Need Help Honing My Tarot Dexterity

Although I have been reading tarot for a couple years now, my ability has reached a stagnant point .So, here is my plight: Most of my readings have been successful, all of them informative. But I have found myself at the crossroads in this art. I have learned my cards well, spiritually cleanse, and care well for them...
I have studied the standard spreads of the Star, the Celtic Cross, the simple 1,3, 5 card spreads in depth. I am looking now towards new insights and more specifically, new spreads and techniques.

*Do you have a favorite spread you would be willing to share?

*Special advice or alternative approaches to your art?

*Any Pitfalls or adverse experiences you think others should be aware of?

*Where do you find is the best environment to read in? (outdoors, indoors, special locations)?

*Do you also use any focusing items? (crystals, candles, incense, etc)



I would like to use this thread, not just for my enlightenment, but as a place where persons regardless of experience can come for knowledge or greater insight.

Thank you for reading!


[edit on 2/15/09 by Cheyracingchick]

Nothing... really?
Wow.

reply to post by Cheyracingchick


Hi there,
I'm a Tarot reader myself, it's actually how I make my living ! On my website there are lots of readings and the descriptions of each outline what card in each spread looks at what...so you might come across a few new spreads there as many I designed myself.

I tend to shuffle the cards for each part of the spread rather than take the cards from the top of the pack one after the other. So for example, if doing a celtic cross spread I talk aloud requesting a card for position one in the spread, mentioning what that position corresponds do then I pick the top card and turn it over. I then start shuffling again for position 2 and keep on doing shuffles for each position. I've not seen this technique written in any book, it just became "my" way and has always been my preferred method.

To be honest, I don't use any candles, incense, crystals, music or meditation for readings. My desk can be completely cluttered and I can get on with it. I just "flick the switch" and go but that's just the way it works for me.

What deck do you use ? I use Rider Waite. There's a newsih deck out called "New Vision Tarot" that is based on Rider Waite but from a reversed perspective. Basically they use all the images from Rider Waite but give you the imagined view from "behind the scenes" of each card. So you see what is going on behind the Emperor as he sits on his throne, what's happening over on the hidden side of the Empress's chair and so on. It's very innovative and the designer of the deck believes it offers a way to advance understandings of the card, to push beyond the tried and trusted ways of looking at the symbols etc. I 've been staring at a few cards each night , getting to know them. The accompanying book looks at the mythology behind the symbols in each card and offers some (basic) interpretations of each card.

Might be worth you looking into them perhaps ?

Originally posted by Cheyracingchick
Although I have been reading tarot for a couple years now, my ability has reached a stagnant point .So, here is my plight: Most of my readings have been successful, all of them informative. But I have found myself at the crossroads in this art. I have learned my cards well, spiritually cleanse, and care well for them...
I have studied the standard spreads of the Star, the Celtic Cross, the simple 1,3, 5 card spreads in depth. I am looking now towards new insights and more specifically, new spreads and techniques.

*Do you have a favorite spread you would be willing to share?

*Special advice or alternative approaches to your art?

*Any Pitfalls or adverse experiences you think others should be aware of?

*Where do you find is the best environment to read in? (outdoors, indoors, special locations)?

*Do you also use any focusing items? (crystals, candles, incense, etc)

I wouldn't say that you're stagnant. If you're really feeling that way, the only way to change it is from within. New spreads are worthless and won't tell you anything that you couldn't glean from even the most basic layout. Focusing items are props for shills. For that matter, environment really doesn't matter so long as you're not distracted. The cards aren't doing anything special... it's you being open to seeing what they have to say that gets you any meaningful results. Cards aren't sacred, they're not doing any of the work. You are, either consciously or subconsciously. No need to treat them with kid gloves... they don't bite.

If it works, and I personally am fairly skeptic about it, it seems to have little to do with the actual cards (which started out as a playing card game) and mroe with the person dealing them.
I've met card readers who claim they can use a regular deck of 52 cards to do a reading.
It seems more tradition that people use Tarot cards than anything.

Originally posted by RuneSpider
If it works, and I personally am fairly skeptic about it, it seems to have little to do with the actual cards (which started out as a playing card game) and mroe with the person dealing them.
I've met card readers who claim they can use a regular deck of 52 cards to do a reading.
It seems more tradition that people use Tarot cards than anything.

This is true. You can use just about anything. The trick is coming up with a self-consistent system of meanings and applications and sticking to them. The symbology of the Waite deck has visual cues that allow one to remember interpretations and see connections more easily. Not too surprising, considering A.E. Waite was a Masonic scholar and knew a bit about symbols as well as trestle boards.

But yeah, if you wanted to take a regular deck and ascribe each suite to an attribute, and each value from A-10 as a degree of value, perhaps with extra significance for the face cards, you could whip up your own system in a couple of hours and use it quite effectively.