"Beginning Tarot" Introduction

    It is hard to remember my introduction to the craft. I mean, I remember the young woman that patiently worked through my misunderstanding, and showed me places to look, but was that 6 years ago, 8? When I first started I remember repeated efforts to get me to start with the cards. At the time I was interested in things like incense chemistry, herbs and healing, dealing with spiritual things. I just did not understand that the cards are this and more.
     I know a really enlightened reader. One day he shocked me by saying there is nothing special about the cards, they are just pieces of cardboard. I was floored. I knew he had processes with Egyptian Gods, and he had ways. 
     Over time I have learned that if you want simple and easy he was right. They are pieces of cardboard, and anybody can do a spread and get the meanings out of the book, and do a useful reading.
     There are ways to improve the depth of insight, to get deeper understanding. Many of the cards read in perspective to the cards around them, and can have complicated meanings if not interpreted with wisdom.
     There is also the ethics. Should you know that, or is it right to tell it? Some people feel it is unethical to do readings for money, but most of us don't mind getting compensated. Gypsies years ago said the reading started when money changed hands. Most of this is a personal decision. I am not going to trouble someone for selling readings, or not. I am also not directly going to trouble someone for telling what they see in the reading, but I will caution them that some people do not need to know some things. Sometimes it is important to give the fairest or kindest answer instead of the whole answer. A terminally ill person does not need to hear they are certainly gone, and soon. Surely you will see some unfinished business, or a chance for caring.
     I have learned that the instrument really does not matter. You can read stones, Runes, bones, mud puddles. I hear arguments about using "real" cards as opposed to using a program. I have done the same reading both ways and pulled many of the same cards, then got the same take from them. In a psychic fair, I had several people take the same reading and got the same messages, worded differently, from all of them.
    In craft terms, you are not reading objects, but the objects are your opening to listen to spirit, and hear what you need to know. It is important to have yourself clear and open to keep you from reading yourself into the reading. I have given up on pendulum and dowsing. They are so sensitive that if I have a subconscious suspicion of something they will read that instead of the truth. My thoughts do not belong in the reading.
     That is both right and wrong. The reader that shocked me said there is no deeper process, you don't take the cards in, and it is nothing special. Sorta right. It is not about getting something you don't already have, it is about becoming sensitive to something that has always been in you.
     What I have is not for everybody, but it works for me, and I will share.
      C. G. Jung made numerous references to the cards. He explained that the Major Arcana are a pictorial tour of the many aspects of the personality. He did not say that all the cards are.
     He was not wrong, nor was he intentionally leaving things out, it just was outside the scope of the discussion. Every card represents some aspect or your mental and spiritual construction, and represents in some way how you are connected to the universe. When you read for someone it is important to be clear of yourself, and understand that the cards you spread are supposed to represent how that person is constructed and connected to the universe. This can be very personal, and connect you to things you don't need to know.
     When I first started, and went to the magic shop psychic fair, a woman read me, and did an outrageous act, cleansing from where she had touched my energy. Everyone that read me that night found the disturbed energy that I was carrying. When you read someone you touch their energy, and it may take some effort to clear it before you can read anything else with clarity.
      As we begin I am going to assume you have some experience, own at least one deck, (I will assume Rider-Waite) have read the book, and know there is more.
     I am also going to assume you have basic meditation skills, and can do some trance work. It is not so much that it takes deep skills, but these things make it easier to get in touch with yourself in new ways. It also helps to have basic craft skills like grounding and centering. I know, it took me a while, too.
      Blessings until next time.