Learn Tarot Cards Meanings Without Rote Memorization Or Shortcuts (Apprentice Tarot Lessons)
Introduction
To the aspiring Master Tarot Diviner, the currently suggested ways of learning card meanings make little sense. One group suggests learning card meanings via the outdated method of rote memorization (sometimes including every symbol on a deck!)
Another group appeals to people’s lower nature (in particular, their laziness) by supposed shortcuts to the card meanings in the from of their abstract correspondences such as their elements, numbers, sephiroth (Kabbalistic spheres) and so on. Whilst there is nothing wrong with incorporating correspondences to aid memory of the actual meanings, this is not what these people suggest (I have checked and double-checked to ensure that my criticism is valid). Such shortcuts make long delays to mastery by providing the mere abstract shell without context or specific meanings.
This article is written to provide a sensible way to learn and assimilate card meanings into the long-term memory. The methods described are based largely on general principles inferred from the findings of modern memory science.
Where to find tarot card meanings
Some people ask for book recommendations to learn card meanings. But I do not know of any good beginner tarot books. Instead, I suggest that you find the Rider Waite Smith meanings on some internet websites, online.
Free resources for the popular Rider Waite Smith meanings
Some good websites to find the Rider Waite Smith card meanings are;
If you want to buy books then some good ones which include card meanings are;
Paul Fenton-Smith’s Advanced Tarot
Josephine McCarthy’s Tarot Skills for the 21st Century
Robert Wang’s Qabalistic Tarot
Learning card meanings is more than memorization
Why I don’t teach card meanings
If I simply give you card meanings, you might memorize them but you will take far longer to assimilate them. Whereas if I force you to collect card meanings from some recommended sources and make your own notes on them, you will absorb them into long-term memory. This assimilation will be one major step in your mastership journey within the 4-7 year timeframe of the Tarot Apprenticeship course.
Ask yourself: “Why am I learning tarot divination?”
Having a strong motivation for learning tarot divination won’t just help you push through when things get difficult; it will aid in the learning process.
Practise tarot divination regularly
Whilst this tip might seem rather obvious, consider that it is seldom applied in tarot reading courses. Of course, the Tarot Apprenticeship course does include 500 hours of practise just to read Journeyman rank (professional competency). This large amount of reading serves several important purposes but it will now be clear that one of them is the assimilation of the approximately 780 card meanings (that’s 10 meanings per card including both upright and reversed).
Exercises for learning tarot card meanings
Start with Major Arcana only
It has been reported that some Marseille readers never progress onto the Minor Arcana cards from the Majors. Whilst I think that you should learn the 56 Minor Arcana cards as well, it is true that trying to learn all 78 tarot cards at once may be overwhelming. Therefore it is useful to learn the cards gradually. Here is my suggested order.
Major Arcana and 3 card spread. Build up to Major Arcana with a celtic cross.
Add in Ace-10 cards (i.e. excluding only the court cards from the deck) but start again at a 3 card spread. Build up to this with the celtic cross.
Add in the court cards to read with the full tarot deck, starting with a 3 card spread. Gradually build up to celtic cross.
Add in more complex layouts
Journal in the beginning but not once you’re good
The assimilation of tarot card meanings is an ancillary but useful effect of journalling your tarot readings. At least for the first 6-12 months, journalling is an essential practise, although it would be off topic to discuss why in this article.
Nevertheless, journalling appear to me as rather overrated in the tarot community. Once you have the card meanings down, I suggest reducing your journalling practise to only those occasions where you feel that a reading was significant in some way.
In my opinion, a lot of occultists are obsessed with writing everything down. But in my experience, the significant lessons stay with us without ever having to put pen to paper.
Questions about learning tarot card meanings
How long will it take to assimilate card meanings?
You can assimilate basic card meanings within 6-30 months. I myself learnt tarot card meanings within 6 months but I had things like a lot of time on my hands to be able to do this.
In addition to this, it will likely take you another 1-3 years to assimilate any set of esoteric correspondences attributed to the cards by occultists. Practising Western Esotericists will clearly assimilate their own chosen set of correspondences much sooner due to the personal connection which this information will have to their lives.
This means you can assimilate both the approximately 780 card meanings and their astrological, numerological, Kabbalistic and other esoteric correspondences in an estimated range of between 18 and 48 months, or 1.5-4 years.
Is learning card meanings a “life-long study?”
In my opinion, absolutely not. This is simply an pushed by leaders within the tarot community who have a heavy vested interest in selling you tarot-related things. Most of these people also link the tarot to Western Esoteric study and practise, especially with the Thoth or Rider Waite Smith deck.
To master tarot card symbolism, I suggest creating your own deck. This will force you to research symbols, draw them and place them on the cards in a way that forms the tarot archetypes anew. If you do this with due care and attention, this process alone will assimilate the tarot card symbolism into your long-term memory.
Conclusion
I should probably stop adding conclusion sections to my drafts when unnecessary.
