Tarot Tips – Advice for Reading on Your Own
I never meant this page to just be a listing of where I'm
selling stuff or doing readings - although I love it when folks stop by just to
say hello! So, let's talk a little tarot how-to.
I never meant this page just to be a shout-out of where I'm selling stuff and
doing readings. The Oak and Olive is so much more than that. So, let's talk
some tarot how-to on this dreary Monday morning,, as I'm still struggling to
wake up and get things done.
I found this great article on Llewellyn's website with some truly helpful
advice to newer readers. Heck, I've been reading for 30+ years and will be
trying one of her suggestions! So, here's my breakdown.
Lisa Papez suggests creating a keyword for each card that will then inform your
interpretation of that card during a reading. This is a great idea! I actually
did something similar back in the early 90s when I started my job as a
profession phone psychic. (It was a truly awful job, but it paid the bills and
I met some incredible folks.) You can still see those early cheats written on
the Rider-Waite-Smith deck that I still use for readings. It was a great help
at the time as I got used to more fully utilizing the Lesser Arcana in my work.
So, Tip #1: highly recommended.
Tip #2 involves comparing similar cards and working out what your keywords are
for each. It’s something I could do more of.
Tip #3 is how I perform pretty much all of my readings –
creating a narrative. The cards will usually tell you a story and I try to
string that story together as I perform the reading. I personally don’t use
keywords for this, as I find that nowadays it locks in my thinking about any
particular card. And I’ve had readings where the cards touched on more than one
thing, which can lead to some serious confusion when trying to figure out what
the cards are telling you! Usually there isn’t a narrative that can be used to
tie them altogether in that case. At least not one that stays out of the realm
of fiction. But it’s a great technique.
She also suggests, with Tip #4, using the cards as
Significators. This is something I really want to work with more, because I
think her technique is brilliant. In general, I stopped using Significators
back at the same time I started reading professionally. They can be useful when
starting out and may remain useful for some people beyond the beginner stages.
I’m just not one of them.
I’ve discovered that
if a card representing the Querent (the person asking for the reading) is
important for the reading, it’ll pop up on its own. Her active Significator
technique takes that thinking a few steps further.
And finally, Tip #5 talks about reading intuitively, which
is how I learned right out of the gate. It can be a challenge, as sometimes the
cards are telling you something that you just aren’t getting. But the challenge
it to open your thinking , trust that inner voice, and look at the cards with a
completely open mind. Learn intuitive reading and you can learn so much from
your cards. Of course, I’ve also found that this only works for me with a
select few decks – I can’t read ones that are, say symbols only, such as the 5
of pentacles just being a card with five pentacles on it. I need that little
story on the card already before I can proceed.
Anyway, here’s the link to her full article if you’d like to check it out. I highly suggest it as she goes into more detail with each tip.
Brightest Blessings,
Laurel
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