By Cilla Conway
A pagan gathering is a good place to run a Tarot workshop; the participants usually understand what the tarot is and what it can do. Ania and I had a really good attendance - around 30 people crammed into a medieval tent in a field! - so Ania began by asking how many people had tarot decks. The majority of people did and most had some idea of tarot card meanings. The numbers dipped slightly when Ania asked how many had used them to read for themselves, and dropped (substantially) again to the question of how many had used them with others. Lack of confidence is always an issue with the Tarot; and there's also the issue of learning at least 78 meanings - more, if you use reversals.
One person said her main problem was how each card was affected by the others around it. This was something that worried me when I was learning. But somehow, after a while, you do begin to see how they work. Using spreads - as we usually do - each card has its specific meaning modified by the position. For example, if you found the Eight of Swords in the position of 'central issue', and the Four of Pentacles (Discs) in the Environment position, you would probably say that the client is stuck with old ways of thinking or ideas of duty, and they need to cut the cords that bind them to those outdated views. The Four of Pentacles shows us that this is mainly about money, but also where they fit into their environment - perhaps they are holding on like grim death to ideas of money and security. The client has probably gone around and around this problem mentally (swords) but the combination of material security (discs) and their old issues have kept them stuck. As a foundation card, you then might find the Six of Cups (nostalgia, looking back) and know that they've previously had emotional issues about moving forward, and this has of course contributed to the issue. But if they approached the problem from a different point of view, they might realise they have actually moved on. And so you go on.
Tarot reading, as Ania pointed out, is really a combination of life skills, being able to read imagery, and intuitive knowledge. You really don't have to be psychic, just aware. I've met a number of psychic people who can't read tarot particularly well because the messages in their heads get in the way. On the other hand, you find words, images, or intuitive 'knowing' do start 'coming in' as soon as you begin to trust your own abilities. That seems to be the way with intuition - the more you trust it, the better it works.
The subject of which deck to use also came up. I would encourage people to choose their cards that best "speak to them", using a combination of feeling and intuition. There will be one deck that calls to you, and that will be the one you need to work with. (By the way many people have heard that you shouldn't buy tarot for yourself. This is superstition and quite counter-productive, in my view. At least if you buy them, you have an emotional, intuitive and material investment in them!)
I ended the workshop by giving on-the-spot one-card readings from the deck for anyone who asked - it is amazing to see this in practice. As always, it is a mystery how the cards work, but when you see how accurate even one card can be, you remember that the tarot itself is a mystery - and all the better for it.
Cilla Conway
Cilla is a visionary artist who has been reading since 1981, when The Intuitive Tarot was completed. Her approach is psycho-spiritual, based on Jungian philosophy, and she is a member of the Tarot Association of the British Isles.
http://www.theintuitivetarot.com
http://tarotcardmeanings.qarf.com
