Tarot Talk & Technique

Searching through the forum, over the years we have had posts about members reversals techniques, but can't find a thread about shuffling. So if you use reversed cards in your readings..... How do you shuffle them in your practice? How do you decide how many to have in the deck? This the place for all reversed shuffling methods and techniques 🙂 There is a guide to shuffling techniques generally, here - https://www.thetarotforum.com/forums/topic/15717-shuffling-techniques/

Hello dear Tarot friends, First of all ... definitions. STALKER CARDS are cards that repeat across two or more spreads. I just threw cards tonight and had to laugh. Of 10 cards I drew for the full moon reading ... 5 of the same cards appeared in tonight's spread. 3 of them in the exact same positions. Reading #1 used Triunfi della Luna. Reading #2 used Lightseers. VERY different decks ... yet they served the same cards. Stalker cards definitely strengthen a message for me. A deep theme. If this is a conversation, they're speaking loud and clear. A card appearing across two spreads is noteworthy ... when it appears in the …

I stumbled across a book titled “Mastering the Tarot” by Paul Fenton-Smith. I read a couple of pages as I was curious about its potential based on the title. I feel there are more than enough beginner tarot books and not near enough intermediate/advanced ones. However, I scoffed and stopped reading as soon as I saw an entire page about how one should ONLY read for other people and literally NEVER read tarot for oneself. His reasoning being that one is too emotionally invested in the outcome and cannot be objective which will cloud the reading. I find this to be ridiculous. Yes, we are invested in the outcome of a reading for ourselves and we want only good things…

Sometimes I think that we're all just making things up. That we're just imagining the cards are saying things when they're just pretty images on cardboard. What can a deck of cards really say about anything? Are we simply making the general messages fit into our lives because we want to believe the messages are from a divine source? Is there really magic in Tarot? In divination? How do you deal with doubts like these? And sometimes I'm blown away by the accuracy of a tarot reading and think yeah there's definitely something magical about these cards. They do sometimes seem to pick up on things that the reader couldn't have known. It's amazing sometimes how the…

I've been looking into telling time with the tarot and have found a few site links that I decided to share. It seems time is as elusive in the tarot as it is in RL. The listed links are from individual readers that have their own techniques. I hope you all find something to glean from these sites. https://www.llewellyn.com/blog/2014/03/timing-techniques/ https://78nightsoftarot.com/blog/telling-time-with-tarot/ https://www.biddytarot.com/timing-techniques-in-tarot/ http://www.tarotteachings.com/how-to-read-tarot-time.html http://angelorum.co/topics/divination/timing-in-tarot-with-free-cheat-sheets/ http://www.tarotingie.com/time-events-using-tarot/ …

Hello friends, I have these questions on my mind today. How do you use your tarot practice in the more difficult times of your life? Are there spreads that you like, questions that you ask, do you take a break from the cards completely? I lost two pets this year, they were my best friends and the loss weighs heavily on me despite the passage of time. Sometimes it's less hard, sometimes all I can do is think about the empty space in my life and how much I miss them. I've done the usual things, talked to my therapist, my friends, I've made small memorials, written in my journal, looked at the pictures and videos in my phone... I'm wondering how I can use tarot as another th…

Ok, here's a slightly from leftfield and lighthearted question 😊 For those readers who have pets, do you find that they are sensitive to, or react to, when you do readings? I just did my first proper, serious, sit down reading for my partner (he greatly respects the tarot however has been hesitant about getting a proper reading from me until now). One of our cats, who is particularly attached to him, started to behave quite unusually when I was doing the reading. She wouldn't stop staring at me, was meowing at me constantly, and was trying to climb on to the reading cloth and the cards. She wasn't cross at all and was blinking at me (a cat 'love' s…

Also, how did you feel you first reading went? I just wondered how long people waited before they felt comfortable doing a reading for another person. X/

Do you prefer to buy used or brand new decks? I'm not averse to purchasing used decks, altho they must be clean and they should not look worn out. But I did notice that each and every deck I bought were brand new, like untouched and sealed, brand spanking new. All of my decks are like that, without exception. Maybe I have a subconscious imperative that I should be the first one to touch my any deck I own so that they would be mine and mine alone, and so that I can imprint on them or something.

Hi, TTM fam! Welcome to the thread. Here we aim to sharpen our intuitive reading skills. This means not relying on memorized keywords or traditional meanings, but simply going by the imagery, looking deep into it, and stating what insights you gain. Here are the rules. I will post an image on the thread. This image will not come from any known decks, but from famous works of art. Now, pretend that for your daily one-card draw (or the advice card for an imaginary querent), you drew a card with this exact same image on it. There is no need to assign a Tarot card to the image. Switch off your categorizing, pigeon-holing left-br…

We've all heard of reading the future, but has anyone delved into reading about the past? Not exactly reading about past lives, more like readings about events that happened a decade ago, or a hundred years ago. I would be interested if anyone can link me to any articles or texts about the topic. It doesn't seem like a lot of people have an interest in the past, other than their own past lives. And I'm not interested in finding anything specific in the past myself, just curious about the topic.

Hi everyone when starting off on your tarot journey which deck is the best to begin with I hear a lot about rider Waite but am thinking larger cards so to see everything a bit better but not sure, any advice is appreciated 👍

How many times do you shuffle your cards? Do you do it a fixed number of times - like you always shuffle nine times for example? Do you wait until the deck feels "right"? Or does it depend on something else? Related fact: I've read before that to fully randomize a deck of cards, you need to riffle shuffle it at least 7 times. There's a mathematical basis for this too - so this is not a metaphysical concept or something.

Hey So, I recently found out a reader I know removes the death card from each deck she owns and throws it away...because of her own superstitions. I've never purchased a reading from her, this was something she told me she did and I am glad that I never purchased a reading from her...I just personally feel like id be cheated...and that she lets her own personal feelings and beliefs interfere with a reading. I know that other cards in the deck can signify the same thing, but I think because to me a tarot deck should be 78 cards, you're reading with 77...and also its almost like you're pushing your superstitious beliefs on me without me even knowing it...it feels not r…

Wands - sms/email Swords - call/personal meet Cups - some passive form of communication - gift/invitation card/flowers Pentacles - handwritten letter, or email/invite for personal meet with pre-selected date in advance. What do you think?

Hi all :-) Excuse for being so stupid about tarot, but I have all these questions I wonder about. I feel this strong thirst for knowing more about tarot. This time I have a question about The Hermit. I have seen images of him holdning a lamp. Does that mean anything? And if so, what does it mean and symbolize? Can anyone help me? PS! Thanks for your patience with me. :-[

Which non-tarot books have you read which help with Tarot? e.g. History Mythology Symbology Numerology Animal totem Anything else or specific books you recommend or found useful? Edited to clarify: this is to add layers to a reading as we would with astrology. For example, the story of Persephone in Greek mythology might come to mind my eye is caught on the image of a pomegranate on a card.

Sometimes I see some out of print decks or rarer decks on ebay and decks for cheaper too. I have never bought anything on there though. Maybe it’s just me or does ebay seem really sketchy? Have any of you bought a deck on ebay before? How did it go?

I asked about the outcome of a potential course of action should I run with it, and got the Wheel of Fortune. I don't use reversals, but the first thing that drew my eye when I turned over the card was the snake on the left-hand side. I did a bit of research, discovered that the snake represents a Greek god Typhon (a sort of monster-deity) and something about salt and destruction and spirit becoming material. It all went a bit over my head, tbh. Interesting, but not easy to apply to the question. The WoF is not all bad, and can mean that a difficult situation improves, but in this particular case I'm wondering if the snake that caught my eye suggests that the situat…

Hello all, while I've had my tarot deck for a while, it's only now that I'm just starting to use them. One of the ways I decided to practice doing readings was to try to get to know my deck using an interview spread I found on Pinterest, as well as asking it what sort of crystals it would like me to use to recharge it. So I'm curious, how do others in this forum get to know their new decks? Who else likes to interview their decks and what sort of questions do they ask? Or what other ways are there, other than simply using the deck over a period of time?

In the various schools of thought on tarot, one old rule was that tarot cards needed to come to their owner indirectly, as the tarot cards needed to find their own owner. Do you adhere to this rule, and if so how do you come about attaining a new deck? Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk

Hello tarot lovers! Thanks for the add. 1. How do you feel about reading cards that fall, jump, fly or drop when shuffling? Do you strictly deal your cards? 2. If a card falls horizontally, how do you read it, upright or reversed? 3. Are there any good books or references you recommend for memorizing the meanings of cards (i.e., the Knights all mean youthfulness, the Aces new beginnings, etc.) 4. What are your favorite basic spreads? Or do you generally pull a card a day? 💫 Love and light to you Starwind

About a week (?) ago, I realised that my Tower card had gone missing. It’s the Radiant RWS deck in a Tin. It’s small and I like to shuffle it for fun when I’m stressed out (like a stress ball, without being disrespectful—I figured it’s a nice way to bond with it). So I did the usual count for fun (laid them in piles of 10’s and an 8) and realised there’s only 77 of them! Then checked which suit of the minors or which major? And... Dun-dun-duuuunnnn~ It’s the Tower card! ⚡️ Now I almost wish it might’ve flown into my rubbish bin in my room because now I’m afraid of finding it when I’m cleaning some day! Like, I feel like the day I find it will be the day …

I have read people saying that if they get a deck in which the backs of card and definitely oriented to the card being turned over to the upright positions. That they don’t read these cards with reversal. I read with reversals, that’s the way I was taught. I don’t see what difference it makes whether the back is right side up or upside down. Do you think that knowing if I card will be reversed makes a difference? Some reversals are improvements over the main messages of the cards right side up. What do you guys do, do you read with reversals? Do you think decks with and upright back image should be only read without reversals. I have never seen that …

Are there any cards you would associate with Kundalini rising? The Tower was the first one that came to my mind. Perhaps there are other cards too?