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Thank you!! I need all the help I can get! (I hope I can get my attachments to work soon.)

For me, it helps to categorise this into different thing to happen to me.... Thoughts - we all have thoughts and worries all the time in our heads. This tends to be in my own voice and like thinking about what to put on the shopping list or maybe thinking over a tarot card in a reading and is there another angle or maybe thinking about TV I just watched. It's obviously from me. Guide Messages - I am new at this, like I said before but still really deeply exploring this area of my life. At the moment for me, they tend to come when I am calm and meditating. I don't seem to just get them like a thought in my head. I know people who are deeper connected, do get them all the time (more on this in a sec). I have been reading up on this area because of my new interest and what is key with guides is the tone. Like it should be supportive, calm, grounded and loving. They are on your side. I don't think they should tell you to do something, more like give some wise advice. Some people feel an energetic feel around this as well. Daydreams - I am such a Cups person that I daydream and dream a lot. Since going deeper with my spirituality, I am getting very vivid and intense ones. These are stories that I watch unfold and can be very complex. I think these are like a form of healing for me, they bug me a lot but when I work out their meaning that story goes away. So this is unlocking or solving something in my life. Divination Messages - I get some messages when divining and always have. Sometimes I see an image in my third eye, like in the front of my forehead, sometimes I hear whispers in my ear. I am not sure if I can put them in the guide messages category or not, they seem different. This happens during readings and randomly and aid my readings.

We regularly see people here asking for help when they have asked a wrongly formed question or want a yes / no answer when they are asking for advice. The question and the spread are the foundation for the good reading to come. I mean context is everything, I have had some great readings with just want the universe wants to tell me, totally free-form but if I would like to know something, I need to formulate the question to get the best answer. A member posted for reading help a while ago and wanted to know if their job interview would go well? It was a yes / no formatted question but from the answer, they were trying to get advice on how to make the job interview go as well as possible for them. But that was not the answer to the question asked, if you want advice on something, you need to ask for that in the question. There are so many love readings and break up readings where people ask really generalised questions, will he come back to me? Will I meet my soul mate? I think it's not helpful ultimately without getting specific in a difficult situation. Will I hear from him in the next month? What do I need to know about any romance in the next 6 months? I also think we should try and keep the question optimistic or at least neutral. This foundation is like stage one of a good reading and stage two is the interpretation.

Thank you for keeping us rolling, Fire cat! I'm in this week with the Buckland Romani Tarot paired with the Lakota Sweat Lodge Cards. I'd much rather 'know', but then again, not-knowing keeps all the possibilities open. ―Ruth Ozeki A contractor doing some work inside the house once asked me why I had a small collection of gemstone skulls. I told him that they reminded me of the principle of impermanence - good or bad, things only last for a limited time. The Wheel of Fortune indicates change is on the horizon; like the skulls, it is a symbol of constant transitions. Fire is both a consumer and creator. How does it create? Nutrient-rich ash that improves the soil. Fire opens some seeds so they can sprout It also opens the forest canopy, allowing more sunlight to reach the ground, allowing new plants to grow. We humans hate uncertainty, but we actually can't see far enough down the road to know all the possibilities that might come because of change.

You might like to look at this thread which will give you an idea of what people value. If you want everyone to be able to see your images, BTW - upload them to the forum. Many countries block specific hosting sites - the UK, for instance, blocks IMGUR....

It starts with a well phrased question.

I like Fool's Dog Apps, I have a few for decks I like - the Robin Wood, Pagan Cats, Liber T, Bohemian Gothic. The companion books are usually included too so you can use them for study and the journal feature is a nice touch. I only use them for myself, never for others. The other tarot app I use is Labyrinthos, but that is a kind of all-rounder, tarot, Runes, Lenormand - standard decks or you can buy other decks. I've never used the Galaxy tarot app. Might have to check that one out. I don't use tarot apps all the time but I do think they have their places, especially if you can't get your hands on a deck.

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.