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Originally Posted by Amulette
Thanks for sharing about your practice  It sounds like you have established a good rhythm with it, and able to gather with others and practice sounds magickal indeedl!! Especially if the dynamics complement one another.
WOW, reading tarot for 20 years! I'm just beginning with that. Any general tips that you had wished you had known early on that you feel like sharing? |
Sure! It kind of depends on how serious you are about tarot and how much time you're willing to put into it.
For one, make tarot a daily practice. Pull a card in the mornings and look up the meanings. In addition to the book the cards came with there are tons of beginner tarot books out there, and aeclectic tarot (aeclectic.net) is a wonderful online resource. Anyway, after you have an idea of what the card means, meditate on it a little bit. Find your own associations with the images in that card. Put a in couple minutes if you're in a hurry or longer if you wish. Then, pay attention to your day and see how the card influences your day and the little coincidences that pop up.
Note: if you're a beginner you may want to start at the very beginning of the deck and go in order rather than pulling cards randomly.
One thing I also really wish someone told me at the beginning is NOT to worry about reversals. There are two schools of thought on reversals, one being that 78 cards are enough information and reversals are necessary, and the other being that reversals add a more nuanced way of reading tarot. But it's a lot to take in in the beginning. I personally no longer use reversals. Once I made the decision not to, my understanding of the deck completely opened up. If after getting familiar with the basic card meanings, you feel you want to add in reversals, do so. But in the beginning I think it's more of a hindrance towards learning the deck than a help. I really wish someone had told me I could let that go when I was a beginner.
If you are really committed to learning tarot, I recommend creating a tarot journal with a page devoted to each card. Jot down your ideas and associations about each card. Insights and flashes will come to you when you least expect it.
My bff from college and I went through the entire deck twice and wrote up our meanings and insights and shared them. If you have someone else to study with, that can be motivation!
Lastly, do things the way that feel best for YOU. There are really no hard and fast rules in tarot except to respect the cards and not abuse them. But explore different ways of shuffling, cutting or not cutting the deck, you can even devise your own tarot spreads! And if you have an association with a card that's different, listen to your gut.
I personally never cut the deck, and have been doing the Celtic Cross spread "wrong" for over 20 years. But because I'm consistent with it and my cards know my way of doing things it always works out.
I'd recommend cleansing your deck and charging it once in a while in the moonlight or sunlight, depending on the energies you want. Also, keep them in a container. The box they came in is fine but you can also find boxes and bags to hold your cards in. Keep them somewhere near your bed, especially when you're breaking in a new deck. You can sleep with it under your pillow or keep it on your nightstand. I have a few decks in current regular rotation and they are all near my bed.
Sorry if this is way more info than you wanted lol. If you have any specific questions I am happy to try and answer.
Happy reading!