hello! ♡

[divineaura]

hi, everyone! i'm daphne and i've been reading tarot for five years now. 

 

this is my first time joining a forum about tarot, and i'm quite excited to be here and explore the community a bit more.

[DanielJUK]

Hi @divineaura  Welcome to the community 😀

[Chariot]

Hi Daphne!  I'd love to know a bit more about how you've got on with your readings over the past five years.  Did you teach yourself?  Did you use books, or maybe learn from another reader or two?  Do you read for others as well as yourself?  Have you got a favourite deck or system (Rider-Waite-Smith, Thoth, etc) you prefer?  Do you like to use reversals in your readings, or do you prefer just upright cards?  What kinds of things do you look for when you are doing a reading?  Do you have any rituals you engage in before or during or after reading?  Questions, questions... 🙂

Have some fun telling us about yourself, if you're in the mood for that.  I hope you really enjoy this forum ...I certainly do.  Glad to have you aboard. 🙂

Edited March 29, 2024 by Chariot

[divineaura]

36 minutes ago, Chariot said:

Hi Daphne!  I'd love to know a bit more about how you've got on with your readings over the past five years.  Did you teach yourself?  Did you use books, or maybe learn from another reader or two?  Do you read for others as well as yourself?  Have you got a favourite deck or system (Rider-Waite-Smith, Thoth, etc) you prefer?  Do you like to use reversals in your readings, or do you prefer just upright cards?  What kinds of things do you look for when you are doing a reading?  Do you have any rituals you engage in before or during or after reading?  Questions, questions... 🙂

Have some fun telling us about yourself, if you're in the mood for that.  I hope you really enjoy this forum ...I certainly do.  Glad to have you aboard. 🙂

 

Hi! After some revelations in my life and deciding to buy my first tarot deck, I didn't know where to start looking for the meanings at first. All I knew were the spreads, and that was because I was watching YouTube tarot readers at the time. I didn't find much joy in reading from the books, and that was when I found a website called www.thetarotguide.com, which I found to be super useful. I got the hang of it in no time, but there was one specific reader on YouTube who helped me understand how to read all the cards as a whole and see the story unfold. That was like an aha moment for me. After that, I joined the tarot community on Twitter, where I earned a following by doing collective messages and reading for others. I was also on Tumblr doing readings on celebrities, and it was quite fun to see the predictions come true after some time. I don't really read for myself that much. Most of the time I know what's going on. 

 

My favorite decks are the Tarot of the Haunted House and Smith-Waite Centennial Tarot Deck! They hold a precious, special place in my heart. 

 

I used reversals for years, but in a way where I would shuffle, divide the deck in two, turn one side and continue shuffling, so that random cards were reversed. But around a year ago I felt called to use them all upright and if when shuffling, one of them jumps out reversed, to read it reversed. I resonate with that more these days! When reading, I try to look at the whole thing first because images come to my mind first. 

 

(cont.)

[divineaura]

Just now, divineaura said:

 

Hi! After some revelations in my life and deciding to buy my first tarot deck, I didn't know where to start looking for the meanings at first. All I knew were the spreads, and that was because I was watching YouTube tarot readers at the time. I didn't find much joy in reading from the books, and that was when I found a website called www.thetarotguide.com, which I found to be super useful. I got the hang of it in no time, but there was one specific reader on YouTube who helped me understand how to read all the cards as a whole and see the story unfold. That was like an aha moment for me. After that, I joined the tarot community on Twitter, where I earned a following by doing collective messages and reading for others. I was also on Tumblr doing readings on celebrities, and it was quite fun to see the predictions come true after some time. I don't really read for myself that much. Most of the time I know what's going on. 

 

My favorite decks are the Tarot of the Haunted House and Smith-Waite Centennial Tarot Deck! They hold a precious, special place in my heart. 

 

I used reversals for years, but in a way where I would shuffle, divide the deck in two, turn one side and continue shuffling, so that random cards were reversed. But around a year ago I felt called to use them all upright and if when shuffling, one of them jumps out reversed, to read it reversed. I resonate with that more these days! When reading, I try to look at the whole thing first because images come to my mind first. 

 

(cont.)

 

(cont.)

 

In the past, I used to follow rituals like meditating before readings and cleansing my deck afterward because it's what some blogs and readers advised to do, but now that some years have passed, I've changed a bit. Now I try to do readings when I feel calm instead of forcing myself to meditate and trust my inner guidance more. 

 

Thank you so much for asking! I loved those questions.

[joy]

Hello @divineaura welcome to the TT&M Family 

[divineaura]

Hi! Thank you so much for the warm welcoming! It means a lot. 

[Chariot]

@divineaura - Wonderful explanation of how you got into tarot, and how you work!  I started back in the 1970s, when there was no internet, and you had to get your tarot deck from a shop ...if you were lucky enough to find a shop that sold them!  It was a much different world then.  Probably why it took me SO long to get where I am now with tarot.  It was all trial and error, and done mostly on my own.  Tarot has become much more accessible to people nowadays.   

I also have, and love, the Centennial RWS deck ...in fact I just used it yesterday.  I'm not familiar with the Tarot of the Haunted House, but there are SO many decks out there!  I own about 30 that I use and about 5 that I keep for sentimental or research purposes.  And that's enough for me.  Unless a deck REALLY has something new to offer, like Poppy Palin's The Everyday Enchantment Tarot, which is my most recently-acquired deck, I no longer buy decks.  If they don't get used, I give them away as well.  It's just that having the internet does certainly tempt one to buy decks!  That wasn't an issue when I got started.  Just finding A deck was a big deal!  

Anyway, thanks for answering my questions.  You will be a really big asset to the forum.  I predict it!  🙂

[Dominicos]

I had the same experience obtaining a deck in the pre-internet days.  I found a shop in west London which was run by Peter Bull, a well known actor.  I think I bought the Aquarian Tarot pack there together with some astrology books and other related things. I still use the pack although I have some others as well. 
As Chariot writes, there were few such shops around in those days so it was always a pleasure to browse around them and I always ended up buying more than I intended. I think I could open a shop myself now with all the various items I have purchased over the years, although I still prefer visiting a shop and talking to the owner as it is much more pleasurable than using the internet. 
Having said that, I can understand how being on line has been specially helpful to you,Daphne, as we are not always able to find those with similar interests to ourselves and, as you wrote, you were able to learn a great deal from your interactions there. May I wish you all the best with your intentions to learn more and I am sure that you will find lots of advice and information on this website where members are very helpful and knowledgeable. 
 

[DanielJUK]

It was fascinating to learn about that shop @Dominicos in my home area

[divineaura]

3 hours ago, Dominicos said:

I had the same experience obtaining a deck in the pre-internet days.  I found a shop in west London which was run by Peter Bull, a well known actor.  I think I bought the Aquarian Tarot pack there together with some astrology books and other related things. I still use the pack although I have some others as well. 
As Chariot writes, there were few such shops around in those days so it was always a pleasure to browse around them and I always ended up buying more than I intended. I think I could open a shop myself now with all the various items I have purchased over the years, although I still prefer visiting a shop and talking to the owner as it is much more pleasurable than using the internet. 
Having said that, I can understand how being on line has been specially helpful to you,Daphne, as we are not always able to find those with similar interests to ourselves and, as you wrote, you were able to learn a great deal from your interactions there. May I wish you all the best with your intentions to learn more and I am sure that you will find lots of advice and information on this website where members are very helpful and knowledgeable. 
 

 

I see! Thank you so much for sharing. I always end up buying more decks than I need as well, especially when the artwork is pretty. Out of the 5 tarot decks I own, I always end up just using one.

 

I hope you're having an amazing day!

[Dominicos]

Thank you for your comments. I have just been having a reorganisation of my esoteric articles and I found that I have the Balbi Tarot.  I remember having bought it years ago in a charity shop but I have never actually used it. Apparently it is quite rare. The artwork is fascinating. I also found, among others, another pack of the Aquarian Tarot which I do use, although this pack has a different coloured reverse side. I have still to reorganise my books, many of which I bought years ago from various used booksellers.