Where/how did you learn tarot?

[EMarieHasADHD]

Hello 👋 I first became interested in tarot when I was 13 (let’s just say many years ago lol) and I purchased my first deck at the mall. I had only the little booklet that came with it. Back then we didn’t have the Internet forums, myriad YouTube videos, and courses online so I had to go to my library and read whatever 1-2 tarot books they had available. As an older young adult I took lessons from someone who worked at my local bookstore taught private lessons on his lunch break. 

I was just curious how you learned to read the tarot? Home study course? Videos online? A professional teacher? How long ago? Would you recommend that method today to someone else? Do you take any refresher courses or do anything to continue learning/advancing? Thanks and I’m eager to see the replies. 

[DanielJUK]

ooh interesting topic @EmarieWithADHD 🙂 . I think you can tell the decade when someone started learning by their methods 🙂 

 

For me, I first bought a deck in my early teens (same age at 13!) and it was the early 1990's. I bought a deck and books to learn. There was no internet then. Books really told you how to read, "you must do it this way", I found it a bit inflexible and when I got to my 20's, I fell out of love with tarot and put it all away in a drawer. At that time everything as from a physical bookshop and their small esoteric section.

 

I came back to it in my early 30's and everything was different. There were so many internet resources now and I found a tarot forum (our community space that came before us here). This was good because there were discussions, help and support and everything. The internet had so much info for me and there were many more books. It was more flexible learning. Although I think with many sources, it's more difficult now to know if it's a good source for learning or bad. The good thing about a tarot community is you tend to have more experienced people and beginners and an exchange of information.

 

I think learning the system in a basic way through books gave me a foundation, and then discussing it and reading internet resources helped advance that and give me different ideas. I think practising readings in exchanges really helped strengthen my skills and find my confidence. It needed theory learning and then practically using it to see how it really worked. I really learnt so much from actually using them and on other people, but the base of reference learning was important to understand the cards and system. I never had a mentor or teacher or took a class. I think some of the courses online for learning are quite good but I didn't do any of them until match later.

 

 

[FindYourSovereignty]

I learned tarot many different ways and continue to learn every day. I read books, take classes, watch some YouTube videos here and there, and currently host two practice groups. I recently volunteered to present an introduction to tarot discussion at my local library, but haven’t heard back yet. 
 

Some of the best learning for me has been right here in this forum participating in the monthly group activities, specifically the ISG, and the tarot card discussions. When I joined the forum there was a mentor learning opportunity that I participated in as well. I also attended an in-person conference at Omega in Rhinebeck, NY with Mark Greer and that was awesome!

I didn’t really jump in until I was in my mid 40’s.

[JoyousGirl]

I started before computers and the internet was a 'thing.' Thus, the LWB and books were the early resources. But once you've done some background reading, intuition is the way to go.

 

I remember doing a reading for a stranger and I began just talking about the card as I do now.  Then I got nervous and started reading from the book.  His feedback at the end of the reading was "You were spot on and answered my question almost the instant you started, but when you looked at the book it went wrong." The cards are leaping off points for your intuition, they're like a coin you put in the public phone to allow the conversation to begin.

 

Perhaps most importantly, whenever laying a spread for myself I would (and often still do) journal about what I saw in the cards when I pulled them. This is through intuition and just rambling about what draws my attention in the card. I will then refer to the journal and review at the end of the day, week, year, or whatever.

[gregory]

I read voraciously - but I'd have to say I LEARNED by following good readers on Aeclectic, and in the end, reading there. And then by creating my own deck - that taught me more than anything.

[Ix Chel]

I learned Tarot card meanings first mainly from the books. I also learned a lot from Aeclectic and this forum. On YouTube I learned the most from TarotOracle. But you learn the most if you read the cards, and stop reading about the cards. The reading circles on this forum, helps you to be a better reader. And of course write all your thoughts in your Tarot Journal, in this way you have written your own Tarot book. I have never followed a course. 

[Moon-Hermit]

I first stumbled upon tarot almost four or five years ago when I was just casually scrolling through YouTube videos. It was from a well known channel that did all sorts of readings, and the first video I ever watched was a soulmate love reading lol. Very soon, I found myself so engrossed in the topic that I started watching tarot readings for almost any sort of concept. That time was the toughest point in my life, and I was going through all sorts of crisis you could imagine; just to summarize it all, I was really on the verge of getting depressed. Tarot was my true savior, because it not only gave me new perspectives on my problems, but also helped me have more trust in myself and the world in general. A few months later I became eager to learn it myself, and started searching for resources beyond online videos. The first one I found was the Labyrinthos app on the store, and I remember I went through all the major arcana in just a day because I was so excited. I tried many apps and almost any tarot website you could imagine, and gradually found books and more articles on the subject. I did my research, made my own notes, and a year later I was able to read somewhat fluently for myself. I made my first ever tarot (and also Lenormand) deck myself, just a simple sketch on basic paper from the original cards; I’m so attached to them I still do most of my personal readings with those decks! Gradually, I started reading for close friends and practiced, and then moved on to read for my family members. There’s always more to learn, and I’m still studying many more areas, but divination in general has become a natural part in my life, and a gift I’ll always be grateful for. 🌼✨

[Hemera]

Great thread @EmarieWithADHD!

I used to read lots of Jungian psychology books back in the 1980´s and one day I spotted the Jungian Tarot in some bookshop. I bought it on the spot. I still have that deck, but to this day I have not read with it even once. I have never really understood the symbolism and I did not much care for the artwork either. But it piqued my curiosity and everything changed a while later, when I became the happy owner of the Morgan-Greer.  Membership in AT soon followed, and the rest is history. 🤗

[Misterei]

On 9/23/2024 at 4:22 PM, EmarieWithADHD said:

... I first became interested in tarot when I was 13 (let’s just say many years ago lol) and I purchased my first deck at the mall. I had only the little booklet that came with it. Back then we didn’t have the Internet forums, myriad YouTube videos, and courses online so I had to go to my library and read whatever 1-2 tarot books they had available.

My father gave me a deck when I was 14 or 15. LOL my birthday is so close to christmas I can't remember if it was christmas present when I was 14 or 15th birthday. Like you, when I was coming up there were only a couple books. My mainstay was Tarot Revealed by Eden Gray. Later I got Connoly's Handbook for the Apprentice. I memorized every card meaning from Gray's book and those little rhymes from Connoly 😇

 

After that, I learned by doing. I never shopped for more books even as they became available. I felt I had enough just to memorize Gray's meanings. Much later when I started teaching tarot, I studied books again but on a different level. I focused on historic research and pre-RWS decks. I read Place, and Yoav Ben Dov, Peter Mark Adams. I enjoy YouTubes but it's rare I find one that isn't stuff I already know or stuff that's just wrong and ignorant. OTOH, there are some great resources on YT and blogs about Historic decks and reading styles, so I study those avidly.

 

I love conferences and workshops but it is rare I can attend. They are usually quite distant and my health makes air travel taxing. Hopefully I can attend conferences in the future if health improves. I enjoy in-person learning and bonding with other participants.

[EMarieHasADHD]

23 hours ago, Misterei said:

My father gave me a deck when I was 14 or 15. LOL my birthday is so close to christmas I can't remember if it was christmas present when I was 14 or 15th birthday. Like you, when I was coming up there were only a couple books. My mainstay was Tarot Revealed by Eden Gray. Later I got Connoly's Handbook for the Apprentice. I memorized every card meaning from Gray's book and those little rhymes from Connoly 😇

 

After that, I learned by doing. I never shopped for more books even as they became available. I felt I had enough just to memorize Gray's meanings. Much later when I started teaching tarot, I studied books again but on a different level. I focused on historic research and pre-RWS decks. I read Place, and Yoav Ben Dov, Peter Mark Adams. I enjoy YouTubes but it's rare I find one that isn't stuff I already know or stuff that's just wrong and ignorant. OTOH, there are some great resources on YT and blogs about Historic decks and reading styles, so I study those avidly.

 

I love conferences and workshops but it is rare I can attend. They are usually quite distant and my health makes air travel taxing. Hopefully I can attend conferences in the future if health improves. I enjoy in-person learning and bonding with other participants.

Eden Gray wow. You learned from The Original lol. Thanks for sharing! 

[EMarieHasADHD]

On 9/25/2024 at 12:47 PM, Ix Chel said:

I learned Tarot card meanings first mainly from the books. I also learned a lot from Aeclectic and this forum. On YouTube I learned the most from TarotOracle. But you learn the most if you read the cards, and stop reading about the cards. The reading circles on this forum, helps you to be a better reader. And of course write all your thoughts in your Tarot Journal, in this way you have written your own Tarot book. I have never followed a course. 

I love that: stop reading about the cards and just read the cards. Well said! 

[EMarieHasADHD]

On 9/26/2024 at 11:53 AM, Misterei said:

My father gave me a deck when I was 14 or 15. LOL my birthday is so close to christmas I can't remember if it was christmas present when I was 14 or 15th birthday. Like you, when I was coming up there were only a couple books. My mainstay was Tarot Revealed by Eden Gray. Later I got Connoly's Handbook for the Apprentice. I memorized every card meaning from Gray's book and those little rhymes from Connoly 😇

 

After that, I learned by doing. I never shopped for more books even as they became available. I felt I had enough just to memorize Gray's meanings. Much later when I started teaching tarot, I studied books again but on a different level. I focused on historic research and pre-RWS decks. I read Place, and Yoav Ben Dov, Peter Mark Adams. I enjoy YouTubes but it's rare I find one that isn't stuff I already know or stuff that's just wrong and ignorant. OTOH, there are some great resources on YT and blogs about Historic decks and reading styles, so I study those avidly.

 

I love conferences and workshops but it is rare I can attend. They are usually quite distant and my health makes air travel taxing. Hopefully I can attend conferences in the future if health improves. I enjoy in-person learning and bonding with other participants.

Thanks so much for sharing. I understand about the health issues. I have two heart diseases and chronic fatigue syndrome. It’s tough to make plans for later in the day let alone for traveling for a convention, am I right? lol 

[EMarieHasADHD]

On 9/23/2024 at 5:12 PM, FindYourSovereignty said:

I learned tarot many different ways and continue to learn every day. I read books, take classes, watch some YouTube videos here and there, and currently host two practice groups. I recently volunteered to present an introduction to tarot discussion at my local library, but haven’t heard back yet. 
 

Some of the best learning for me has been right here in this forum participating in the monthly group activities, specifically the ISG, and the tarot card discussions. When I joined the forum there was a mentor learning opportunity that I participated in as well. I also attended an in-person conference at Omega in Rhinebeck, NY with Mark Greer and that was awesome!

I didn’t really jump in until I was in my mid 40’s.

That’s wonderful that you’re offering to give back to the community and volunteer your time. 🙂 I hope you get lots of attendees! 

[FindYourSovereignty]

11 hours ago, EmarieWithADHD said:

That’s wonderful that you’re offering to give back to the community and volunteer your time. 🙂 I hope you get lots of attendees! 

Thank you! 

[Morwenna]

When I first got into Tarot, some 40 years ago, I mostly learned from books; the first was probably one or another by Eden Gray (yeah, me too). I had a few others as well, and if there was a workshop at a conference I would attend. I actually had books before I had decks! But my second deck (I believe) was the Morgan Greer, and that's the one I learned properly on; the rest fell into place afterward. Meanwhile, I was desperately trying to make all those books and those LWBs show some kind of unanimity! Fool's errand, I know, but hey, I was a newbie... in my 30s... But I got better. 

 

And then much later there was AT; I owe all those participants a lot! But I blush to admit I never took part in any of the readings exchanges, and haven't done here or on Cartomancy either. Performance anxiety! In spite of the fact that I used to read at small local renfaires.