Tarot Talk & Technique

Hi all, With a new year fast approaching I'm wondering how many of you calculate your year card and, if so, what year will 2018 be for you? I calculate my card on every birthday and for 2018 I'll be staring down The Hanged Man. This is a card I've always had a little difficulty with so I guess I'll be learning his lessons first hand. I'm hoping this year brings a lot of new insights and a deeper connection to my own integrity. If you don't know how to calculate your year card it's quite simple. Here's the method I use. You add up your day and month of birth to the year you want to calculate your card for. For example: 4 + 12 + 2018 = 2034 = 2 + 3 + 4 = 9 (if …

Hi Friends! Quite a long time ago, I received The Sacred Rose deck as a gift. I loved reading from it, and did for many years. Then one day I was shuffling the cards and just felt like something was missing. Sure enough, I counted my cards and the deck was one short of being complete. So I lost a card somewhere. I never recovered it and haven't used the deck since. But when I was looking for another deck a few days ago, I came across TSR again and I felt a genuine yearning and even a little sadness. I started looking on EBAY to see if I could find any lots of loose cards or someone who had that one replacement card for my deck. My question is: Do you think energe…

What's the most difficult reading you've ever performed? It can be because it took such a long time to conduct it, or because the spread itself is highly-complicated (like the OOTK), or maybe because you've already expended so much effort on it and you still can't interpret what the cards say. Or maybe because the emotional implications of the reading were so heavy, so ominous towards the querent, that you had a hard time finshing it or even just relaying to the other person exactly what the cards have said? In any case, did you finish it, or did you just give up altogether? If you did pull it off, did the reading eventually turn out to be accurate?

We all know the king of wands is a self absorbed, self entitled, mean but hypersexual emotionless man of fire and passion. But I'm curious to know what would upset/ P off the king of wands. I was thinking that ignoring him, not paying attention to him, paying lots of love and affection and praise to someone other than him. I'm curious to hear other ppls thoughts.

Is anyone else attending the free workshop that Lisa (from Divination and fortune telling) so kindly offers this Saturday? It is all about how you interpret the direction of court cards, and how they interact with each other in a reading. Sounds really interesting and I truly love all the other free stuff that Lisa is offering on her website (not only on tarot, but she has a great course on lenormand as well). Here's the link to the registration page: https://divinationandfortunetelling.com/court-card-directions-workshop (I added a screen shot of the information she had regarding the workshop. I really liked that those who can't make it to the workshop on that speci…

I was wondering if anyone else here is doing tarot spreads for every (major) phase of the moon and for every sign the moon is in? I read the Moonology book earlier this year as I wanted to connect more with the moon. I also watched some YouTube videos on the same topic. Then I decided to try a new spread for every phase that the moon is in and write it in my journal. I have had quite a lot of fun and insights while doing so! So, is anyone else doing something like that, and would you like to discuss it? (and maybe share spreads for upcoming moons?)

Who else is excited for Robert Place's latest magnum opus, The Tarot, Magic, Alchemy, Hermeticism, and Neoplatonism? It's bound to be released any time now. I know I said that I have a moratorium on deck- and book-buying until September, but come on, this is Robert Place!

Do you sometimes feel like everything we do, every thought we make, and every act we take is ultimately geared towards a fixed future that we inexorably, inevitably are moving to fulfill? Like we already have a fixed end and that all the semblance of control and will that we seem to have are nothing but mere illusions serving a strict, immovable deity - personified best by the primordial goddess Ananke. We might make all these readings and predictions and we act according to the cards we pull, but if these draws and our subsequent actions have been determined from the very start, then we're still just acting out the part that's been designed for us. Our Books of Life h…

I'm curious to know what others think... I did a reading this evening for someone which made no sense at all to them. The cards seemed really clear to me and a narrative came through - but the querent was quite sure that it wasn't relevant to them/their life. I'm still building experience so I'm completely willing to believe that I got it wrong but I'm curious to know what other people do and say in those circumstances? How do you deal with it and what do you say to the querent? The odd thing is that when I looked again at the cards, the reading could relate very easily to a close family member of mine who is having a lot of trouble in their life at present. H…

So, I don't really use the CC. I just never gelled with "The situation/what's crossing you/what lies beneath/what crowns you", etc. jargon. It just didn't resonate at all. I have the sort of mind that if something doesn't make sense, I'm outta there. :) But I have a friend that I sometimes do readings for. And when she learned the cards, the main spread she learned was the CC, so I kinda felt this pressure on me to do a CC spread. (The pressure wasn't directly from her, I don't think, but I was definitely picking it up from somewhere. Maybe an unspoken wish on her part?) My question is: where's a good place to source a modern take on the CC that respects the traditi…

I have a purchasing question for you all I am looking to buy The Wild Unknown in the near future (maybe in March when the companion Oracle deck is re-released). You can purchase the deck & guidebook on The Wild Unknown's website for $40 (+7 in shipping) but it is also available on Amazon for $23 (+ free shipping), that's nearly 50% of the creator's price! Is there any advantage to buying directly from The Wild Unknown that would make up for the difference in cost? Does the creator get ripped off by the Amazon deal? If anyone has any experience in these matters I'd appreciate the input :)

I'm wondering, can tarot be used to see if we will reincarnate?

Hello everyone, I have been feeling directionless over the last few months and started using the tarot to see what my purpose in life could possibly be. Each time I have asked the question, "What is my purpose this lifetime?" I get the four of swords--even when using tarot apps on my phone! I think I understand what it means, but also I don't understand. From what I can gather, my purpose is to take it easy and recover--possibly from something in previous past lives. Today I asked again what my purpose was, but drew two cards this time for a clearer picture. I got the four of swords again and the king of cups. To me, these cards double down on the "take it easy" theme.…

So, this is a general discussion. The sun, the general interpretation is usually about positivity, success, a "yes" to our life, etc. However, do anyone came across where the sun also indicates short term interest? For example, during a career reading, the sun shows up. I know that it will have good prospective and generally it will bring success to ourselves, but does it also indicate that from the other point of view we will only have passion and goodness for a short period of time? In short, it hints that sustainability is not there?

Its full name is actually the ATA Finest Reflections Readers' Choice Awards. Reflections is the official publication of the American Tarot Association. At the end of last year, they voted on the top three entries for four categories: Tarot-Related Books or Publications; Lenormand or Kipper Decks; Oracle Decks; and Tarot Decks. There are two sets of polls: one for 2017 and one for all-time. HERE are the winners for the cream of the crop of 2017. HERE are those for the best of All Time. So, what do you guys think? Some of the winners are quite shocking or downright meh for me.

Once you have shuffled your deck, how do you pull the cards? For me, if the spread isn't that big like if it only has 7 or less cards, I just cut the deck into three piles, have the querent stack them however she sees fit, and draw from the top while I would occasionally pull from the bottom for base/spirit cards. If I'm going to draw a lot of cards, I find myself fanning them after shuffling and having the querent choose from them. It just feels more apt to me somehow. How about you?

Hi Friends! I've read people from my home for many years, but in Oak Park, where I live, there's a yearly pagan festival (http://www.chicagopaganpride.org/). I was thinking about applying for a booth this year. Has anyone here ever had experience with reading in this sort of venue? Did you feel energetically whammied because the crowds were large? Or was it generally a good experience? And how about sales? Did you find you sat around most of the day, or did people filter in for readings? Normally I just attend this venue. Hubby suggested partaking more fully this year. Thanks in advance, Sandy

Or those who have Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math-based job like in software development, medicine, research, etc. Those on a managerial/executive track in companies that handle these disciplines are also welcome. Let's also include those who are currently pursuing (or aiming to) STEM degrees.

According to the hermetic sciences, everything has a vibrational signature that is in harmony or sympathetic with something else usually using a planet, a metal, a zodiac, a rune, Hebrew letter, etc. By taking the phonetic structures of the sounds we can find the correspondences from the Hebrew letter to the English letters. This allows us to easily apply the English language to the alchemic mix used in the past. Each letter having a basic tone means that the combinations of letters into words gives us a more complicated tone. A nice metaphor would be a single letter is much like a tuning fork whereas a word is like recreating that note on a violin with all of the t…

Have you performed "forbidden" readings before? For example, very specific questions about death, like if someone is going to die within the coming year or maybe the nature of your own death, and if you're good enough, when it's going to occur. Or maybe you're studying how to summon demons or Enochian angels through cards, or how to make pacts with them. Or you've performed some good bit of necromancy - I've heard that you can communicate with spirits through the cards and from thence divine the future, altho I'm not familiar with the specifics. I'm just curious about anyone's experiences regarding these.

I've only found it credited to Chelsea Monico but it doesn't look anything like her other art. thanks!

I am SO tempted to buy some decks from this site, it really looks so lovely. I am just wondering, do their decks ever smell of incense? I am really sensitive to incense, it sadly makes my nose stuffed and my eyes runny so I am a bit hesitant to take the risk. When you buy mass produced decks they are usually sealed in plastic so the smell would never penetrate the cards, but I'm not sure if indie decks are commonly sealed or not? If you have ever bought decks from this store, please tell me about your experiences. Would so like to be able to place an order without having to worry (I mean, those decks aren't cheap to begin with, but I totally think they could be worth ever…

http://nwtarotsymposium.com/ coming up soon. easy to get to, right off interstate 205 @ Clackamas Town Center exit. I'd love to see/hear Benbell Wen. Participants are expected to participate though :) Yikes!

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Merry Christmas everyone, For my 18th Christmas this year ive gotten the Essential Tarot by Mary Hanson-Roberts. As I was shuffling the deck I heard a gentle, kind, elderly but masculine voice in my head saying "I'm Chris I'm looking forward to work with you." I was pretty shocked to hear this I stopped shuffling and just looked at the artwork of the cards. Afterwards I went onto the internet to look up Tarot deck personalities. So I then asked Chris a few questions about his physical appearence as a deck. I've gotten these two cards that feature and elderly man in his 70s with weathered skin, short grey but wavy hair with a gentle and kind personality. So for now on…