That one card….

[Giana222]

What is the one card, that no matter the reading, you just have a hard time figuring out how it relates? I have a few, lol, but the biggest for me is the six of pentacles, RWS deck. Is it about gratitude? Giving and receiving? An imbalance? Ugh! 
 

interested to hear your thought. Apologies in advance if it’s in the wrong section 🙂

[DanielJUK]

I've moved this thread over to the main Tarot Talk & Technique section where it will get more interest @Giana222 🙂 

 

I will think about which card I have the hardest time relating to for me personally!

 

Based on forum posts here, I would say that people struggle with.....

 

High Priestess - not really being able to understand her or get under her skin

Hierophant - being turned off because of religious connotations

2 and 3 of Wands - people seem to have trouble finding the difference between them which has never affected me in my learning

 

Gonna think about my answer to this and shall be back 🙂

[gregory]

I don't have trouble with any one card as such, only when I get one that I can't seem to work in to the rest of the reading. But about your six, I usually see it in terms of imbalance, often one person taking advantage of another in some way. Sometimes a controlling partner or friend, sometimes a boss....

[Giana222]

On 4/8/2022 at 4:32 PM, DanielJUK said:

I've moved this thread over to the main Tarot Talk & Technique section where it will get more interest @Giana222 🙂 

 

I will think about which card I have the hardest time relating to for me personally!

 

Based on forum posts here, I would say that people struggle with.....

 

High Priestess - not really being able to understand her or get under her skin

Hierophant - being turned off because of religious connotations

2 and 3 of Wands - people seem to have trouble finding the difference between them which has never affected me in my learning

 

Gonna think about my answer to this and shall be back 🙂

High priestess is a good one! Because you never know what she is trying to say, which I guess is sort of the point 🙂 

[Giana222]

On 4/10/2022 at 3:57 PM, gregory said:

I don't have trouble with any one card as such, only when I get one that I can't seem to work in to the rest of the reading. But about your six, I usually see it in terms of imbalance, often one person taking advantage of another in some way. Sometimes a controlling partner or friend, sometimes a boss....

That’s interesting, thank you! I think the scales always throw me off but I can definitely see imbalance. 

[RunningWild]

I seem to go through phases where one card will just draw a blank.  Lately, it's been the Temperance card.  Is it balance?  Healing? Mixing of disparate things or people?  Alchemy?  Maybe, it's the angel?  ugh.

[fire cat pickles]

Whenever I have difficulty with a particular card, I'll look at how the card interacts with the other cards in the spread, not so much looking at keywords anymore. I also try and use any tool or interrelated material I've accumulated over the years—numerology,  the tarot decans, astrological associations, elementals or elemental dignities–so that I don't get stuck. If I'm using a spread,  I'll take care to use the card in its relative position to the other cards' positions,  not just how it sits in its own place.

 

This really is how I am comfortable reading the cards. I'll jump back and forth from position to position and re-read each cards' positions,  in real time anyway.

 

This is part of the challenge in doing readings on the forum because here they're in a linear format, and they don't mirror my reading style.

[Raggydoll]

I agree that it’s really good to look at the way cards interact. And I also don’t bother with keywords, I study what’s visually in front of me. But this does develop over time. It’s normal to feel stuck when you’re in the beginning - or even middle - stage. Some of us have been at this for decades and that’s when ones own reading style tends to develop into a more unique approach that simply ‘works’. Anyone who keeps at it will get there. In the meantime, don’t stress out if you struggle with certain cards. Perhaps try and view them as those neighbors that we haven’t really talked to and that we have yet to get to know properly. This is a perfect invitation to say hi and to start noticing them more closely. Soon you’ll have a general idea of them and eventually you’ll have seen how they behave in different contexts so you will know what they bring to the table. (I hope that analogy wasn’t too weird 😄)

[Raggydoll]

5 hours ago, RunningWild said:

I seem to go through phases where one card will just draw a blank.  Lately, it's been the Temperance card.  Is it balance?  Healing? Mixing of disparate things or people?  Alchemy?  Maybe, it's the angel?  ugh.

Yeah, temperance is one of those cards where it’s really about the context of the question and the interaction between the other cards. Also, no angel cards come naturally to me, being raised among Norse heathens 😆
 

I do remember that I had great use from the book 78 degrees of wisdom when I explored individual cards. I know that this book isn’t for everyone but it’s a classic for a reason. That, and the learntarot.com . It is another really good resource for understanding individual cards. But eventually, context will trump those individual keywords and the whole of the reading will become something much more than the sum of its parts.

[RunningWild]

2 minutes ago, Raggydoll said:

Yeah, temperance is one of those cards where it’s really about the context of the question and the interaction between the other cards. Also, no angel cards come naturally to me, being raised among Norse heathens 😆
 

I do remember that I had great use from the book 78 degrees of wisdom when I explored individual cards. I know that this book isn’t for everyone but it’s a classic for a reason. That, and the learntarot.com . It is another really good resource for understanding individual cards. But eventually, context will trump those individual keywords and the whole of the reading will become something much more than the sum of its parts.

 

I'm part Scandinavian descent and knew about trolls and Hans Christian Andersen before I ever heard of the brothers Grimm.  Angels don't have a place in my world but I tolerate their presence. 😄

 

I've read them all.  I own many of the popular tarot books and I agree, 78 Degrees is a good book, especially for the majors.  Mine is just a temporary hang up, I'm sure.  Somewhere on AT there was a similar thread about cards people had a hard time with and Temperance was mentioned often.  Equally as often, the feeling the card gave them was defined as "meh", which is kind of where I'm at right now.

[Raggydoll]

1 hour ago, RunningWild said:

 

I'm part Scandinavian descent and knew about trolls and Hans Christian Andersen before I ever heard of the brothers Grimm.  Angels don't have a place in my world but I tolerate their presence. 😄
 

Yay for Scandinavian ancestry! And trolls are much easier to interpret then angels. I guess it’s because they are so down to earth 😁 We need more decks with trolls !

 

1 hour ago, RunningWild said:

 

I've read them all.  I own many of the popular tarot books and I agree, 78 Degrees is a good book, especially for the majors.  Mine is just a temporary hang up, I'm sure.  Somewhere on AT there was a similar thread about cards people had a hard time with and Temperance was mentioned often.  Equally as often, the feeling the card gave them was defined as "meh", which is kind of where I'm at right now.

Yes, sometimes it helps to use a different type of deck instead (an angel free one perhaps 😋) 

[DanielJUK]

I think Temperance is super tricky in modern times as we don't easily associate with the word anymore. The Temperance movement was around in the 19th and 20th centuries and so it can be hard to relate to the card now. The modern folk who pledge moderation really are the Straight Edge Movement. You can come at it with the mixing idea of elements from Thoth, mixing elements and things to create balance.

 

Thought about it and I had the most trouble relating to Swords cards, especially the middle minors when learning. Swords really is the opposite suit to my personality which is so Cups orientated, I found it really hard to relate to those cards in my own life. I had to really study them and understand them more than the other cards. Now somewhat wiser, it's really useful to use swords energy in your life, like for decision making with important things and not just basing it on your warm feelings 🙂

[Raggydoll]

34 minutes ago, DanielJUK said:

I think Temperance is super tricky in modern times as we don't easily associate with the word anymore. The Temperance movement was around in the 19th and 20th centuries and so it can be hard to relate to the card now. The modern folk who pledge moderation really are the Straight Edge Movement. You can come at it with the mixing idea of elements from Thoth, mixing elements and things to create balance.

 

This reminds me a bit about trying to explain the Swedish word ‘lagom’ in English. It’s always an interesting task. Most commonly people go with “just the right amount” or ‘moderation/perfect balance’ which sort of explains it but not entirely. And Temperance has a lot to do with Lagom, in my opinion 😄

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by Raggydoll

[AnomalyTempest]

I can't think of any card I have problems with on their own but sometimes, as a previous poster stated, I will have trouble finding context in a spread. When this happens I usually grab another deck and look at the cards from a different perspective. Of course I have to guard against sending myself down a rabbit hole from getting curious about how the spread reads with all the different decks. 😛

 

[Eric13]

I would have to say the Fool. Who is he? What is he?

Good? Not good? Daring and smart, not afraid to take a risk, or just foolish in a not so happy go lucky kind of way. Is the reader a Fool? Probably not. How about the sitter, or question? Is it/he really the start of a new journey in life? Or is the Magician the start. Why did Waite place the Fool where he did in the Major Arcana? Just trying something different. Or was he?

Could also confuse me because I rarely see the card. That's just me.   

[Shintoga]

Definitely the hierophant for me. I’ve done some family relationship readings for myself recently and he’s popped up in the outcome position, but I wouldn’t say my family strictly adhere to tradition or religion!