Tarot Tips: The Practicalities of Tarot Interpretation
Published: Tue, 08/01/17
"There are many approaches to reading tarot, and deciphering...."
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![]() Newsletter of The Tarot School
http://TarotSchool.com ISSN: 1529-0565 Vol. 9 #6 / August 1, 2017
In this Issue: - Welcome
- Tarot Tip: The Practicalities of Tarot Interpretation
- Tarot School Aphorism
- What's Gnu? - PsychWise: Jung, Archetypes and Tarot - Best Practices: Your Mission – Your Story - Upcoming Events Welcome to a new issue of Tarot Tips!
And a special welcome to our new subscribers.
![]() There are many approaches to reading tarot, and deciphering and using it’s symbols. As we head into August, we'll look at a couple of them. In this issue, the Tip explores the mechanics of tarot interpretation from the perspective of the artwork and how it has given shape to the traditional meanings of the cards. And in the PsychWise column, Katrina Wynne discusses forms and archetypes from a Jungian perspective and the role they play in tarot. In response to a request from one of our readers, the Best Practices column will follow up on last month's suggestion to create a mission statement for your business, with some guidelines on how to do that. Whether or not you choose to publish your mission statement, this is a good exercise to help clarify the road ahead for your business. And one more thing...
Do you know about Booko? It's a cool site where you can type in the title or author of a tarot book (or any other topic you like), and it will bring up a list of places you can purchase it, along with comparative prices. This is the main URL in the United States: https://booko.us/ Click on the flag in the upper right corner to change the currency to one of 16 other countries. As an example, check out the listings for our Tarot Tips book here: https://booko.us/9780738702162/Tarot-Tips It's a great way to look for rare books, too! With love and gratitude on the tarot journey, Ruth Ann, Wald, Gina & Elinor
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THE PRACTICALITIES OF TAROT INTERPRETATION
abundance of form, line and shape that create images intended to suggest certain meanings. These meanings were often established by occultists or other theorists, and portrayed by artists, each influenced by the times in which they lived and their own personal philosophy. These established motifs blend with the personal experience, knowledge and awareness of every reader who engages with the cards. Have you ever been perplexed by the LWB (Little White Book) meanings of tarot cards or tried to do a reading on a practical matter when the traditional meanings given for a card just don’t seem to be relevant? This is a common challenge for both novice and experienced readers until a personal repertory of meanings is established with time and practice. Without dismissing the work of the past and the established traditions of interpretation, the issue at hand is how to arrive at meanings that are accurate and applicable to the querent’s issues. Over time, the imagery of tarot had been modernized and individualized in keeping with our modern understanding. But this can go too far when it becomes unrecognizable to the user and becomes too difficult to read. For instance, when the figure in Key 9 – The Hermit is portrayed as a female or a youth, it potentially changes the meaning for practitioners who have deeply established in their subconscious the typical image of the bearded old man. One of the problems with tarot imagery is that these images originated during the Renaissance are were derived from classical works that served as the basis for Renaissance style. So it could well be that the true original meanings could only be understood by a knowledge of the imagery of the era. So how do we best form useful interpretations in the quest for relevant readings in a modern context? Does tradition have a place in modern tarot use? The answer is yes, there is still a use for traditional meanings. These interpretations offer a way of formulating key ideas about the meanings of the card in general. But issue-specific interpretation is also about talent, skill level, experience and understanding of one’s unique psychic faculty. Here are some basics about the practical workings of tarot interpretation: Subject Matter: An observation of the object(s) – for instance, a human form, a tool, an animal along with its settings and content. Analysis: Examining and cross-referencing themes, ideas and concepts. Tools: Intuition, personal experience, knowledge of the workings of a particular object, literary sources or personal myths. In considering the reading process, think of a beginning, a middle and an end – each with main areas of focus/tasks to accomplish. In interpretations of these images we are often blending art, symbolism, science and a theoretical perspective. In order to influence or provoke useful change, we can use all of these things to communicate effectively in our readings. Tarot School Aphorism ![]() ![]() • PAYPAL IS NOW EASIER! We've always accepted PayPal (except for payment plans) but in the past, you had to contact us first in order to use it. We're happy to announce that our new store upgrade includes a built-in PayPal button! We still don't accept PayPal for payment plans (please use the credit card option for those) but you can use it for everything else! http://tarotschool.com/store • READERS STUDIO UPDATE: We are so close to signing a hotel contract and announcing the details of the 2018 Readers Studio! The hotel search has been more difficult than we had anticipated because we want to bring you the very best event we can. We know that some (many?) of you were hoping we'd hold in in Manhattan. We wanted to do that, too –– until we discovered that it would triple our costs! Not only would we have had to considerably raise the price of the conference, staying at the hotel would cost twice as much, too. We didn't think you'd want that, and neither did we. So we put the word out to dozens of area hotels, and what we discovered is that hardly any of them have the meeting space we need! That was a real surprise. One of the places that did would only allow groups to reserve 20 sleeping rooms! Obviously, that wasn't going to work. Anyway, all's well that ends well, and we found a great place we think you'll love! The details are still under wraps for now, but watch your inbox and social media for an announcement very soon! PsychWise: JUNG, ARCHETYPES & TAROT by Katrina Wynne, M.A. (excerpted from Life is But a Dream – Jung, Process Work and the Dreamtime in Tarot, presented at the 2017 Tarot and Psychology Conference presented by The Tarot School.) “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing
and rightdoing there is a field. I'll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass the world is too full to talk about.” ― Jalaluddin Rumi, Sufi mystic You’ve heard the term Archetype associated with Tarot cards, especially the Major Arcana trumps. In fact, the concept of archetypes is so common we often find it in our modern vernacular, added as a label to roles or experiences, such as the “Mother” archetype or the archetypal experience of being a mother. While our consciousness has expanded to embrace this philosophical and psychological concept, the original intention of the Greek philosopher, Plato, whose idea was furthered by Swiss Analyst and Psychiatrist, Carl G. Jung, has been lost in the over-simplification of this original term, Archetypal Forms. Platonic Forms and Absolute Essences “Platonic forms” or “absolute essences” are what I think of as neutral constellations of characteristics that form a recognizable pattern that repeats throughout life.” — Katrina Wynne, “Tarot and Psychology Conference” 2017 Platonic Forms, as an idea developed by Plato, are abstract entities that exist independently of the everyday world. This philosophical concept draws from his notion of genuine knowledge of truth, goodness, and beauty (a huge topic in itself), in which there is a perfection and immutable Form behind the imperfections of ordinary and changing life. These common details and facts fade and are considered to be insignificant, while the genuine knowledge of the Forms themselves are certain and eternal. (http://philosophypages.com) In other words, the temporal expressions tend to be judgments and opinions, while the Forms transcend these dualistic notions of rightness or wrongness, tapping into the Absolute Essences at the core. One example could be the difference between liking something, or having a deep heartfelt experience of expressing unconditional love. Wikipedia describes it this way… “Form answers the question, ‘What is that?’ Plato was going a step further and asking what Form itself is. He supposed that the object was essentially or ‘really’ the Form and that the phenomena were mere shadows mimicking the Form; that is, momentary portrayals of the Form under different circumstances.” “Form was a distinct singular thing but caused plural representations of itself in particular objects.” Again, we see there is a constant behind each representation of the Form. Think about the different breeds and types of dogs, yet we still recognize this one biological Form under the common idea of dogs or canines. Each object has it’s essence, yet the Form transcends our basis of reality, to a purer, simpler idea. Forms Without Content Closer to our modern age and understanding is the work of Carl G. Jung, who expanded upon Plato’s teachings in ways that touch the individual psyche and our collective consciousness—two of the most profound terms which Jung contributed to modern psychology. Jung renamed the Platonic Forms “Forms without content” in an effort to emphasize that the Form itself is unknowable, yet worth seeking in our individuation process of expanding experience and awareness. “There are as many archetypes as there are typical situations in life. Endless repetition has engraved these experiences into our psychic constitution, not in the form of images filled with content, but at first only as forms without content representing only the possibility of a certain type of perception or action…” — C.G. Jung, 1959/1968, pare. 99. “Forms without content is a concept that many people find challenging. It is like a box, but it is plain and empty until you or someone adds personality or expression to it. This simple form or essence is the opposite of creating an interpretation, as is the tendency with many Tarot readers.” — Katrina Wynne, What are Archetypes in Tarot?, 2017, MySacredJourney.org - weblog Archetypes of Transformation Irene Gad in her exquisite book on Tarot and Individuation describes… “Individuation is the process that enables a creative dialogue between the unconscious and consciousness. It can be experienced and becomes visible through the symbol, the means whereby something from within can be seen without, something invisible becomes visible, something concrete is given spiritual perspective, something specific and limited reveals universal dimensions.” – Irene Gad, Tarot and Individuation, 1994 And thus an archetype points to a possibility, but does not define it. It can be the symbol that bridges understanding, bringing the depth of one’s unconscious material into everyday experience and awareness. This is the gift of working with Tarot cards. The key is to refrain from jumping into the known, the expected, or the learned association for archetypes, including Tarot cards, for what may be missed is an opportunity to access the transformational potential beyond for which the card is only an empty box…a form without content…a field duality or definition. It is rare to find a reference to Tarot cards from Jung, but this jewel stands out…“If one wants to form a picture of the symbolic process, the series of pictures found in Alchemy are good examples, …It also seems as if the set of pictures in the tarot cards were distantly descended from the archetypes of transformation.” — C. G. Jung, The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious (#81), (1959). Resource: For practical ways of reading Tarot cards applying Jung’s open concept of archetypes please read An Introduction to Transformative Tarot Counseling by Katrina Wynne, M.A. It is available as a Kindle e-book on http://www.amazon.com or can be ordered directly from Katrina: https://tarotcounseling.wordpress.com/products-books/book-transformative-tarot-counseling/ ![]() Katrina Wynne, MA, CTM, CTI, CLC is an internationally renowned Transformative Tarot Counselor™ and trained psychotherapist with 45 years’ experience living the wisdom of Tarot. Contact Katrina at: www.TarotCounseling.org - website www.MySacredJourney.org - weblog www.OracleSoup.org - podcast www.Facebook.com/katrina.wynne/ Best Practices for Professional Readers YOUR MISSION –– YOUR STORY By Gina Thies www.tarotadvisor.com / www.facebook.com/tarotreaders www.tarotcoupling.com / www.oraclesoup.org The late great Maya Angelou said, "People don’t always remember what you say or even what you do, but they always remember how you made them feel." As a consumer, think of why you choose a certain brand, service or product. Is it the quality, the price, or just how special what you choose make you feel? Many companies have adopted the practice of creating mission statements, and you may want to consider doing so for your professional services as a reader. Why? Mission and vision statements can serve to define who you are and what you aim to provide as a professional. Companies sometimes state their defining goals or guiding principles in a short a paragraph or phrase that can be summed up in a tagline. For example – TARGET stores’ mission statement says, “We will connect business and community, affordability and great design.” Their tagline: ‘Expect more. Pay less.’ derives from their mission statement. Consider what you’re helping your clients or yourself discover. As a reader, what is your story? How will you define what you do and how will you be able to express your uniqueness as a reader? This is where your mission statement would begin its development. It should give voice to what you do and who you are as an agent of change, and articulate what you intend for your client’s experience and what you stand for. Boil down the values of your reading practice to a few key words or phrases to start. Your statement should: 1. Reflect your distinct approach to readings 2. Reflect what you promise as an experience 3. Indicate what your niche or uniqueness is and it must identify who would be the ideal recipient of your readings 4. Express a basic human value and reflect your authentic self. You can use a worksheet or journal to jot down and further perfect a mission statement that fits your needs. Tarot Salon
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