Hindsight advice for your beginner self

[EmpyreanKnight]

If you can travel back in time and give your beginner self only one advice, what would that be? Note that this only has to apply to you - advice that works for one may not do much or may even be counter-productive for another

[Little Fang]

Screw Crow's Magick it's just as good as a pip deck.  Start with a RWS deck.  Life would have been a lot easier.

[EmpyreanKnight]

Mine runs in the same vein, Little Fang, tho for me it would be to focus on the Thoth and study it to the exclusion of other decks for half a year. Buy the Large and Standard Thoth, purchase a busload of companion books that faithfully follow Crowley's intended meanings for the cards, and immerse myself in them. My Mythic Tarot was very helpful in my Tarot journey and I won't trade it for anything else because of its sentimental value, but initially focusing on the Thoth would have made things a lot easier.

 

A warning to beginners tho: many readers don't think the Thoth is a great beginner's deck because of its complexity. It spoke clearly to me right off the bat, so ymmv.

[DownUnderNZer]

Advice to the beginner me with Tarot?

 

To have been more prepared, open, and to have had some kind of guidance because when I leaped in - death and affairs were in my cards and that was really difficult for me to fully grasp and accept. So, I stopped within a short time as it was just too heavy.

 

One flatmate"s two cousins died within 3 weeks or so of his reading by me - freak wave took them off a rock whilst fishing.

 

Another friends sister was having an extra marital affair and was pregnant. She was shocked when I brought it up. A sceptic she was not anymore when that revelation came out and she had to fess up.

 

Some say predictions are not always 100% accurate, the thing is, I've never seen it as predictive but rather just what the cards reveal or are saying.

 

There are readers that are very accurate and to a fault but nothing is set in stone as there are variables - so to any beginners out there that want to learn keep it in mind that there is more to them than predicting futures and fortunes and that sometimes some things are best kept to yourself.

[Page of Ghosts]

Don't hesitate and get that RWS deck right away as well as a decent book! Bunning and/or Wen are good options. I think I would have learned faster and have fewer decks if I'd ignored the bad things I heard about the RWS and book learning in the beginning. Intuition is something that can be developed and tarot does have a scholarly approach you can take to achieve that. I should have known since I love reading instruction manuals and I'm pretty good at building IKEA furniture!

[KitKat]

I'd say trust your intuition and start by interpreting the imagery first, the LWB second. I spent so much time being dependent on the book rather than trusting my instinct. I believe each deck has a slightly different energy and nuance to the traditional interpretation and that's the beauty of tarot. Be open to these energies. They open doors. Eventually, tarot taught me to trust my intuition again.

[Lantana]

Don't rely so much on those huge spreads in your books and online. Just ask a question and lay a card or two down... It really is that easy!

 

Also maybe spring for that Collective Tarot you're looking at before it sells out

[Bodhiseed]

Two things that DownUnder and Lantana mentioned: nothing is set in stone and keep it simple. Also that great artwork does not necessarily mean it's a good reading deck. Sometimes it's just 78 pieces of great art.

[faerybraids]

Don't force yourself to connect to a deck when that connection just isn't there, and don't give it up just because you end up thinking it isn't for you.

 

Granted, things did turn out fairly well for me in the end. I focused on other somewhat-related studies like tasseomancy and achieved decent proficiency in most of them. Maybe things just weren't meant to be back then. Sometimes I do wonder, though...

[EmpyreanKnight]

Lots of great advice here! Also: don't let your innate skepticism derail your studies. Just read the books and take them to heart, start performing readings, and watch the cards prove themselves. They say that the proof of the pudding is in the eating - you don't need to know how it is made to know that it tastes great.

[Audelia]

I love this. Some great insights!

 

What would I say to my beginner self? Trust your intuition. Stop second-guessing yourself and go with your gut. If it feels right, then it usually is. Don't worry about being so 'careful' when it comes to repeating the interpretations that you've learned word for word. Look at the cards, trust what you gut says.

 

I wasted SO much time learning off interpretations as opposed to actually trusting my own impressions  ::)

[Trogon]

My primary piece of advice to my beginner self; STAY AWAY FROM THE CELTIC CROSS SPREAD! Well, at least until you've got a couple of years of reading experience with smaller spreads!

[katrinka]

That's a tough one. I was a kid with a real scarcity of information, I had a LOT of wrongheaded ideas.

I guess the main one would be to be a lot more more irreverent. The stuff in the PKT or Eden Gray is all well and good, but to apply the cards to day-to-day life, you have to see the absurdity. I was straining my brain trying to figure out some deep occult significance, and the cards were going "Look at this dumb sh**."  ;D

[sandrang123]

Mine covers a range, beyond tarot:

 

1) Don't get caught reading cards while in Catholic school. This advice will get you out of a detention!

2) Don't mess with magic before you learn more about the occult.

3) Don't f-ck around with Ouija boards.

4) While you might be a natural magnet for strangeness, do not get looped in with people who a versed (and very powerful) in (with) black magic. Only seek and find those with positive energy.

5) Learn how to protect your aura/energy at all times.

[Hemera]

I would have told me to choose a deck I bond really well with and then to just look at the pictures and trust my intuition.

And, I would have said it is going to take me a very long time to be able to use this tool. Something like a few decades. There are/were no shortcuts (for me).

 

Come to think of it, I'm glad I did not know that it would be such a long process. I might never have even started..

[Saturn Celeste]

Two things that DownUnder and Lantana mentioned: nothing is set in stone and keep it simple. Also that great artwork does not necessarily mean it's a good reading deck. Sometimes it's just 78 pieces of great art.

So very true!  It goes along with my advice to myself to not buy so many current, hip and trendy decks so fast.  Wait until they go on sale, which they do on Amazon.  Pick and choose good deals on decks.

[dancing_moon]

My advice would be: start reading for others and getting their feedback as soon as you can.

[TarotOrat]

Read fewer books and develop more intuition.

[EmpyreanKnight]

It goes along with my advice to myself to not buy so many current, hip and trendy decks so fast.  Wait until they go on sale, which they do on Amazon.  Pick and choose good deals on decks.

 

Great advice, especially if you're starting a collection. Always compare the prices across different marketplace sites - you'll be surprised. Try to choose reputable sellers too.

[Jewel]

I wasted SO much time learning off interpretations as opposed to actually trusting my own impressions  ::)

You and me both!

 

First thing I would tell my beginner self - forget the RWS deck (I still after 30 years cannot really connect with any version of this deck) and just get the Robin Wood which appeals to you and since you do feel the need for direction to know you are learning get the Tarot for Yourself (I think that existed back then lol) and work through that book, then get the next two Mary Greer workbooks.  In this day in age I would have recommended 21 Ways to Read a Tarot card to myself.  Then add some scholarly books for more in depth study once you have a little experience playing around and getting comfortable with the cards.

 

I wasted so much time second guessing myself because X book says this, Y book says that and I never listened to myself.  As a result I felt insecure and sometimes totally lost and overwhelmed by the amount of symbolism.  It took me over a decade and finding Aeclectic Tarot to get past that road block!

 

[Albadawn]

I haven't read everyone's replies yet, but I'd say: study ONE book at a time. And definitely not the LWB. ;)

[ballerina]

I would tell myself that just because you may move a zillion times as an adult there is no reason to dump the tarot and occult books every time and then start collecting again at the new place.  I would have such a great collection if I had kept all my books.  And really in the moving scheme of things how much room do they really take up?  You can always store them if need be till you are ready for them.

[Albadawn]

... to apply the cards to day-to-day life, you have to see the absurdity. I was straining my brain trying to figure out some deep occult significance, and the cards were going "Look at this dumb sh**."  ;D

 

This made me chuckle. It's so true. ;D

[skywatching]

Advice to Me: Forget everything you think you know about Tarot (the stereotypes etc.) it will only narrow your mind and in reality you will discover you know nothing at all  ;)

 

 

[Guest Empathic_Cap]

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