Where did you start?

[FoolishEevee]

I've googled a lot of things and done some prep work (though I'm still missing incense) and I think I'm just about ready to start when the full moon hits (a friend told me I should cleanse my new deck under the full moon first before I use them since I don't have other means of cleansing them atm) and being around here got me thinking...

 

I was wondering where and how you all started. What was your personal experience when first getting into Tarot and reaching your intuition? What knowledge do you think is good for a newbie to know beforehand and what would you pass on to someone just starting out?

[DevonCarter]

As I'm a total newbie, too, I'm pretty interested in the answers you get!

 

So far I have bought a few decks, opened them up, and played around with them. I've also been reading a few different "how to learn tarot" books. I've started a journal and gone through a few of the majors and studied them, but mostly I just pull a card, look at it, see what I feel like it's telling me, then look in the book that came with the deck and at least one other book to see what the "traditional" meanings are and how things line up.

 

I haven't done any of the incense/cleansing/setting an atmosphere or any of that stuff. Incense gives me a huge headache usually, so I doubt I'll add that in either. I pull out the deck(s) when I have free time to look at them. Sometimes that's on my lap on the couch, sometimes it's on my bed, etc. I don't have them wrapped in silk or anything, either. Some are in a wooden box, as that's what I had to store them in, but some are in decorative cardboard boxes. Which technically IS wood, sort of. They're only in those because they're pretty, and there isn't really room on the bookshelves for them.  ???

 

The thing I'm planning to try and do more of is a bit of meditation, to help with intuition.

[Page of Ghosts]

I think I just started doing spreads and pulling cards. My practice wasn't very cohesive for the first years - I tried doing the all intuition thing that people like to recommend in these modern days, but it really wasn't for me. I've needed to read some books to tap into that intuition and learn, NOT memorize though. On facebook I was recently talking in a group about the intuitive vs. bookish beginner and I think some people assume you only memorize and spit out some basic keywords when you read books, but that's not why I read them or how I work. I still look at the cards and get flashes and ideas from them, I build personal associations to them just like everyone else. Books seem stuffy and boring to some people so I wouldn't say read all the books if someone really doesn't care for them, but I do feel in some circles reading books has gotten a bad rep, maybe as a reaction to some people being really on it for books and you need to study for years before you pick up the cards? Maybe that is a discussion for another time though.

 

Since I easily get confused and overwhelmed that was something I should have predicted; that I needed a starting point with some instructions and ideas. I also think it's worth reminding newbies that tarot has a lot of superstitions that a lot of us, myself included, don't bother with. I don't cleanse or charge any of my decks, I just use them as they are. I think of tarot as a pack of cards that become magical because I choose to use them, on their own they don't have a lot going on. The only deck I ever cleansed was one I found well used at the thrift store, just in case! None of my decks were given to me from other people and they all work well for me. Then again, other people swear by cleansing and charging so try it out for yourself to see what you think. I'm kind of a lazy/low-energy person so if anyone else is and feels like they gotta do too much I want them to know they don't have to. Books are fun so I don't consider them "too much" in the same vein  :P

 

I also think I should have started being more consistent earlier on! Daily draws for advice or a place to put my energy for that day is really good, but I wish I had started out earlier with that instead of big spreads I don't have the energy, or forget, to journal about. I try to do bigger spreads sometimes but... to exhausting. I think I have to stick with 3 cards or so for a bit longer since I still feel like I have to journal A LOT on just 1 card in the spread. No celtic cross for me even though I want to!

[FoolishEevee]

*takes notes* So daily draws and small 3 card spreads are the best place to start to get acquainted with your cards. My previous research has mixed opinions. Some places swear by the rituals and cleansing and storing your cards in special stuff and others say it's not necessary.  ??? I think I'm just gonna try and find what works for me or what I want to do as far as storage and cleansing. I like the idea of keeping my cards in special bags so I think I will continue to do so :)

 

By the way, I had a question about apps. Are apps ok enough to use? Or is there just no replacement for the physical things? I ask because the Galaxy Tarot app and a couple other apps seem like good learning tools but I wanted to see what you all thought.

[Page of Ghosts]

I like to sew tarot bags myself - I think it's fun to try and match fabric to a deck. But again, can't say I have any silk for my decks :o I've yet to find out what to do with the boxes as I like to put the cards in without the box... some sort of bigger storage box for them should probably be bought sometime soon.

 

Apps are fine by me. I like the physical cards more but if you for some reason can't have them or just prefer an app they're very practical and I think they often come with the book entries for each card. Don't have any apps myself but so I've heard  :-[

[FoolishEevee]

I'm going to be making an attempt to sew my own spread cloth and tarot bag for my Wild Unknown deck :o Is it difficult to do? Making stuff yourself always seems more fun ^^

 

Also how important are books in the beginning? A friend of mine who was helping me get started and someone else I know who used to be into Tarot keep nudging me to read through books like The Book of Thoth and other related books. I want to read them eventually but I wanted to get familiar with my current deck first :( Is that the wrong way to do things? Is reading and understanding the books first or having them and reading as I go from the beginning important?

[Trogon]

For me, when I was first starting out, the friend who really introduced me to Tarot had been using Eden Gray's book "The Complete Guide to the Tarot". I have since branched out into many other books. But, Eden Gray's is still, to me, an excellent introductory book - it gives some basic information on the symbolism used in the RWS and gives you the basic interpretations for the cards.

 

A caveat before I start; All of what follows is based on what has worked best for me. As the saying goes; "your mileage may vary". ;)

 

For me, having the basic starting point meanings for the cards was important to the way I learn. It's like having a little map that shows where the different paths start. From those starting points, you can continue walking further and further and thereby add more and varied meanings and depth to the cards. Also, fairly early on, I started a "journal". This is where I would write down those basic meanings for myself, as well as further observations and notes about expanded meanings of the cards. Writing things down helps me to learn. Then, as I continued to learn and expand on the basic meanings, I started learning to use my intuition, working with the images on the cards.

 

A number of years ago, I also started meditating and delving further into things inside myself as well as outside influences. I started listening to my Spirit Guides and found that they could bring more information that needed to be relayed to a client. Meditation to center yourself an stay grounded (ie, keeping in touch with yourself and not allowing your mind to be torn in too many directions at once) is very useful before a reading. And every now and then, you may need to do a meditation (or many of them) to let go of your own accumulated feelings (especially "negative" emotions, preconceived ideas and/or prejudices you may have about people) and to clear feelings accumulated during readings.

 

Right now, the biggest piece of advice that I would give to someone who is just starting out is to remember that you have embarked on a very long journey. You are taking the first steps and beginning to use abilities that you may not have used before and pacing yourself is important. Take your time and learn those basic "book" meanings. Draw one to three cards at the beginning of the day and write down the meanings that you come up with for them, then, at the end of the day, compare those notes with how your day actually went. If you see that a meaning applied in a different way than you had thought, or you suddenly realize that you can expand a meaning into different areas, write those notes down in your journal. Pulling cards at the end of the day to see what lessons need to be learned from the day's experiences is also an excellent exercise.

 

And do readings! Read for yourself, read for friends, join the reading circles here on TT&M. Or offer some readings in the Exchange boards to get a little experience (you can limit the number of readings and have a moderator lock the thread after you've done a few so you don't get swamped).

 

As far as rituals, cleansing and so forth. I go back and forth quite a bit. I can easily sit down off to the side at a fairly noisy party, clear a space and do readings for people. I've also done numerous readings for myself as well as others while I'm at work, with interruptions galore. I have also done readings where I have cleared my area, put up crystals and done rituals to protect myself and allow only positive energy and to block out falsehoods. Most of the time, I find that shuffling a deck several times clears the deck of any energies accumulated from readings. I have also smudged decks and done other cleansing rituals (I have developed 3 rituals for cleansing decks with varying levels of need). And all of this is open to change at any given moment depending on what I feel is needed. So, read about the different rituals, find what works best for you and go with that. But don't be afraid to change it if you feel the need.

 

Oh ... final piece of advice; Don't try working with the Celtic Cross spread right away, no matter how much a book's author may swear by it. Stick to spreads using 5 cards or less for a while. At least till you start to see the flow in your readings, how one card influences other cards around it and so on. Then start moving to bigger spreads.

[Page of Ghosts]

I don't think it's too hard but I also own a sewing machine so that helps a lot in making tarot bags. Typically I make a drawstring bag so I gotta sew the little channel the string/ribbon goes through and use a safety pin to make it go in, but it's not very hard imo. I don't follow a pattern so I just use my deck to measure aka making sure it has a little wiggle room for it.

 

For books I think it's really nice to have a beginners book to lean on in the beginning. Especially if you don't feel like you're very intuitive, like I was in the beginning, having a book with some ideas to help spark your intuition or go in the right direction was so helpful. I would look at a card and not understand a thing since I'm easily overwhelmed, I couldn't even begin to decribe the card and I felt so lost. So having a book that said "4 of swords is about a time-out, taking a rest" I could begin to think about swords, which is often mental and thought related, 4 is a stable number, is there anything I'm worrying too much about, something I should lay to rest?

 

That being said, I stress Beginner FRIENDLY books. The Book of Thoth I've only read excerpts from but it's... intense. And Crowley assumes you're as knowledgable as him in kabbalah, astrology, thelema and more occult stuff,  which I think most beginners are not. I recently read Lon Milos beginner book about the Thoth since I own the deck and it's very easy to read but some stuff still flew a little over my head. So start somewhere simpler and you can always go back to those harder books if you want to later.

 

I think working with your deck and the book at the same time is a good approach. I used to read the whole book but after 10+  of them I only read all the other stuff in the book about tarot and the deck, then individual cards as I pull daily cards, do spreads or wanna look up a card. So decide for yourself how you wanna work with them. In the beginning a basic primer on tarot structure is good but after a while it can get old, so feel free to change it up! A lot of people recommmend you look a the card and try to get a feel for it before you look it up and I think it's a good idea so you're not just memorizing. If your deck came with a book that's a great place to start! If not I think the Wild Unknown is Rider-Waite based (a lot of beginners books reference this deck as it's a popular tradition by now), the meanings are the same but artwork different? I think Joan Bunnings book and website is good. It's a bit old but it's great the entire book is online and you can buy it if you have the funds and would like to. There are also a lot of websites like biddytarot that I haven't used much but others like it, and I think a blog that did a deep dive into the Wild Unknown before it had a proper companion book. Will see if I can find it! And like Trogon says, journalling or documenting what you do in some other way is really good to do as you make your way on your tarot journey.

 

 

 

http://www.learntarot.com - Joan Bunnings beginner website

 

http://carriemallon.com/blog/the-wild-unknown-tarot-card-meanings/ - that blog that went through all the cards if you don't have a book for you deck

[FoolishEevee]

Thank you :D I bought Joan Bunning's book and have "The Complete Guide to Tarot" on save for later so I can buy it next time I get money :3 My The Wild Unknown Tarot set came with a book ^^ so I can start off using that and start the other book when it gets here ^^ I think I'm going to do mixed book/intuition and slowly get away from the book eventually. I don't think I can pull meanings intuitively yet ^^"

 

I do want to start getting into meditation, I have a lot of outside stuff interrupting though :( My mom or her dog could need anything at the drop of a hat so I'm not sure I'll be able to fully relax enough TO meditate. Maybe I should go ahead and try anyways and if something makes it so I have to stop then I can return and try again later.

 

I don't own a sewing machine so I'm going to be hand sewing my things :o I'll let you know how that goes haha. I'm predicting disastrous but I'll do my best :P

 

Thank you very much for the insight ^^

[Flaxen]

Firstly, I will hold my hands up and say that I like a 'system'. I like the cards I use to have internal coherency and make sense within that worldview. When I started I used the Ancestral Path deck - it made sense to me and it was easy to learn the basic meanings of those cards. A couple of years after that, I bought the Thoth. For many years these were my only 2 decks and I found it easy enough to step in-and-out of the different emphasis in certain cards. I am a fast learner and find it easy to memorise things quite quickly though.

 

Once I had the basic meanings for each card, I would then expand on that in my readings ' what does that mean here? In this spread? Does it look like energy is progressing or stagnant? That symbol in particular has jumped out at me...why?' This way, I built in those intuitive flashes and came to deeper readings.

 

I would suggest that you stick to one deck/book for a while. Once you are completely comfortable with those, then it's useful to branch out and see how another deck portrays the same card and how that different emphasis may play out in a reading.

[Page of Ghosts]

Good advice Flaxen about not trying to do too much at once - wish I'd stuck to 1 deck with a basic system (like the RWS which I actually like a lot) instead of going on a perfect deck buying-spree and then try to make sense of what I own when I had like 15 decks 8)

 

(if that ever happens to other newbies the Deck of the Week thread is brilliant for working through your collection and give every deck some time)

 

Since your deck has a book I suggest staying with it for a while before Bunning, since that book (at least the chapters with suggestions for card meanings) is based on the RWS-system and images and your Wild Unknown is a little different from that. Usually when a deck is different from the popular RWS, even when based on it, I like to read the book to see what symbols and composition has to say for what message/meaning the creator is focused on. So when you're comfortable and feel like you have more of a grasp on your specific deck and some basic tarot stuff you can look at Bunnings book, which is more general and has some good excercises for any sort of deck, unless you wanna look at some of those early on. I don't think there's anything wrong with taking a peek at it. Note that I say this without owning the WU - it's very high on my wishlist now that there is a mass produced version - so I assume that the books teaches basic tarot knowledge like what the creator sees as the difference between majors and minors, the different suits and what court cards are ;)

 

I hope you like your book(s), that your intuition grows with some help from it/them and if you later figure out you don't there are so many lists out there with book suggestions ;D

[Flaxen]

Good advice Flaxen about not trying to do too much at once - wish I'd stuck to 1 deck with a basic system (like the RWS which I actually like a lot) instead of going on a perfect deck buying-spree and then try to make sense of what I own when I had like 15 decks 8)

 

I think that is a bit of a downside for beginners to tarot now - there is so much choice and then it becomes a quest to find 'the one'. When I started, the choice was limited to what you could find in the shops as even internet shopping hadn't taken off yet. I have a large collection now and can read with all of them. However, I suspect that my magpie tendencies would not have helped me at all in the beginning - I would have kept being seduced by the latest beauty and never really deepened my knowledge of one deck. :)

[FoolishEevee]

Thank you for the suggestions :o I'll try to work with The Wild Unknown first for a while then ^^ I'll go to the other book once I have a better understanding of my cards and then I can start learning my other decks :) No promises I won't slowly build a collection of decks anyways though haha

[FoolishEevee]

Page of Ghosts thank you so much for that link to the blog about the Wild Unknown cards x.x The book and cards can be a bit hard to grasp and that blog really helps x.x

[Trogon]

That was very good advice from Flaxen and Page of Ghosts. I also stuck with one deck for probably the first two years or so. I honestly don't remember just when I bought my second deck. Though now that I think on it, it might have been as late as 2001 or 2002. I remember seeing the images of the Röhrig Tarot and falling in love with The Chariot. But I distinctly remember seeing those images on A.T. and I didn't become a member till 2002.

 

Ummmm. So to make that statement a little more concise; I might have gone 10 years before buying my second deck. Which actually surprises me quite a lot.

[FoolishEevee]

lol I guess I'm collecting a little early for a newbie xD My Legacy of the Divine Tarot is coming in Friday and technically my The Wild Unknown Tarot is my second deck.

 

But I think buying the second deck was completely justified since I don't have access to my first deck! Though maybe it's a bit harder to justify the deck coming in ha ha

[Page of Ghosts]

Page of Ghosts thank you so much for that link to the blog about the Wild Unknown cards x.x The book and cards can be a bit hard to grasp and that blog really helps x.x

 

No problem Eevee! I think the images are a little hard to grasp from what I've seen of them online and I remembered reading that blog before the WU had it's own book - it's great that she put so much effort into it and let people read it for free, and that even with the book the blog is helpful :D

[Trogon]

lol I guess I'm collecting a little early for a newbie xD My Legacy of the Divine Tarot is coming in Friday and technically my The Wild Unknown Tarot is my second deck.

 

But I think buying the second deck was completely justified since I don't have access to my first deck! Though maybe it's a bit harder to justify the deck coming in ha ha

 

Well, there's no easy cure for T.A.S. (Tarot Acquisition Syndrome). Your best bet is to just give up now and buy decks ... which you already have! ;D

 

I agree that getting a deck when you can't get to your first one is not only justifiable, but a necessity! The rest are just fun ... although they all help to expand your knowledge and intuition. ;)

[FoolishEevee]

I agree that getting a deck when you can't get to your first one is not only justifiable, but a necessity! The rest are just fun ... although they all help to expand your knowledge and intuition. ;)

 

Yes...justification is learning purposes :P I can't just know one deck and understand everything there is to Tarot!  ;) I need to understand the other decks too!

[FoolishEevee]

I think I'm going to try doing something to help me learn the cards :o I think I'm going to try pulling 3 cards every day to just study. I'll just add it to my daily draw stuffs and hopefully I can get to the end of my deck faster \o/ Plus it'll be good practice shuffling, cutting, and working with my deck ^^

 

Also potentially stupid question, is there any significance to cards appearing in more than one place? Yesterday the Ten of Wands was my daily card on both my Galaxy Tarot app and my The Wild Unknown deck. Today The Star was my Galaxy Tarot daily card and the first card for my study pull.

[Trogon]

I think I'm going to try doing something to help me learn the cards :o I think I'm going to try pulling 3 cards every day to just study. I'll just add it to my daily draw stuffs and hopefully I can get to the end of my deck faster \o/ Plus it'll be good practice shuffling, cutting, and working with my deck ^^

 

Also potentially stupid question, is there any significance to cards appearing in more than one place? Yesterday the Ten of Wands was my daily card on both my Galaxy Tarot app and my The Wild Unknown deck. Today The Star was my Galaxy Tarot daily card and the first card for my study pull.

 

The 3-card daily readings are an excellent learning tool. If you intend to use positional meanings in most of your readings, I would suggest using a 3-card layout which has some positional meanings. One I've always liked for a daily reading, related to just how my day will go, is the "beginning - middle - end" layout. It can give you a very practical look at how your day will go. An alternative, if you have a particular issue you deal with on a daily basis (such as me with my eating issues), is an "issue - blockage - advice" reading - this will give you a look at what will be going on that day in regards to that issue. For my readings on my eating issues, I modified it to "issue - blockage - contemplate" - the third card becomes a card you can keep in mind and reflect on as needed through the day to stay on track.

 

If you're planning to do more open readings (without specific positional meanings), the 3-card reading is good for practice with seeing how the cards can interact and affect one another in a reading. Actually, those interactions will probably start to become apparent for you as you do more readings.

 

As far as the cards coming up in pairs like that, between the app and your real deck, you might want to delve a bit deeper into how that particular card can relate to you and your life. When you're working with 2 decks of 78 cards each, one of which is computer randomized ... the odds against it occurring even once is probably pretty high - twice in a row, astronomical. You'll probably want to spend some time delving into what those cards mean to you, because I would think there is some significant connection that you are meant to find.

 

Hope this helps.

[FoolishEevee]

It helps a lot :o Thanks for helping me not feel crazy xD I know I have a tendency to overthink things so a little confirmation was good to hear.

 

And it's not so much a 3-card daily reading as a shuffle, cut, pull 3 cards to just take notes on and see what I can get from the cards ^^" it's more shuffle practice and a study session than it is a reading. Though maybe I should do a 3-card daily reading instead :o it'll help me get better acquainted with the cards and I'll have more practice reading them. It'll have more purpose to it than drawing cards to study.

[Guest rakusribut]

i am a completely messy person and i do tarot readings everywhere, i just pick up a deck and draw cards, lay them out somewhere on my table (i do have a cloth that was given to me but i like the bare surface of the wood as well) and heck, if the table is covered with piles of stuff i can always read on top of the stuff, who cares? i don't think my cards have personalities or are tender souls, i reserve my respect for the messages i'm getting out of them. so no, i am not a cleansing, smoke waving, quiet space needing person. but we are all different, so like most of the others here i say: go find out what works for you, get comfortable with those cards. i found mary greer's '21 ways to read a tarot card' and 'tarot for yourself' very helpful, because it shows you all kinds of ways to build confidence with the cards, allowing you to decide for yourself what the meaning of a card is, and to let your own ideas trump (pun intended) the meanings provided by the guidebook. the WU is a good example, if you really want to work with it you have to hide that guidebook, it gets in the way. just look at those cards, describe what you see, look at them again, notice new things, try to decide what that might mean, explore how the card makes you feel, etc etc. then go to carrie mallon's site to see if her descriptions add anything to what you have already sensed about the card. But do not look inside that guidebook!

i had a really hard time with the WU because of that guidebook, it confused the hell out if me. when i finally got up the courage to ditch it, the deck finally began to make sense. now i am exorcising that confusion by hand coloring all the cards, as a way of reclaiming them.

to learn tarot i started with a daily one card draw and journalled about it. used a filofax with loose pages, so whenever i drew a card for the second time, i put my notes about it together with those of the previous draw. did it for a year and at the end of the year i had my own, almost complete, LWB (there were about 6 cards that i had never drawn)

(hope i am allowed to advertise for this class here, if not, please let me know, then i'll delete this bit)

the most helpful and supportive thing i ever did was take a couple of of susannah conway's online classes. it really helps to establish a regular tarot practice, and some of her FB groups are still active, months after the class has ended. both 78 mirrors and daily guidance are a good choice. my 78 mirrors group is now undertaking a 78 week project where we discuss each card for a week to explore all aspects.

but most important is to keep focusing on the fun. it is actually a wonderfully positive experience to dive into the world of tarot. and to share your discoveries and insights on this forum. remember, there is always a cup of tea waiting for you here.....

[Page of Ghosts]

rakusribut, your experience with the guidebook sounds a lot like with me and the Wildwood book!

 

Usually I'm a fan of those guidebooks for decks that diverge from the regular RWS school of tarot, but that one... I don't know what it is, but the writing style or something is just impossible for me to process. I can read a page and when I'm done what have I learned? Nothing! It's super weird and I've never experienced anything like that with any other deck  :-\  I plan on working some more with it at some mysterious point in time and when I do I'll take your idea with the journal vs. that impossible book.

 

Making a story with the cards is kind of an art so I too think I'll try with those 3-card dailies Trogon mentioned. I can do 1 card fine at this point so I should push myself further and do some combos. Mostly these days it has been my annoyance with money issues coming up - I'm finally on disability but my other benefits were cut when I got approved so on monday it's been 4 weeks since I had anything come in so I'm getting really impatient :(

[AJ-ish/Sharyn]

looking at classes at Barnes and Noble website and seeing tarot listed.

Ah, I said...that looks like something interesting.

Ordered my first tarot deck off Ebay, which was Druidcraft Animal Oracle...not knowing the difference :)

My interest has never wavered.

 

Welcome to the new members!