Tarot Made Easy By Black Hart

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Postby Mandrake » Nov 21st, '07, 11:40



It's actually a full course on Tarot, each card has at least one and half A4 pages of detail about it and then there's all the other stuff. If you start at the beginning right now, we probably won't see you again until Easter :D !

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Postby magikmax » Nov 21st, '07, 12:04

that sounds pretty good, thanks again for the link

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Postby themagicwand » Nov 21st, '07, 17:38

Bookwise you can't do better really than a book like the Complete Idiots Guide to the Tarot. Nice and cheap, loads of info and spreads. There's also a new range of rather lovely books with titles such as the Wicca Bible, the Palmist Bible etc. One of the range is the Tarot Bible. It's very good. Stocked in Waterstones, Amazon et al.

After that we get into cold reading etc. A search on TM will find you loads of info and appropriate reading matter.

Your journey has just begun... :wink:

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Postby Markdini » Nov 21st, '07, 18:01

All though me and Mr Wand have Slightly diffrent views on the tarot. I will say learning from other sources will help out when you get some one who has had a few reading done for them.

Not to say Keiths book isnt excellent it is.

I am master of misdirection, look over there.

We are not falling out young Welshy, we are debating, I think farlsy is an idiot he thinks I am one. We are just talking about who is the bigger idiot.

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Postby VoodooMick » Nov 24th, '07, 00:57

May I add that I have personally found "Tarot Plain & Simple" by Anthony Louis a really comprehensive "shut-eye" guide. It uses the Robin Wood deck, which is compatible with the Rider Waite interpretations and it has nice features like keywords for each card, and then key phrases for each card, and it also attempts to integrate the Tarot with things like Astrology and Numerology.
When I began my journey into learning Tarot I just bought deck after deck and book after book and cross-referenced everything like crazy until I felt that I had found my own personal common ground between all of the information from all the different sources.
If I had my time again, I would opt for the Universal Waite Tarot Deck as a beginner's deck. It is basically the Rider Waite Deck with enhanced colouring of the pictures. And it is the Rider Waite symbolism that is most commonly referred to in most conventional Tarot books. It is rich in symbolism compared with other decks.. for example.. each of the 4 knights (from each suit) is sitting on a horse. Each horse is very different.. eg one looks like a shire horse, another like a racehorse etc. Each of the kings is sitting on a different type of throne. Choose a deck like Morgan Greer and you loose all that rich and wonderful symbolism which can help stimulate the creative faculties. I believe that Keith's system uses the Marseilles deck? Whilst I have not seen Keith's system first-hand, I am sure it is a great system as it comes with a great reputation, but the Marseilles deck is not a deck I would reccomend to a beginner... as all the minor arcana cards have the most minimal of imagery. Ie the 9 of wands will just have literally 9 wands on the card with no illustrative scene.
I found it very useful to compare a deck like Osho Zen with a more conventional Rider Waite deck to find the common ground between a Buddhist interpretation of (say) the 2 of Cups and another approach. The beauty of learning the Tarot fully is that you can then get decks that bring in astrological symbols (eg the Crowley Deck), quabalistic thinking, pagan thinking, runic symbols and so forth and then you can expand into other philosophies with the knowledge already learned.
I hope this isn't all too much information, but hey, it's a thread that I feel I know a little bit about. So there you go.

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Postby FRK » Nov 24th, '07, 01:03

Thanks for that VooDoomick, I have been thinking about getting the black hart book but was not happy with the cards supplied, you have answered the question.
Riders it is..

Last edited by FRK on Nov 26th, '07, 21:43, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Markdini » Nov 24th, '07, 01:07

FRK : A lot of these tarot books will tell you have to hunt round find a deck you have a "conection" with then wrap them up in a peace of black cloth to keep the magic inside.

I say find a deck you can read the pictures of. And you are away. Oh my deck that came from keith was the Spanish tarot.

I am master of misdirection, look over there.

We are not falling out young Welshy, we are debating, I think farlsy is an idiot he thinks I am one. We are just talking about who is the bigger idiot.

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Postby Part-Timer » Nov 24th, '07, 01:20

I'd say that it was very useful information, VoodooMick.

The very first Tarot I ever saw (at least in person) was one my mother bought from an occult shop. It was a Marseille Tarot. That deck was a four-colur (faux) woodprint one - very rustic.

She also bought a book on reading the Tarot and, of course, it was Rider-Waite, just as you say!

On the one hand, the lack of additional symbolism in the older decks (and some of the new ones) means that there's not a lot to help people remember meanings, I think that the Marseille does have a certain rustic, old-world charm to it. Maybe not good for a beginner, but a potentially classy deck for someone a bit more experienced.

Enrique Enriquez is a fan of the Marseille Tarot.

I think that Keith sends out either a Spanish or Marseille deck. I got the latter, although it's a rather more modern-looking version.

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Postby VoodooMick » Nov 24th, '07, 01:42

magikmax wrote: Being a complete beginner, I'm unsure of the difference between the different types of Tarot cards, the Mareilles and the Rider-Waite, if it's just a case that this one is easier to learn, or more traditional, the book doesn't explain the difference, so it would be interesting to know what the board's feeelings are on this.....

.....I like this approach, however, there's a couple of things that I feel are missing:

1. There's only a few spreads shown
2. Other people have mentioned something about different meanings if the cards are reversed? This isn't covered.
3. As a complete beginner in this fascinating allied art, I have NO experience of any sort of reading, other than so called psychic radio readings. Mr Hart gives you a few tips on setting the atmosphere, ie, a darkened room with candles, but doesn't really give you a suggested 'script' as it were, as to what to say, although he does tell you what to avoid saying, so you don't make any Tarot 'etiquette' gaffs.

Now, based on the above, I'm not entirely sure if I would be comfortable giving a reading unless I knew about the reversed cards thing, and also, how on earth I would stretch a reading of 4 or 5 cards out to 20 minutes to half an hour? Would a reader typically have the sitter deal more cards? Also, if this is the case, do the original cards get shuffled back into the Tarot, or left aside, and what if the next set of cards give a completely different answer?




I have just read Magikmax's message after sending my own contribution so there may be a risk of me repeating a little bit, apologies!
The Marseilles is an older deck but it is not as easy to learn as the Rider Waite. Every deck out there is another artist's/philosopher's impression of each of the cards.. eg if the 2 of Cups is a card of relationships, there are many different approaches to the painting of a scene that would illustrate "relationships". The problem with the Marseilles deck is that with the 2 of Cups, you just get 2 Cups on the deck.. it's a bit like a pip card.. the only cards in the Marseilles Deck that have illustrations are the Major Arcana, ie the ones with the names to them eg The Lovers, The Devil, The Moon etc.

I wouldn't get too caught up in being worried about "Tarot Ettiquette Gaffs" and "Reversals".. because in my experience in the world of Psychic fairs, the highest profile readers are doing their own thing with the Cards.. in many ways if you start opening a reading with laying out the Celtic Cross, you will probably loose credibility points because that is the "amateur", "merely mechanical" way, and will be looked down on compared to the truly intuitive, clairvoyant style of reading, ie improvisational stylee!
I will never forget starting out and doing a particular Psychic Fair years ago and seeing the highest profile reader of that particular fair working only with the 22 Major Arcana.. and dismissing the 56 Minor Arcana cards... her excuse being that she was a clairvoyant intuitive and Spirit worked through her with the most powerful archetypes... there was a cynical voice in me thinking "yehrite.. you just couldn't be bothered learning the whole deck!" but she was busy busy busy! Because she exuded confidence! And there was I, filling my pants because I wasn't entirely sure if I'd got the meaning of "The Hierophant" straight in my head yet or not.
I think the beginners' fear of someone saying to you "NO that isn't the correct meaning of the Wheel of Fortune!" is merely the voice of an understandable lack of confidence and nervousness about getting a reading wrong.
The ultimate "out" to use is that the meanings of the cards shift with each reading, with each person being read for, with each position they appear and with each card they appear NEXT to. Each card has multiple meanings and all the stuff out there is merely to stimulate your creative (psychic?) forces into action.
A reversed card could minimise, block or maximise the energy of that card, depending on what your intuition was telling you! I don't use reversed cards because I don't like pictures that are upside down.. it just messes with my head.
And in 10 years no one has ever pulled me up on this.
As for how many cards to use in a reading and whether to put them back or not? It's up to your intuition to decide those things! And it could vary from reading to reading.. you must find a system that suits you and be your own authority that validates that system.. in other words... it is so, because you say it is so!
Ultimately, the client in front of you, doesn't really give a monkey's nuts about what you think the Wheel of Fortune means when sitting next to the 6 of Swords compared with what "the book" says. What they care about is themselves, their lives, their problems and their angsts.
You won't be deemed a successful reader if you get the meanings of the cards right if they don't like what you are saying to them. You will be deemed a successful reader if what you say empowers the Client. Conventional meanings be blown!

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Postby VoodooMick » Nov 24th, '07, 01:51

Markdini wrote:FRK : A lot of these tarot books will tell you have to hunt round find a deck you have a "conection" with then wrap them up in a peace of black cloth to keep the magic inside.

I say find a deck you can read the pictures of. And you are away.


I think what the books are saying and what you are saying is exactly the same thing.. just using a different language.
As for wrapping them in a black cloth... well I hope that anyone using Tarot doesn't just take them out of the cardboard box that they bought them in.. yukk!! The black silk shows some respect for the cards... if not a nice piece of silk or some similar cloth (doesn't have to be black) then a nice wooden box... but NOT the cardboard box that they are sold in... they are not a deck of bikes!

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Postby magikmax » Nov 26th, '07, 09:36

thanks for your help, VoodooMick

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Postby mark lewis » Nov 26th, '07, 14:39

I would suggest a purple cloth since purple is a spiritual colour. Bishops wear purple robes for example.

I used to only use a purple silk. In recent years I have a decorative wooden box but the lining inside the box is purple.

Purple is the way to go in these matters.

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Postby mark lewis » Nov 26th, '07, 14:49

In the wonderful book on the Tarot entitled "Tarotmania" by Jan Woudhuysen I seem to remember that only the major arcana was used although I may be wrong.

However as much as I like that book I use all the cards available.

The traditional meanings of the cards are of no importance. It is what they mean to YOU that is the important thing. The cards are merely a tool for you to use your intuition.

You get your vibes from the actual person sitting in front of you. The cards just give you the story and you fit the story to the person. It is a bit like being a tailor and making a suit fit.

The fact that there are so many ways of interpreting the cards is what makes it work. As I pointed out in my psychic course for magicians the same spread of cards can come up for Mother Theresa as well as for Adolf Hitler. It doesn't mean they get the same reading. Since there are so many meanings if you use your imagination and intuition you can make the reading fit both Adolf and Theresa.

This belies the standard theory used that the cards do not come up at random as in Jung's theory of synchronicity. I DO believe they come up at random. However you fit the cards to the person and that is where your psychic ability (however you define psychic) comes in.

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Postby mark lewis » Nov 26th, '07, 15:00

Once I start on the Tarot I cannot stop. With regard to the deck used I do agree that the Rider Waite deck is probably the best for the beginner since it has imagery and a picture on every card.

However I don't like some of the imagery since it can possibly scare the client. It certainly scares me but I have a squeamish disposition and I don't like the bloodthirsty images.

I therefore only use the Rider Waite for mail order readings where the client cannot see them or for repeat readings. The advantage of using them for repeat readings especially if a client has seen you perhaps 3 or 4 times is that your phraseology will be different and in fact you are actually using a different system. I have two tarot card systems because I use two different types of decks. The variation makes for happy customers if they come back again and again over a period of years. (I don't encourage clients to come back to me too often as I want them to take charge of their own lives and not depend on me)

The deck I use most of all is the Prediction deck. It is a little harder to read for a beginner because there is no imagery on the minor arcana. However I combine my knowledge of numerology with the meaning of the suits and this works quite well. ONe advantage of this type of deck is that I can change the meaning of the cards at will and the client is none the wiser. I don't want to be hemmed in to strict interpretations or what the client imagines the meanings of the cards.

The deck was produced by Prediction magazine and I hope it is still available in the UK. I find it a difficult deck to obtain in Canada so when I visit Britain I usually purchase a deck.

It has a calming energy because of all the blue in the cards.

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Postby Mandrake » Nov 26th, '07, 15:26

mark lewis wrote:I would suggest a purple cloth since purple is a spiritual colour. Bishops wear purple robes for example
Indeed they do and the idea was 'borrowed' from the Roman tradition of Emperors wearing that colour as a sign of status and grandeur - it was a very expensive colour to use to dye fabric in those days.

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