Greetings

[borderless]

Hello everyone! Still learning my way around here, but it feels welcoming.
 

I've always been curious about the occult, esoteric, also general spirituality, philosophy, psychology. But I'd been disinterested in Tarot, despite a few chances or channels to get into it, it had been passing me by.
 

Until about a year ago when I woke up one morning, randomly struck by the idea of diving into it, not recalling any external nudge or influence. Just an uncalled-for urge to grasp the concept, get a physical deck, and give myself some help, even though I barely knew anything about Tarot. I still ponder that morning and have no idea how exactly that came about, but I've fully embraced it.
(Almost a year ago is when I registered here too lol, but haven't been active that much yet.)
 

I've acquired a few decks and apps since, read about the matter a bit, and I try to keep up studying, both theory and practice, although I'm not as nerdy and consistent as I'd like. I feel I'm past the beginner phase, but also that I haven't moved a lot from it, often alternating between overestimating and underestimating my current state of knowledge and intuition 😅 
I mostly practice reading for myself, and ocassionally with or for a friend who's been into Tarot somewhat longer than I have, it's a nice mutual dynamic.
 

I look forward to hearing different thoughts and experiences around here, and learning, practicing, connecting more. This place seems like a nice aid. Cheers!

[JoyousGirl]

 @borderless  Just get stuck in, start anywhere. The learning journey with Tarot never ends - you'll learn a bunch of other methods too along the way. 

 

I recommend joining the reading circles. And there's lots of interesting topics to expand your vision.

 

See you around the boards. 

[DanielJUK]

Welcome to the community @borderless  Glad you have found us here and decided to post 😀

 

I think in my view, it's a good idea to learn the basic foundation of tarot, the structure, the cards. Why are they in that position in the structure? What is the basic idea about that card?

After that you are free to do what you want, like try you ideas with different decks but most of all use them. After learning the theory, using them for different people really helps you learn. I think I learnt so much from actual readings and what I discovered on the way. There are times when you feel like you are not progressing at all but then something comes along! You can also go off on specific paths, learn other tarot systems or oracles or cartomancy, so you can add to your knowledge.

 

Like @JoyousGirl said, when you get to 5 posts on the forum, you can practice reading with others here. You can only see those sections after 5 posts. You can offer readings to members for feedback in return to help learn and also we have monthly exchange circles where you are paired with a random member.

[joy]

Hello @borderless welcome to the TT&M Family

[borderless]

Thank you all for the kind welcome and advice 

Yeah, I'm certainly not expecting the learning and discovering process to be some structured program that could be completed at a set time, it sure never really is.
While I might lack a bit of old-school discipline, I think patience and long-term mindset could be my strengths with Tarot as an interest.

I think I've grasped the foundational ideas behind each card so far, although things like rote memorization never worked for me. I've indeed rather focused on understanding, reasoning, and contextualizing each card, allowing everything to (still) solidify over time through practice and organic repetition. At this point I might need to pay more attention eg. particularly to the more detailed elemental and astrological correspondences, but I'm working on that.

I purposely chose RWS as my first and so far main and dominant base right from the start. But I’ve also been exploring TdM and have found use in testing that route, slowly taking a bit from that system as well. Extremely curious about Thoth too, but I definitely don't want to bite off more than I can chew for now, so I'll save that one (and potentially some other systems and traditions) for future endeavors.

 Will continue to browse the boards and try to take part ✌️

 

23 hours ago, JoyousGirl said:

I recommend joining the reading circles. And there's lots of interesting topics to expand your vision.

18 hours ago, DanielJUK said:

when you get to 5 posts on the forum, you can practice reading with others here. You can only see those sections after 5 posts. You can offer readings to members for feedback in return to help learn and also we have monthly exchange circles where you are paired with a random member.

Oh really great to know about these, I'll be checking them out in due time.

[katrinka]

On 4/16/2025 at 2:26 AM, borderless said:

I think I've grasped the foundational ideas behind each card so far, although things like rote memorization never worked for me

RWS, like most system, is full of mnemonics. You don't need to memorize so much as simply familiarize yourself with the meanings. From there, you can take it from the images.

So when you see this



it's very obviously a guy working. He has plenty of work and he's been at it awhile.

No need to memorize Waite (but DO read him)

You'll probably look at other books and websites. Some will say he's an "apprentice". But there's nothing on the card to indicate that. He's not making mistakes. Those discs are not cheap practice discs. So if you see something that doesn't make sense, chances are you can toss it.
 

On 4/16/2025 at 2:26 AM, borderless said:

At this point I might need to pay more attention eg. particularly to the more detailed elemental and astrological correspondences, but I'm working on that.

You really don't need those with RWS. Some people use them, some don't.

And the TdM is a gaming deck, not an occult Tarot. I read it the same way I read playing cards. 😉

Thoth, OTOH...you'll be needing this. Crowley's writings can be rather cryptic.

ETA: this is a good link to have handy! The author continues to add to it. He's done most of the deck, he's almost finished.
https://moderatelyquicksilver.com/2024/05/20/tarot-encyclopedia-index/
 

Edited April 24 by katrinka

[borderless]

On 4/24/2025 at 5:13 AM, katrinka said:

You don't need to memorize so much as simply familiarize yourself with the meanings. From there, you can take it from the images.

Right, on the one hand I like how RWS is often self-explanatory, or at least I can start from the obvious scenes and basic meanings, and go further.

(lots of yapping, so I'll put it as a spoiler):
 

Spoiler

OTOH, sometimes that's exactly what feels (or I fear it might be) slightly limiting: it's like my brain says there could be more to 8oP then "just" getting the valuable work done, being dedicated and serious about it, being deserving of the coming rewards for all the progress and honed skill so far etc; and then especially together with other cards in a reading.

That's why I found TdM to be a useful addition: it forces me to go to what I think of as abstract basics for the Minor Arcana (What are the Pentacles as a suit/element? What is the 8 numerologically? Any basic (geomantic?) impression that the geometric formation of Pentacles on that pip card give? And then what comes from all that intersection and such expression.)

There's something slightly Oracle-like in RWS to me, I feel eg. a scene in a Minor Arcana card is sort of its one particular and popular expression, like a meme for something. And a meme can be super literal, but it can also be so metaphorical or satirical it ends up very far from what the mere image suggest. That's why I tend to sort of question the obvious layer of imagery too, or include abstract reasoning as well, or even somewhat ignore the literal impression when I feel called to do so, while going for a more symbolic level. I hope all this is not a bad approach? lol

 

On 4/24/2025 at 5:13 AM, katrinka said:

And the TdM is a gaming deck, not an occult Tarot. I read it the same way I read playing cards.

Oh I have zero previous familiarity or knowledge in reading the playing cards, Roma fortune-telling cards, or any other such non-Tarot cartomancy, I guess that's why I don't see that layer in TdM for now, but I do get its playing card origins. It's what put me off at first, and then got me a bit interested later on!

(again some yapping):
 

Spoiler

Although, I still don't feel like I can come with totally different and separate "brain settings" for RWS vs TdM, I found these two rather complement each other for me, at least in the learning process so far. Do you really read these two that differently? Won't RWS end up being interpreted less occultly, or TdM more so, if a reader is inclined that way? The concept is the same, it's all Tarot, should I really treat them without any merging in interpretation?

I guess I tend to think of Tarot as a way broader base of meanings and knowledge than a single deck or school or type of imagery can suggest. And then I feel like I should be aware of a given system's limitations, and try to somewhat transcend them when interpreting the cards. Or might be I'm just in a phase where I'm more focused on breadth than depth, though. That's why at least I limited myself to RWS and some TdM for now, lol.

 

On 4/24/2025 at 5:13 AM, katrinka said:

Thoth, OTOH...you'll be needing this. Crowley's writings can be rather cryptic.

Oh yes, I did overhear before on other authors and especially DuQuette being recommended for Thoth before Crowley himself, awesome that you pointed me to the exact tittle.

 

On 4/24/2025 at 5:13 AM, katrinka said:

ETA: this is a good link to have handy! The author continues to add to it. He's done most of the deck, he's almost finished.
https://moderatelyquicksilver.com/2024/05/20/tarot-encyclopedia-index/

And I'm sure this will prove so useful as well, seems like a great resource and outline indeed!

TBH I'm yet to fully read a Tarot book, lol. I have access to some, but been mostly just ocassionally and partially cosulting them for particular meanings, spreads, guidelines, history chunks etc.

Thanks for these next stops, your point of view and great advice! 😊

Edited April 26 by borderless