Write an article based on this "Pick a card-a-day. Study card combinations. Make constellations. Play the card resolution game."
You can choose a card simply as a way of getting to know the deck or you may pick one to get some insight into the day ahead of you. To get to know the deck. Choose a card at random and gaze at it a bit. Write down your first impressions and intuitive thoughts. Write these with one particular color of ink a journal or notebook. With a second, different ink color, write down more information you find about the card from other sources (books, e-groups, friends). After a few days, review what you've written and add comments in a third color of ink. Get a daily reading. Choose a card at random the first thing in the morning. Spend some time looking at it. Pay attention to its colors and how you react to them. Note the general atmosphere of the card and the emotions it brings out in you. Look at the figures in the card--what they're doing, whether they're seated or standing, who they remind you of and how you feel about them. Focus on the symbols and what they remind you of. Write your thoughts down in a journal--you can refer back to this as a learning tool and use it to track your progress. It's important for beginners to view the Tarot not as 78 separate cards but as a system of patterns and interactions. Studying card combinations can help you embrace that concept. Draw two cards from the deck and put them face up next to each other. Now, look for images, locations or events within the two-card combination. You can work with more cards or do an entire spread. The idea is to learn the cards in combinations to develop deeper understanding and greater confidence when it comes time to doing a reading. Tarot constellations are made up of all cards that carry the same digit (number one through nine). For example, the Tarot constellations for the number four would be the number four card from each of the suits, the Emperor (which carries the number four) and Death (which carries the number 13 but reduces to the number four (1+3=4). Line up all the cards from a constellation in front of you and ask yourself some questions such as how you feel about each card, what attracts, repels, annoys or makes you anxious about the cards, how they're alike and how they're different and what symbols they seem to share. Repeat this exercise for each of the nine prime numbers and record your impressions in a journal. Understanding the energy of each of these cards will facilitate a smoother reading when multiples of the same number come up. Instead of focusing on the meaning of individual cards, you'll be able to focus on the energy they bring in as a group. Go through your deck and pull out cards that strike you as being difficult. Spend some time with them to try to get to the root of your impression. Then go through the deck again and pull out one or more cards that you feel brings resolution to those difficult cards. This game actually helps you develop a skill you can use in your readings. When a difficult card comes up in one of your readings and you want to help the Seeker resolve that issue, you can suggest a card that will counteract the difficult card.