out the cards, and then I put the whole thing together again. Yes, actually, it's a to-and-fro-movement between analysis and synthesis. It works very well for me. Btw, it doesn't matter whether I read for others or for myself. It's always the same process: develop the question (analysis), lay out the cards, look at each card and their interaction (synthesis),

I was looking for a thread of spirit guides and was glad to stumble upon this one, even if it's older. Thank you everyone for sharing such unique views and experiences. @DanielJUK , I'm not sure if it's still the case with you, but I feel like you wrote exactly how it is for me! I have never seen or felt or heard any specific guides, even after so many years of oracular practice. In fact, I was searching a thread about the subject because I was going to ask… how do I know something comes from a guide, or not? Or is it just wishful thinking on my part? If it's too subtle, maybe I would not notice it? For those who have such connection with guides (or other entities in your spiritual beliefs), how did you know it was them communicating with you? Did you, at any point, doubt yourself? Or was it something that felt unquestionable?

I think vague questions tend to produce vague answers. Because the cards are so rich in symbolism, they can be interpreted in many different ways… Sometimes intuition, of course, can guide you towards a more exact answer, but it's also easy to end up hazy and ambiguous, which I don't find very helpful in divination. Also, in my experience (especially when reading for others), vague requests for reading come from not actually needing, or wanting, a reading. In my initial years reading for others, I'd often have people ask me for a reading without wanting to share anything (neither a question, nor an area to focus on), and later I'd realise they just wanted to test me. THAT SAID, I do not think an objective, super detailed QUESTION is needed. I think the important thing is to have a focus or an intention (ie. at least an area of life you want guidance on). It's like you have to give something of yours before receiving something from the oracle. And if you don't want to know anything... then why are you asking for a reading? I understand that some people use the cards differently, and that they actually prefer the oracle to show the way without imposing any focus or intention. I can see the point, but that's not how I usually do it (except perhaps in exercises that are meant to use only intuiton, such as the ISG exchanges). Even when I do general readings, I usually pick a spread with defined positions as to grant me some structure.

@Rachelcat I will join you in exploring the Knapp-Hall. I attach a scan of the cards you drew.

Thank you for that, @Tanga ! The truth is that I am a bit afraid of disrespecting or appropriating practices not my own… That said, in the world of spirituality we eventually end up adopting traditions without being 100% sure where they came from originally. Humans have been having spiritual traditions and experiences for aeons, after all! I do feel it's important to acknowledge the lineage that has helped birth us into this universe, for this lifetime. Life is a blessing, and death helps us see what a precious gift we have been given here, regardless of what we believe comes in the afterlife. That's the vibe I try to bring to my little ritual, when I sit with my dear departed ones.

I knew nothing about any sort of Tarot myths when I first got interested and began studying it. And ABSOLUTELY NOT all decks should be wrapped in black silk! They should be wrapped in ALL KINDS of the most colourful silks money can buy - purple, fuschia, bright gold yellow, patterned with roses, emerald green... the list goes on. Because then - when you pull them out to read with them it feels (physically and visually) like you are unwrapping something special and magickal, and the colours are so pleasing to the eye you're immediately in an amazingly good mood 😁😇😃. And if your sitter goes "Oooh - what a beautiful silk that is!" - you're off to a great start. Self empowerment ROCKS. I have a 100-deck strong collection of self empowerment!!!

Let me open with saying that i don't read for others . . . I feel that questions and skew my interpretations, maybe in the idea that too often we focus on our wants and not our needs. Personally I find if I let the cards do the speaking, more often than not something that should be a concern is addressed by the cards and when I examine the results it becomes more apparent. Just me . . .

Welcome back @Rachelcat 😀

I use reversals - with the exception of - I believe 1 deck - it is set upright only. I think that we need to hear all the info, and often the reversed meanings are not as harsh as many believe. I look at the decks in a way as friends & don't we expect our good friends to be honest, the good and the bad? I often find different decks have different voices as well.

Hi Fire cat and crew! This week I’m back to mid-century esoteric, with Knapp-Hall Tarot Deck. Mine is an old U.S. Games deck copyright 1984. The original was published in 1929, titled Revised New Art Tarot. The title cards says, “Designed by J. Augustus Knapp and Manly P. Hall.” There’s another card with a short history of the deck, along with a booklet. A facsimile version is available from The Philosophical Research Society, the organization that propagates Hall’s work. The majors are featured in a color illustration in The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Hall, 1928, with the arrangement of 6 rows of 1+2+3+4+5+6=21 overlaid on a giant Fool card. The deck is about poker-sized. All the cards have simple sigils in addition to the main illustrations. Le Monde is numbered both 21 and 22. Courts are king, queen, warrior, and servant. Pip cards show pips arranged in shapes. Scepters have little playing card clubs on their tops. Cups are red and are fiery on the king, queen, and ace. Swords are light blue and look pretty airy. 2 Swords has a reversed playing card spade. Coins are yellow gold coins with a variety of engraved faces, women and men. The booklet has 5 spreads, so lots to try out this week. I haven’t read with a tarot for a while now (it looks like 6 weeks!), so on to the interview! (I'm still not able to post photos, sorry!) What is your most important characteristic? 7 Coins (Venus symbol on a cube) The deck is an enjoyable physical artifact. What is your strength? A Swords (winged Mercury-kind-of symbol plus a man in the moon background illustration) The deck is very erudite and brings new ideas to tarot study. Your weakness? 8 Cups (butterfly wings in a mandorla over a triangle and a small pentacle around one cup) It emphasizes intellect over emotions. What can you teach me? Le Feu du Ciel (Tower) (shield with illustration of hand grasping lightning bolts) The deck can teach me about catastrophes and sudden enlightenment?! How can I learn it? q Cups (rose in a mandorla) Queen index looks like a lowercase q. Queen holds out a flaming cup and has a cross-topped scepter. I can learn about sudden catastrophe by being open to emotional passion. ??? What will be the outcome of our work together? S Scepters (cube in a triangle with explosive lines around the triangle) I’m assume S means servant. Person is planting a bare branch with his scepter laying on the ground beside it. I will realize I have a lot to learn about how to actually do something with this deck. Well, that was interesting! We’ll see how it goes.

I too bought my first deck . . . twice. The first time around I was too young, college age and bought for the wrong reason - not doing readings. Since 2000, things were happening that started me using some rune stones a friend gave me, years previous approx 15 years later I bought my first deck after lurking on a number of sites . . . The rest as they say is history.

A unique version of Reading Circle for those who would like to work through their collection of decks, participants choose decks from their collections to work with for the week. Some use one deck, others use two or more. Some combine methods: Tarot, non-tarot (e.g. oracle), playing cards, or any other divinatory method is welcome. All we ask is that you use at least one tarot or oracle deck. No collection is too large or too small. The only rules we have are the Tarot, Tea & Me Rules; Be respectful of one other. Please join us! Please post with your choice of deck(s) for the week Chat away about your deck, how you're finding it (or not), etc., it's all up to you Participants may either choose to share their readings here in this discussion thread or opt to have their own journal in the Journals Forum and link it here Yet others may even have an offline journal in paper & pencil/pen form Share as often, as much, or as little as you like. You can drop in and out at any time—reality and life permitting. New to tarot? Long time reader? Come on in! Participants fire cat pickles: Tarot de la Rea Rachelcat: Knapp-Hall BrightEye: Knapp-Hall Click here for DOTW 480 (9/14 - 9/24)

For anyone wondering----when I said I raised grandkids and "drank like a fool" I didn't mean at the same time. None of my grandkids or great-grandkids ever knew me when I smoked and drank.

I'm still in the park in the mountains but there are a few regular very old mobile homes mixed in. The one I have now probably got dragged in with a wagon train to Oregon but I love it anyway. It started out as around 50 or 60 feet by 14 feet before the porches and things were added on. And this spot is much quieter plus there's only forest in front so that it doesn't look or sound like there are people so close around us. It sort of seems like being the only one in the woods in looking out the front. There are three lilac trees and patches of both wild strawberries and domesticated ones and a nice yard with grass and azaleas and rhododendrons. I'm using a borrowed Chromebook so I don't know how to post pictures yet but if I learn I'll post a picture.d

DFWT is still my main tarot deck, and I'm still excited. For someone like me, it's the best available deck for divination purposes! (Oswald Wirth's original 1889 trumps, not any of the derivatives, for meditation)

Ahh OK, thanks, I thought it was me again lol, I can stop looking for it now.