There are two general ways of using an oracle. The intuitive method ignores any instruction books and is a starting point the reading. This works really well with a good Tarot deck, since each card will contain a lot of symbolism, but does not really apply to more cut and dried oracles, such as a simple coin flip.

The cookbook method, as the name implies, relies heavily on the book which comes with the oracle.

In practice, my wife is more intuitive, while I am more cookbook--although we each often consult with the other on really tough reading.

That said, there is a lot of cross-over. For instance, a good instruction book will list numerous meanings for a given aspect--deciding which interpretation to go with may be a matter left to intuition--or narrowed down with another racle. (For instance, in tarot, a card like the Queen of Swords may refer to an actual person or to an emotion or general situation.)

iMPORTANT TO REMEMBER IS THAT ALL WAYS ARE EQUALLY VALID, ASSUMING THAT ONE HAS CLARITY OF INTENT AND POSITIVE MOTIVATION.

Are Tarot cards safe for beginners? (ie. can someone do something really dumb with them by accident?)

Are Tarot cards safe for beginners? (ie. can someone do something really dumb with them by accident?)

If you buy the white rider deck or w/e by Arthur Waite, it comes with a little book on how to get started and little things you can do to get familiar with the tarots.

Thanks Arms.

I guess what I was really asking is how to further develop my intuition regarding the cards. I have been trying to learn the cookbook method but it just isn't working for me because I just don't see the meaning the book applies to some of the cards manifest in their images. Likewise on other cards I get absolutely no insight on its meaning no matter how long I meditate on it. This is mostly the Aces, the court cards, all of the trumps that just have a figure in a thrown (emperor, empress, heirophant, chariot etc...), and various other cards.

The deck I am learning on is the Universal Waite deck, which is a merely a small reworking of the Rider-Waite to enhance the color and detail-the small change makes a huge difference. I am aware that some of my problem is due to the shortcomings of this deck, but I like its artwork and it is the only deck I could find local.

Also, what is your shuffling method? I can't imagine just using the poker method, like I have been, will be good for the cards in the long run.

Thanks again.

Edit:
Nightside Eclipse, I think you are in far more danger playing poker then you are using tarot for divination, so don't worry about it.

The last part of "Promethea book II" is devoted to the magic of the tarot. It goes through the 22 trump cards, the art work is really trippy. My understanding was deepend by reading it.

The way I do most things of this sort (except for dream learning and subconscious writing) is I start off with the cook book method and then use my intuition and imagination from there.


The first and only tarot deck I've ever owned is Crowley's Book of Thoth. I got it last holloween ('07), still a newb however. In the book he writes essays for all the cards, it can be very confusing for the beginner but if you're like me that will only make you try harder. The artwork is amazing and symbolism is vast. The symbolism is explained in the book, but even with that, interpreting the whole situation of interacting beings and applying it to your soul has much intuition and imagination involved.

Are Tarot cards safe for beginners? (ie. can someone do something really dumb with them by accident?)

I tried an online tarot once, complete with explanations of the cards and what they mean in certain positions. Drew the Death card in the future position.

A week or so later my mom was diagnosed with cancer.


Luckily she survived and they got it all. I drew once or twice after it was all over, Death was in the past position, and a in the future was something good, thank God.

But yea, basically if you don't wanna know stuff, don't go looking.

I hesitate doing readings on some things too Ziggurat. Sometimes it is better to not know the future....

I hesitate doing readings on some things too Ziggurat. Sometimes it is better to not know the future....

My wife would agree, having done redings for like 40 years, professionally for over 30. She used to do daily readings for herself, and stopped, realizing that it was more interesting to not know what was going to happen.

To your question on shuffling--the cards are too big for me to shuffle poker-style, so I just cut the deck a few times and moosh them around. After I do a reading I usually stick the cards around in the deck. Shuffling isn't all that critical--if the tarot really wants to tell you something, it doesn't matter how much or how little you shuffle.

On a related topuic, in doing the pro bono readings here, I noticed that the same coordinates kept coming up again and again, finally figured that it was because my clients who were asking the same questions were largely young, male, and fairly well off financially.