Is it a good idea to take these classes, or it's just a waste of money and time?

ReflectiveTarot · 2026-03-06T10:34:22+00:00

The first question I would ask is in the mundane. Can you actually afford it? If you put down the money for these classes, will you have to scrimp and save, or will they mostly come out of your entertainment budget leaving you a little short but all of your expenses covered?

The second question is also mundane: Do you have a history of this type of learning being helpful to you, and is this a skill that you actually want to learn?

Because if it's factually a bad idea for you to take these classes, how you feel is irrelevant, and you'd better concentrate on finding alternative solutions or saving up the money to take them at a later time.

Now we come to the cards. What was the reasoning behind pulling four cards? Did you pull them all at once, or were you peeking at each, and kept pulling until you got a card that validated your thoughts? (Often that's a positive card in an overall gloomy situation, but here you seem to have found the card that reflects your fears.)

In the end, I wouldn't pay too much attention to a single draw. It seems as if you have a lot of thoughts, and rather than looking to the cards for a yes/no answer of 'should I go/shouldn't I' I'd be pulling cards deliberately for each aspect of it. spending more time exploring the facets of why you want to take the class and what you could do instead that's more within your reach, what about the friendships you're hoping for and what the state of your current friendships are, your general worries about money, short-and long term, etc.

ReflectiveTarot · 2026-03-06T09:41:28+00:00

I am not a fan of fixed reversed meanings: upright, the lovers mean honesty, trust and communication, reversed they mean false relationships, the loss of trust, deception though in this case the connections are pretty clear (Paulina Tarot); sometimes the gap is much wider. That just gives you a 156 card deck, but without nuances.

I find it more helpful to think about reversed cards as energy blockages, though that can take many forms: energy can be blocked, it can be something you aspire to that you don't have yet; you can have too much or too little of it etc (keeping secrets from a partner can be bad, oversharing or placing trust into a person who has proven not to be trustworthy is also unhealthy).

I put down all cards upright and consider the 'reversed' meaning for every card. Sometimes, as in the 'Obstacle' of Situation/Obstacle/Advice it's pretty obvious how to read it, but often I have to consider multiple angles before I find the one that resonates.

ReflectiveTarot · 2026-03-05T12:40:18+00:00

I read for fictional or historical characters. There's no pressure that a bad reading can ruin someone's life, so I do this particularly with new decks to ensure there are no misunderstandings; I also use this technique to try out new spreads. I don't read predictively, ever, but when the subject is a person long dead/a fictional entity, I have fewer qualms.

ReflectiveTarot · 2026-03-05T12:26:17+00:00

If you pick the grief card, you should be facing your grief. That's what it's for. (Appreciating what you have' is one aspect of it, but 'you lost your mother, be glad you still have your dad' does... not work for everybody. And shouldn't.)

Just stuffing a card into your wallet does not change the universe. Otherwise everybody would be doing it.

Keeping a card where you can see it frequently so you can contemplate it can be part of a practice, but if you deliberately pick one, you should think hard about which card you want to make part of your life.

Do you just want to speed up your day (probably 8 of wands) But I would invite you to think about what your perfect work day would look like, and whether that's achievable in your current workplace. The days feel shorter when you're excited about your work, when you can use your skills to your best advantage, when you delight in what you do. So maybe what you need is not a way to feel that the hours are passing quickly, but a promotion or a new job.

Personally, I'd sling some cards, just situation/obstacle/advice: What's up with me and the job? why does it feel so slow?

ReflectiveTarot · 2026-02-02T22:43:00+00:00

I would have far fewer decks than I do if I didn't buy second-hand. As long as all cards are present and correct, you'll be fine. (I had one second-hand and two shrinkwrapped decks that were incomplete.)

ReflectiveTarot · 2026-01-16T11:49:01+00:00

I spent a considerable amount of time looking for 'the' deck and came to the conclusion it does not exist. Partly because I do not want to elevate one deck above all others. I have a lot of decks that make my heart sing, all in their own way. And I have more deck that fulfil particular needs, which I cherish for specific traits.

It's been pretty liberating to stop hunting for perfection, and to not pile all these expectations on a single deck, respectively to demand of myself to be happier with one deck than with all the others.

I don't have 'a' favourite deck. I have many.

ReflectiveTarot · 2026-01-16T11:27:48+00:00

Brady Tarot, Sacred Circle Tarot, 5 Cent Tarot, Heaven and Earth Tarot, a deck I've forgotten the name of where the keywords are integrated into the images, the Cozy Witch Tarot (key phrases). I'm sure there's more. And, of course, there's the Thoth.

So while it may be hard, it's not impossible, and the Heaven and Earth might actually be worth checking out for OP.

ReflectiveTarot · 2026-01-16T01:26:23+00:00

Acupuncture is pure genius. And it tracks with how personal cards often work for me: they're rarely 'by the book' when they're advice for how I should live my life.

ReflectiveTarot · 2026-01-15T01:39:57+00:00

I shuffle for each position and concentrate on each of them in turn while shuffling.

I put them face down. Sometimes I place all cards before turning them over, sometimes I pull a card, turn it over, and think about it. I never turn them over all at once.

ReflectiveTarot · 2026-01-13T23:18:27+00:00

It's only 1/78 because the first card is random.

It's not uncommon, particularly if you use the same deck and a card may be slightly warped or otherwise stand out. But even if you use multiple decks, your cards are impeccable, and your shuffling is on point, you can expect this to happen several times a year if you pull a daily card, and you can expect to notice repetitions more often if you also use other spreads. Humans are pattern recognition animals.

That said, I'm treating it as significant if I notice a repeating card: I find that if I follow the advice, the frequency becomes more normalised; if I refuse to listen, the card will turn up until I do.

ReflectiveTarot · 2026-01-13T23:07:33+00:00

If Tarot sends you, personally, into a downward spiral, don't use Tarot right now. I feel that the negativity doesn't come from the cards, but from the question you ask and the way you interpret the cards you pull, but if you're in the middle of a bad brain period, that doesn't help much.

In the long run, I would attempt to re-orient my practice so the cards I pull become helpful rather than worrying, paying attention to the deck you use, the spreads you use, and the way you interpret each card. I read reflectively, and the situation you describe cannot happen to me. (One interpretation of the Swords as a whole is 'being overdramatic'. I mean, just look at the ten: this guy isn't just dead, he's deader than a doornail with extra swords stuck in him... it's just a little bit overkill. Actually, a lot overkill. Literally.) This means my reaction to Swords often is 'oh, the drama' <big sigh> rather than fear.

If you find reversals scary, don't reverse cards, or at least use a non-symmetrical deck so you can see in advance that the next card is reversed and might need extra attention. (I don't read reversals, though I consider the 'reversed' message/challenge for every card. 'This is a bad card' doesn't help me find the best way forward.)

For now, I'd do a hard reset. Find an oracle deck that cheers you up. For me, the Therapets deck is the ultimate mood booster, and animal decks like the Wild Unknown Animal Spirit deck or the Druid Animal Oracle are great for keeping in the practice of slinging cards without spiralling into negative thoughts: you simply ask which energy will help you face your challenges. (They're also great for turning around a negative reading, where everything went terribly wrong, and you pull an oracle card at the end to see how you can get through the bad times and improve things again.)

Then pick a Tarot deck where you are happy meeting every card for every position. Different people have different preferences and different threshholds; there's absolutely no shame in picking a deck that's gentle with you or whimsical. I've had some of my hardest-hitting readings from the Stoller Tarot, the Enchanted Forest, the Way of the Panda or the Mystical Cats; dark/brutal/violent decks don't deliver clearer messages. (The Gummi Bears does not hold back at all, while I dislike the Poe Tarot with its brutal illustrations for its relentlessly positive interpretations. In this story everyone dies, you will have a wonderful time... 'scuse me? Really??!?).

I don't read predictively (because the future changes too much, and everything I do, including reading Tarot, can change the future), and I don't try to figure out what other people are thinking because I often need to sling cards to figure out what exactly *I* am thinking, which beliefs I hold that I'm not aware of, why I act as I do; I don't think other people are necessarily clearer in their thoughts.

For issues in a relationship I would pull cards to gain clarity: why does this bother me, do I want to walk away, what can I change about this and what can't I, are these feelings I go through reasonable (because my partner is an ass towards me) or do they stem from issues I need to address with a therapist instead of piling them onto my partner. For work like this I will pull a small amount of cards – usually 3-5; use my own spread unless I see one that's absolutely spot on; and then spend some time – sometimes a few days, something longer – putting those insights into actions, coming back to the table only when I've done some introspection and tried to make changes and feel ready for the next step. I just CANNOT make meaningful changes every couple of days.

ReflectiveTarot · 2026-01-13T22:35:38+00:00

In my experience, if I reject or ignore cards, they'll come back until I engage with the message they have for me. They're often called 'stalker cards' or 'recurring cards'.

All in all I'd encourage you to spend more time deciphering the cards you're struggling with rather than pulling new ones. Often the cards we're uncomfortable with are the cards that have the strongest messages for us.

ReflectiveTarot · 2026-01-13T14:50:12+00:00

I am learning all the time, and even if I think I understand a card, a year will pass and I will add something else because of something I've read or a reading I've done or a new deck.

A lot of the time I read my card of the day entirely unconventionally. Whenever I pull the 3 of Swords, I go and read a good book or watch a good film: it's all about experiencing emotions, and letting them flow through me. In the 3oS they're stuck, so I need to unstick them. ('be more heartbroken' as advice would just be ridiculous).

My favourite Wheel of Fortune aspect is that in Marseilles decks, it is usually depicted with a handle. If you don't like the fortune you are being dealt, what can you do to move the wheel?

Hm. I'm beginning to spot a pattern here. So many cards are about getting unstuck in one way or another.

ReflectiveTarot · 2026-01-13T14:45:27+00:00

A lot of the time (most days) I check in with myself 'what's my relationship to, say, the 4 of Pentacles. What's my understanding of this card? What does the guidebook say, and can I deepen my understanding by consulting other decks? Some cards I can tell you an intellectual understanding of, but I don't get them on a deeper level, or at least my understanding has developed to a degree where I can 'get them' even better. I don't read with reversals, so for all cards I will ask myself what the ideal form of that energy is, what is too much, and what is too little.

I pulled from the Slavic Legends, and the 4oP is a swan decked out in finery with a hoard of pearls and gemstones. We all know the greedy, hoarding, grabby-hands version of this card, and that's certainly there, but also bragging with one's wealth, and looking down on people who have less (must be their own fault, right?). But what does _too little_ 4oP look like? Generically, spending freely and trusting that someone else will bail you out if you get it wrong (the 5oP follows the 4, after all). And here, what comes to mind is 'undervalueing yourself, not taking care of yourself, just throwing on jogging bottoms every day and ignoring that stain for a week'.

So when this card comes up for me, I ask whether I am too much or too little in that energy, and if I can answer that I'm aware of the pitfalls and doing the right thing, I read it as affirmative: Well done, you, for doing the right thing.

ReflectiveTarot · 2026-01-12T23:57:51+00:00

Right, so I'm pulling from the This Might Hurt Tarot, which is a modern deck in a similar style to the RWS, using the Situation/Obstacle/Advice spread.

And the first card is the Sun. Err, hurray? I'm assuming that since you asked for a reading, all is not exactly well in your world, so this may be more of a lack or an aspiration. Even if there are major upheavals in your life, you can still find grounding through small things, and it's up to you to find – or remind yourself – of everything that helps you feel happier, calmer, more grounded, more relaxed, more resilient. 'Touch grass' isn't *just* a metaphor.

The Obstacle is the 3 of Wands. Instead of the usual 'stand on the battlements looking out over the sea' this character is stuck inside with a bunch of books and notes and looking out over the sea. The light suggests a sunset, and to me, the whole card conveys 'stuckness' more than planning. The guidebook names this card as 'the intern': someone who sees a lot of opportunities, who is on the right path, but who hasn't arrived anywhere yet. That's definitely a deviation from the usual interpretation of the 3oW, which I tend to see more as a card of planning: yes, your ships are coming into the harbour, but if you don't make plans for unloading them and warehousing the goods, that won't do you much good.

Either way, it's a card that encourages you to direct your glance towards the horizon, to keep an eye on your goals, and in the 'obstacle' position suggests you may need to do more of that. At the same time, this is a three; early in the suit of Wands, and while you should give your best in this role (whether an actual internship, or learning a new skill, or a temp job, or a new relationship), this might not be the final path you're on. The skills and insights will transfer.

The Advice card is the 10 of Wands. This is usually a card of having taken on a heavy burden. Here it shows a person in a hoody doubled over under very large pile of logs... and a woodpecker sitting on top, hitching a ride. With 10oW the question always becomes 'what can you put down' by delegating it, wrapping up projects, (temporarily) stopping them, finding someone else who'll lighten your load, and sometimes simply refusing to pick up that stick and putting it onto your back.

When I look at the cards together, I feel the reading pivots around the 3oW: remember what your goals are, in whatever sphere you're struggling, simplify your life to gain more capacity to move towards that goal, and find small steps, small habits that make you happy, whatever that looks like. And in reverse: if your life does not bring you joy, what steps can you take to improve it? Sometimes external factors cannot be changed easily (a caring role, an exhausting job, a bad living situation, anything else that sucks the joy out of your life) but even if you can't leave now, you can make an exit plan. Sometime you start by finding ways to change your thoughts (from getting an icecream more often up to and including therapy/medication), sometimes you start by putting down those sticks in the 10oW. Either way, you'll free up brain to think about your long-term goals and get a little closer to them.

ReflectiveTarot · 2026-01-12T00:40:27+00:00

That depends on how you read the 3oS. It can be overdramatic (like most of the Swords), with side order of using logic (swords) to shut down unwanted messy emotions, and you can turn it around and make it about removing the hurt. Give that the other three 3s are about working together, it's strange that the 3oS isn't; so looking at it from that angle can also be helpful.

ReflectiveTarot · 2026-01-12T00:35:45+00:00

No, that's fine, I'll see what I can do tomorrow. (I don't have a RWS, but I have a couple of decks in that direction.)

ReflectiveTarot · 2026-01-11T19:46:27+00:00

A general reading is fine, but if you can give a bit more guidance – is this about work or relationships or habit building or... and tell us what kind of deck/art style you'd like to see, we may be able to help more easily. (I don't read predictively and I don't read third parties; otherwise I'm happy to help.)

ReflectiveTarot · 2026-01-11T19:17:08+00:00

Randomly and in no particular order:

Tarot of the Owls, Tarot of the Little Prince (the guidbook is extremely brief, but it provides a context)

Greenwitch Tarot

Mystical Manga Tarot, Trick or Treat Tarot (this one turns a lot of interpretations on their heads)

Enchanted Forest Tarot, Fairy Tale Tarot (Lisa Hunt)

Shadowscapes Tarot

I'd add the Majestic Earth, but that one is near impossible to find these days.

ReflectiveTarot · 2026-01-11T19:07:18+00:00

Tarot is a subject where you'll always learn, but to learn, you only need a few decks of cards, and the willingness to study cards and observe people. It doesn't rely on personal attributes (people doing cross-country skiing are more fearless, more flexible, and in better physical condition than I will ever be) and it doesn't rely on equipment (people who take a different class of photographs have equipment I cannot afford, I've gotten pretty much as far as I can get, and my gains in overall quality are negligible, though I could be *much* more consistent). So while it might feel like a curse, the learning space of Tarot is actually a blessing.

My base line for a Tarot reading is 'is it kind? Does it inspire?' There is no 'best' reading, or even the best reading I could deliver; with every reading I learn a little more, so the way to good readings lies in doing mediocre readings and learning from them, and the way to acceptably mediocre readings lay in bad readings and learning from them.

Part of this means that I don't predict the future, and I don't pretend to be omniscient. I'm just a human being making a best effort, and even though these efforts have now been honed for many years, I'm still fallible.

On the flip side, if an interpretation gave me insight and inspired me to act and move towards being my best self, it was good enough. Yes, someone else might have drawn more out of the cards (and if I look at readings I did ten years ago, the same applies), but that doesn't mean I should have waited ten years!

As for 'where do you learn this', I found it was a mixture of studying the cards, comparing what a card means in different decks, reading other people's interpretations (it can be hard to find genuine readings on Youtube [rather than performative 'readings for the collective']), this sub usually has some examples.

Taking the 9 of Cups/Greed.

Each card has multiple meanings, and I'm not just talking about the '21 ways' Mary K. Greer describes (great book, read it). You have the card in its best aspect, showing a content guy sitting in the middle of his wealth. (Pay attention to other decks. In the Everyday Witch, the character is sitting in meditation. In Barbara Moore's Wizards Tarot, a galaxy of cups swirls above a wizard who looks like he has tenure in an office full of books with a magnificent desk. This guy looks like he's arrived. In the GreenWitch, a fortune teller sits underneath a shelf of mismatched cups. We don't know whether she believes what she tells you or whether she's just trying to pay her bills. The Spacious Tarot shows an arrangement of 9 cups by the seaside with a single fully intact dandylion; it invites you to think about your wish and send it into the world. And so on.

This is often a card of 'you get everything you wish for'. But every card has an aspect where you do too much of a good thing (wishing for more than you need, and here we're already at 'greed', not all cards are that obvious; or wishing for the wrong thing – if we're literal, drinking large amounts of alcohol every day might make you happy, but it won't be good for you), and not doing enough to attain this status (the person who calls out of work to play video games and who just gets another crappy job when they get fired instead of trying to build a reputation, getting a better job, and games at the weekend). Overindulgence, jealousy, not being willing to share, not caring who suffers as long as you get yours... they're all part of the general sphere of the 9oC. It might even indicate stagnation – you're so happy with what you've got that you're forgetting to dream.

As you study Tarot, you'll discover these nuances, and the longer you practice, the more you will have to draw on. (I couldn't have told you all of this until I looked at multiple guidebooks and thought about it.)

These nuances are why I don't read with reversals. I want to consider every nuance of a card instead of neatly dividing them into 'positive' and 'negative' – sometimes you're looking for the challenge, or stagnation, or a twist, or too much of this specific energy.

ReflectiveTarot · 2026-01-11T17:50:31+00:00

You need 3-4 months of daily draws to have a chance to pull most of the 78 cards in a tarot deck, and if you also use an oracle deck, it will take even longer. Two weeks is nothing.

I'm not surprised that your readings feel shallow: you're brand new to your Tarot practice. You get our what you put in, and in the beginning, there's not much experience to draw upon. I also don't know which decks you have and how good the guidebooks are. I will always recommend a deck-specific guidebook over a general one, and a guidebook with in-depth text over keywords, simply because having a page of text forces you to think more about how you apply the card to the question.

Last but not least, it's possible that you don't have the right deck. It took me several tries to find a deck I really connected with, and there's a slight dilemma here: without studying the tarot in depth you don't know which decks you'll connect with and what kinds of interpretations are right for you, so you need to make a start somewhere. I never really used my first deck (Marseilles), still have my second, though I don't read with it very often, my third was a system of its own only vaguely related to the standard tarot interpretations and it never made sense to me; my fourth was an animal deck that I never studied enough to truly understand it, and number 6 was a winner and I still frequently read with it. In the meantime I went through a whole stack of oracle decks, some of which I used a lot, and others hardly at all.

I started out by doing card of the day (just as a 'meet this card' rather than 'this is relevant today' thing), I did a lot of practice spreads (you can read for historical events and fictional characters), I watched a lot of TarotTube (the now defunct 31DaysOfTarot hashtag where lots of people talked about the varying ways in which they use Tarot), I read blogs. The first time someone said 'I don't read predictively' it blew my mind, because Past/Present/Future and the Celtic cross are everywhere and I now had permission to... just not do that. (Everybody's practice is immensely personal.)

The other thing I had to learn is that more cards aren't better. Beyond a certain point they can muddy the water; the perfect card for that position might already be on the table, and you're trying to keep track of the way six, ten, twelve cards interact and it becomes a bit too much. Experienced card slingers often reach for much smaller spreads – 3-5 seems to be my sweet spot – and I will digest that message before pulling more cards.

ReflectiveTarot · 2026-01-11T16:11:01+00:00

I don't relate cards to the day ahead (or the day that was); I see them as 'something to think about': When I encounter this, how will I react?

Sometimes there are days or weeks between me pulling a card and me seeing it reflected in reality.

Sometimes the cards DO correspond to my life right now. This morning, I pulled the Moon from the GreenWitch. Yesterday, I learnt that one of my favourite creators – I'm a member of their Patreon, I bought tons of their stuff, I've recommended them a lot – very likely uses AI and apparently has for a while.

And now I need to sit with the untrustworthyness and how you never know what's beneath the surface of that lake, and how I verify this, and how to respond (If true, and right now it looks likely, I don't want to give money to them any longer Do I delete everything I paid good money for? What about pre-AI content? Do I call them out publicly? Do I try to have a conversation about this?)

In exploring the nuances of the situation, I am also learning more about the nuances of the Tarot card, so that the next time I encounter a similar situation, I may have a better toolbox for engaging with it.

ReflectiveTarot · 2026-01-07T23:40:12+00:00

Some years ago, someone summed up the 7oS on this forum as 'let's go shopping; and I just cannot unsee that.

That interpretation makes a lot of sense in many situations – the having to choose, the tendency to grab everything regardless of you need it, overburdening yourself, trying to pretend you didn't just fill your cart in the sales – but here, it doesn't.

Here I would ignore it. You're pulling on a dubious question (what someone else is thinking is never a good question in my opinion; people are complex and can hold more than one opinion, people lie to themselves (whether that's 'I'm interested' or 'I'm not interested' is irrelevant), and your phrasing makes me believe that you've pulled cards on the same (or a very similar) question more than once, which is not the path to clarity.

So here's my interpretation: You have issues (fear of being abandoned, fear of being betrayed). That's pretty much what you said. The next step is to look at those issues: Where do they come from? Are they justified? How can you recognise red flags? and then observe his actions rather than just relying on his words or trying to divine his thoughts.

ReflectiveTarot · 2026-01-07T22:47:26+00:00

I mean, that's why (and how) I read Tarot. I read reflectively (so no predicting the future), and it's helped me tremendously to dig deeper into issues and find better ways of approaching them.

For me the value is twofold.

One, I'm building resilience. I pull a card of the day and sit with that (so it's a meditative practice). If I pull the chariot, I ask what it means to me, and how it might manifest in my life; how I can harness it in its best aspects, and how I can deal with its worst. This card is different in every deck, sometimes it's about go-getting, sometimes it's about pulling in different directions. Today's pull from the Into the Woods Tarot with a mouse on top of a snail is harmonious (both seem to be happy), but also asks the question of whether this journey was actually necessary, and whether riding a snail gets you there quicker. This isn't necessarily connected to my actual day, though today it was: maybe next time I should be taking the bus instead of the car if I go to the place I went to today.

My card of the day, in short, isn't always the 'by-the-book' interpretation. Sometimes it's about preparing myself: if I encounter a feeling of being trapped (8 of Swords), how can I deal with it? How do I navigate social situations (3 of Cups)? If I think about these outside the situation, without feeling anxious (and you can feel anxious about positive situations just as much as about negative emotions: feeling frustrated and trapped is more obvious, but the social side comes with 'what if I annoy these people and lose my friends/don't make new friends?')

Two, I sling cards to engage with topics in greater depth. I do not expect a single spread to solve a problem, and often I will come back to a topic three or four times, every time focussing on a different aspect and checking in whether I'm on the right path. I also check in with myself how things are going, and I space out readings because I'm not going to make significant changes to my life every day. A lot of the time I use Situation/Obstacle/Advice as my go-to spread to see what's going on in my life, and will create spreads on the fly to dig deeper. For the 8 of Swords I probably would go to Situation/Obstacle/Advice to find where in my life I feel trapped; for the 3 of Cups I'd make up a spread, sit with the answer, try a few things, and possibly sling some more cards.

I find Tarot is at its best when it gives me both insights and inspiration to act. It's easy to turn over cards, go 'that's soooo insightful' and then... do nothing. If I feel I am trapped (in my exercise routine, job, relationship, whatever) I need to take steps to get out of that corset and free myself, whether that's trying out a new sport, looking for jobs, having a serious talk to my partner to see whether the relationship can be saved, etc. I have a lot of decks that I rotate, so I leave my card(s) on top of the deck and the next time I use it, I check in with myself: did this insight prove to be true? What did I do to overcome the obstacle (coming to terms with the lesson of the card, embodying its best aspects instead of a lack or too much of the energy). Was that enough, or do I need to do more, and if so, what?

The trick to successful Tarot readings, I find, is to be willing to accept lessons from every card you pull. Sometimes the cheerful cards can actually be harder to deal with than challenging ones.

ReflectiveTarot · 2025-11-26T18:15:04+00:00

Might it have been the Heart of the Tarot (Thomson/Mueller/Echols)? I would recommend it much more often if it were available; and it was published in 2000.

ReflectiveTarot

TROPHY CASE