A Tarot Card Study Aid

I firmly believe that intuitive tarot reading should rest on a solid foundation of study. Read books, take notes, visit forums, compare decks, take more notes. Then let it all sink into your subconscious mind. Trust that during your readings you’ll know what to say without having to rummage through your mental file cabinet for memorized keywords.

Brigit at Biddytarot.com recently posted a brilliant tool on her blog at http://www.biddytarot.com/blog/tarot-card-profiles  that will help you study your cards in depth. In her blog post “Rapidly Deepen Your Tarot Knowledge with Tarot Card Profiles”, she provides a form to fill out that will help you think about each card from all angles. Print out 78 copies of the PDF file she provides, put them in a notebook, and you’ll have a personalized book of card meanings to go with your deck.

Here’s how I answered the questions on Biddy’s form for the Two of Batons from my favorite deck, the Avondo Brothers version of the Tarot de Marseilles.

Card: Two of Rods

Element:  Straight/Masculine suit. Fire and Earth – the life force

Keywords: Conflict, ambivalence, delays

Numerological:  Two = Duality

Key Phrase:  Can’t live with him, can’t live without him.

Story:  Identical crossed rods with the blue of emotion/intuition in the center and green vitality on the ends. Red hearts at top and bottom shimmer with heat and passion, while aiming sharp points at the blue center. Darts come in from the side pointing to the center and adding a feeling of stress and discomfort. Gold scrolls add support to the rods and seem to lock them into place. After ignition with the Ace comes the push-back, the reality check, and the struggle to manifest your plans.

General Meaning: Your attempts to assert yourself draw opposition, debates, criticism, rivalry or jealousy. Pause to regroup and gather your resources.

Career/Work/Finances: Jealous co-workers are sabotaging your project. An atmosphere of petty bickering at your work place.

Personality Type: Easily upset about little things. Overly sensitive to criticism and quick to lash out. Never feels prepared enough to move forward on a project.

Spirituality: Inability to commit to a path because you’re always finding little faults in the teachings, the way they conduct ritual, the personalities involved.

Relationship/Love: Constant bickering and petty drama. But you’re committed to the relationship, or at least enmeshed, so nothing will change for now.

Health/Well-being: Perfectionism causes chronic stress and its associated psychosomatic symptoms.

Seeing the pip cards as personality types is a brilliant idea. I’m going to ask all forty to introduce themselves to me. Maybe I’ll throw them a party, pour some Margaritas, and see what happens.