How do you approach/interpret tarot cards in a reading?

[shadedragon]

Originally Posted by kimtsan

So basically you utilize italics and bolded texts to "filter" your initial interpretations and figure out what's relevant to the question? Interesting...

no XD that part is for me, not them. I did that to show you what would have applied to me, while italics was what could've applied. You see, the cards can literally indicate anything. We have free will. So I view them as another viewpoint/lens which to see out of.
It's a bit easier when the question needs help being understood by the cards to explain. when people want to see the cards and what they mean, sometimes its easier to have that bolded section to show what applies to their question. However, the actual interpretation is different, it is llike throwing all of the information you are given into a stew and making a good recipe for each- its how you put your pieces together along with intuition and everything else.
Reading back, I think I did not express what I was trying to say very well.
Here i an example of how I work (though I was summarizing/assisting this person in a reading they were doing, so its short, normally mine take 1-2 hours to type up depending on the question): http://www.spiritualforums.com/vb/sh...ad.php?t=55840

Originally Posted by CaityBee

I've been watching videos on youtube of a girl that does an introduction series to the cards. Her name is Owl something... I can't remember. I know that isn't helpful, but I think I searched Tarot for Beginners on YouTube and hers may have been the first to come up. She's good at introducing the basics and the meanings of the cards from her personal view, as well as how to obtain your own thoughts on them.

If you're looking into intro courses on Youtube, The Four Queens offers a great 10-part Trainee Tarot Course. :) I watched all the videos and they have been super insightful!

Originally Posted by shadedragon

no XD that part is for me, not them. I did that to show you what would have applied to me, while italics was what could've applied. You see, the cards can literally indicate anything. We have free will. So I view them as another viewpoint/lens which to see out of.
It's a bit easier when the question needs help being understood by the cards to explain. when people want to see the cards and what they mean, sometimes its easier to have that bolded section to show what applies to their question. However, the actual interpretation is different, it is llike throwing all of the information you are given into a stew and making a good recipe for each- its how you put your pieces together along with intuition and everything else.
Reading back, I think I did not express what I was trying to say very well.
Here i an example of how I work (though I was summarizing/assisting this person in a reading they were doing, so its short, normally mine take 1-2 hours to type up depending on the question): http://www.spiritualforums.com/vb/sh...ad.php?t=55840

I should try that technique sometime...right now I am trying to find a balance between explaining the symbolism in tarot and offering my interpretations to the querent. I know some people aren't interested in the symbolism; they just want a reading...when I first started giving readings, I started everything on symbolic interpretations first because I needed to start SOMEWHERE...but now I'm getting better at synthesizing my readings and just reading the spread as a whole instead of just reading one card. What's your take?

Originally Posted by Pamuya

Well when someone comes to me for a reading, we sit across or besides each other. I ask what is on their mind and what brought them here today. While we are talking I am shuffling the cards. I have them come up with a question (absolutely NO yes/no questions) for me tarot is descriptive, paints a picture. Once the question is worked out, I have them write the question down,(it is amazing how the question changes once the cards are drawn ) I cut the deck into 3 piles, my client chooses which pile I will draw from. Normally I draw 3 cards. When I first look at the card I see the number, this comes from my training and learning from playing cards, then I look at the suit. This gives me a spectrum of which my intuition chooses from. Last I look at the picutre to see if there is something that catches my eye, a color, a symbol, something that pulls me in a certain direction. I have a firm belief in learning the basics;, numbers suits, and symbols. This is how I basically read for people, something I have worked out for myself over the decades.

I have never done a face-to-face reading yet...it kind of sounds intimidating at the moment. I did a reading for a friend in Scotland over Skype who knew a few things about tarot cards, and it didn't work out very well because I was a bit stressed, feeling like my tarot reading skills are put to the best and slightly overwhelmed by my inner expectations for me to do a good job. That's why right now I feel like I work better when I'm just doing the reading on my own, but the danger of that is that the reading might just be too one-sided.