How did you learn Tarot?

[floridawitch]

How did you learn to read tarot? Did you teach yourself? Watch some videos? Read some books? Or did you take a class?

There is a class that is being offered in my area for 9 weeks. They meet once a week for three hours. I was considering taking it, but do you think it is worth the time and money? ($200 total Approximately, $7.50 an hour.) Opinions?

[SnowCat]

I bought a deck, read the directions, and started practicing. I would be hesitant about spending that much money on a class, but that's me. I feel like there are too many people out there who are just out to take your money.

Snow

[Xiao Rong]

I don't think the class you mentioned is particularly exorbitant (since I do think that instructors should be fairly compensated), although I would try to ascertain what the learning outcomes of the class are, the total time commitment (will you have homework?), and what previous students had to say about the class.

I self-studied the Tarot. After I bought my first deck, I did some googling and found this site: Learn Tarot. It has a pretty thorough, well-developed, and systematic free course with lessons and exercises, and I think I actually went through them for the most part. So I'd highly recommend that, although the benefit of having an in-person class is getting feedback from a teacher.

And of course, then you just have to practice. Offering free readings here (http://everythingunderthemoon.net/forum/forum177.html) is a great idea for practicing. Some people like to draw a card a day and study it, although that wasn't my cup of tea.

[Katrinkah]

I bought a deck and started doing readings for myself. I would look up the definition for each card as I went along in "The Everything Tarot Book" by Skye Alexander, then tried to figure out how they related to me or what I was asking. Later, I read through the other chapters of the book. Also, I have also read referenced other booklets and online information. Now I am kinda weening off reading definitions and starting to use more of my intuition. Starting to look more at what feelings or images are triggered when I see that card. And what symbols pop out at me when I draw it.

[floridawitch]

Thank you to everyone for responding to this.

I'm still considering the class. As Xiao said, a big benefit of taking an in-person course is the feedback from the instructor. Plus, I am interesting in connecting with people in my area with similar interests. But I'm on the fence. Xiao, I checked out that website that you provided, and it looks great! I will definitely be using it in my journey. Thank you!

Katrinkah, thanks for the book recommendation. I appreciate it!

[ThetaChoir]

Although I certainly agree that taking a class is not necessary to learn tarot, that doesn't mean it might not be fun and effective, especially if you enjoy the social aspect of taking a class. And though I don't think that $200 for 9 weeks of class is a bad deal, I would be curious to know if there is any information about the qualifications of the person teaching the class, and also if they provide any materials (books, etc) that you need for the class or if that is an extra expense in additon to the $200.

If the person teaching seems qualified and there aren't any hidden expenses over and above the $200, it could be a fun way to start learning.

Personally, I started with just rote memorization of one or two keywords for each card, beginning with the Major arcana. Once I could recite a single keyword for each card of the Major arcana, then I moved to one of the four suits and did the same thing. Obviously, one single keyword is not even going to come close to encompassing everything that a card can mean, but once you have that keyword association memorized, it is a LOT easier to expand that association to include other keywords.

I, um, spent a lot of time alone with my nose in a book, lol! Not necessarily the best method for everyone, to say the least. I am now very comfortable with a fairly wide range of meanings for every card in the deck, and do not need to look up any meanings in a book. However, that's just the first step. Now I'm trying to learn how to let my intuition help guide my interpretation of the card meanings, and to also realize how different combinations of cards may interact with each other to further change these meanings.

There's always more to learn. Good luck, and let us know if you decide to take the class. I'd love to hear more about it!

[PistashioQueen]

I taught myself with a beginners book and completed the exercises at the end of each chapter so it stayed in my head easily. Intuition came later.
My way may not be another person's way though lol

[Lenea]

I've been using a tarot a guide book as a help, but I want to learn them so I remember the meanings. I'm thinking about one tarot card each day, and read again next day, the write up what I remember. Then memorize it again and again.

[Obsidian]

I'm self-taught.

I have a beginner's pack from Llewellyn which includes a deck of cards and a book with the card interpretations. The first thing I did was pull out each card one-by-one and look at it as I read its meaning. I also had another tarot interpretation book at home, so the next thing I did was look at 2-4 cards per day and try to memorise what both book said about them. I would repeat this with the same cards until I memorised them and then move onto the next 2-4 cards until I'd completed the pack.

I then started doing practise readings for myself and asking every question under the sun. I would try to use my memory and 'intuition' but I would also consult the books if I forgot a card's meaning.

Finally, there used to be a group in my area which would meet fortnightly and discuss 4-6 cards per meeting and how each person interpreted it. This was the most useful thing I did because it taught me lots of subtly different ways to interpret the cards, discussed a lot of the symbolism in the cards and the other attendees and interesting and odd stories about some abstract interpretations they've done. Hearing the insight and interpretation from other tarot readers helped my expand my knowledge the most.

[tarotexpert]

I bought a deck and learn meaning of each cards and get detailed knowledge about deck. Practice and get reference of online resources and experience tarot reader.

[barker]

I just trusted it. Y'know what? It has not been mistaken yet.

[Mordinna86]

Still learning, at the beginning really. I had an epiphany and am still on a journey of awakening now, figuring them out.

[Raven Middlemist]

practice, practice, practice!

the way i became more proficient with tarot (i would never claim to be an expert- there is always more to learn) was simply by working with the deck i had. doing readings for friends, for myself, just because. there are a lot of things like “tarot challenges” on Pinterest and similar sites, which are an excellent way once you’re ready for it to not only learn some things about yourself, but also learn how to interpret a card in an unusual place setting.

the little guide book that comes with every deck is an acceptable place to start, but if you’re more hands-on like me, you might like to try using the labyrinthos tarot academy smartphone application. they have cute illustrations and break down the archetypes and symbolism down for easy memorization, which will allow you to form a relationship with your deck.

[Firebird]

I'm a bit of a card collector.
I had a friend who was good at readings lead a workshop once where everyone brought their decks. We laid out the major arcana one the ground. Each different deck was also laid out by 'number' in the next row. we had more than 23 different decks there that day. The rows were big enough you could walk through. There she pointed out the similarities and differences. One reason to lay them by number is some decks have different numbering and images. This was a great was to get familiar with the cards, and a good way to see that they are not all the same.
The basic decks were in the first rows, like Morgan Grier, Ryder Waite. These decks are good for learning the pictures and their meanings. Once you have a good handle on imagery, when doing a reading the neighboring cards make the story. Images can change or become apparent when they were not noticed before. I am frequently delighted to see something in a card that I hadn't noticed before or now suddenly made sense.
It take s time for sure, and as others said ...Practice!
BB, Firebird

[RedRavenFox]

I think once you become a tarot reader , we become collectors, or get addicted to new tarot cards.
Right now I am reading Corrine Kenner's The Wizard tarot. The Linsdtrom Tarot and The Shadowscape decks. BTW if anyone happens to know where I can get a cheap Wizard tarot (and you don't want it for yourself) let me know? This deck really speaks to me but I had to get it used as it is out of print. It also didn't come with the original book so I am slightly flying blind. Some of the symbolism in the cards like the Hebrew and kabbalah signs are used on cards that are normally on other cards. LIke Heh is on the Chariot card. Maybe I just need to study each card a bit more carefully anyway. After all it's not just knowledge. It's intuition.