Foundations · 12 min
Read what you see
Read a card from its picture before any keyword: what is there, what is happening and how it feels, then one detail that speaks to your question.
In this lesson you will
- Describe a card in three layers: what is there, what is happening and how it feels.
- Tell a description apart from an interpretation.
- Connect one detail of the picture to a question.
A friend shows you a card and asks what it means. Your first instinct may be to reach for a list of keywords. There is a better first move, and it needs no memory at all: look at the picture and say what you see.
Image before keyword
Every card in the VeilSoul deck is a scene: people, places, weather, objects, a gesture. The scene was drawn to carry the meaning, so it is the most reliable place to start. Keywords are a summary of the picture; when you read the picture first, the keywords make sense instead of floating free.
Read a card in three layers, in this order:
- What is there: the figures, objects and setting, named plainly.
- What is happening: the action or the moment the scene catches.
- How it feels: the mood the scene gives you, in one or two words.
Only after those three layers do you ask what the card might say about your question. This is a skill, not a gift: anyone who can describe a photograph can learn it.
Warm up
A quick look back before the new material. Recalling helps you remember.
Warm-up
Which family does the Three of Pentacles belong to?
Warm-up
You draw The Fool, and a friend asks what this reading can really tell them. Which answer is the most honest?
Look first
Look at this card for half a minute before reading on. Name three things you see, one thing that is happening, and one word for how it feels.
Remember
- Read the picture before the keywords: what is there, what is happening, how it feels.
- A description is what anyone could point to; an interpretation adds a meaning. Keep them in that order.
- Answer a question by finding the one detail in the picture that speaks to it.
Sources: original VeilSoul text · VeilSoul card pages · the 1909 Waite–Smith imagery (public domain)