HOW TO REALLY LEARN TAROT

PART TWO

The largest group of problems that stymie beginning tarot readers is they second-guess themselves. Having looked at a card and having decided what that card means, the reader starts to hedge his or her bets by adding additional meanings to the card. One of my good friends calls this the Badge of an Apprentice.

Apprentices in any field strive to be right. The perception is that if they're right they're learning the trade. In my experience we don't learn a whole lot by always being right. We learn through our mistakes. The problem is that we're often right the first time and we're wrong every guess after that. The more we prattle on, the more wrong we are. We should be learning a lot. But unfortunately, most of us don't know it's a mistake to keep guessing.

In the last issue of this newsletter, my suggestion for avoiding this problem was to select one and only one key word, phrase or concept for each tarot card. When you start second-guessing yourself, all you need to do is remind yourself of the meaning you've assigned to that card. The discussion in your head is over. You know the answer.

The second largest group of problems that keep beginners from learning tarot is forgetting the question to be answered. They ask the question, select the cards and talk about the cards but not about how the cards answer the question at hand. In my opinion this has more to do with tarot spreads than tarot cards.

Based on my experience, most beginners fail to realize the power of a one card tarot reading. Most of them believe more cards results in a better reading. With a poor understanding of how to do one card tarot readings, more cards never solves the problem, they only add to the confusion. This is a situation where more is definitely not better.

For example, let's consider the ever-popular Mind-Body-Spirit tarot spread. I consider this as three simple one card tarot spreads and read the cards accordingly. Here's how this process works using a made-up question:

Q - What does (the client) need to do in order to attract the right man into her life?

A - Using the Mind-Body-Spirit spread, I suggest the reader answer three questions: 1. What does the client need to do intellectually (mentally) to attract the right man into her life? 2. What does the client need to do physically to attract the right man into her life? 3. What does the client need to do spiritually to attract the right man into her life?

Oh, wow, doesn't that make it easier? The three-card tarot spread turns out to be three one-card tarot readings. A spread of any length turns out to be that many one card readings. That's a fascinating secret very few people really understand. Now you're one of them

Notice, my reading of the first card didn't answer the whole question. The first card answered the first sub-question implied by the spread I chose to use. And, it answered only the first implied sub-question. In effect, the first card only answers one-third of the question asked. That's what tarot spreads do. Tarot spreads sub-divide the question asked up into separate parts of the question. A one card reading has one answer. It answers only one question.

A ten card reading has ten answers as ten separate sub-questions are being asked by a ten card spread. Each card answers only one implied sub-question. None of the ten cards answers the question directly -- unless you have a position in your spread devoted to that purpose, the purpose of answering the question asked. This card is often called the Outcome card if the question is about the outcome of a certain action.

In a Past-Present-Future tarot spread, only the Future card answers a question about a future event. By the same token, only the Present card answers a question about what's going on now. And, only the Past card can answer: What happened?

Your second assignment is to look at the tarot spreads you use and practice discovering the implied sub-questions for several questions you pose to the cards. You'll be amazed at how the quality of your readings improves by using this simple technique. If you use a five-card tarot spread, look for the five implied sub-questions and answer each of them. Now you have the five answers to the original question you expected using this spread. Have fun experimenting. When you're finished, proceed to

[Part Three]

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