Each card position in the spread carries a particular meaning that will help the reader interpret the significance of the card depending on the position the card falls in. The meaning of the individual card will also depend on the surrounding cards, the nature of the question asked and the readers intuitive awareness. The art of reading a spread is much like putting the pieces of a puzzle together.A reading uses imagination, intuition and creativity to process the story that the cards tell.
To start out using Tarot Cards you must have a Tarot Deck that speaks to you. I myself own 23 decks and I use all them for different types of readings. I recommend that you begin to learn by using only one deck. Find a deck that has artwork that you can relate to. Some decks are pretty but they don't necessarily inspire a person. For your first deck you should find one with artwork that stimulates your imagination and awakens your intuition.
Decks that I personally recommend for beginners are Hanson Roberts and Radiant Rider-Waite Tarot. The artwork is very colorful and when you look at the them they express the basic meaning of the cards in the details.
Once you go through all the steps that I previously mentioned and find a deck that you are comfortable with I then suggest you get to know it. Take the cards out, look at them, write down on a piece of paper what you see in each card and how that card makes you feel. What in the artwork jumps out at you. Meditate on them. By doing this you will literally get to know what those cards mean for you.
Besides the Upright and Reversal meaning of each card. Most cards have discrete symbolism on them. Mountains, Hills, Animals, Planets, Colors, The Witches Alphabet and Numerology also have representation. Here is an assignment for you! I recommend that you pull one card every morning and look at that Tarot Card. Lets use the Empress as an example. In her upright position the Empress represents motherhood, fertility, abundance, pregnancy, creativity. In her reverse position she can represent refusal to grow, lack of children, suffering, excessive materialism. Now look at the picture of the Empress on the deck that you have chosen to learn with. Do you see these ideas represented in the artwork? Lets use the Empress card in the Radiant Rider-Waite Tarot deck and really look at the artwork of this card. First we see that the card is the number 3. 3 can represent growth, creation, human genitalia, This card is associated with the planet Jupiter. On the card we see a woman wearing a crown of leaves and there are 12 stars, she is holding a septor. She has fine clothing there is lots of wheat growing at her feet. There are lots of green trees in the background. There is a heart pillow with the symbol representing the female on it. Now this is how I see this card. The vegetation represents fertility and fruitfulness. The symbol on the heart shaped pillow is obviously female. The crown is like that worn by Mother Nature. The septor represents Royalty, The 3 main colors of this card are green, orange, gold.
Green – new life, growth,
Orange – splendor, vitality.
Gold – attainment, radiance.
Do you see a repetition here of meaning? Once you learn these basic meanings and realize that they are repetitive through out the visualizations in front of you you will be able to use the cards in a variety of ways. You can meditate on it. These might represent characteristics you would like to build in your personality.
Something else I would like to discuss is care of your tarot deck. I personally don't allow others to touch my tarot decks. Now most Tarot Readers would think that this is superstitious and that energy imprints are not left behind. I don't agree with this from my own personal experiences and have had to cleanse decks because of it. But that is just my opinion and doesn't have to be yours. Each one of my decks has a velvet bag that I keep it in. A few decks are wrapped in silk. This keeps the decks clean and by storing them this way I make their usage special and significant every time I pull them out for a reading.
Before I read the cards on any given subject I usually light a white candle, burn myrrh and frankincense incense because they are my favorite scents and use meditation music and breathing techniques to open myself to the universe. I found that the abdominal breathing I practice from Yoga has been the most beneficial way for this to happen. But if you are unfamiliar with this kind of breathing technique I would suggest a simple breath in through your nose and out through your mouth method of breathing. Make sure that they are deep cleansing breaths and I recommend you repeat this step 3 times. You should start to feel your body relax and once you have you will be able to focus on your cards. Of coarse the more you practice this the better you will get.
Well that is all for this blog. Our next blog will be a discussion on The Fool. It's upright meaning, reversal meaning and how to interpret it in different spreads. We will also discuss several artists renditions and interpretations of The Fool card in their decks. The 6 decks I will be discussing are the Connolly Tarot Deck, The Gendron Tarot, Golden Tarot, Tarot of a Moon Garden, The Radiant Rider Waite, and the Russian Deck of St Petersburg. Until then-
Bright Blessings,
Marissa
