#tarot techniques

[chirotusinfinitum]

Tarot Reading Tips: Yes/No Readings

Using tarot readings for direct yes or no questions can be tricky, and is usually recommended against. So of course, I have made it a point to learn how to do this at least somewhat reliably. There are a couple of different techniques to get a simple “yes or no” from a tarot deck in most situations.

The first thing I would recommend is to practice giving short readings, as short as possible. This helps you develop the skill of looking over a complex set of tarot cards and very quickly seeing a gestalt that gives you the information you want to know. The nuance is still there for a more in depth consultation, but having the skill off looking over something and telling the querent “nah” or “yeet” right off the bat can be useful.

I learned to give short readings at a local psychic fair where the convention was to limit readings to 10 minutes. After doing 60 in a weekend you learn quickly. Parties or gatherings with friends can also help -- I used to offer quick readings for free (or for coffee) at Perkins.

If you want to do a direct yes/no reading, there are a couple of ways I recommend.

A single card draw can give you a decent yes/no/maybe answer depending on the card. More optimistic and outgoing cards tend to have yes answers, and introspective or conflicted cards are usually a no. Court cards are often a maybe. This list from Angelorum is geared towards love readings, but I have found it to be a useful baseline in reading a card as a yes or no. Of course, the card chosen can give some insight into the specifics as well.

A three card draw using the same technique can also be useful. It’s kind of a best two out of three scenario, but can help determine how likely something is to happen. Three positive outlook cards are better than a yes, a no, and a maybe yes.

The other technique I often use involved reversals. Make sure half the deck is inverted before you shuffle, and then deal three (or five) cards. If more cards are upright it is a yes answer, if more are inverted it is a no. The more cards upright or inverted, the stronger the answer. If more information is needed you can look to see which cards are present and which ones are upright or inverted.

Getting to know the specific quirks of whatever deck you’re using will help as well. And as always, practice practice practice. Throwing in questions you already know the answer to can help calibrate the deck and see how the cards are working with you.

Hey, do me a solid and check out my Etsy store! I offer tarot readings and some art things! https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheInBetweenPlace

[bellastarotblog-blog]

Happy Birthday Spread

I’ve created this spread for my birthday! But anyone can use it! I feel like it’s a great spread to do when reviewing a year that has gone by! Enjoy it! Have an awesome day! <3

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[redfooltarot]

Confession time:

I've been reading for over ten years, but I still don't remember all of the meanings of the cards off the top of my head. I don't actually remember any of them (save for death, but that's because I used to spend hours and hours defending the card as neither good nor bad). 

I feel ashamed when I do readings in person because of this. I want to be a part of the community, but I've seen so many people sneer when I pull out my journal with my basic meanings jotted down. It makes me feel less than, even though I have more experience than some of these people.

I make up for it for my reader by meditating on the combined meaning with them there, making small talk about them to gain more insight, asking related questions, trying to get to know them so I know why these cards are drawn to them.

Once that's done, I spend 10-30 minutes looking at the physical cards and divining meaning from the aesthetics. I look at the colours and think about what they mean to me and what they might mean to others. I look for patterns in the cards, I look at the names. I look at the way they ended up on the table, the way the light shines on them (how many times have my readings changed because one card had more sheen than another?)

I use my terrible memory to work on getting them feeling comfortable and for them to think about more than a meaning of the name of the card - all of my decks are different, each of them speaks to someone for a different reason and there is more than enough information on each card to do a reading without the name of the card.

I can't remember, but I don't let that hold me back and sometimes, sometimes I can school someone who has been reading for twenty, thirty, forty years by making them think. It's rare, but I don't devalue myself, even when other tarot readers sometimes do. 

[fateweavertarot]

On Archetypes

So what is an archetype? Google search reveals: “A very typical example of a person or thing.” Or, “an original that has been imitated.” While I don’t think that these are entirely inaccurate, to me they do fall a little short. While I can’t say what an archetype “is,” I will say that it feels a little more like a pattern than anything else. It’s like a “core pattern” that expresses itself across…

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[fateweavertarot]

Symbolic Consciousness

In the last article, “Each of Us, A Haunted House” I was playing with the idea of invocation & the presence of various intelligences. I briefly touched on some qualities of symbol, which I’d like to elaborate on. There’s a lot to explore here, so this is more of an investigation into the practical side of what I might term, “symbolic consciousness.”

Symbols have always been a quintessential part…

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[fateweavertarot]

Each of Us, a Haunted House

Each of Us, a Haunted House

Okay, now we’re getting into some seriously strange country. Dear readers, the concepts presented herein are written for entertaining consideration. In no way am I prescribing the exploration of these topics, as things in these regards tend to get rather… Strange! Despite these cautionary disclaimers, I want to say up front that this article is rather important to me, so a preemptive thank you is…

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[fateweavertarot]

Re-Defining Your Relationship to the Tarot

Re-Defining Your Relationship to the Tarot

So in this previous article, I wrote about the relationship to the Tarot using computer analogy.I won’t bother with re-explaining the original topic, as this article is intended for the reader to consider further use of that analogy.

To begin, however, I will take a minute to re-establish the cornerstone of this idea. I believe that any oracle works because we “program meaning” into it. When one…

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[fateweavertarot]

Playing Your Hand

So I began an experiment today, and I’m feeling pretty good about it. I plan to continue on this train for awhile – in some ways it’s the practical synthesis of how I have seen the Tarot for some time but hadn’t fully integrated it into my practice.

This morning I got out of bed without sleeping at all, because of some environmental noise factors that kept me up all evening (the details behind…

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