Why are the meanings of the minor arcana so inconsistent?

[The Suckling]

I've got about five different sources of Tarot interperetations, including the ones provided on this site and the book that came with my deck, and the meanings they each give are almost completely different! Even when I try to formulaically match the number with the element, it never makes sense.

Is there any way I can just figure out the general meanings systematically?

[Myst]

Not really.

For most people the meanings of the minor arcana are pretty much intuitive. Even though some have general meanings they are very open to interpretation - not only from deck to deck but reading to reading.

[tarotbear]

The more you read the cards the more you'll understand the cards mean whatever they mean in that reading only and can mean something entirely different in the next.

That is the wonder of Tarot.

[Dagda Moon~Lily]

Originally posted by tarotbear
The more you read the cards the more you'll understand the cards mean whatever they mean in that reading only and can mean something entirely different in the next.

That is the wonder of Tarot.

lol .....and that's what can make the Tarot so difficult to "learn" lol. I find with Tarot, I learn something new with almost every reading! You just have to keep an open mind and follow your intuition.

Remember that the definitions given in books and the LWB are just "suggested" meanings by the author of that material. The "real meanings" for YOU come from within. Just as everyone witnessing an accident or crime will see different things, so it true with Tarot. Everyone's interpretations are different. That is the beauty and magic of Tarot....it all comes from within. It's all in the interpretation. ;)

[maya]

It is believed that Tarot decks originated as playing cards and not as divinition tools so there was never a "master" meaning to all of it. The meaning of the card is based on the intuition you get from the imagery and it's position in a spread. It also depends on which 'standard' deck it was based on. Rider-waite is the most standard imagery but there were several other sets of imagery created so even those won't be the same. Then you add on top of that the artistist's own interpretation and then yours. Thus each one is unique. Don't let the meanings set forth by others be your guide. Spend some time with you cards. Start a daily tarot journal by pulling a card each day and writing your feelings about it and then after the day is over write how you think the energies portrayed by that card were prevelant in your day. Tarot is not a science, it's more of a philosophy. There is not a solid right and wrong every time; what's right will change based on the situation, your experience and the energy surrounding you.

~ Maya

[Silver Venus]

Great question ~ I agree with everyone else :) Just go with what they say to you with that reading, whatever pops into your mind as you look at the card is the right answer for you and the reading, ignore all the confusing books! :)

[tarotbear]

Except mine ! Buy my book -- PLEASE!

[Arduinna]

I see it as one of the beauties of having so many different Tarot decks. If all the decks had the exact same meaning, why would we need more than one?? I love collecting different decks.

As for reading from them all, I started with one deck and mastered it before moving on to others. It worked well for me, but everyone is different. Each time I've bought a new deck, I've had a different feeling about the cards. Some cards seem to have a universal meaning for me regardless of the deck. I personally like reading the books included with most decks, but I don't limit my interpretations to what the books say. I sometimes have gone through the books and highlighted what interpretations I do agree with for each card. I think that since todays card decks are often heavily themed that reading the books opens me up to interpretations I may not have considered for that deck.

I have a few decks that I use for only certain kinds of questions.

[Dagda Moon~Lily]

Originally posted by tarotbear
Except mine ! Buy my book -- PLEASE!

Are you telling us that your book isn't going to have ANY contradictions to ANY interpretations in ANY other book out there? That must be some book.....


TarotBear, now that you have made your plea here....you might want to advertise this in the Book forum. ;)

[Myst]

Originally posted by Arduinna
I see it as one of the beauties of having so many different Tarot decks. If all the decks had the exact same meaning, why would we need more than one?? I love collecting different decks.

Actually for me I collect decks for their different artwork and energies, rather then meanings. For instance my faerie oracle is very abstract and good for meditation or ideas, whereas my moon garden deck is the one I read with all the time, and my goddess tarot deck has a very feminine, personal energy, so I almost never use it for anyone but me, and then my unicorn tarot has very abstract meanings and I like to use it for spellwork rather then readings.

[Witchy Cowgirl]

Great discussion! This needs a bump!:)

[Zander770]

The Minor Keys are regarding "circumstances above and beyond OUR control" (and? IF you THINK that YOU're "in control" of YOUR life, then, I ask you to query the thirteen year old daughter of the mother who was struck and killed by an ICE CREAM TRUCK last Sunday after Mass here in Phoenix . . . Do YOU think that SHE "had 'control' over her LIFE?" I BET that "she" PROBABLY did think that SHE had!!! Get It, yet???) and the Minor pips ARE the "mondane specifics . . ."

And, no, not hardly . . . (as T-Bear says): "I didn't just 'make this UP' !!!"

Slan leat,

[docdoo]

Wow, what an interesting thread. I've been offline for several days enjoying the long holiday weekend but I decided to pop on this morning and oh my its been much busier than I thought!

I began reading with a Rider Waite deck and I now also have a Sacred Circle deck. Initially I found that the meanings of both decks were pretty similar...at least they have the same 'foundation' idea. However the more I work with them the more individual the meanings become for me.

An example is the 3 of pentacles...for me that card has underwent a bit of change and for some reason it resonates VERY strongly of schooling whenever I see it come up in a read. I think that the more you work with you individual deck the more 'tuned' they become to whatever interpretations YOU have for them.

On the flip side of that I have also noted (mostly with our MW daily draw) that though many people read with different decks if you look through the Daily draws for this forum you'll find that the meanings for the cards fall pretty closely to one another....no matter the deck. The 'thread' is very much the same and the 'events' can be tied to the same thread...I hope I explained myself adequately with that.

Anyway, my two cents worth
Til next time,

[zakzekezedd]

You need to use the "books" as a starting point, but learn to trust your intuition when reading the cards. The most frustrating thing you can do is try to memorize the "book" meanings for the 78-Tarot..
As to why the variations in meanings and interpretations....I suspect it may well be a little bit along the lines of the infamous "I know you think you know what I said but do you REALLY know what I said?"..Sometimes it's just a case of that particular writer placing their emphasis on one aspect of the myriad of meanings any one card might have. It just takes time and practice to find the "emphasis" that rings true for you.

[Aldrick]

Look at it this way. Where the Major is the A-B-C the minor acts like the bridges the '-' in which you get from A-B-C. Which is why they may be so broad because there are multiple paths. Remember a reading isn't for certain what will happen, it's only the most plaussable possibility for your current path. And the very fact that you now know what the reading tells you, you may somehow, subconsciously or consciously alter that path and change the outcome making the reading incorrect.

[alexx]

I agree with what everyone says here about "feeling" the cards, however I also agree when you are learning it's nice to have a "reference" and it is hard when it is all so confusing!

I meditated on each card when I was a beginner and consulted all my books , making a note of only the suggested meanings for that card that seemed intuitive for me. I also write down the meanings for the cards that come to me as I read if they seem different.

This has meant I have a "reference" of intuitive meanings so if I really draw a blank in a reading it helps me out a little, though this oesn't happen often! it's also interesting.

Be aware as well that meanings do shift dependent on reading, querent and position of other cards...sadly it's never too straightforward! ;)