We study tarot. A card chosen at random

A person always wants to know what awaits him in the future - love? Wealth? Happiness? And every year, thousands of people turn to fortune tellers to find out at least a little about what will happen to them. Tarot reading has become especially popular in recent years, probably due to the mystique and exoticism of the cards themselves. That is why during the dark Middle Ages, tarot cards were cursed and outlawed as a "book of devilish drawings." And even today, in some places, they are looked upon suspiciously.

Such fears are born of ignorance, for anyone who is at least somewhat familiar with the tarot immediately understands that there is nothing evil and sinister in these cards. On the contrary, tarot cards, without evoking occult figures and without being entertained by magic, give vent to the fortuneteller's intuition in response to signals from his or her subconscious, which establish a connection between the seemingly arbitrary choice of cards and events in a person's life. We all have the ability to intuition (from simple premonitions to prophetic dreams), but often we suppress or discard them. Tarot practitioners try to develop these abilities and use them as a guide. So where to start? When taking up tarot, it is important to understand that it is not an exact science: there is no single "straight" path to follow, there is no right or wrong way to work. Everyone who writes on this subject sticks to their own interpretation, although usually within well-established guidelines. Personal experience is important, and therefore it is suggested to read a lot about the subject itself and experiment with different techniques until you understand what techniques suit you. This is especially true of many of the rituals that accompany divination by tarot cards. There is an opinion that the ritual element is very important for divination, because. it helps to concentrate on a task and tunes the brain to penetrate into the subconscious. In experienced hands, tarot can become a powerful tool for the spiritual development of a person.

There are many different systems used for reading tarot cards, and there is no reason to believe that any one of them is better than the other. Some soothsayers use different layouts in different circumstances, others have settled on one and use it all the time. It is up to you how you decide to lay out the cards. If your system answers your questions, then it is the one that suits you best.

The main purpose of prediction is to understand the developing or coming situation. You are looking for information that is not easily obtained by conventional means. This information will be given by your divination tool - Tarot cards. They will help to reveal to you information about the past, present and future of the Questioner and/or the people with whom he is associated, as well as the situation in which he is involved.

Here is one of the best Tarot manuals from a real Master! Alla Bobrova has been seriously studying Tarot for more than 15 years, she is the founder of her own Tarot school, the author of hundreds of publications. This book is not just a guide to the meanings of cards and layouts! You will get the main thing, without which it is impossible to learn to guess and get truthful answers: understanding the symbolism of the Tarot. Tarot has nothing to do with clairvoyance and does not require a special gift. The answer to any of our questions is already in our subconscious, you just need to “catch” it. It is for this purpose that the images and symbols that the cards are filled with serve. But with everyone who asks questions, the deck speaks its own “language”, so generally accepted interpretations often mislead even an experienced predictor. The technique of Alla Bobrova reveals the creative and intuitive channel of a person. Therefore, by studying according to the book, you will properly tune in to one of the most popular Tarot decks - Rider-Waite. As a result, you will be able to quickly predict events and gain Knowledge that will help you.

How to learn to read Tarot on your own?

I often receive letters in the mail asking me to sort out the alignment that the person made himself. Here is an example of such a letter:

“Dear Allah! I have a very difficult family situation. My husband and I are on the verge of a divorce. He's gone and I don't know what's next. I have a tarot deck and I have laid out the cards. I got: 2 of Wands, Hermit, Empress, 3 Denarii, Ace of Swords and Lovers. What do you think it all means. Thanks in advance, Katherine."

Most of the time I respond to emails like this:

“Dear, Catherine! Unfortunately, I cannot help you. Because you made the arrangement yourself. The information has come for you, and only you can decipher it. But it is not a fact that the cards that have fallen out objectively reflect your situation. Firstly, you are nervous, worried and thereby knock down information. Secondly, it is not known how close you are to the Tarot, whether you have a connection with this mantic system, whether you are connected to the Tarot egregor.

In the process of communication, it turns out that the person is interested in Tarot, bought a deck and a book and tries to guess and interpret the cards from the book. This, of course, is an interesting occupation, they can have fun for years, but they never learn to read cards. "But what to do?" the bewildered reader will ask. I'm telling!

So, you bought tarot cards. Or maybe you are still in the process of finding a suitable deck. You have an interest in this system, you have heard about the wonderful possibilities of Tarot and are eager to learn it quickly. Where to start?

Interpret the images of the cards

The Tarot deck is based on symbols. You know the meaning of all these symbols, even if it seems to you that this is not so. If some tricky signs on the cards seem unfamiliar to you, do not pay attention to them yet. Focus on what you know and understand. Symbols are such an interesting thing that we absorb throughout our lives, and maybe even before birth. We may not be aware of this, not try to interpret what a full glass, a cross, a rose or a skull means to us. But within us this understanding is. We know for sure that a rose is associated with love, a skull with death, a cross with trials, and a full glass with something very good, pleasant and joyful. When you look at any symbol, images will pop up in your head, a chain of associations will be built. The image of a rose on the map will cause each person to have their own set of associations. Someone will remember the rose bush in the park, the beauty of nature, the scents of summer. Someone - the first date and a bouquet of roses. And someone - their pink blouse, in which you looked like a beautiful flower.

This is our property - the ability to receive impressions, images from the symbols seen - and there is the basis of working with cards.

Develop your intuition

The second, very important point when working with Tarot is the development of intuition. Without it, nowhere! You can know all the meanings of the symbols. You can understand what all the signs mean in all the mantic systems of the world, but you will never be able to make a prediction if you do not develop intuition. Well, imagine you got a card with a rose. You know it's love, beauty, nature, art, romance, love pain (thorns), sex (red), holiday, gift, etc. Which of these meanings would you choose at the moment? What does this rose mean now? It is in order to determine the correct value that intuition is needed!

In my opinion, it is better to have a finely tuned intuition than to know perfectly the meanings of all the symbols. Because a good intuitive, even without knowing all the symbols, will give you the exact answer, intuition will tell him what this rose means at the moment. The esoteric erudite will never be able to decide on the answer. He will read you a treatise on the topic “What does a rose mean in the life of each of us” and invite you to understand for yourself what this symbol will bring you. Actually, this is also the right way. You will be given ground for reflection, and the erudite will be given the opportunity to get away from the exact answer, hiding behind the multivariance of symbols.

But our goal is to learn how to make accurate predictions. Therefore, it is necessary to move in parallel in two directions - to study the symbols of the Tarot and develop intuition.

Where to begin?

Tarot is an esoteric science. And you need to approach the study of Tarot in the same way as you would approach the study of any science - starting small, gradually moving forward to more complex. If you decide to become a doctor and enter a medical school, it doesn't mean that tomorrow you will take a book, read how to perform an operation to remove an appendicitis, and start "cutting" one of your loved ones? So why, as soon as people buy a Tarot deck, do they find a Tarot layout on the Internet, pull out the cards and try to understand from the book what the cards prophesy to them? Yes, I understand - interesting! What if they take the cards now and tell you the whole truth?! They won't tell you anything. They will only discourage further study of the Tarot. And the conclusion to which you will come in the end is “all this is nonsense” or “Tarot is not mine.”

No need to rape Taro and demand answers from him. It's like in love - first get to know each other, chat, get to know and love each other, and then the Tarot itself will reveal all the secrets to you.

So where do you start? From looking at pictures! Yes, I'm not kidding. Each card has everything you need.

So just pick up the card and look at it. It is better to start with the Major Arcana. They are the backbone of the deck. There are opinions that earlier the deck consisted only of the Major Arcana. The younger ones were added to the deck much later.

Each Major Arcana has its own serial number. He is not accidental. The number itself, as well as the name of the card, also has a meaning. If you are not strong in numerology, do not be discouraged. For now, even the most primitive knowledge of numbers will suffice for you. You can start with the Magician, who has the serial number I, or with the Jester, who is generally beyond any numbers. Rather, in some decks it is marked with the XXII number, in some it is 0. Does the fact that the card can be both the first and last tell you something?

So, you take a map and see what is shown there. Usually on the Major Arcana there is a certain plot, the hero of this plot and the general situation. It is useful to look at all this the way children look at pictures. They imagine in their heads what is happening there, draw the missing details, imagine themselves in this picture. Try to do the same for you.

Try to describe what you see on the map. Feel your personal attitude to the card - like it or not. Look at the symbols on the map. What are they talking about? Remember: everything matters - image, color, position of figures, name, number. Whatever you think about the card, write it down in your diary.

It is very good to try to find music that, in your opinion, would correspond to this card. Or remember which of the heroes of films or books the character of the card looks like. If you can draw, draw this card. Or think up a fairy tale on the theme of the card.

A good way to get to know the map is to meditate on it or, as they say, entering the map. In a relaxed, calm state, look at the map and imagine that you are inside. It may feel like a dream. You can walk, talk, ask questions in the map. Write down all the impressions of meditation in your diary.

So you will collect your personal information about the card, your impressions, your values. And only after that you can look for information about characters that you do not know. Symbol dictionaries, which are enough on the Internet, are very helpful in this case.

And now you have collected enough information on the map. Be prepared for the fact that information on each card will be added and added. Leave a couple of blank pages in your diary for her and move on to the next card.

A prerequisite for studying the Major Arcana is no more than two cards per day. Better yet, one card per day. Then you will fully study each card and there will be no piling up of information and energy.

In parallel with the study of cards, start communicating with them. From the Major Arcana, draw a card of the day every day. Do not look for what other tarologists write on this card. Look at the card and immediately write down how you feel about it. At the end of the day, compare these feelings with the day before. With such a simple exercise, you will tune in to the Tarot deck, learn to talk to it. She will tell you something, and you will try to understand her language.

Exercise

Get a notebook to study Tarot. In it you will write down all your impressions on the cards. For each card (there are 78 in total), select 1 sheet. On this sheet you will not write the book values ​​of the cards, but those values ​​that will come to you while contemplating the card, while thinking about the symbols, figures, people, numbers depicted on the card.

On the day you should work with no more than one card and you need to start with the Major Arcana.

In the second part of the book, we will go through all the Arcana of the Tarot, I will ask leading questions and point the direction for your attention. Write the answers that come to your mind in your notebook.

How to develop intuition

First of all, I want to say that everyone has intuition. Just as most people have arms and legs, they also have intuition. Lack of intuition is the exception rather than the rule.

I assume that intuition is one of the components of the instinct of self-preservation.

The ability to foresee the future made it possible for ancient people to save their lives, to survive in difficult circumstances. But since no one could scientifically prove the existence of intuition, she remained aloof.

It is clear that each person has different opportunities for developing intuition - as well as the development of other abilities.

Someone has a penchant for music and will become a great pianist, while someone just knows how to play the piano quite well. But everyone can develop intuition, and everyone will achieve some success.

It is impossible to guess the Tarot without intuition. Knowledge of maps, study of books and symbols will not help you if you do not use and develop your intuition.

How to test your intuition and make sure you have it? Has it ever happened to you - the phone rings, and without looking at it, you already know who is calling? Has it ever happened that you remembered some person whom you had not seen for a very long time, and suddenly received a message from him or accidentally met on the street? Do you sometimes have dreams that later come true? Have you ever acted illogically, but later turned out to be right? If any of the above happened to you, know that intuition worked.

Intuition can and should be developed, even if you are not going to work with Tarot. It will always come in handy in life. Well, if you have a Tarot deck, God himself ordered you to develop these abilities.

Exercises for developing intuition

Here are some very simple and effective exercises.

1. Cut out squares of the same size but different colors from colored paper. Lay them face down on the table. Pick one at random and try to guess which color you picked. A color may appear before the eyes, a thought may come, what color it is, or an object of that color may be remembered. Signals from intuition are very different. For example, you will smell the cucumber and know that it is green.

2. Make the same cards, but all of the same color and draw geometric shapes on one side - a circle, a square, a triangle, a cross, a star. Without looking at the picture, try to guess what figure is there.

3. Go to the grocery store. Stand near the shelf and try to determine if the cake looks delicious, what it tastes and smells like, whether it is fresh or already dried up. Try to do the same with other products - cottage cheese, rolls, yogurt, and with anything. Then buy this product and compare the reality with your feelings.

4. Ask someone in the household to hide an object in the room, and then mentally ask yourself where it is. Tips may come or the legs themselves will go in the right direction. If you cannot find it during the day, go to bed with the thought that in a dream you will see where this object is located - this also happens.

5. Know that the signs and signs are individual for everyone. Someone has a black cat for trouble, and I have luck. Look for your own signs and clues. These are also ways of intuition to show you the right path. For example, I noticed: if I meet twins, this is for profit. If I see a number on a passing car, the numbers of which are in the same order as on my phone, to a happy change.

6. Gradually complicate your tasks. Without looking, pull out one card from the Major Arcana and try to guess what is shown there. The card number, the figure of this card, or the predominant color may come.

There are other ways to develop intuition. I listed the ones that first came to mind, which are the easiest to apply. Even if you do one of these exercises every day, your intuition will develop. And over time, it will become for you not an empty phrase, but a tool that you will use for its intended purpose.

Exercise

Do at least one of the intuition exercises daily. The most important condition for your intuition to manifest itself is to calm your emotions. Your excitement, ardent desire to hear the voice of intuition, tension during the exercise - all this will interfere with you. Therefore, start the exercises in a calm and balanced state. Don't get frustrated if it doesn't work out, and don't be happy if everything goes well. Excessive joy, as well as worrying about failures, knocks down your intuitive channel. As Carlson said, calmness, only calmness ...

Instruction

Buy a deck of tarot cards. They are easy to find in stores, on the market, on the Internet. Some sites even offer tarot. The decks differ in design: the drawing may not be the simplest, schematic, and similar to medieval artists. The meaning of the symbols does not change from this, but you need to choose the deck that you liked more than the others.

"Get acquainted" with and. This should be done in a calm and comfortable environment, when you will be completely free from everyday affairs and heavy thoughts. Hold the entire deck in your hands, then draw one card at random from it and place it on the table. Carefully consider the drawing, lingering on the details. Remember the sensations and associations that the card evoked in you. Read its meaning and compare with your own feelings. Close your eyes for a second and draw the next card. Stop studying the deck when you experience fatigue. Overexertion will prevent you from intuiting the tarot. You can return to the remaining cards later.

Continue reading tarot symbols. Buy books or find related websites. You will not lack information. Choose those sources that most closely match your ideas about tarot divination. Pay attention to an important point: the interpretation of cards may differ slightly for different people. This is due, first of all, to the personal experience of the fortuneteller. Over time, you will also have your own additions to the basic meanings of the symbols.

Try to remember what the upright (regular) and inverted (upside down) positions of each card are talking about. There are 78 of them in the tarot deck. To fully master it, you will need from several weeks to six months. Practice combining cards and understanding their overall meaning. For tarot, the intuitive ability to combine symbols into a common scheme of the future is important.

Work with the deck daily. This will not require much effort, but will bring many benefits. You will learn to concentrate on emerging images and get used to the everyday meanings of tarot. Enter a new tradition for yourself - every morning to take one card out of the deck. This will be your card of the day. Read the interpretation of the symbol that has fallen to you and during the day look for its manifestation in life situations. For example, you took out an inverted card of the Major Arcana Death. In this position, its meaning is stagnation in business, fear of change, forced separation. In a couple of hours you have a wallet. This is the “forced separation” predicted by the tarot.

Add the ritual of choosing the card of the week and the card of the month to the daily ones. On Monday and the first day of each month, take out the tarot and choose a symbol under which a certain period of time will pass. Never panic by drawing a card with a negative value. Give freedom to your intuition. Let the subconscious, not the mind, recognize the predicted event. Cards open up ordinary life situations, warning or giving hope.

Practice with easy layouts. The easiest way to master the "Cross" scheme. This is on, on the outcome of a particular situation. For him, you can limit yourself only to the Major Arcana, of which there are only 22. Lay out the cards in this order: two cards are side by side, one is above them, the second is below them. It turns out a kind of cross. The interpretation of the layout is as follows: - the left card speaks of the meaning of the problem; - the right card indicates what not to do; - the top one suggests the direction of action; - the bottom one shows the possible outcome of the situation. This will help you find the intersection of the meanings of symbols and transfer abstract meanings to specific life situations .

Go to the fortuneteller as a person who wants to know his future. Find an advertisement in the newspaper or on the Internet for divination sessions on tarot cards. You need to do this right now, when you have minimal card reading experience. Watching the fortune-telling, you will see how the experienced handles the deck and interprets the symbols. If you like his technique, try to arrange individual training with the master. You can also get additional knowledge in courses that are held by esoteric and astrological centers and Internet portals.

Step 1. Tarot personal diary.

Yes, yes and yes again!
Almost every author in his book mentions this method - keeping a personal Tarot diary, in which you can write down EVERYTHING that is consonant with this topic.
And I'm in favor with both hands!

For those who are already on the Path, and for those who are just about to start, it will be very useful to put aside all textbooks, manuals, brochures, websites. All these are crutches that will stuff your head with ready-made values ​​(and remembering all of them is almost impossible, and even pointless) and then you will no longer be able to gain confidence in your abilities. So you will constantly peep somewhere or roll your eyes (not from insight!), Trying to remember "what could this card mean ???".

How to start? Choose the right notebook, notepad, album, notebook... Whatever! The main thing is to like it. Conditionally divide (and if you want - do not divide!) It into such categories (for example):
- the meanings of the cards (one page per card to describe everything that comes to your mind in connection with it),
- the history of the layouts (what they did, what happened, as they understood, after - you can re-read, check),
- Tarot reading techniques (all the usefulness that helps to do this; there may be personal experience here, and other people's work that you are using!),
- Tarot layouts (a piggy bank for your favorite ready-made or self-invented ones).
And now ... write! At least 10-15 minutes a day for each card. Do not take a lot at once, you will get confused in thoughts and feelings!

There are many such diaries. Some start a notebook for each of their decks. Why not work out?

Long live personal associations and intuition! Useful books can be read later, at your leisure)

Step 2. Description of the Card of the Day.

You read a lot of literature, study various systems and author's views on the Tarot, but while performing the layout and interpreting the cards, you are faced with the fact that ... none of the received works? Dead end?

Starting the Path with a deck in one hand and a book in the other... not the best option. This is a blind, mechanical reading, excluding such an important component as INTUITION.

What will it take for you to take another step towards a better understanding of the Tarot? One Card of the Day and 5 minutes of time. Many are familiar with this technique, but many practitioners underestimate its importance.

So...
. Draw one card from your favorite deck. Before that, you can formulate a question of this kind: "Which Arcana do I need to pay attention to today?" However, you can ask whatever your heart desires.

. Take a look at the map. What comes to mind first? What catches your eye? What energy comes from the card? What does intuition suggest (often difficult to substantiate)? Record your observations in your diary.

. Spend your day as usual, BUT pay attention to people and situations that embody the energy of the card you describe.

. At the end of the day, go back to your morning notes and add to your impressions.

Just 5 minutes a day! Such a short period often casts doubt on the effectiveness of the method. Unjustifiably.

Step by step. Remember?

Step 4. Keep it simple. Search.

It's human nature to complicate things. Tarot is no exception. Lots of decks, books, systems, approaches, views. There is hardly a head of a suitable size to contain all this abundance of information.

There is even a certain category of tarologists who try to present their art under a "complex sauce". Doing this, in part, in order to be respected and considered high-class professionals, and also to preserve the secrets of craftsmanship, turning Tarot into a subject inaccessible to "mere mortals".

But here's the thing...

Mastering the Tarot is not as difficult as it may seem from the outside, at first glance at the tons of books and decks that surround this phenomenon now. You do not need to join any clubs or sects, study in closed schools or undergo an initiation rite.

You'll get the most out of Tarot if you don't over complicate it. Just be the Seeker!

In due time, you can be curious about what Kabbalah is, what elemental correspondences “eat” with, and what is the meaning of that strange symbol in the background of a map that you do not understand. But first, the basics.

What to focus on now, on the 4th step towards the Tarot? Let's say, on triplets (layouts of three cards).

1. Come up with a question and choose a suitable three-card layout for it (the Internet will help you find options).

2. Shuffle the cards and draw any three.

3. Take a look at the alignment you received and note what your intuition tells you, what thoughts come to mind, how you feel from these cards.

4. Examine the image of each card separately, correlating it with the position of the card in the layout and the question that you formulated.

5. Fold the cards into a story, moving from the first to the last. Try to summarize the interpretation into one key message.

6. Describe the experience of reading the spread in the Tarot Diary.

Step 5. Practice, practice and more practice.

Start practicing from day 1, as soon as you get your first deck (I am attaching a link to a useful video from