Do you want to learn to read tarot cards?
My personal love affair with the tarot started over 30 years ago with the basic Rider-Waite tarot deck my grandmother gave me when I was 9 years old.
I really didn't know anything more than what it said on the little pamphlet that came with the deck. I also had a vague concept that somehow I would be able to predict the future with my new "magic" cards. Remember that I was only nine years old at the time.
So How Did I Learn to Read Tarot Cards?
A Childs Tarot Journey
First off, let me state for the record that I was a very unusual 9 year old to begin with. My parents were musicians, we moved around a lot in between staying at my Aunt's house, which was on an 80 acre farm that was also home to a hippie commune.Needless to say, I was exposed to a lot of colorful and free-spirited people at a very early age.
Add to that the fact that I was a kind of child prodigy. I have an I.Q. of 147, by the time I was 9 years old I was a third grader who could read and comprehend at a college level.
Due to our gypsy vagabond lifestyle, I never attended the same grade school for more than one grade at a time, so my intelligence got over-looked in the public school system.
I'm also eidetic, that means I have a photographic memory. So as a 9 year old I learned to read tarot cards by memorizing the little one line meanings for each card in the pamphlet.
Best Tarot Decks
When you are first learning to read tarot cards, it is best to use one of the more basic decks like the Rider-Waite decks.
The Original Rider Waite Tarot Pack
Tarot Total Rider Waite Tarot With Book
Tarot Total Rider Waite Tarot With Book
Amazon Price: (as of 12/01/2009)
Morgan Greer Tarot Deck and Book Set
This is by far my personal favorite deck.
Morgan Greer Tarot Deck and Book Set (Deck&Book)
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Practice, Practice...Practice!
Learn to Read Tarot Cards 101
As a kid I loved pretending that I was some exotic Gypsy fortune-teller. Since my folks were entertainers and it was the 70's, we had lots of colorful scarfs and beads and incense.I spent countless hours all dressed up how my child mind imagined a fortune-teller would look. I gave tarot card readings to all of my brothers, cousins and any one else that wanted to play along.
Luckily my colorful family accepted my eccentric ways. When my tarot card readings started becoming more and more accurate, my family never blinked an eye. We have a long line of psychically inclined relatives.
Besides, I was having prophetic dreams and seeing auras and other things of the sort long before I ever got my first deck of tarot cards.
The secret to reading tarot cards is to listen to your inner voice & let your natural intuition guide
Anyone Can Learn to Read Tarot Cards
You don't have to be psychic
I am not a psychic, at least not in the "Sylvia Browne" psychic medium way. Everyone has some level of natural psychic ability. It's called intuition.Using that natural intuition is a skill, just like learning to play basketball or the piano.
Just like any other skill, some people are just naturally good at it and others have to work harder to be good at it, but everyone can do it.
A really good tarot card reader is just someone who has learned to really listen to that inner voice that we all have, and more importantly, they have learned to trust what that voice is saying, without second guessing it. Now that is the really hard part!
Unlock Your Intuition
How to Accurately and Reliably Access Your Most Valuable Resource
Unlock Your Intuition: How to Accurately and Reliably Access Your Most Valuable Resource
Amazon Price: $13.22 (as of 12/01/2009)
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Intuition Workout
A Practical Guide to Discovering and Developing Your Inner Knowing
Intuition Workout: A Practical Guide to Discovering and Developing Your Inner Knowing
Amazon Price: $11.07 (as of 12/01/2009)
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Awakening Intuition
Sixth Sense
Unlocking Your Ultimate Mind Power
Sixth Sense: Unlocking Your Ultimate Mind Power
Amazon Price: $19.75 (as of 12/01/2009)
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Overcoming the Obstacles
Getting past the confusion
As a kid I happily read my tarot cards for anyone who would let me. I never second guessed myself, because as far as I knew, I was doing it right.Then as a young adult I became aware of a much larger tarot world.
I discovered hundreds of different tarot decks and even more complete books about reading the tarot cards.
My little pamphlet, long lost, seemed seriously lacking compared to all of the books.
Once I realized there were all these options available, I bought a lot off different decks, each with it's own book telling me how to read the tarot cards.
Before long I was completely mired in confusion.
Every book said different things. My little one line meanings seemed child-like and simple compared to the sometimes 2 or 3 page long card meanings I was finding in the books.
Then I started to realize that different books had completely different meanings for the exact same card.
Before long I was second guessing everything I thought I knew about the tarot.
The Best Advice
About how to learn to read tarot cards.
When you are just starting to learn how to read the tarot cards, the most important thing to do is, stick to the basics and keep it simple!Choose one system for learning and don't even look at any other books or whatever, until after you feel like you have a really good grasp of the basics.
After completely confusing myself and loosing any self-confidence I had about my own tarot card reading abilities. I realized that the reading I had been doing before reading all the books, were much more accurate that my readings after getting myself all flustered with book learning.
I realized that reading tarot cards really has absolutely nothing to do with what was in all of those books.
Tarot card reading is only around 10% about knowing the basic meaning for each card and 90% about intuition. Once you know the basic meanings, the real trick is to learn to trust your "inner voice". Learning to trust the first thought that pops into your mind when you see the card.
Because the reality is, that there is no one set in stone meaning for any one tarot card. Each person interprets the cards according to their own personal intuition. That is exactly why there are so many different tarot card decks and so many books that all give similar, yet very different meanings for each card.
Each tarot card book is just that authors personal interpretation for the cards. The real secret to learning to read the tarot cards is finding your own personal interpretation for each card and trusting it.
Tarot Workbooks
Doing tarot exercises using a workbook is one of the easiest ways to learn the tarot cards.
The Intuitive Tarot
A Metaphysical Approach to Reading the Tarot Cards
The Intuitive Tarot: A Metaphysical Approach to Reading the Tarot Cards
Amazon Price: $10.40 (as of 12/01/2009)
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The Tarot Workbook
A Step-by-Step Guide to Discovering the Wisdom of the Cards
The Tarot Workbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Discovering the Wisdom of the Cards (Divination and Energy Workbooks)
Amazon Price: (as of 12/01/2009)
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The Tarot According To You
A Workbook
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- shannonpatricia shannonpatricia Nov 12, 2009 @ 7:45 am
- very informative, I've always been interested in Tarot cards, but never tried them or ever got a reading.
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- theraggededge theraggededge Oct 19, 2009 @ 6:06 pm
- Well I was looking for this lens to feature on a new one of mine and then, suddenly there you were, leaving a comment on one of my other lenses. Magical!
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- missbat missbat Aug 5, 2009 @ 10:02 am
- Great lens, especially for those who want to read Tarot but think they have to have "special powers" to read the cards. Lensrolled it to my Halloween Tarot lens. Great job!
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- Gidyean Gidyean Jun 21, 2009 @ 11:11 am
- My Wife dabbles in Tarot card reading and dresses up on holloween for this. This was informative for us!
thanks for posting...
Gidyean
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- marymc marymc Jun 17, 2009 @ 10:17 pm
- Good job Bambi, very well done. When I used to give reading professionally, I used a regular playing deck--and just listened to what popped into my mind. I was amazed at what I knew and so were my clients. Don't know why I ever stopped doing it, maybe I'll go back to it--I really was good, if I do say so myself. I think near the end I was picking up some stuff from people on the other side. I'd love to be a qaulified, verifible medium, I think that would help people a lot. Anyway, glad you posted this on facebook. Thanks for sharing.
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About Mystic Mama
Lensmaster mysticmama has been a member since January 8 2009, has rated 2,295 lenses, favorited 282, and has created 117 lenses from scratch. Bambi Watson donates their royalties to Humane Society of the United States. This member's top-ranked page is "Squidoo Support Sites Mentor". See all my lenses
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My name is Bambi aka: Mystic Mama
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