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The BeginningFairly early on in my journey with tarot, I had a private reading with Rachel Pollack, the author of some of the best-loved books on tarot (like Tarot Wisdom). She is something of a legend in most tarot circles, and is one of the people who modernized tarot. She was, and still is, a hero to me. I approached this first opportunity to meet with her with stars in my eyes. We sat down and she told me to talk about the situation that I wanted the reading about. Not, "What is your question?" but, "Talk about the situation." As I talked, she jotted notes on a scrap of paper. When I stopped talking, she continued making curious marks on that scrap of paper. After she was satisfied, ...
With so many wonderful tarot decks available these days, it would be difficult to have just one. I try to imagine how it feels to be a complete novice today and be confronted with so many decks; it would be overwhelming. I do know some people who only have one tarot deck. That is all they want, and they are fine with that. If you are one of those people, this article is not for you...however, if you do read it, you may find yourself inspired to buy another deck or two. You've been warned! BasicsTo start a collection, and really to start a solid study of tarot, I would make sure I had one each of the various editions of the following: Rider Waite Smith Thoth Tarot Marseilles ...
Tarot is constantly evolving, both the deck itself and the way we use the cards. Since the mid-1970s, readers started taking a psychological, New Age approach to the cards. Despite several decades of books, workshops, and "educating the public," most people think of tarot cards as a tool for predicting the future. That stereotype comes, as most stereotypes do, from a truth, however old and distorted. Lenormand cards, playing cards, and tarot cards, as well as crystal balls and tea leaves have had the grave responsibility of revealing our futures. It is easy to see how the trend shifted. People who were interested in tarot, scholars and teachers, authors and practitioners, shared in the ...
Usually when we scan an email or an article, we miss important information or significant details. When we use scanning in a tarot reading, as a single step in a multi-step process, it becomes a powerful tool that creates a framework for the message. A tarot reading is a tapestry made up of many threads: the reader, the querent (the person asking the question), the question, the spread, the deck used, and, of course, the cards drawn in the reading. As readers, we know that a reading is synthesis of all these elements. From there, we usually approach the reading by interpreting individual cards in their positions in the spread, in relation to the question asked. That approach is, to me, ...
