Everything Under the Moon

I am still learning to read tarot. How did you get the confidence to go with your gut and learn all of the cards and what they mean? I feel like I get most of it wrong. I mainly read my husband for practice. Any tips for reading, learning, or whatever would be very much welcomed.

What I used to do when I was first getting into the cards was get up about an hour earlier to allow for time. I'd shuffle the deck and as I did so I would ask for the best course of action for the day ,with harm to no one and the highest good for me and all concerned. I'd repeat that three times while shuffling and then id either fan the deck and pick the card that felt the best or cut the deck and read the card shown. I'd then read about the card chosen and keep the meanings in my head throughout the day to see how it applied. At the end of the day I'd go over the events of the day and how it applied to the card. Sometimes I'd pull the same card a few times in a row throughout the week and realize I wasn't getting the picture and really concentrate on what it was trying to tell me. This way I was only concentrating on one card at a time and not trying to get them all at once. It was a little time consuming but it really helped me focus and see the card individually. Which in time helped put the cards together in a full spread. Hope this helps!
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I will try that. I have been trying to get the cards down for sometime with no luck so I am willing to try anything.

These videos were the most helpful thing I ever came across when I was first learning tarot. It really breaks down the system in a way that helps you understand it without necessarily memorizing all of the meanings of each card.

Part 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NDuHfxp0NQ&t=860s

Part 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OihL6kg-2mU&t=112s

I am watching those now. Thank you.

RainChild wrote:I am watching those now. Thank you.

Awesome! Did you find them helpful?

From my experience with tarot, I find its much easier to read the person, and use the cards as prompts, if that makes sense.

Karma Khaos wrote:

RainChild wrote:I am watching those now. Thank you.

Awesome! Did you find them helpful?

Yeah, however I am still struggling. I think I need to find more people to practice on.

corvidus wrote:From my experience with tarot, I find its much easier to read the person, and use the cards as prompts, if that makes sense.

No, please explain more if you can.

RainChild wrote:

Karma Khaos wrote:

RainChild wrote:I am watching those now. Thank you.

Awesome! Did you find them helpful?

Yeah, however I am still struggling. I think I need to find more people to practice on.

It took me at least a year of reading for my husband and doing my own shadow readings (readings for the inner self / subconscious / hidden aspects, etc) before I was comfortable enough to read for others, and I wish I'd done it sooner. You can't gain the necessary confidence that you need to really feel like you know the cards without reading for someone you don't know. Reading for yourself feels like cheating, and reading for someone that you know really well does too because you know what's going on in their life and often what's going on in their head. It doesn't even feel like a challenge.

Karma Khaos wrote:

RainChild wrote:

Karma Khaos wrote:

RainChild wrote:I am watching those now. Thank you.

Awesome! Did you find them helpful?

Yeah, however I am still struggling. I think I need to find more people to practice on.

It took me at least a year of reading for my husband and doing my own shadow readings (readings for the inner self / subconscious / hidden aspects, etc) before I was comfortable enough to read for others, and I wish I'd done it sooner. You can't gain the necessary confidence that you need to really feel like you know the cards without reading for someone you don't know. Reading for yourself feels like cheating, and reading for someone that you know really well does too because you know what's going on in their life and often what's going on in their head. It doesn't even feel like a challenge.

The problem is I don't have anyone to read for. I am still in the broom closet to most of my family and we live in a very mennonite city. So I don't have anywhere but in my home to do it and I only have my immediate family to read for.

With all those obstacles in your mind you'd benefit from another form of divination to build confidence. Use a pendulum in daily living to find lost items, tweak recipies, choose vitamins etc. & all manner of mundane choice activities.

SpiritTalker wrote:With all those obstacles in your mind you'd benefit from another form of divination to build confidence. Use a pendulum in daily living to find lost items, tweak recipies, choose vitamins etc. & all manner of mundane choice activities.

Pendulums *are* awesome. They also work very well along WITH tarot, especially if you're unsure of which deck to use or need a little confidence / guidance as far as what specific cards in your reading might be pointing to.

Karma Khaos wrote:

SpiritTalker wrote:With all those obstacles in your mind you'd benefit from another form of divination to build confidence. Use a pendulum in daily living to find lost items, tweak recipies, choose vitamins etc. & all manner of mundane choice activities.

Pendulums *are* awesome. They also work very well along WITH tarot, especially if you're unsure of which deck to use or need a little confidence / guidance as far as what specific cards in your reading might be pointing to.

I have never heard of people using both together.

A method I have found useful is to think less about the "actual" meaning of the cards and build a story or a message based on the pictures and other aspects of each card. Which direction are figures looking? What is the numerology like? I tend to approach tarot as an intuitive process as opposed to a academic or memory based one.

I will also second the advice of daily practice, though I disagree that a reading is only "real" if it is done for someone you don't know. Keep a journal and look back at it periodically.