Learning Tarot

[Oroc]

What is the best way of learning Tarot? I mean for Divination but also for Meditation purposes. Web resources would be great.

Peace and hard work,

Oroc

[Anibis]

My advice won't cover all your bases, but at least a few. Find a deck you like. Order the Trump Cards from 0-XXI or vice versa. Then take the first on your list and sit with it, close your eyes, envision yourself in the card, and record what comes up. Do this for as long as you feel like you should be 'in' the card. I sometimes did it for weeks of months, depending on the size of the journey I was taking. Start to look for how metaphors applying to that path emerge in the world around you. When you have learned what you needed to for that path (you'll know), move onto the next. Don't quit and don't skip paths. If you go from 0-XXI, chances are you will manifest something, and if you go from XXI to 0 you will uncover something (this is how I always did it at first). I realize this pathworking advice does not directly relate to reading tarot, but believe me it will help. Also get a good book on the Hermetic Qabalah, and as you work the paths, note where they are on the tree. Learn the Hebrew letters and think about the various number coincidences. The more energy that goes in, the more you get out of it...
Enjoy...
-Ibisis-
P.S. Grounding and clearing will help you on this sort of journey.

[feranaja]

I like to wander around www.tarotpassages.com (http://www.tarotpassages.com) www.learntarot.com (http://www.learntarot.com) is a reliable site. If it appeals to you, I'd also suggest the BOTA course - www.bota.org (http://www.bota.org) - GREAT if you are interested in Qabalah, Western Mystery tradition etc...
just a few ideas...

fera

[vulnera]

in case you dont already have the link to the sacred texts archives, you can find a nice handful of classic free e-texts on the subject of tarot from authors such as papus, and ouspensky here:


http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/index.htm

[Absinthe]

I think the best way to learn tarot is to use it. You don't need to know what the cards mean. If you get an illustrated deck like the Universal Waite, it's pretty intuitive.

An Ace means something is beginning, a 10 means something is ending. Cups are emotions, Wands are actions etc. How do you feel when you look at the cards? What are the people in the cards doing? For example in the 5 of Cups in the Universal Waite, you have a man who looks like he is grieving over 3 upturned cups. He has lost something of emotional value, but the card is a 3 so we may still be in the early stages of something. There are 2 cups that are still full, but perhaps he hasn't seen them yet. Does he literally need to go back to the lesson of the 2 of Cups in order to move forward. Perhaps the situation depicted in the 3 of Cups has come to a sticky end - everything changes and perhaps he is mourning this loss.

People think the Major Arcana cards are a bit tricker, but they're not really. What does a Magician do? Changes things. What are the myths associated with magic and magicians? Mercury, Hermes, Thoth etc. The Empress is pregnant - something is being born. The Emperor is sitting on a throne wearing armour under his robe - be on your guard to protect your domain. It's not hard - make it up as you go along if you like!

Examine each card very closely. Memorise it so well you can picture it in your mind. I can't tell you how much this has helped me. A Tarot deck is a magickal tool - internalising it's energy is part of using it. Every so often look at the cards again and find something you missed.

When you are reading the cards, pay attention to what symbols jump out at you and think about what they might mean. What does a feather mean to you, or a fish or mountains and so forth.

The main thing to remember is that tarot isn't like McDonalds. It's more like a long, slow meal that takes time to prepare and to eat and it's often best when shared with friends :)

[Nalyd Khezr Bey]

There is no real best way to learn the Tarot outside of getting your hands on the deck and using it.

Here are the two methods I used when first learning the deck.

Do daily card meditations and keep a diary of them. Draw one card at the start of your day everyday. How does this card initially make you feel? Write that down. Then read up on what the card means from whatever sources you think speak to you. Write down anything you feel is significant. Keep this card in your mind and apply it's meaning to, or allow it to influence, everything you observe and experience all day. Write it all down. Keep a chart of significant correspondenses. Analyze these daily events at the end of the day. Banish and sleep on it. Start with a new card the next day and so on. You can modify this routine as you will.

Choose a reasonable number of cards to draw like three or four. Draw the first one and start telling a story based on whatever that particular card evokes in you. Allow the story to unfold as you draw each card. Pay attention to how you relate the cards to each other. This exercise helps with actual divination because a big part of it is attempting to read and unfold a series of events and the factors playing into them.

If you really want to get into the more esoteric attributions and relations I recommend, as Anibis does, learning at least some basic Qabalah and how the cards correspond to the Tree of Life, etc.