Training Wheel Tarot: Overcoming Beginner's Anxiety

139 Pages·2013·2.28 MB·English

by  Louis

Training Wheel Tarot:
Overcoming Beginner’s Anxiety
By Anthony Louis
Text copyright © 2013 Anthony Louis
All Rights Reserved
Kindle Edition 1.0
October 21, 2013
The image of the velocipedist on the book cover is from the September 1868
edition of Le Cenaure magazine (Paris) and, being over 100 years old, is in the
public domain.[1]
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Other Books by the Author
Horary Astrology
Tarot Plain and Simple
The Art of Forecasting with Solar Returns
A Geomantic Tarot Spread (Kindle e-book)
The Annotated Raphael’s Mundane Astrology (Kindle e-book) Primary
Directions in Astrology: A Primer (Kindle e-book) The Journey of the Tarot
Fool around the Zodiac (Kindle e-book) Tarot Beyond the Basics (to be
published by Llewellyn in 2014) <><><>
The author’s blog about astrology and tarot is at http://tonylouis.wordpress.com/
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
STEP ONE: The Major Issue Facing the Querent
Statement Zero [initiating the reading]
Statement 1 (Name, type, and orientation of card)
Statement 1a (if a Major Arcanum):
Look up the card:
Statement 1b (if a Minor Arcanum)
Statement 1b-1 (describe the tarot suit):
Statement 1b-2 (describe the number on the pip card):
Statement 1b-3 (if a court card):
Look up the card:
Statement 1c (dialogue):
Sample Reading: Card One
STEP TWO: Past Influences and Current Obstacles
Statement 2 (Name, type, and orientation of card)
Statement 2a (if a Major Arcanum):
Look up the card:
Statement 2b (if a Minor Arcanum)
Statement 2b-1 (describe the tarot suit):
Statement 2b-2 (describe the number on the pip card):
Statement 2b-3 (if a court card):
Look up the card:
Statement 2c (dialogue):
Sample Reading: Card Two
STEP THREE: Advice and Admonitions for the Querent
Statement 3 (Name, type, and orientation of card)
Statement 3a (if a Major Arcanum):
Look up the card:
Statement 3b (if a Minor Arcanum)
Statement 3b-1 (describe the tarot suit):
Statement 3b-2 (describe the number on the pip card):
Statement 3b-3 (if a court card):
Look up the card:
Statement 3c (dialogue):
Sample Reading: Card Three
STEP FOUR: The Likely Outcome
Statement 4 (Name, type, and orientation of card)
Statement 4a (if a Major Arcanum):
Look up the card:
Statement 1b (if a Minor Arcanum)
Statement 4b-1 (describe the tarot suit):
Statement 4b-2 (describe the number on the pip card):
Statement 4b-3 (if a court card):
Look up the card:
Statement 4c (dialogue):
Sample Reading: Card Four
A Little Bit of Astrology
The Seven Visible Planets
The Modern Planets
The Signs of the Zodiac
The Four Elements
APPENDIX A: The MAJOR ARCANA
0. The Fool
I. The Magician/Juggler
II. The High Priestess/Female Pope
III. The Empress
IV. The Emperor
V. The Hierophant/Pope
VI. The Lovers
VII. The Chariot
VIII. Strength/Lust
IX. The Hermit
X. The Wheel of Fortune
XI. Justice
XII. The Hanged Man/Traitor
XIII. Death
XIV. Temperance/Art
XV. The Devil/Pan
XVI. The Tower
XVII. The Star
XVIII. The Moon
XIX. The Sun
XX: Judgment
XXI: The World:
APPENDIX B: The Minor Arcana or Suit Cards
The Numbered Cards (Pips)
ACES
Ace of Wands
Ace of Cups
Ace of Swords
Ace of Pentacles/Coins
TWOS
Two of Wands
Two of Cups
Two of Swords
Two of Pentacles/Coins
THREES
Three of Wands
Three of Cups
Three of Swords
Three of Pentacles/Coins
FOURS
Four of Wands
Four of Cups
Four of Swords
Four of Pentacles/Coins
FIVES
Five of Wands
Five of Cups
Five of Swords
Five of Pentacles/Coins
SIXES
Six of Wands
Six of Cups
Six of Swords
Six of Pentacles/Coins
SEVENS
Seven of Wands
Seven of Cups
Seven of Swords
Seven of Pentacles/Coins
EIGHTS
Eight of Wands
Eight of Cups
Eight of Swords
Eight of Pentacles/Coins
NINES
Nine of Wands
Nine of Cups
Nine of Swords
Nine of Pentacles/Coins
TENS
Ten of Wands
Ten of Cups
Ten of Swords
Ten of Pentacles/Coins
The Court Cards
PAGES
Page of Wands
Page of Cups
Page of Swords
Page of Pentacles/Coins
KNIGHTS
Knight of Wands
Knight of Cups
Knight of Swords
Knight of Pentacles/Coins
QUEENS
Queen of Wands
Queen of Cups
Queen of Swords
Queen of Pentacles/Coins
KINGS
King of Wands
King of Cups
King of Swords
King of Pentacles/Coins
EPILOGUE
INTRODUCTION
This e-book is intended for absolute beginners. If you are new to the tarot and
would like to do a basic tarot reading as quickly as possible without expending a
lot of effort, this book presents an easy way to get your feet wet. If you are an
experienced tarot reader, there may be little new in these pages, except perhaps
an opportunity to glimpse the simple and direct approach the author takes to
doing a tarot reading when you are but a novice at this art. Just remember that
beginners have to start somewhere. Like a child first learning to ride a bicycle, a
newbie tarot reader may need training wheels at the start.
There is evidence that centuries ago decks of cards were used to tell fortunes, not
by interpreting the cards themselves, but rather by using the cards to select pre-
written texts in a book of predictions. The method presented here is inspired by
this ancient technique. It will allow beginning tarot readers to consult the tarot
without anxiety, hence the title Training Wheel Tarot: Overcoming Beginner’s
Anxiety. My hope is that once the reader experiences the fun and beauty of the
tarot in this playful and effortless way, he or she will want to learn how to read
the cards in earnest.
Another advantage to this simple technique is that it completely eliminates the
trepidation new tarot students experience when they first try to read for someone
else and find that their mind goes blank. Often newbies memorize a list of key
words for the tarot cards but they panic when it comes time to put those
meanings together in front of a live person. The method in this text takes all the
guesswork out of doing a reading. You just follow the instructions and say what
is written in the text, and the reading simply evolves from the cards and their
associated sentences.
This beginner’s training-wheel method of tarot reading will be presented as a
series of steps. If you follow the steps in order, you will be able to assemble a
tarot reading that makes some sense to the querent. It won’t be as polished as a
reading from a seasoned tarot adept, but it will be more or less on target.
To keep matters simple, we will not allow the querent to ask open-ended
questions as you would in a “real” tarot consultation. (Tarot readers use the word
querent to refer to the person who requests a reading.) We will always begin
with the same question, which will be a variant of “What is the most important
matter confronting the querent at this time?”
Obviously, to do a reading you will need a standard tarot deck with 78 cards: 22
Major Arcana or trump cards, 40 pip cards (the Ace through 10 of each suit), and
16 court cards (usually called kings, queens, knights and pages). The suit cards
of the tarot are also called the Minor Arcana. The four suits are typically labeled
Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles.
Wands and Swords, being long and stiff, are considered masculine phallic
images. The situations depicted by Wands and Swords cards usually convey an
assertive, enthusiastic, outer directed energy. Cups and Pentacles/Coins, being
round without pointy edges, are considered feminine receptive images. The
situations depicted on Cups and Pentacles cards usually convey a passive,
calming, inner directed energy.
Choose a deck with images that appeal to you esthetically. You might as well
enjoy looking at the cards while you are effortlessly piecing together your
querent’s fortune. If you visit a site like amazon.com and search for tarot cards,
you will be shown a list of decks in order of their popularity with images of the
cards from each deck.
Once you get your deck, look through its little white instruction book (LWB)
and make sure you can distinguish the Major Arcana from the tarot suit cards,
which consist of the 40 pips and the 16 court cards. You may also wish to read
over the interpretations the LWB gives to the cards, since they are the meanings