When card meanings contradict your intuition

[Guest Night Shade]

https://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=215552

by tiffer

 

Hello all

 

I was just wondering if anyone has ever felt something really strongly intuitively from a card and then looked at the book meaning and found that it is completely contradictory?

 

I had this recently with the 2 of Swords and also 2 of Pentacles... Some of what i felt just from looking and experiencing the cards matched the book meanings but a vast majority of what i felt didnt at all match and was sometimes, in fact, the opposite.

 

Has anyone ever experienced this? And if so what did you do? Do you go with the book meanings and go against what you felt or did you disregard the book meanings if they didnt correspond with your intuition?

[Guest Night Shade]

This happens to me a lot.  Sometime when I try to interpret a reading using book meanings, it makes no sense to me at all.  When I look at the picture and go with my gut, however, it will suddenly make perfect sense.  So I always go with my intuition, because even though book and traditional meanings are important, that little voice inside can tell you more than any book ever will.

[truthseeker65]

I don't know about having one feeling and the card means another.  I often have a card seem out of place in a reading, either it doesn't seem to relate to the question at hand or is in a strange place.

[Wanderer]

The better I know a card (at least, the more time I spend thinking about it!  ;)), the more that card takes on the meanings that I come to understand from it intuitively. Sometimes these meanings differ from the book meanings, and that's fine. Like Night Shade, those meanings are far more likely to be the right ones; always go with what you feel, is my view.

 

My impression is that the cards are selected according to what they mean to you and your intuition, and hence the messages that they pass on. Although the book meanings form a basis for their significance, as your understanding grows the cards will adapt to you.

[Guest libra]

I go straight up intuitive all the way. My decks are speaking to me, and so the cards pulled are intended to speak to my inner knowledge. If my gut says something that isn't traditional, so be it! The areas where I deviate and trust my gut are where I tend to be most on point, I find!

[AnnaInWanderland]

It's nice to see how others feel about this. I will also read a card intuitively and if I feel the need to go back to a book may find that I was "wrong." I'm trying not to think of it as wrong, though, but as the cards speaking to me in that particular moment.

[Jewel]

I don't do 1 card readings with Tarot (I do with Oracles), so card meanings for me are always modified by the question, spread position, and surrounding cards.  I reconcile the base meaning with my intuition and these other factors to get to specific meaning for the card, but if push comes to shove I would take my intuitive interpretation taking into account the other factors I look at over a standard book meaning.

[Thoughtful]

This is interesting. 

l often feel an inner intuition when looking at a card, and very often it is different to the book meaning.  Its good to start out with book meanings when learning, but when intuition kicks in l would say go with both.  Your intuition and knowing is there for a reason, very often it can expand a meaning and give you much more insight.

[LadyM]

I don't read for myself! lol

[DevonCarter]

On May 4, 2019 at 8:52 AM, Thoughtful said:

This is interesting. 

l often feel an inner intuition when looking at a card, and very often it is different to the book meaning.  Its good to start out with book meanings when learning, but when intuition kicks in l would say go with both.  Your intuition and knowing is there for a reason, very often it can expand a meaning and give you much more insight.

I agree - I find if something jumps in my mind, it's probably the right call. The book meanings are a good start, but they're not ironclad rules, IMO.

I also find sometimes the cards are very literal in a way that has nothing to do with either intuition or book meanings, but most of the time I can only see that in hindsight. Such as one day I got the 8 of pentacles from a deck that has all the pentacles grouped up at the top of the card, and it was reversed. (I don't read with reversals, and I have no idea how the card got turned.) It looked like the pentacles were falling. That day, it snowed unexpectedly! I'm hoping I will eventually get better at pulling those meanings out beforehand.

[DanielJUK]

I find the book meaning (especially in oracles) and the generic accepted meaning (especially in tarot) are a good starting point. *this is the basic idea of the card* like a foundation but then I read the artwork intuitively and see if I get anything from it. Sometimes it comes out completely different to the basic meaning (or reference meaning). But you get so many more layers and amazing results by going with what you get! I would always contradict the reference meaning, the intuitive meaning always comes first for me They are just someone else's opinions on it and my own take on it has to come first to personalise the reading 🙂

 

Recently I have been thinking that we all get special messages from the cards, like a short cut "this means this for you". I think it is an individual thing for the person. I have been doing daily cards again and some of them are short hand messages for something I know in my own life. For example today I got the King of Wands as a daily card and couldn't really understand it this morning. But a plumber came and repaired a shower that I have waited for for weeks. He is an amazing guy who seems to be able to do any kind of work with his hands. I realise he is so the King of Wands, it was a bit of a last minute surprise today! The tarot told me he was coming, so now I know this card will always represent him, to look for in future. I have been noticing this more and more, like a short hand code but I think just in my readings. I am going to monitor if it comes up in my readings for others as well. Also reversed Pages seem to show for me that I will be sick on that day, every time! I think this is different in meaning for each person though but I think they do personalise to people as well as the layers of meanings.

 

 

[Emilija]

Go with your intuition-- it is afterall, what the cards are "telling" you.

[Guest]

I think it's important to remember that cards attune themselves with your intuition. Even if an author of a deck intended a card to mean a certain thing, if you feel it represents something contradictory, then when you draw that card, imo the universe is telling you that your intuited meaning is the meaning to assign. 

[McFaire]

It depends on the deck/books. Older sets are notorious for purposefully obscuring certain truths, which means that newer ones can be "off" without the author ever knowing. You may very well be uncovering a truth that the author or artist didn't know.

 

Also some decks are very specific and other are more general.

[Barleywine]

I see the cards as a tool to sharpen our subconscious awareness of otherwise cryptic conditions. I consider them symbolic "signposts" rather than statements of fact. The foreknowledge lies hidden in whomever "induced" it into the cards (the reader or the sitter) and all the cards of the draw do is surface it in ways that can be related to the situation at hand. The book meanings are only suggestions, and just the tip of the iceberg for a vast reservoir of latent knowledge, the specific applicability of which depends almost entirely on the context of the question. As far as the standard RWS meanings go, some of them I pay attention to and others I ignore completely. I think the word "intuition" is overused, so I substitute "imagination, inspiration and ingenuity" instead, but it amounts to the same thing..

Edited June 23, 2019 by Barleywine

[Netzach]

When I first discovered tarot, many moons ago, I tried to learn the meanings in the lwb.  Then I bought another deck and - horror! - found that a number of the meanings differed.  Thankfully, not long after this I was able to join a psychic development group where I learned how to read cards intuitively (and not just cards - names, auras, objects . . .).  As a result my readings became less stilted and more relevant to the sitter.  What I now find interesting is that I can read a card that I've read many times before and suddenly see something different in it.  Or I can do two readings in a row, where one or two cards are common to both readings, and they mean quite different things in the context of each reading.

[Eric13]

Much of what tarot is trying to show us, and teach us, and guide along into, is to trust your deep feelings. Don't be afraid to bring them out and be with them in the open. Accept that, embrace them, and the divination will flow like the the many rivers that are in a tarot deck. 

[katrinka]

I pay attention to what's on  the table. If it goes against intuition, or common sense, or anything else, I'll preface it with "This isn't what I would think, but the cards are saying..."

Sometimes the guy really does leave his wife for your sitter. I've seen the cards pick up on improbable things too many times to ignore them. 😉

[iknowit]

The whole suit of cups storyline. It's really much easier than that. 

[Pio2001]

It happened to me with a few cards.

 

The Judgment usually means a call or an awakening. But it sounds a bit weird to me because I don't see the link with a judgment. In this case, I look into the history of the card. Here, it is obvious: it represents the last judgment, when everyone is judged according to one's deeds. This opens possibilities for other interpretations, for example, the card may represent one's ability to accept his or her own mistakes (when they face the judgment), and learn from them.

 

I also wanted to find a positive side to the devil, because I use spreads where major arcana are supposed to represent the strengths and positive sides of someone. It is often said that the positive side of the devil is its sexual energy. It didn't find this very useful or insightful. But this time, the historical meaning of the card, which is altogether negative, didn't help either.

In this case, I read all interpretations I could find in my books, booklets, or videos, until I found one that I found particularly interesting. In Marseille tarot, the devil often looks happy. In a video, Romain Delava explains that it represents someone who accepts his or her own imperfections, and is happy with not being perfect. I then found a similar interpretation in Marianne Costa's book : to dive inside and see ourselves without masks ("Descendre en soi et se voir sans masques").

Of course, this interpretation doesn't work with a White-Smith tarot, where the devil looks rather angry. 

[Natural Mystic Guide]

This happens to me all of the time.  I rely more on my own intuition and often disregard given meanings.  Those meanings are reflective of the person who wrote them, their own experiences, and their own level of spiritual enlightenment.  I.E. if a person has repeatedly failed at romance, she is not very capable of having a super upbeat and positive stance about relationship issues.  Probably at least half of her written meanings for a card will reflect failed romances and relationship struggles.

[Misterei]

On 1/27/2024 at 1:37 PM, Pio2001 said:

The Judgment usually means a call or an awakening. But it sounds a bit weird to me because I don't see the link with a judgment. In this case, I look into the history of the card. Here, it is obvious: it represents the last judgment, when everyone is judged according to one's deeds. ...

I also wanted to find a positive side to the devil ...

I definitely go the historic route. So many layers even in the history. The "Last Judgment" is christianzed on top of this card's older meaning of "Fame". Fame being a type of immortality. The trumpet and banners of the early Tarocchi decks would have said "Fame" to a person in the 1400-1500s. This meaning has been lost b/c it was "hidden".

 

On 1/27/2024 at 4:49 PM, Natural Mystic Guide said:

This happens to me all of the time.  I rely more on my own intuition and often disregard given meanings. 

I find with RWS I mostly go by the classical meanings a la Eden Gray ... except for a few cards which I definitely have my own take.

And yes, other decks are often a hodge-podge of the deck creator's personal takes and have nothing to do with how i read the card.

[Raggydoll]

On 1/28/2024 at 1:49 AM, Natural Mystic Guide said:

I.E. if a person has repeatedly failed at romance, she is not very capable of having a super upbeat and positive stance about relationship issues.  Probably at least half of her written meanings for a card will reflect failed romances and relationship struggles.

I’m honestly surprised to see you give an example like that. I have never seen any indications that female deck creators project their own love baggage onto their card meanings. 

[Natural Mystic Guide]

5 hours ago, Raggydoll said:

I have never seen any indications that female deck creators project their own love baggage onto their card meanings. 

I think that it's terrific that you are working with decks that really keep it upbeat and positive.  I'm certainly not saying that my remarks are true of all decks and I am not singling out female deck creators.   It's just an example.  Sometimes it is subtle, too.  I sometimes do encounter decks where all of the reversed meanings are 'negative' and sometimes whole suits are 'negative'.  Yes, of course, I know that life is not all roses.  I use reversals most of the time.  When I use them, though, they are sometimes couched as red flags or warnings that can be averted or ameliorated through advice given in surrounding cards.  More often they are presented as opportunities for learning and growth.  I have Pollyanna tendencies.  It comes through in my readings and in my life.  Joy and peace of mind are our birthrights as human beings.  I believe that we are all headed there.  My approach to Tarot is one way to move in that direction.

[Chariot]

On 1/27/2024 at 9:37 PM, Pio2001 said:

It happened to me with a few cards.

 

The Judgment usually means a call or an awakening. But it sounds a bit weird to me because I don't see the link with a judgment. In this case, I look into the history of the card. Here, it is obvious: it represents the last judgment, when everyone is judged according to one's deeds. This opens possibilities for other interpretations, for example, the card may represent one's ability to accept his or her own mistakes (when they face the judgment), and learn from them.

 

I also wanted to find a positive side to the devil, because I use spreads where major arcana are supposed to represent the strengths and positive sides of someone. It is often said that the positive side of the devil is its sexual energy. It didn't find this very useful or insightful. But this time, the historical meaning of the card, which is altogether negative, didn't help either.

In this case, I read all interpretations I could find in my books, booklets, or videos, until I found one that I found particularly interesting. In Marseille tarot, the devil often looks happy. In a video, Romain Delava explains that it represents someone who accepts his or her own imperfections, and is happy with not being perfect. I then found a similar interpretation in Marianne Costa's book : to dive inside and see ourselves without masks ("Descendre en soi et se voir sans masques").

Of course, this interpretation doesn't work with a White-Smith tarot, where the devil looks rather angry. 

I used to struggle with The Devil ...until it dawned on me that The Devil, as an entity (as usually pictured), doesn't actually exist!  He is an imaginary construct from a religion, meant to 'explain' how bad things can happen in a universe supposedly constructed by an all-knowing, loving, omnipotent God.  The devil in that religion has a very strong pull on many of that religion's followers, who believe in him as much as they believe in the god.  But ...all you need to do is take control, dismiss him the way you would dismiss any superstition, free yourself from any notion that keeps you stuck in a bad situation, or is tempting you to do something you shouldn't—and bingo.  

So now, when The Devil appears in a reading, the first thing I say is, "The Devil looks very scary, but he doesn't actually exist, except in your own head.  He has no power over you, unless you allow him to have it."

It can apply in so many instances.  Obviously physical addictions are not easy to overcome, but they CAN be overcome, once you make up your mind to get rid of them.  Mental addictions to things like, "I have no self-esteem because my mother didn't love me," can be overcome, once you recognise that 'mother' no longer controls your life.  Refuse to be a party to your own captivity.  It's amazing how empowering that realisation is, when it strikes you.

I actually like getting The Devil card now, because it always means (for me) that the thing which is oppressing you is easily thrown off, once you recognise that you can throw it off.  (The Devil reversed means you have recognised it, and are throwing it off.)  Real problems that can't be so easily solved usually appear in other cards or card combos.  The Devil means 'the problem isn't real; it's your belief that the problem is real that creates bother for you.'

Edited January 30, 2024 by Chariot