Learning the Tarot

You want to become a psychic?

Do you want to become a psychic to get rich?

Do you want to become a psychic to help people?

Well I am going to tell you right now that you probably will NOT get rich doing this. Why, because if you are going into this to get rich it does not work that way. Sure you can show me psychics that make tons of money, but sometimes they sacrifice their morals and or their abilities in order to do that. So, if you want to become a psychic to help yourself and to help others you came to the right place.

  Let’s get started!

We are going to start with Tarot, as I have found through years of experience that learning
Tarot is the best way to open up your psychic, intuitive side.

  The first thing I want you to do is buy a sturdy notebook and keep it with your cards. This will be your journal. I want you to have a section for Tarot readings, one for Stones, actually one for each chapter of this book, plus one for dreams.

  Now you need a deck of Tarot cards. What kind of Tarot deck? One that you pick that best fits your energy. So, I want you to go to a store that sells Tarot decks. It is best if you can find a store that has open decks, so you can see the pictures and feel the energy. If you can’t find a store near you, are there places on the internet that show you different cards from the decks. One place I have found that shows the cards is here http://tarot.com/tarot/decks/index.php

  I am sure there are other places as well, you just have to look.

  If you can find a store that has open decks, I want you to look at the cards.
Do the pictures speak to you? Feel the cards, does the energy feel good to you? If you have a deck someone gave you, and it does not feel right or speak to you, it is probably best to get another deck. When you are shopping for decks it is probably best, at least for this class, that you get a deck that has the major arcana in it. You know the Fool through the World. I know all those other decks are nice but it will be easier for you to follow the lessons in this book if you have a compatible deck.

  Once you have the deck you want to learn to read, I want you to take out the instruction booklet and either throw it away or put it somewhere where you will not be tempted to read it. I know what you are thinking. How am I going to learn to read this thing if I throw away the instructions?’ You are going to learn to read your deck by your own intuition. If you learn your own meanings you will be reading from your heart and you will not have to memorize or sneak a peak at the booklet all the time.

  Just so you know, I don’t care if your aunt Mabel told you that you have to keep your cards wrapped in velvet in a wooden box and never let anyone touch them, it is not true. The more you handle your cards the better you will be able to pick up the subtlies, and if your client’s hold the cards, you will be able to pick up on their energy better. I know some people that sleep with theirs. I do keep mine in a cloth pouch, but that is only to keep them clean and unbent.

  I think I should mention here briefly that it is a good thing to cleanse them regular, especially if you read for a lot of different people. The best way is to get a sage stick and smudge them. I will go more into smudging in a later chapter. But the simplest way to do this is to light the sage (over a heat proof bowl) blow out the flame so that the sage is smoldering. You can have the cards laid out on a table and with a feather move the smoke from the sage over the cards. This is also a good way to cleanse yourself and your home. I then put the sage stick in a small bowl of sand (I use kitty litter) to put it completely out.

I also like to use crystals, (which are discussed in another chapter-Stones) I always have several crystals on the table when I am reading and wear one constantly. The crystals help cleanse and purify the energy, and also help prevent you from picking and retaining negative energy.

  Also you do not need to read in a very quiet spot, as then you will never be able to read in public, with any noise around you. When I am reading in public, I do have a card table set apart from the rest of the crowd where my client will get some privacy, but if they want another person to sit in, it is their choice. I do inform them that I often get very personal, so it is their call.

  Before I read for anyone, I close my eyes and say a silent prayer to my guides, something like, ‘please assist me in giving answers that are for the highest good of this person’. I have discovered that using Tarot cards brings out my guides and my psychic energy and I am often channeling rather than using my own words. If you hear or sense something while doing a reading, say it (of course you might want to run it through your mind first, so as to filter it before you just blurt it out), as often times your guides will give you information during a reading.

  The next thing I want you to do is take out the major arcana, which are the following cards, starting from 0 to XXI; (or 0 to 21) You can put the rest of the cards back in the box for the time being. Now I know that all decks do not have the same cards. Some have Princesses instead of Paiges, etc. And the cards look very different. That is why I can not agree that the same card in different decks means the same thing. That is why I am having you put the instructions away and read from your intuition.

  0-The Fool

I- The Magician

II- The High Priestess

III-The Empress

IV- The Emperor

V- The Hierophant

VI- The Lovers

VII- The Chariot

VIII- Strength

IX- The Hermit

X- Wheel of Fortune

XI- Justice

XII- The Hanged Man

XIII- Death

XIV- Temperance

XV- The Devil

XVI- The Tower

XVII- The Star

XVIII- The Moon

XIX- The Sun

XX- Judgment

XXI- The World

The first exercise is to take the first four cards and put the rest away for the moment.
So you have 0- The fool, I- The Magician, II- The High Priestess and III-
The Empress in front of you. Now what do you do with these? I know you are wondering.

  You take the first card the Fool and you look at it, you see all the different colors, the objects in the picture what do you see? What do you feel?

  You are looking for symbolism, your symbolism. Each of us have different feelings and reactions to colors, items, energy, etc, that is our personal symbolism. That is what you are looking for when you look at the cards.

  What does the color red mean to you? Is it anger, passion, drive? How about the color black? Or the color white?

  What about images? What does a snake mean to you? Fear, wisdom, what? How about a dove? Does it mean love? Freedom?

  Some decks also have astrology symbols on the cards. I personally relate to astrology symbols, as it is the first avenue I learned in on my path. Because of that I see and sense the astrology symbols in the cards. Say for instance there is a moon on the hat of the High Priestess, well to me the moon symbolizes Cancer. The energy of Cancer is nurturing, spiritual energy, etc. So I incorporate those qualities in my reading of that card. Actually the Morgan Greer deck does not have as much astrological symbols as other decks. You may have picked a deck with astrological symbols on them so I wanted to touch on this.

Do that with each of these cards. I want you to spend the next four to seven days just seeing, touching and sensing the energies on these four cards. Write these things you are getting down in a Tarot journal. Now shuffle them and pull one card, what do you see? What would you tell someone about that card?

  I will give you some examples on how I read.  I read with the Morgan Greer deck, so I am looking at 0- The Fool. It has a boy, probably teenaged in green pants, a white shirt and a robe that is black with red trim. He has a green leaf wreath around his head with a red feather. He is carrying a stick with a bag tied at the top. He is carrying another stick with a white rose on the top. He has a small white dog beside him. In the background is a golden sky, a blue mountain ridge and he is walking on a hillside overlooking a blue valley. There is a small piece of the golden sun in the corner at the top.

From this picture here is what I see. The boy is walking and he has a bag which I assume are his belongs on a stick, so he is on a journey. He has a walking stick with a white rose on it, I see white as purity, so he is innocent to life. He is smiling and enjoying his journey in the bright sunlight. My interpretation is that the client will began a new journey and need not fear it. The journey will be in a new direction that he has not gone on before and will be a joyful one.

  So, you need to know what area of their life the client wants the information. Say they asked for information regarding work. I would say:  You are or will be starting a new venture and it will be fun and carefree. It will be a venture in a new area for you, be not afraid, it will be of benefit to you.

  Say that the question was regarding love, I would say the same things only related to love and relationships. You are starting on a new relationship that will be enjoyable, etc.

  Let’s do that with another card, let’s look at XVI- The Tower. On my card is a stormy night with storm clouds all around in a black sky, with lightening striking a tower. The tower is in the middle of the card. The tower has flames shooting out, from the top and a couple of windows. Under the tower is the ocean and the waves are high and splashing up onto the tower. Two people, a man and a woman are being thrown from a window and are flying through the air towards the ocean. 

I see upset, upheaval, from the storm. I see the people being thrown off their feet. I see this as a card of change. So if it was a business question, I would say that there are major changes coming in regards to business, great loses and perhaps the fall of the company. If it was a relationship question, well many changes, perhaps the ending of a relationship. Arguments, bad feelings etc.

  Of course now we get back to the Ethics issue, if I tell them either of the above insights, I need to give them a positive way to deal with it, so in the business reading, I would probably pull another card and see what the future holds for them, or tell them to prepare for changes so that they can go with the flow, or to look into new business ventures as the company they work for may be experiencing some problems soon.

  In the relationship reading, I would tell them there are going to be some problems coming up in the relationship and to do what they need to do to help prevent those. Like spend more time with your partner, show appreciation to your partner, etc. Or I would pull another card to get more information.

  I hope you are getting the idea here.

  Also, once you have learned and know all the cards inside and out, the day will come when you turn over a card and you suddenly see a red flower on the ground in the picture. Where did that come from? You have never seen that flower in that card before. Well for some reason you are suppose to see that flower for this reading so read what the flower means to you as this person needs to hear that.

  You may even feel things, like suddenly you feel like your left foot is on fire. At that point you need to mention that. But be very careful how you word this. Don’t say ‘I feel pain in my left foot’, as when you say that you are taking on this pain in your left foot. Say something like ‘ I sense pain in the left foot.’ As that puts the pain where it belongs and not into you. Again be very careful doing health readings, as it is a legal and moral issue about diagnosing a client. We are not doctors, so you can tell them what you sense, and advise them to see a doctor, but NEVER tell them to ignore what their doctor has told them. You can suggest some herbal remedies or healthy eating or vitamins to take, but again be careful.

  Now when you have a handle on the meanings of the four cards, go on to the next four, except when you shuffle them up and pull a card, use all eight of the cards. Continue this until you have completed all of the major arcana, adding all the cards you have studied in the shuffle at the end of the week.

  Now that you have all of the major arcana I want you to read for people. Read for anyone and everyone you can get to sit down in front of you. Just pull one or two cards for them and give them the meanings. Practice, practice, practice. The more you read the cards the easier it will become.

  At this point I would like you to take the first quiz, here

  I know that you have not been taught spreads yet, if you go to the next part of this chapter you will find spreads. In this chapter we are learning the cards. There are four suits in the Tarot Deck. These are;

  Cups

Swords

Rods- sometimes referred to as Wands

Pentacles-sometimes referred to as Coins

  Now there are lists of astrology signs assigned to each of them, which I will not list here because I read my own energies into them.

  To me, Swords are Scorpio energy, I see the cups as Water (Cancer or Pisces) and so on. however, you need to find your own. You will find your own once you begin playing with them. While you are learning them, it might be helpful to assign energies to the suits. Emotional, mental, spiritual, material, or if you are into astrology, Water, Air, Earth and Fire or any others you decide upon. That is all up to you. Even though I have astrology energies assigned to each suit, I often overlap them or ignore them during a reading. Use your own feeling here.

  Once you have mastered the major arcana, I want you to add the Kings.  Do them the same way as the major arcana. Take all four of them and learn them.

Then on to the Queens.

Sometimes the Kings and Queens are read as energy,
but usually they are read as people in the reading.

  Again at the end of the week, or whatever it took you,
add them to the major arcana and read, read, read.
Do this until all the Kings and Queens are included in ‘your’ deck.

  Continue next with the Knights.
All four of them the same as you did with the Kings and Queens.

Next you will do the Pages, (or princesses if you have them in your deck).
I tend to see Pages or Princesses as starting a journey, what do you see.

Please take the second quiz here

  Now on to the lower cards. Starting with the Aces of each suit.

  I would like to mention here that not only do the suits have energies assigned to them, but most people also assign similar energies to the card in the suit.  All the aces would have certain meanings, but different in that the suit is different. For instance, all the aces could mean ‘Happiness’ but different in how that would be attained. The Ace of Cups, could mean happiness in love, or happiness attained by love, etc

.  Remember I am using the Morgan Greer deck so you would have to see the energies on the deck you are using.

Do the four aces the same as you have done with the other cards.

  Then on to the deuces, etc.  The Twos could mean duality, and the different suits give the energy.  For example, the Two of Swords could mean an inner conflict between the dark and the light. The two of Cups could mean the duality between male and female energy.

Threes could mean Manifestation.
While the Three of Swords could mean manifesting pain,
the Three of Cups could mean manifesting feminine things
(I personally see the Three of Cups as a pregnancy card can you see where I get that)

Continue until you have all the cards in the deck. Take as long as you want, to be sure you have a firm handle on ‘your’ meanings of the cards. Remember to practice, practice, practice, and keeping a Tarot journal really helps.

  Keep learning all the other cards in the deck the way you have just done these. You may want to find similar energies for each of the sets of cards; the aces, twos and threes as I mentioned above, or just find your own system.

  You now have all the cards figured out and you are becoming a pro at reading. I am going to throw a new wrench in the mix. What do you do with cards that come up in the reverse position? Well, some psychics turn them around and continue reading. BUT others, like myself, read them in the reverse position. Being reversed has a meaning as well. I know what you are thinking; Oh great now I have to learn the cards all over again.’ Not really, you just have to recognize that it is in the reverse position and therefore it means whatever you decide it to mean. I read the reversed cards as that energy being blocked or not coming to fruition. If a nurturing card comes up, instead of saying that they are not a great nurturer, you could say, you need more practice at nurturing. Or perhaps a card that normally means the end of a situation (Death) comes up in reverse, well you could say you are resisting making a change or ending a situation that is no longer valid or meaningful.

  You need to decide how you personally want to deal with cards in reverse. Do you want to ignore them and turn them around, or do you want to read the blockage or energy of a reversed card? Your choice.

Please take the third quiz here