HOW TO REALLY LEARN TAROT

PART ONE

In my opinion, the number one cause of difficulty in learning the meanings of the tarot cards, for most students, is they have too many definitions for each card.

Have you ever heard a reader tell somebody this card means such and such, and then proceed to give a number of alternative meanings? I have. It drives me nuts. It's like a multiple choice test. Select the best answer. Select any answer. Select anything. The reader is always right if there's enough choices to cover all contingencies.

This card means somebody in your life is going to get pregnant. But it can also mean a change at work or a career change. If you're getting close to somebody, they're not ready to make a commitment. If you don't have
anybody yet, this card means a new man's coming into your life - but not real soon. It also means new ideas coming to you. If you plan on taking a vacation soon, this card says you'll have a good time.

Yes, but what's the real answer?

The real answer is this reader is unsure of him or herself and doesn't believe his or her cards yet. I mean, how could little colored pieces of paper with pretty pictures painted on them tell us anything? The truth is they can't. Tarot cards can't tell us anything by themselves. They need to be interpreted and that's where we come in.

Here's how tarot works in my opinion:

1. We decide what each card is going to mean. We make a conscious decision this card is going to mean this. We can base this decision on our experience, the things we've read, the things we see in the card or our gut
feeling. But whatever we do, the first step is for us to decide what each card means.

2. We communicate these meanings to our subconscious minds. This is the easy part. Our subconscious mind remembers everything. The problem is we forget. So to solve that problem, write down the meanings you decided upon in the first step. If you forget, you can look them up. Your subconscious mind never forgets. So the second step is to write down your decisions from step one. This act alone lets your subconscious mind know you're
serious about your decision.

3. Your subconscious mind takes over from there and arranges the tarot pack in such a manner that exactly the right card will come up in the perfect position to answer the question at hand. This will happen regardless of
who shuffles the cards, and regardless of how the cards are shuffled, cut and selected. I used to believe it was important to shuffle, cut and select the cards in a certain manner. I'm now convinced it makes absolutely no difference how you shuffle, cut and select the cards. Your subconscious mind will control the operation no matter what you do. In other words, the reading will be right in spite of you. So all you have to do is the first two steps: 1) define each card, and 2) write it down.

The first secret to really learning how to use tarot is to define each card with one and only one meaning. It doesn't matter what that meaning is. It can be a word, a phrase, a concept, anything. It can be something in the card or not. It can be something you know or something somebody else knows. You can use any system you want to use. Just decide on one meaning for each card and write it down.

From now on, whenever your subconscious mind wants to convey to you exactly that meaning, it will select that card and present it to you in your reading. In my opinion, that's how it all works.

Questions and Answers

Q - Doesn't it really limit you if you can only use one word for a definition of each tarot card?

A - Yes, it does and that's the idea. The better you define each card the better your communication with your own subconscious mind. If you have four definitions for each card, how do you know which one to use? The truest answer is you don't unless you build a system to do just that.

What I'm proposing is just that kind of a system for reading tarot cards. The first step is to decide upon one key word, phrase or concept for each tarot card. The second step is to learn to use that set of seventy-eight meanings to do tarot readings. The rest of the steps to be explained in this series of articles will explain how to use
up to four different meanings with each card. That's the system being proposed. Read about it and then build your own system for reading tarot cards. That's my recommendation.

Q - Can you give us some definitions for the problem cards?

A - Not really. My experience is different people have difficulty defining different cards. Every card in the pack is a problem card for somebody. If you ever have a card which you just can't define for some reason. Here's a few suggestions:

1) Look at the card. Really study it. Look at your list of possible meanings derived from a number of authors. Look at the card. Repeat this process until something clicks for you.

2) Take up your thesaurus and look up all the words on your list. Select as many possible new words from your thesaurus as possible. Write them all down. You can even look up some of the new words for additional possibilities. Use this new expanded list to repeat the first suggestion. If you don't have a thesaurus you can find one in the reference section of your local library.

3) Look at the card. What's happening in the card? Describe what's happening in the card and select your key word, phrase or concept for that card.

4) Look at the symbols in the card. What do these symbols mean to you? Use these symbol meanings to select your key word, phrase or concept.

5) Consider the number of the card. What does this number mean to you? Then consider the suit of the card. What does this suit mean to you? Using this information write down a key word, phrase or concept.

6) Meditate on the card and/or contemplate the card until you intuit a key word, phrase or concept for that card.

7) Ask your Higher Self, angels or spirit guides for assistance.

Your first assignment is to eliminate all but one meaning for each of your cards. Select a word, phrase or concept and write it down so both you and your subconscious mind agree on that meaning. Your subconscious mind always agrees with you, so make a decision. Your subconscious mind will agree. When you're finished, proceed to Part Two.