Learning the Tarot

Although I’ve already written about learning Tarot I recieved an email from someone who had recently started her own Tarot journey and was concerned because she didn’t feel she was progressing as she should. She admitted that she didn’t feel any energy when reading her cards and wondered what she was doing wrong.

First of all, let me reinforce the message that reading Tarot cards isn’t something that requires a special gift. You don’t have to be psychic or have any sixth sense. All you need is the right attitude and the desire to learn.

You can’t put a time frame on how long it will take for you to learn to understand the different card meanings and how those meanings can change depending on their position in your Tarot spread, or even depending on what question you asked in the first place. The reason for this is that Tarot journeys are personal. No two people will have the same Tarot journey though we all share the same starting point – the desire to learn.

Please, don’t get hung up on thinking that you can learn Tarot by reading some book, committing to memory the meanings of each of the cards and how to do different spreads. Tarot involves feelings and intuitions and these can’t be learned. The cards will speak to everyone differently.

Because Tarot reading is so personal its important that you take the time to get to know your cards. No matter how long you’ve been using Tarot in your life, if you get a new Tarot deck, you will want to spend time getting to know that deck and bonding with it.

If you’re not in tune with your cards, then they can’t give you the messages you need to hear. You’ll misinterpret their messages and think they’re a waste of time or worse still take the wrong course of action because you thought they were advising one thing while in reality they were advising something else.

For those of you who’ve downloaded, “A Fool’s Journey“, you know already how much importance I put on this. Reading Tarot cards isn’t something that can be rushed. Even if you’re only pulling a single card, that card deserves the same care and attention as if you were doing a major 21 card spread.

If you’re just setting out on your Tarot journey, then take these basic steps first to prepare you for that journey.

• Set aside some time to go through your cards and try to feel what they represent. Don’t even think about looking at a reference book at this time. Just look at each card, hold them, turn them over, take note of the colors, the images, etc.
• This doesn’t have to be done in a single sitting. Some cards you will want to hold onto longer than others. Take as long as you need to.
• Once you feel you have a basic understanding of your cards, you can open up your reference book and check if your interpretation matches with that of the author. You’ll be surprised by how often it does.
• If your feeling about a particular card doesn’t match the interpretation given by the reference book, go with your own instinct. You will soon find that in your readings, it is usually your interpretation that is correct, not the books!
• Develop a ritual that you follow each time you do a Tarot reading. It’s important that your mind is clear of outside influences and setting up your personal ritual is a great way of doing this. This doesn’t have to be anything fancy or exotic. It might be that you choose a particular room, or a particular way of shuffling your cards, or  lighting a candle, or any one of a thousand other ways you can personalize your time with your cards.
• Practice. You can’t expect to learn Tarot overnight. And actually why would you want to? Discovering how to read Tarot cards is a deeply rewarding, and very moving experience. Don’t be tempted to rush it as you risk missing the small pleasures that come from the learning experience itself.