Nemo13 Posted November 5, 2019 Posted November 5, 2019 Hello everyone! I am a beginner in Tarot readings (However I am rather experienced in a romantic reading using playing cards and also rather good in the Lenormand method), so I got myself the Smith-Waite Centennial Edition as a first deck. Do you have any suggstions/tips on how to get started in getting to know the deck meanings or things to look out for etc? Any help whatsoever would be greatly appreciated!
MissJones Posted November 5, 2019 Posted November 5, 2019 Hi @Nemo13, and welcome to the forum! I myself joined recently, but I've been reading Tarot for a while now. The way I started was to learn the Major Arcana meanings first. Then I learned what each of the suits mean, and their own unique characteristics. If you learn these, you'll be able to read the basic meanings of all the pip cards (the Minor Arcana). So for example, The Magician (number 1 Major Arcana) stands for the seed of ideas and new beginnings, of creation and inspiration. The wand suit is all about journeys, creativity and willpower. So the Ace of Wands represents starting a new journey/ creative endeavour etc. Some of the card meanings might not be as clear at first, but the pictures also give you a big clue as to what's going on and how they relate back to their corresponding Major Arcana card (plus I found it useful to build my intuitive readings of the cards this way, as I wasn't relying on a book interpretation for every reading & card). The above cuts down learning time and allows you to start reading quickly, but if you then want to learn each card meaning as in-depth as possible, then there are some excellent resources out there on YouTube, online blogs, and books as well. I'd keep a journal if you want to cement your learning. I have a large notebook where I have all my own notes on each card, their meanings, all of the spreads I've used/ created, notes on my decks and their individual characteristics (for eg I use my original RWS if I want a no-nonsense reading that might even be a bit harsh, but entirely fair) and other things that pop up. I hope the above is useful, and welcome to the Tarot community! I'm sure you'll have an amazing journey with your new deck 😊
DanielJUK Posted November 5, 2019 Posted November 5, 2019 Welcome to the forum Nemo 🙂 Different people find different ways of learning tarot, so it's worth trying different methods to find what works best for you personally! There is no right or wrong method. I would use your new deck, pick it up, look at the cards. Take a card each day, this is great for learning, you can use it for a card of the day as a predictive method or take a card at the end of the day to reflect on the day afterwards. You might want to take a card and meditate on the image! But explore the cards one by one. There are two methods of learning tarot, intuitive and reference or studying / learnt meanings. Most people use a little of both methods but people tend to be stronger in one way than the other. When you look at a card you can research about it if you want, maybe buy some tarot books or use the little white book (we refer to it as LWB on the forum posts) that came with the deck. You might want to search on google for different ideas about the card. read up on it and try to understand it. But also look at the image, what does it mean to you? At the beginning you will rely much more on author and other reader's interpretations, their ideas but gradually you will form your own opinions. The interpretations are just other opinions and so with time you work out your own 🙂 I think a great way to learn is to study each card and try to think of 3 keywords for that card that are for you. So you might see a post on google or on the forum about the card and think wow I so see that and take a keyword from that text. But just think of a few keywords and learn them. As you get more experienced try to read the picture with the background knowledge you have learnt. What symbols jump out at you? it will change each reading. But I notice that readers are more or less intuitive in style, so work out what works best for you! But explore each card and take one daily, see how it turns out in a practical way. You learn with tarot by using it and practising with it! I was going to suggest the mentorship area of the forum but saw you have found it already 🙂 enjoy the forum on your journey!
katrinka Posted November 6, 2019 Posted November 6, 2019 16 hours ago, Nemo13 said: Hello everyone! I am a beginner in Tarot readings (However I am rather experienced in a romantic reading using playing cards and also rather good in the Lenormand method), so I got myself the Smith-Waite Centennial Edition as a first deck. Do you have any suggstions/tips on how to get started in getting to know the deck meanings or things to look out for etc? Any help whatsoever would be greatly appreciated! If you're already reading Lenormand and playing cards, you're light years ahead of most beginners! For RWS, go straight to the source: https://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/pkt/index.htm#contents The RWS is a Golden Dawn type deck. Waite fudged things a bit and narrowed the focus on some cards. But Crowley came along and spilled the beans. Crowley's writing can be somewhat difficult to decipher at times, but never mind - there's this: https://www.corax.com/tarot/cards/index.html There's a lot of noise out there, but it's just that - noise and obfuscation - and those two sites are enough to get you started. Seriously, it doesn't cost a dime. 😉
Lady Butterfly Posted November 6, 2019 Posted November 6, 2019 Hello @Nemo13, welcome to the TT&M family!
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