Hi, Question. What Are Some Ways To Use Your Tarot Cards Besides Readings?

[tr1p]

i recently decided to get back into tarot, i was studying them for a little while in the past

i bought a notebook and wrote down my interpretations on each card based on a personal point of view

 

but then i stopped, now i want to get back to it and start studying again

 

my question is:

 

What are some other ways to use Tarot Cards? besides readings?

because i want to study them and i am trying to find different ways to use them (in the purpose of learning/studying the cards)

because i have been told that you shouldn't do a reading (on yourself, or another person) too often, but rather have time between. for most effectiveness or something

 

so what are some other ways to learn the cards, besides reading on each card, and doing a regular spread?

are there cool ways to familiarize yourself with the cards that i maybe don't know about?

 

how do you use/study your cards? what are some different and cool ways to learn the meanings and get used to your cards/deck?

 

thanks!

Edited October 13, 2019 by tr1p

[Albadawn]

Ooh I love this topic! There is so so much you can do besides readings. For example, you can meditate with a card - visualising yourself in the scene, talking to the characters, and so on. You can use them as creative writing prompts by separating into three piles: courts, pips and majors. Then draw one from each: the court is your main character, the pip is the main event and the major is the lesson learned from it by the character. 
 

You can, if you’re so inclined, use the cards to channel whatever energy you need during a spell or ritual. 
 

I could go on and on about this. I absolutely love tarot, it never stops fascinating me!

[tr1p]

thank you, nice suggestions

 

so i guess any kind of interaction with the cards, are a way to study or get to know the cards/deck

 

i feel like it's a daunting task to learn each card, but i mean there's never an end to how much you can learn about them, but i'm concerned about how much it would take to learn the cards as much as possible without reading about them so i'm trying to come up with ways to use the cards and study them

[Grizabella]

I can't think of any better way to study and learn the cards other than to use them in spreads.  By first learning traditional meanings and then using the cards in spreads, you learn how each card's meaning can change depending on the spread and the relationship to other cards. 

 

This forum is a good resource to learn more about each card besides what's in the book or booklet. You can search around here to see how the cards have been interpreted in the reading exchanges and study groups. Is there some particular reason why you don't want to learn the cards by using spreads?

 

Albadawn suggested some really great exercises for you. Maybe others will have some suggestions, too. At any rate, I wish you all happy things as you go along on your Tarot journey and I'm glad you're here with us.

[Ealasaid Enfys]

Albadawn, I love the idea of using the cards as writing prompts. I'm always looking for ways to do some more writing. Definitely going to try this one.

[tr1p]

19 minutes ago, Grizabella said:

I can't think of any better way to study and learn the cards other than to use them in spreads.  By first learning traditional meanings and then using the cards in spreads, you learn how each card's meaning can change depending on the spread and the relationship to other cards. 

 

This forum is a good resource to learn more about each card besides what's in the book or booklet. You can search around here to see how the cards have been interpreted in the reading exchanges and study groups. Is there some particular reason why you don't want to learn the cards by using spreads?

 

Albadawn suggested some really great exercises for you. Maybe others will have some suggestions, too. At any rate, I wish you all happy things as you go along on your Tarot journey and I'm glad you're here with us.

thanks for your response

 

so i don't mind to use spreads, but i remember hearing people say that you shouldn't do a reading on yourself, or from someone else, like more than once every 6 months, or once every 3 months, or something like that

 

but i think maybe it's different if your studying right? maybe it's ok to do spreads and study that way, not necessarily as a reading but more to study them, then it's ok to do readings/spreads more often, but i do remember from multiple sources not to do a reading on yourself more than 6 months, or for someone else/by someone else

 

maybe i should just do any interaction with the cards, read on the cards, AND do spreads or something?

[Grizabella]

Yes, by all means do spreads on anything and everything because, in my opinion, that's the best way to learn.  You can even draw cards on movies to see what the ending might be or on your pets or just about anything else for practice.

 

You'll see ton's of "you can't" or "you don't" things about Tarot.  They're not set in stone. You can read for yourself or someone else as frequently as you want. The preferences and opinions you'll see about how often and on what you can read are just individual preferences and opinions. You can develop your own as you go along. 

 

 

[tr1p]

thanks, 

 

i think i'll just follow my gut and do what i find interesting or fun or helpful, after all intuition is key 😄

[stephanelli]

12 hours ago, tr1p said:

so i don't mind to use spreads, but i remember hearing people say that you shouldn't do a reading on yourself, or from someone else, like more than once every 6 months, or once every 3 months, or something like that

My own personal feeling better is that it doesn't matter how many readings I do for myself.  My main rule is that I won't read on the same topic more than once until the situation or something about the situation has changed significantly.

[DanielJUK]

Using them for yourself and about it being too often, I think this is about reading on the same things over and over. I have seen and have read for people who ask daily about a love interest and emotional topics really give us the feelings and we want a positive answer from the tarot but it's unhealthy and unhelpful to keep asking on the same things over and over. However I think it's fine to use tarot as much as you need on different readings and also daily cards but obviously it's about what you feel comfortable with. I wouldn't read on one question or topic without a gap of about one month at least.  But a daily card for you is a great way of learning because you see how it turns out for you. It was really the #1 helpful thing that helped me learn what the cards really mean and give me insight. If you want to do it predictively, take a card at the start of the day and if you want to do it reflectively, take a card at the end of the day about what happened that day.

 

If you feel uncomfortable doing a daily card on yourself, do it on things you encounter in daily life, like say you take a bus or train, read on that! Was it late? was it cancelled? was it the best journey ever? read on your cat, read on your daily soap, anything like that, you learn from practising! Practising and using them outweighs the worry about effectiveness for me, they are there to be used! But you don't have to read for yourself but read for things around your life. I wouldn't read on other humans though without their permission as there is an ethical consideration there.

 

The politics in my country is so crazy and unpredictable right now, I have started to read weekly about what will happen! I also read on sports events and reality tv shows and try to predict. If you do readings predictably, you are going to get it wrong and that is cool! It doesn't always work but when it does, work out how you got that outcome. Same as looking if the train / tram / bus will give you a good journey that way. You start to understand the pictures and meanings and how they relate. You don't have to do predictive readings, you can use it for advice and to analyse. There are so many ways of making this fit your life 🙂

[Portia]

For me, reading is all about story. What story are the cards telling? And this is as true for readings I do for real people as it is true for the ideas mentioned below.  The more practice I can get connecting the symbols and imagery of my cards to people, events, and situations, the better reader I become. 

• Read for historical figures
• Read for characters in movies, television, books, plays, and popular culture
  • Frodo, Diana Prince, Hamlet, John Wick, Severus Snape, Vito Corleone, Laura Roslin, Blanche DuBois, Jaime Lannister... the list is absolutely endless. Read for them at different points in their journeys. See if you can find fresh ways of looking at their triumphs and failures, their motivations, their passions.
• Read for fairytale characters and mythic heroes
• Read for insight into political  figures and events, both past and present
• Read for perspective on a real life story you read about that has piqued your interest

My sister and I played a game yesterday where we each had our own copy of a RWS deck and we would choose cards (face-up) to answer different questions. Then we would explain what significance we believed the cards the other person chose might have. Then they would explain the reason for our own choices. One of the questions was "Describe one of your favorite movies." And although neither of us figured out the title of the other's movie, it was pretty amazing how well we were both able to articulate the core elements of the story. It was a lot of fun. 🙂

 

❤️

Edited October 14, 2019 by Portia

[Eric13]

I have to humbly admit, sometimes tarot cards are my best friends to talk to. 

[Albadawn]

17 hours ago, Portia said:

 

My sister and I played a game yesterday where we each had our own copy of a RWS deck and we would choose cards (face-up) to answer different questions. Then we would explain what significance we believed the cards the other person chose might have. Then they would explain the reason for our own choices. One of the questions was "Describe one of your favorite movies." And although neither of us figured out the title of the other's movie, it was pretty amazing how well we were both able to articulate the core elements of the story. It was a lot of fun. 🙂

 

❤️

I love this idea!! Now to find someone in person who reads tarot and wants to play 🤔

[ShadowMoon]

On 10/13/2019 at 11:01 PM, Albadawn said:

You can use them as creative writing prompts by separating into three piles: courts, pips and majors. Then draw one from each: the court is your main character, the pip is the main event and the major is the lesson learned from it by the character. 

I'm definitely trying this over the weekend. This is a brilliant idea!

[tr1p]

wow lots of good suggestions thanks everyone, and anyone else who comes to this post and adds.

 

it sounds exciting to just come up with any way i can imagine to use the cards, this is really interesting 🙂

[Saturn Celeste]

On 10/13/2019 at 2:36 PM, tr1p said:

what are some different and cool ways to learn the meanings and get used to your cards/deck?

There are several types of tarot activity books too if you have money.

The Tarot Activity Book: A Collection of Creative and Therapeutic Ideas for the Cards

Tarot Word Search: 78 Puzzles to Help You Learn the Meanings to the Cards

The Tarot Coloring Book

The Tarot Playbook: 78 Novel Ways to Connect with Your Cards

We also have some tarot fun and games in the Chatter Room.

 

[dust]

Thanks for that list, Saturn Celeste! Those sound really interesting, especially the last one.

 

I've read for fictional characters before and about upcoming seasons of TV shows. That ends up being interesting because you can write down your results and interpretations and compare them with whatever ends up happening. I think you can read about anything you want, you don't really need to wait for important or "real" topics. Light topics can be really good for practice, in my opinion, and they're a nice change.

[Jewel]

I would also like to add a book suggestion, "What's in the Cards for You? Test the Tarot - Thirty Experiments Infinite Insights" by Mark McElroy.  I have been using that book to explore one of my decks and have completed up through Experiment 18 so far.  You can check out my journal thread here on TT&M to get a glimpse at the exercises I have done so far.  I think it would be a great way to learn tarot, hence I chose to use it with a deck I knew I would struggle connecting with.  I am actually using it to test the deck, but it is meant for people trying to learn in a fun and exploratory manner.

Edited October 24, 2019 by Jewel