Azure Jane Lunatic (Azz) 🌺 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
azurelunatic) wrote2002-10-10 08:13 am
azurelunatic) wrote2002-10-10 08:13 am
More speech class goodness
Anyone who has watched late-night television has probably seen the commercials for Tarot readings at 900 numbers, or, driving around Phoenix, you may have seen the little shiops advertising Tarot readings.
Reading the Tarot cards is simple, and is an interesting way to entertain your friends, certainly cheaper than calling a 900 number. You may even earn a little money.
The materials needed to do a Tarot reading are simple. A very accomplished reader will need only a deck of Tarot cards physically on hand. Tarot cards can get quite expensive, but most large bookstores sell some of the common varieties of Tarot cards for $15 a deck. When you compare the price of a Tarot deck to a 900 number at $3.95 a minute, the deck is cheaper than a four-minute phone call. Once you have the deck, you will need to find a pattern to lay the cards out in; while advanced Tarot readers can pick up cards out of a properly shuffled deck and make interpretations based on what the cards say, most professionals will stick to a standardized layout, with each position of the cards signifying something different. Also needed is to know the meanings of the cards. While these may be looked up in a book, in order to become a Certified Tarot Reader through the Tarot Certification Board of America, one must have the meanings of all 78 cards, both upright and reversed, memorized.
All other tools for Tarot readings besides the deck of cards, the layout, and the meanings of the cards, are irrelevant to the reading, though they may help create a mood of mystery and self-discovery. The Tarot can be a very powerful psychological tool to get people thinking about things they would otherwise have left unexamined.
The first step in performing a Tarot reading is the formulation of a question. Ethical and legal use of the Tarot prohibits fortunetelling, which is the definite assurances on exact events in the future. Fortunetelling using Tarot cards is prohibited by the American Tarot Association and other ethical Tarot associations, and is illegal in some states. According to my friend *, internationally known Tarot Grand Master, which is the highest rank awarded by the Tarot Certification Board of America, there are some questions that should just not be asked, because it will be impossible to answer them properly and ethically with the deck. A question such as "Will I live a long and happy life?" or even, "Will I get an A in this class?" are two such questions. "Should I?" questions are also foolish; it is ultimately the querant's responsibility to make decisions about their own life, though the Tarot can inform such decisions. It is far better to phrase a question in the form, "What would be the most likely outcome if ....?" when having a Tarot reading done. While specific questions are the easiest to answer, general questions, such as a general overview of a situation or a person, are also valid.
"Could I get a general reading on this class as a whole?"
This is a perfectly acceptable question. After the querent has asked the question, he shuffles the deck. Any manner of shuffling will do, as long as the querent doesn't stack the deck. The querent should be focusing on the question while shuffling the deck.
While the querent shuffles, the reader determines what layout would be best for the situation. There are any number of ways to lay out the Tarot cards, each with different strengths and weaknesses. The simplest is the one-card-draw; two of the standards are the ten-card Celtic Cross, and the seven-card Split Hexagram that Don teaches. My personal favorite, and suited for this question, is the very simple three-card Past Present Future layout.
You draw the top card and place it in the first spot in the layout. This card symbolizes the Past. Lay it face down, in the same orientation that you drew it from the deck. The second card goes in the second place, and so on.
After all the cards are laid out, turn them over in the same order. Here, we have the King of Swords upright, the Seven of Wands upright, and <wince> Justice reversed.
The Court cards from the Minor Arcana, that is, the royalty from the suits of Swords, Wands, Cups, and Pentacles, are symbolic of people. The suit of Swords is symbolic of Air. The King is the most powerful member of the suit. Air symbolizes communication, activity, and with the swords, we occasionally have violence. This card symbolizes a man with a powerful skill in communications, possibly of a military background, in the past of this class. <azzgrin>
Next, in our Present position, we have the Seven of Wands. Wands are the suit of Fire, and the Seven of Wands indicates a time of great stress and turmoil. This, being the week of the term it is, certainly qualifies...
Finally, in the future of this class, the card of greatest likelihood is the card of Justice, but, unlike the others, this card is in a reversed position. Justice is a card that symbolizes proper balance and people getting what they have come to deserve through their actions; the reversed meaning, of course, is imbalance, and people getting either undeserved good fortune, or undeserved bad fortune. No matter how well-written a test, especially a final exam may be, there are some people who will do well on it regardless of how well they don't know the subject, and there will be some people who are excellent with the subject, who will test poorly.
After the reading, the cards should be shuffled again, and put away; coffee-stained Tarot cards are unprofessional and don't shuffle well.
The steps for doing a Tarot reading are simple, and with a deck of Tarot cards, a pattern for laying out the Tarot cards, and the meanings of the Tarot cards, anyone can entertain themselves and their friends, without needing to call a 900 number.
Thank you.
Reading the Tarot cards is simple, and is an interesting way to entertain your friends, certainly cheaper than calling a 900 number. You may even earn a little money.
The materials needed to do a Tarot reading are simple. A very accomplished reader will need only a deck of Tarot cards physically on hand. Tarot cards can get quite expensive, but most large bookstores sell some of the common varieties of Tarot cards for $15 a deck. When you compare the price of a Tarot deck to a 900 number at $3.95 a minute, the deck is cheaper than a four-minute phone call. Once you have the deck, you will need to find a pattern to lay the cards out in; while advanced Tarot readers can pick up cards out of a properly shuffled deck and make interpretations based on what the cards say, most professionals will stick to a standardized layout, with each position of the cards signifying something different. Also needed is to know the meanings of the cards. While these may be looked up in a book, in order to become a Certified Tarot Reader through the Tarot Certification Board of America, one must have the meanings of all 78 cards, both upright and reversed, memorized.
All other tools for Tarot readings besides the deck of cards, the layout, and the meanings of the cards, are irrelevant to the reading, though they may help create a mood of mystery and self-discovery. The Tarot can be a very powerful psychological tool to get people thinking about things they would otherwise have left unexamined.
The first step in performing a Tarot reading is the formulation of a question. Ethical and legal use of the Tarot prohibits fortunetelling, which is the definite assurances on exact events in the future. Fortunetelling using Tarot cards is prohibited by the American Tarot Association and other ethical Tarot associations, and is illegal in some states. According to my friend *, internationally known Tarot Grand Master, which is the highest rank awarded by the Tarot Certification Board of America, there are some questions that should just not be asked, because it will be impossible to answer them properly and ethically with the deck. A question such as "Will I live a long and happy life?" or even, "Will I get an A in this class?" are two such questions. "Should I?" questions are also foolish; it is ultimately the querant's responsibility to make decisions about their own life, though the Tarot can inform such decisions. It is far better to phrase a question in the form, "What would be the most likely outcome if ....?" when having a Tarot reading done. While specific questions are the easiest to answer, general questions, such as a general overview of a situation or a person, are also valid.
"Could I get a general reading on this class as a whole?"
This is a perfectly acceptable question. After the querent has asked the question, he shuffles the deck. Any manner of shuffling will do, as long as the querent doesn't stack the deck. The querent should be focusing on the question while shuffling the deck.
While the querent shuffles, the reader determines what layout would be best for the situation. There are any number of ways to lay out the Tarot cards, each with different strengths and weaknesses. The simplest is the one-card-draw; two of the standards are the ten-card Celtic Cross, and the seven-card Split Hexagram that Don teaches. My personal favorite, and suited for this question, is the very simple three-card Past Present Future layout.
You draw the top card and place it in the first spot in the layout. This card symbolizes the Past. Lay it face down, in the same orientation that you drew it from the deck. The second card goes in the second place, and so on.
After all the cards are laid out, turn them over in the same order. Here, we have the King of Swords upright, the Seven of Wands upright, and <wince> Justice reversed.
The Court cards from the Minor Arcana, that is, the royalty from the suits of Swords, Wands, Cups, and Pentacles, are symbolic of people. The suit of Swords is symbolic of Air. The King is the most powerful member of the suit. Air symbolizes communication, activity, and with the swords, we occasionally have violence. This card symbolizes a man with a powerful skill in communications, possibly of a military background, in the past of this class. <azzgrin>
Next, in our Present position, we have the Seven of Wands. Wands are the suit of Fire, and the Seven of Wands indicates a time of great stress and turmoil. This, being the week of the term it is, certainly qualifies...
Finally, in the future of this class, the card of greatest likelihood is the card of Justice, but, unlike the others, this card is in a reversed position. Justice is a card that symbolizes proper balance and people getting what they have come to deserve through their actions; the reversed meaning, of course, is imbalance, and people getting either undeserved good fortune, or undeserved bad fortune. No matter how well-written a test, especially a final exam may be, there are some people who will do well on it regardless of how well they don't know the subject, and there will be some people who are excellent with the subject, who will test poorly.
After the reading, the cards should be shuffled again, and put away; coffee-stained Tarot cards are unprofessional and don't shuffle well.
The steps for doing a Tarot reading are simple, and with a deck of Tarot cards, a pattern for laying out the Tarot cards, and the meanings of the Tarot cards, anyone can entertain themselves and their friends, without needing to call a 900 number.
Thank you.
Wonderful!
Re: Wonderful!
I got a B-, because I went over the time limit by two and a half minutes. That level of going overtime usually rates a D.
So my speech rocked.