This is my favorite post of all time! Thank you for being amazing!

Clarity...that's what I want! You can't always pin every meaning down completely, but clarity and the use of discernment, based on the foundation of those bones you speak of in your post here, those are my objectives and goals in reading.
I couldn't agree with you more! It does a great disservice to the Tarot Cards, to the readers and to those questioners, if the meanings are left open to whatever interpretation that strikes your fancy or to anything. It is also unprofessional and unethical. When I hear of people going to Tarot readers who predict death or some sort of looming future, it really concerns me. I try to inform them this is not what Tarot is about. And to those who do this, STOP IT!

Thank you for your important post Ginny.

Catherine

What a great post clarifying the distinction between reading the tarot cards and using your intuition. Often these two things coalesce but not necessarily! This has really given me some good perspective on that.

Aww, I think I understand your feelings about this endless debate. I visited both camps and only now, after years of struggle for meaning, I see the difference between channeling and actual reading. It took time to understand an obvious thing - learning to read Tarot is similar to learning to read.

Without knowledge of letters you have to rely on your insights, given by pictures in a book. But what if there are no pictures? Boring, next.

Okay, you know the letters. Reading ABC was fun and you move on. But what are these funny words: gestalt, archetype, transference? And so little pictures? Boring, next.

Okay, okay, I have learned these words and got used to have a vocabulary by my side. But it seems, that though I know all of these words, I can not really understand the phrase. And there are no pictures at all. Well, maybe one on the front cover. Ok, there is a bird. That must be a book about birds. Boring, next. What, you say that words may not mean what they mean? How is that freakin possible? Screw this Tarot, I go play Skyrim.

I had my share of debates and now I choose to remain silent. After all, silence is gold. And In my continuos learning I rely on PARDES rule of Kabbalah, which say, that there are four levels of meaning. And I let everyone else to do as they wish. Probably I am still not ready to make and open statement of my point of view, like you did in this excellent post.

Love, love, love this post. You said so well what I have been thinking for ages. Thanks, Ginny.

I would like tarot readers to really think critically about what they do, where their information comes from, and question themselves. It bothers me when clients come to me and say, "Another reader told me (random psychic revelation) for the Fool. But you say it means this other thing." Then I have to explain that the other reader received psychic information and that's cool, but that's not the traditional meaning of the card all other times. I always tell my clients the general overall meaning and if I'm receiving intuitive guidance on that card or a flash of psychic interpretation I will then say, "And I'm really getting the sense with this card that...." So I distinguish between the meaning and the intuition. I realize that's not everyone's style. It's less important for clients to make the distinction, though. More important that readers examine this for themselves.

Thank you. Very well said, and oh, so true.

I agree with you, there is a certain framework one should work in when reading tarot. There definitely is an intuitive aspect, but bending the associations too much basically means that particular reader sees whatever he or she wants to see, rather than what is actually shown.

So much yes to this! It's very frustrating when readers (and sometimes even books!) sub in random attributions for the cards. They have a history, and sure, perhaps it was kind of random to begin with (see Normand, Levi, etc.), but continuing in this tradition serves no one -- least of all one's clients!

So glad this has resonated with so many. While I am not a Tarot fundamentalist by any means and I do embrace all the wild, wonderful ways of utilizing tarot decks, I feel strongly that there is and should be a distinction made when one is performing a tarot reading with intuition or psychic ability versus an intuitive/psychic reading with tarot cards.

Well written post on a very controversial topic. I'm in full agreement though, without the basic structure, everything else turns to dust.

Ginny, this is the first of your posts I've ever read and I have to say, I love you! Thank you for saying exactly what needs to be said. The grief this distinction causes within the Lenormand community as well is soul-destroying. I'll be following your blog quite closely from now one. :)

I am not a Lenormand practitioner, at least not yet. I've been curiously dabbling ever since I latched on to a German fortune telling deck (not Lenormand) but haven't really developed skills with that method. But from what I understand, much like Tarot, there are different "schools" of meanings as there are between Thoth/Marseilles/Ettillia/RWS. However, given the more literal language of Lenormand I would think the deviation into more intuitive/less foundational interpretations would land someone even more far afield than with tarot. Tarot is very forgiving of this. But, as with any collection of pictures, I'm sure Lenormand can be used as an oracle. As I said, nothing wrong with that. But it wouldn't be a Lenormand reading then, would it?

For several years, after I led my very first Beginner's Level Tarot Course, I facilitated a group, co-created with some of those students called the "Tarot Lovers Club."

At every meeting, one of us would choose a Spread, and lay out Tarot Cards and give our own interpretations. Not once, did anyone say, "That interpretation is wrong!" Frankly, although the club was not my own club, I simply would not have tolerated that.

Now, I confess, there were times when I would ask someone "Any other interpretations," as a way of guiding him or her toward a particular meaning that I felt was important to the situation and/or the person (most of the regulars, and a few of the semi-regulars, often had Readings with me, and although I remember so little of what I say an hour after the completion of a private Reading, some details stick around).

Thank you for a wonderful post; I look forward to rereading it often, as well as checking out your other posts.

I, too, think there are more diplomatic ways to correct someone if they've made a mistake. Learning to read involves learning to just say what pops into your head, so I wouldn't want to discourage that. It's different when you're coaching others versus seeing/hearing someone attach an incorrect definition to a card suit or number who claims to be a tarot expert.

I could not have said it better myself. Even the best psychics and tarot readers online today had to start somewhere and without that very basic foundation, all else would fail. This is a very helpful article for beginners and a handy reminder for experts!