NO, life is scary enough!!! lol
Gina

Nope - I learned several years ago, had a bad experience and put them away and won't pick them up again.

Alexa

I do a little. Picked up a deck in college back in Dark Ages. :) Haven't picked them up in a couple years, though.

No....and I have long been fascinated with them....
How do you learn?

Gina and Alexa, I wondered if that would be my experience as well, but realized that the cards don't determine my life...I do. I've had a few ''Oh NO'' cards come up, but have learned to look upon the Message as a form of Advice. I did turn over the Death card in a reading once when I asked about my Dad, but it wasn't actually a surprise as he'd been failing for quite a long time. It only revealed what I thought I already knew, and he was certain he'd be going to a better place since his life on earth near the end had been a struggle. More often, the Death card is not meant literally, but metaphorically, like ''the death of a stiuation''.

Beanthere dunthat, I'd be curious if you picked your deck up again, how you feel it works for you. Did you feel like the cards you got in the past were fairly accurate?

Linda, I bought several books and starting reading them until I found one I really liked, and stuck with that. My favorite is called ''Tarot: Plain and Simple'' by Anthony Lewis. It delves into the variations for each card, in addition to their Reversed meaning if you choose to read that as well. (The spreads can be as simple, or get as complicated as you want. You can find this book sometimes at The Half-Price Bookstore, if you ever get by there.) I started simply with shuffling the deck and doing one card readings, just to get the feel of it. Some people would say that like Astrology, you can apply whatever you want to each card, but I find that's not really true. Each card has a very specific meaning (within certain variations), and it's interesting to see what's revealed. Usually, its not any more than what you already know, whether it's ''hoped for'' or not. Personally, I don't find the cards scary, but approach them more like they're giving me advice, or making me aware of things I need to watch for. Currently, I tend to do short, daily, three card spreads and leave the more complex readings for things I'm really trying to figure out.

''Learning the Tarot - An on-line course'' by Joan Bunning (Google) is very good if you want to get started without buying a book. She's very clear and makes the process easy to understand.

My deck and I are good friends now, especially when I bought smaller cards that actually fit my hands better. I tend to use these most of the time, and choose to read the upright cards. I save reading the reversed meanings when I do more a complicated spread, and then use my larger original Rider Waite deck. (You know, it's all about options!)

If anyone digs out their old deck, or if you start reading about it Linda, I'd love to know what you think of what you discover. I think it's easiest to learn by focusing on one card a day; I'm still learning the meaning of some of the cards I don't get as often as others. I think it's so interesting when certain cards keep popping up, no matter how well you shuffle that deck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Tarot: Plain and Simple

I have a deck done by Dali. I use it occasionally and use Joan Bunning's site to learn what the cards mean. I am not real convert yet, sometimes it seems real close and sometimes totally of the wall. But the cards are an art to themselves, so I enjoy looking at them and learning what they mean.

Claire, Hard to say. I think interest and focus have a lot to do with it, and lately I've just not felt the urge to read them.

I agree. The cards definitely don't determine one'd life. A spread is a snapshot of that moment in time, and not even an objective one since it's seen through the lens of the reader. Free will can always change anything at any time. And I don't think there are any "bad" cards. The Death card fresks people out, but, as you said, it is seldom literal. I find the Tower and Ten of Swords far more sobering. There's nothing supernatural about them, and, IMO, there aren't at all abuout divination or "telling the future". They seem to be more a way to use images to bypass the conscious mind in order to get to the "stuff you know but didn't know you knew". ;) At least wen doing readings for yourself. I used to do blind readings (where I didn't know the question) for friends and was told I was good at it -- whatever that measn. Was it the cards or was it some kind of synchronisity where something I said was simply the catalyst that allowed the recipient of the reading to "know what he didn't know he knew"? Hard to say. They're a tool, and like any tool is neutral in itself.

I did have a professional reading back in the 80s. A friend watned to do it, but was too spooked to go alone.
Since before that I'd only had reading done for me by people who knew me, it was interesting to have a complete stranger do a reading.

I agree with Renee, they are a means to focus one's intuition. And some people are more naturally intuitive than others. I don't read Tarot myself but have known a few people who do. When my own compass seems to fail me I have occasionally used a reader. This hasn't always been a positive experience. If you do use a professional Tarot reader be very careful of scams and scare tactics.

I don't do the cards & have never had them done for me. However, when I was 17, a friend's mother, who was Egyptian, used to read cards using a standard playing card deck. She told me I would marry a blond man. At that time, I knew no blond men, and seldom dated one. Nevertheless, 3 years later I met and married a blond man.

Well said, beanthere dunthat. Barnmom, I find that when a Tarot reading isn't a positive experience, it's because there's something else already going on that isn't positive. (But then, I'm not trying to scare myself!) You are absolutely right about being aware of scams/scare tactics...and creating drama isn't what I would ever consider a good business practice! Even the Ten of Swords isn't scary to me when I recall the wise words of my young nephew who said, ''When you're dead, you're dead.'' ;)

The readings were fine, the readers were not so nice. I should have been more clear.

Aaahhhhh. I imagine finding someone to read your cards is a bit like finding a hairdresser. It's a very personal relationship.

There's the other side of the coin on the reader/recipient situation, too. I got to the point where I declined to read for some people because they seemed to cling to the reading as if The Answer were going to be revealed to them. I couldn't seem to get through to them that the cards are just paper and ink, that they already had the answer and the reading simply draws their attention to it.

And I apologize for my typos above. I've had a migraine for two days that is just letting up. The font has looked like tiny ants doing the samba in a badly lit disco. :P (I'll be glad when this board upgrades to a spellchecker!)

Yes, I have done Tarot readings, but I do astrological reading much more frequently. I do not agree that astrology allows you to apply whatever meaning you want - it is generally very specific, and has been very helpful for both my brother's and my careers, in terms of timing. Both Tarot and astrology require a huge amount of study, and if I were not working full time, I would be able to use either one more frequently. I never do Tarot readings for myself, but I regularly do astro readings for myself (and others). Both Tarot and astrology require the reader to have psychic abilities, and I discovered at a very young age that I possess these. It's not something that I take lightly at all, however, and so I am always very careful in that respect.

I think Tarot is very much tied to Western culture, and I'm not sure how it would work in China, where they use I Ching instead. Also, Chinese astrology is very different from Western astrology, but they seem to be somewhat compatible. I have not had good results with Vedic astrology, however, and so I have pretty much abandoned that. Palmistry is also very different for China than it is for Europe and the west. When I was in Austin studying at UT for my design degree, I had a housemate from Hong Kong who also read palms, and it was he who told me that Chinese palms were very different from European. If I were Chinese, my life line would end at age 60 (which will be all too soon), but he told me not to worry about it, and I don't. Palms are very revealing, however, but one's ethnicity has to be taken into consideration.

For me, I Ching is a very good Eastern/Chinese perspective/counterpoint to Tarot - I think both have very strong cultural roots. To met, the Tarot deck is like a book that preserves Western culture from the time the deck was created. Back then, there were no printing presses, and the Tarot deck helped preserve a lot of cultural references and knowledge. I think I Ching does the same for Eastern culture. I have also looked at native American traditions, but unfortunately, they seem to be waning in influence here, being overtaken by Western culture. I do find that Tarot requires more psychic intuition than astrology, and therefore more energy, which is probably why I use astrology more than Tarot. I feel that both are deeply rooted in the cultures that created them, and so I think it is necessary to take that into consideration when giving readings to people of alien cultures. Tarot, however, seems to have a lot of Eastern influence and so may transcend some cultural barriers.

Personally, I would not use a psychic that I did not already know.

I would also like to say that I am very happy now to be in a house that is not haunted/possessed. In Venice, I heard strange noises on a daily basis, and even my skeptic BIL could not explain them. It was very creepy, and I'm glad to be away from it. The previous owner in Venice was murdered there, in the front yard, and I think she has not completely left. Her son inherited the house, and he refuses to live there, but he also will not sell it.

Lars

Here is a link that might be useful: Tarot India

I dont have the cards and dont know how to use them but I find it very interesting and love to have my cards read.

Do any of you do online readings?

Lars, I didn't and still don't know anyone personally who reads Tarot. Well, I do know of one person but she is a wacky wiccan woman whose personality and mannerisms I find very grating. Her large dark metal nose ring and forehead tattoo of a pentagram aren't all that comforting either. I found myself looking online for someone local and wound up with a series of psychic scam artists who were quite determined to help me part with thousands of dollars to rid me of multiple curses. Yikes.

Beanthere dunthat, I know what you mean. I find if people do cling to what the cards say that much, they don't actually ''get it''. I've had some bizarre spreads I simply refused to believe, and of course they never came to pass. Some people don't understand that they (choose and) determine their own outcome.

Lars, thanks for the link; it looks interesting and I'll be curious to read it more in depth. You know, reading your post mirrored my own feelings/experiences so much, I feel like I know you! I use Astrology as well to determine the timing of things, and find it helps me understand when things seem to be going awry, or realize when challenges are less likely. (I don't get Vedic Astrology either, or find it very applicable to my life.) You should be able to relate to the fact that I'm trying to get my holiday shopping done now, before Mercury goes retrograde in December! I've also looked briefly at palm reading (mine was quite accurate about many things), and the I Ching, which helped me once find a lost item. When I meet someone, I like to know their birthday as I can tell a lot about what to expect. Astrology helps me keep my frustration levels to a minimum, and not allow other people's behavior to affect me negatively.

I relate to your house being haunted as well, as I had some strange things happen in the 100 year old house I lived in years ago. It wasn't until I went back years later and spoke to the current owners, that some things I had wondered about were revealed. It was helpful to me as it explained a lot! The house had been used as a Bed and Breakfast, and one occupant had seen a cat go down the hallway and disappear upstairs. When I lived there, I got my first golden retriever as a pup (a Scorpio, with her own psychic abilities). She would sometimes go to an empty corner of the dining room and growl, her hair literally standing on end. She absolutely hated cats, which I never understood, because as far as I knew, she hadn't had any exposure to them. (Our yard was very small without a fence, so I went where she went.) I also remember feelings of being watched at times, and would hear dishes rattling in the kitchen after I thought my husband had gone to work. Since he had a habit of coming back in the house several times before he'd leave, I never thought that much about it. I found out the dishes rattling was still going on fifteen years later, and heard a story about some young boys wondering about a ''lady'' who had come into their room to check on them. One of the boys was sick at the time, and they had wondered who she was, and where she went. It explained a lot! Like you, I'm happy to be living peacefully alone in my current home.

Regarding psychics, I paid for a reading once. It was a guy who had a local cable show I started watching when I'd had surgery that required a six week recuperation period. By the end of that time, I felt like I knew him, and he was amazingly accurate, even though I didn't quite ''get'' the meaning of the entire reading at the time. The Distance of Time reveals many things!

Shaun, Tarot.com has a place where you could do a three card or full spread online. Those (online) cards worked for me equally as well as my physical deck, so if that's something you want to try, I wouldn't be afraid to. Their interpretation of the cards is pretty good if you want to give that a try. (I used to do it when it was free, but no longer.)

Barnmom, yikes! The reason I wanted to learn about Tarot came from a place of wanting to hone my intuition. I would never take money for it, but don't typically read for other people. If they want a reading, I let them shuffle the cards, and they read the interpretation of each card from my book, so they can draw their own conclusions. It's easy to know what it means, as the right one always ''calls out''!

Shaun, here's a link to a free Sample Tarot Reading, once you register. Try it and see what comes up for you! Don't think about it, but just click on each card when you feel it's time. I kept a record for quite a long time, just to remember/learn. What seems like a random choice, will probably amaze you.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sample Tarot

Thanks, I'll go check it out.

I just bought tickets to go see Lisa Williams for Dec 5th. Really excited to see her.

Claire, I see that your birthday is coming up very soon! I tend to have very good relationships with Scorpios, being a Pisces myself. I have noticed that a lot of people have expressed problems dealing with Scorpios (especially with my grandmother), but I have one friend who is a quintuple Scorpio, and we get along fine, although some others find that aspect a bit scary. She is intense, but that works for me. If you send me an email, I will email you my chart. I've had some interesting outer planet transits lately.

I think that it is very helpful (if not necessary) to understand astrology in order to be able to read Tarot cards. It is also helpful to understand numerology for both, and I'm not talking about the mundane numerology that assigns integers to Roman letters. Ancient languages were very much tied to numerology, but modern languages for the most part are not. For the Latin alphabet, only a few letters were actually assigned numbers, being I, V, X, L, C, D, and M (maybe others, but those are the ones that come to mind at the moment). In ancient Greek, Hebrew, and Sanskrit, every letter had a numerical equivalent, and if you added up the numbers in a word, it would contain a key to the meaning of the word (this was not the case in Latin). These were never reduced further down to integers either, and words that had the same numerical sum had similar meanings. This is a very ancient Indo-European tradition, but it is largely unknown today. I think in Hebrew, the letters represented the numbers from 1 to 10 and then jumped to 20, 30, 40, etc to 100, and then to 200, 300, and 400. There may have been letters that represented 11 and 12, but I don't remember. I do remember that 11 was a very significant number. It's been a long time since I have looked at the Kabbalah, but I did notice it's influence/relationship to astrology. It tries to help explain the harmonies of numbers and numerical relationships, which can then be translated to more mundane matters.

I have for a long time searched for patterns and rhythms that I felt influenced my life. I always felt that events seemed to happen in cycles, and it seemed to me that astrology helped explain those cycles better than anything else. I kept very intense diaries during my 20s, and I was able to find patterns of influence that related to astrology in the cycles that appeared in my diaries.

One of the powers of Tarot is to tap into the subconscious; i.e., to bring subconscious thoughts or feelings up to the conscious level. Sometimes people have feelings that they cannot express until someone makes suggestions. Then the person can validate or not validate that suggestion, but without the suggestion, it would not become part of conscious thought and remain trapped in the subconscious. Some people are unable to appreciate the skill in bringing the subconscious to the conscious level.

Lars

I'd never heard that about Asian palms being different from Western. Interesting.

That made me remember that I had my palm read as a teenager. My aunt took me to get a perm to "fix" a really bad hair cut, and there was a woman also getting something done. She and my aunt started talking, and something led to her reading my aunt's palm. I lot of the things she said about my aunt's past were very accurate. Only a little of the future was accurate, although she did correctly predict how and when my aunt would die. Then she read mine. Of course I didn't have much of a past at that age, but absolutely nothing she predicted about the future proved to be accurate.

Beanthere dunthat, I didn't know that either, and like you, find it very interesting! Palm reading may be easier when reading the palm of someone who's lived, rather than one who is developing. I suspect palms are in a way like DNA, but I've wondered at times if people's palms ever change?

Lars you have e-mail. You are exactly right when you said one of the powers of Tarot is to make subconscious thoughts conscious. What the cards suggest are usually good advice, whether we seem to know it or not. Even if it's something I think I know, I always consider the suggestions carefully. Tarot and Astrology are naturally intertwined when you think that each of the suits (Wands, Swords, Pentacles and Cups) also represent Fire, Air, Earth, Water, and the relationships seem more obvious.

I had my numerology chart done years ago by my SIL's sister. I should probably dig that out and look at it again, if I can find it. I thought it was fascinating, and think numerology can offer insights as well. I always look to see what the new month/years numbers hold. Thanks for reminding me I haven't done that yet this month!

It's somewhat surprising that there are so many people interested in tarot in this forum! Don't know why I'm surprised, I just am... It is interesting to read about the different ideas though.

The only time I had my numbers done and a reading, I went at the request of two friends who thought it'd be fun. I'm one of the biggest skeptics ever, so this was done more to be with my friends than anything. The woman said that before I was born I was they type of soul who had a plan for what they wanted to do in their life and loved to make lists. Well, maybe her brand of mysticism and my own were just not meant to be, but she was sure right about the planning thing! :)

I had a deck back in college, 35 years ago, and did readings for friends. I did it just for fun. I stopped doing readings, because it use to freak some people out. I always took what it said with a grain of salt, not that it was carved in stone. One winter break I forgot and left them hidden in a drawer in my locked dorm room. When I came back they were gone, and I was the last one to leave the dorm and the first one back. Weird.

Since then I have acquired 3 different decks. I haven't found one I really like though since my college deck. I use it mainly to mediate on situations and tap into the subconscious. I did have a reading from a psychic friend of my sister's when she lived in New Orleans. Everything she said came true. Kind of freaky.
Clare

"I was the last one to leave the dorm and the first one back"

well, maybe not quite, LOL.

claire, I love Goldens!
& I think a lot of them have psychic abilities or sensitivity;
have you ever read "Watchers" by (I think) Dean Koontz?

Sylvia, I have read Watchers, and thought about my own dog, and what she might have to say if she could talk. Of course she could talk, but in her own way IYKWIM!

snork!

Yeah, I think they *do* talk!

I know my dogs look at each other & go, "What's wrong with her *now*? Let's jump on the bed & knock all the blankets & pillows in the floor; that'll cheer her up! What a great idea! Woo-Woo!"

Yes. I Do. I do reading 3 to 5 times a week and it's beautiful how customers give beautiful feedback with love and respect. Its always amazing to solve people's problems and gain that satisfaction when they get a way or path to work on.

Who?