Thank you for your comment. :) I have personally found my journey with the Tarot to be rewarding, but it's not for everyone. For example, I have studied the Runes and worked with them a bit in the past and although I appreciate the system I just found that I didn't have a passion for it. There were other things I wanted to spend my time on. But I did give Runes a genuine chance. I dedicated a lot of time to familiarizing myself with it and exploring it thoroughly. I highly suggest you put in the effort to explore the Tarot and then decide how much of a role it will continue to play in your practice. You will benefit from a deeper knowledge of the Tarot regardless of whether you continue to use it afterwards or not. If you do find a passion for the Tarot, even better!
As far how you should approach it, my recommendation is to start with the Major Arcana and learn the core symbol behind each of the cards. Basically, you have three Elements, seven Planets and twelve Zodiac signs. Really, the Major Arcana is the occult alphabet of the Western Mystery Tradition. Click through to the full article on my website as listed at the end of the article above, or just click here: http://www.jeremycrow.com/arcana.html I have all these associations listed out fully. Memorize this first and if you don't know the meaning of any of the elements, planets or zodiac signs, go ahead and familiarize yourself with that. Once you have that down pat you will have knowledge that I dare say a huge numer of Tarot readers don't have. At this point you can tackle the Minor Arcana. I also have some information on how to approach that in the same article, so definitely check that out.
I can't endorse the big fat book you have because you didn't mention the title or author. haha. But either way, definitely go for it. Just don't take anything you read or hear as gospel. Use it to help you explore the concepts and inspire your imagination but also use logic to contemplate it all. Read lots of books on subject. Listen to videos on YouTube. I have several relevant videos on my channel https://www.youtube.com/user/ZigguratOfEnki including videos explicitly on the Tarot but also explaining the elements, planets and zodiac signs. This is stuff I've learned and figured out over the more than 20 years of exploration of the Tarot.
Also, just play with the cards a lot and give a lots of free readings to your friends and family. You'll really suck at first, but you'll get better with practice. Pick people who are patient and tolerant to give your first few readings. haha. When I first started, I would follow instructions in the little booklet that came with my first deck (Universal Waite) for the spread and then when I pulled a card I would just read a list of keywords from the booklet to the person. lol. They were like, wtf does that mean? I had to try and come up with something and it was hard. Eventually, the intuition kicked in and certain keywords would pop out to me more and I was able to gradually start weaving a narrative as the spread developed. As I was doing that, I was also exploring the deeper occult meanings behind each of the cards and memorizing all of that. Now I can give readings without referring to any book. But of course, readings aren't the only thing you can do with the Tarot. Thanks again for interacting with my post! I have followed your account and look forward to talking with you more about this and other interesting topics.
Thank you for taking the time to reply! Your site looks awesome plenty for me to get lost in! I totally agree with you about many tarot readers not even knowing the fundamental basics, it's why I've not made any head way trying out classes. They just spout waffle, although i didn't really know what exactly i was looking for, i just knew it wasn't that. And i am such a perfectionist, if i am going to give something a go, i want to know it all. It's a pain in the arse sometimes. I've had one or two extraordinary tarot readings, but mainly shite ones. And often leave having spent £20 or £30 quid feeling like i could have done a better job at reeling off generalisations and new age beliefs than that, i really could, but i am just not that kind of person, although i wish i was, it would help me out financially! ha. People seem very happy to hand over their money to be told what they want to hear. But yeah i just would never.
I also don't like getting things wrong, I don't think i would try and practice on anyone i know, for that reason but also another one of my annoying traits is i just need proof that i got that information through my intuition/cards, if i try it on someone i know i just instantly dismiss it because i think well i said that because i know about this etc etc.
I've recently taken an interest in runes after watching a documentary on them on you tube, well not runes specifically but the rune symbols found all across the ancient world. Totally fascinating!
Ha yea i did think hmmm i didnt mention what book it was, I don't have it to hand, but when i do ill tell you what it is.
But yes, ill start with your site. I've followed your page too! :)