learn Tarot

It helped develop my intuition and confidence. I still need to work on the Court cards, but feel capable of giving an accurate and complete reading.

My instructor said that the reading I did for her was very accurate and that she now knows how to proceed as far as some choices that she has to make. She also gave me a certificate of excellence and said that I was a gifted intuitive.

I’m going to do at least one reading a week, I think. For my sis, my b-i-l, my godmother, the cats, random people in the grocery store, whoever will sit still for it, basically. I also owe a reading to a certain damsel in Texas, I believe.

I submitted my final exam in the tarot class today, a general reading for the instructor on what she needs to know right now. I used the Celtic Cross.

It was my first reading for someone else and I’m fairly pleased with my interpretation. I’m looking forward to her feedback. I’d like to start doing readings for people to get a better sense of my strengths and weaknesses as a reader. I’m so glad that I finished the class before I moved. It’s good to have it under my belt and I have all the lessons and my homework, exam results, resources, etc. in a tabbed binder for reference. I can add Tarot Geek to my long list of geek titles.

All I have to do is the final exam, which consists of reading a spread we do for and about the teacher, which she will then critique.

No pressure there.

The last two lessons in the tarot class have incorporated crystals. In one, we infused a crystal with the essence of a card. I used Death and The Star with an amethyst to help me end my life here and strengthen my hope for what my new life will be.

The lesson that I’m currently working on involves using a crystal pendulum. I was skeptical, but I want to finish the class and am too honest to use the option of typing in Done in the assignment space if I haven’t actually done the work. So I finally made a pendulum. I cleansed it and asked it to show me Yes. It rocked back and forth in a straight line. I stilled it and repeated the question. Same response.

Then I asked it to show me No. It swung in a clockwise circle. I stilled it and asked again. Same motion. I was intrigued by this time, so I started giving it a polygraph test. I would ask, “Is my middle name [real middle name]?” and still the crystal, then let it hang about an inch above my palm. I was watching the hand that was holding the thread and had that arm pressed against my side. It said Yes. I asked, “Am I dating a man named Marvin?” It said No. The motion felt as if it came from the crystal up the string to my hand.

My take is that I am somehow, through micromovements perhaps, affecting the pendulum. But it seems to be tuned to me, so I can use it to tell me if I’ve read a tarot spread correctly or which card to pick. I plan to do a few three card spreads over the next three days and then submit the assignment. I’m glad that I experimented with this.

That’s right. My current assignment not only has me doing a new spread of 25 cards and creating a story from it, using my intuition, I also am to submit a brief essay comparing this spread to the Celtic Cross.

I really enjoyed the Advanced Celtic Cross. It was helpful to me to be able to focus completely on each card in turn and use clarifying cards as needed. I was surprised that I liked using a significator card, as I had thought it unnecessary. I can see where I will be using this spread again.

I still can’t imagine reading for others, given how many interpretations each card can have in its own symbolism, by position and in relation to the other cards. We’ll see.

I definitely have trouble reading the court cards. I feel uncomfortable with reading them as actual people outside of the querent. For now, I’m approaching tarot the way that I approached reading palms, as a snapshot of current circumstances and the possible outcome if nothing is changed. My reading with the court cards was unclear to me but I finished and submitted the assignment.

I do like this teacher’s way of using card 5 to shed light on the relationship between the first two cards. In my court card reading, this meant that expressing my emotions in a mature and thoughtful way (King of Cups) can help resolve the conflict between the physical, sensual comfort of my current situation (card 1, Queen of Pentacles) and the daring action of moving away (card 2, Knight of Swords).

The next two lessons were much easier. I have to work on an advanced Celtic Cross spread next, but having tackled these three has given me a teensy bit of confidence.

I just read the Major Arcana Celtic Cross spread. Much like the Minor Arcana spread that I did for the same question, it was all about the balance between looking inward for guidance and exerting my will and loving strength. I worry, though, that I am putting too positive a spin on the cards.

For example, card 1 was the Tower. Normally that’s a card that would freak me out in its association with shocking and even traumatic change. Given that the question was “what do I need to know about my move to CA?” it made sense to me that it popped up first to represent the demolition of my old life and necessity of rebuilding in a fresh way. But perhaps I am ignoring just how shocking and disorienting this change will be. Card 2 was the Chariot, which I interpreted to mean that I need to use my willpower and be persistent and focused in creating a life that is more spirituality-based. The conflict between chaos and control is stark. I interpreted the Strength card in position 3 and the Judgment card in position 5 as showing that I will be able to balance the two.

78 cards seem like an awful lot right now. I’m going to give my mind a few days rest before I tackle the Court Card reading.

I just wrote out the interpretation of the Minor Arcana Celtic Cross spread that I did for class. It took awhile but did give me a lot of good information. Just looking it up and writing it down taught me a lot.

Next up is the Major Arcana Celtic Cross that I did for the same question. Card one is The Tower, but I guess I already knew that my life was going to be shaken up, so I shouldn’t be too nervous about that…I hope.

I’m leaving the Court Card spread for last because they’re the hardest for me to understand. This is quite an assignment! I hope the next few lessons are simpler. I’d like to finish the class by mid-March and the CC spreads take me such a long time to research and write.

I’m on lesson 20 of 32 lessons. So far they’ve been paced so that each builds on the previous. Lesson 20 is about the Celtic Cross spread. It’s clearly written and we’ve already learned everything we need to do the interpretation. Then I got to the assignment. Do three CC spreads on the same question, one using just the Minor Arcana, one using just the Major Arcana and one using just the court cards. See how they differ and where they’re similar. See with which you’re most comfortable.

That’s a lot of information to absorb! I feel like I just hit a midterm three weeks into class. We’re talking about three spreads of ten cards, each card interpreted not only by its individual meaning and position but in relation to the other cards and the question. I wrote out the cards and where they fell and made lists to start my research. I asked about my secret project and the respective outcome cards were: 10 of Cups (yes!), The Emperor (huh?) and The Page of Wands (sure!). The timeline on the spreads was ten weeks, because by then, I’ll have a much better idea of the result of my secret project.

I’ve got a lot of work to do before I can submit this assignment.