Tarot is a form of divination by the use of special pictoral cards that hold special spiritual meanings. Tarot has been used through out the centuries by spiritualists to get insight about the past, present, and future. Through the symbolism and placement of the cards, we can gain valuable information on a question, subject of interest, problem, or ourselves.

The history of how tarot began is almost as hidden as the full meanings of the cards. Over the centuries the tarot deck has changed, and many new decks have been made by the passing of time, but the most basic deck in the tarot universe is the Rider-Waite deck. This deck has 78 cards, 56 cards that belong to what is known as the Minor Arcana and 22 that belong what is known as the Major Arcana. The Minor Arcana expresses different aspects of our life, while the Major Arcana represents the psychic, psychological, philosophical, and spiritual parts of life. Like dreams, it is through the symbolism on these cards that communicate to us about our lives. Imbedded in our subconcious mind is a world of symbolism. Although we don't conciously know their meanings, we subconciously recognize these symbols and their significance to us.

The Major Arcana

The Major Arcana is a set of 22 cards that are part of a tarot deck, numbered 0 through 21. They are the original tarot, and were around much longer before the Minor Arcana was created and added. They are also the trumps of the deck and the spiritual tarot. They represent the psychic, psychological, philosophical, and spiritual parts of our lives. They show the spiritual significance of the lessons in life, and their symbolism shows different parts of our psychological make-up. But the Major Arcana are rarely what they appear to be-- their concepts and spiritual principles often remain hidden until probed.

When the Major Arcana appears in a reading, major psychological and spiritual forces are at work in the question. Often the appearance can suggest powerful energies entering the question that are somewhat beyond a person's complete control.

Each of the Major Arcana trumps has an astrological or planetary association attributed to it, as listed below. These can help give added insight into their deep spiritual meanings.

0- The Fool - Uranus (planet of Aquarius)

I- The Magician - Mercury (planet of Gemini and Virgo)

II- The High Priestess - Moon (planet of Cancer)

III- The Empress - Venus (planet of Taurus and Libra)

IV- The Emperor - Aries

V- The Hierophant - Taurus

VI- The Lovers - Gemini

VII- The Chariot - Cancer

VIII- Strength - Leo

IX- The Hermit - Virgo

X- Wheel of Fortune - Jupiter (planet of Sagittarius)

XI- Justice - Libra

XII- The Hanged Man - Neptune (planet of Pisces)

XIII- Death - Scorpio

XIV- Temperance - Sagittarius

XV- The Devil - Capricorn

XVI- The Tower - Mars (planet of Aries)

XVII- The Star - Aquarius

XVIII- The Moon - Pisces

XIX- The Sun - Sun (planet of Leo)

XX- Judgement - Pluto (planet of Scorpio)

XXI- The World - Saturn (planet of Capricorn)

The Minor Arcana

The Minor Arcana is a set of 56 cards that are part of a tarot deck. There are four suits in the Minor Arcana-- the Wands (also called Rods or Staves), the Cups, the Swords, and the Pentacles (also called Disks or Coins). Each of these suits has the number cards Ace through Ten, and the symbolism on these cards express the different aspects of our lives. In addition to these cards, each suit also has four Court cards, the King, Queen, Knight, and Page, and they represent the personalities of the people in our lives.

Wands - The suit of Wands represents the competitive, ambitious, creative, enterprising, determined, and energetic aspects of our lives. The Court cards of the Wands show ambitious people, enthusiastic and adventurous in nature, but on the negative side, can be willful, selfish, pushy, arrogant, jelious, argumentative, and violent. Astrologically, the suit of Wands corresponds with the element of Fire, showing energy, aggressiveness, enthusiasm, and impulsiveness.

Cups - The suit of Cups represents the emotional aspects of our lives, such as family, romance, relationships, and the ups and downs of our emotional lives. The Court cards of the Cups show people who have loved ones on their minds, are sympathetic, emotional, sensitive, and feeling, but on the negative side can let their imaginations run away with them, be overly sensitive, doubtful, suspicious, worried, and self-destructive and self-defeating. Astrologically, the suit of Cups corresponds with the element of Water, showing emotion, imagination, sensitivity, and spirituality.

Swords - The suit of Swords represents the concious mind and intellect. Problems, difficulties, cruel actions, retaliation, separation, loss, bondage, and right and wrong actions and attitudes are expressed, along with positive and negative results. The mind is like a double-edged sword, and the suit of Swords is the suit of the mind. The Court cards of the Swords show people who often have a history of personal trials and tribulations that have made them either incredibly strong, filled with power and determination, or bitter and resentful, living in the past. Their minds are their blessing or their curse, depending on their mental attitude. They excell in decisiveness, intelligence, mental challenges, insights, fair-mindedness, humanitarianism, rights, and communication. On the downside they have a hard time overcoming loss, turning bitter and inward. Astrologically, the suit of Swords corresponds with the element of Air, showing intellect, reason, and communication.

Pentacles - The suit of Pentacles represents the practical, realistic, and material aspects of our lives. The Court cards show people who measure life through tangible things such as what they own and earn. Possessions are important, as is a well-paying job. They are the workers of the court, willing to plug along toward these goals with persistance and determination. On the negative side, they can be possessive, looking at their loved ones as objects rather than individuals. Greed, illegitimate dealings with money, financial carelessness, overdepedance, worry, status-seeking, nit-picking, and selfish manipulation of money matters are all possible qualities of character. Astrologically, the suit of Pentacles corresponds with the element of Earth, showing practicality, conservation, stability, and materialism.

Tarot Readings

Through symbolism and placement of the cards in a tarot deck, the cards can give us readings about our lives. This can be through asking them a specific question, stating an area of interest in our lives, asking advice, or just wanting to find out more about ourselves.

When giving a reading, the one giving the reading, or the Reader, should be seated across a table from the person recieving the reading, or the Seeker. This helps keep the spiritual energies balanced, and the outcome of the reading will probably be more clear. Then the Seeker needs to tell the Reader what they would like to know about from the cards, perhaps a question they would like to ask, and area of their life they need advice on, or just a general overview of what the cards see in their life at the present time. After the Reader knows what kind of information the Seeker wants, they can choose a spread, or layout for the cards, that will be most effective for the reading.

Depending on what spread is chosen, the next step is usually to have the Seeker choose an Indicator card, or a card to represent themselves. The Indicator is chosen from the Court cards or Major Arcana, but for simple tarot readings or inexperianced Readers, it is best to have the Seeker choose from the Court cards. When choosing from the Court cards, women over the age 18 or mature 16-18 year olds should choose from the Queens. Men age 18-35 or mature 16-18 year olds should choose from the Knights, and men over 35 or mature, responsible, settled younger men should choose from the Kings. Young people from birth to 18 should choose from the Page cards. The Seeker should concentrate on their question and choose the Indicator they are drawn to, although some just use the court card that is their astrological compliment. After an Indicator is selected, it should be set aside from the other cards.

The next step is to shuffle the cards. It is usually a good idea to mix the cards around on a table first, though, to allow the cards to turn upright or reversed as needed for the reading. While concentrating on the question, the Seeker shuffles the deck in anyway they desire, or the Reader can shuffle for them on their behalf. If cards fall out or flip over during the shuffling process, those cards' meanings can generally summerize the reading, or will most likely show up again during the reading. They aren't falling out by accident, there is usually a significant hidden message or meaning they are trying to get across. If this happens, note these cards and then return them to the deck and continue shuffling.

After the Seeker has finished shuffling, the Reader then turns the deck to face themselves, just as it fell in front of the Seeker. The cards are then drawn off the top and laid out in the positions of the spread being used. When overturning the cards, it is important to always turn them over from right to left, like opening a book, rather than top to bottom, to make sure they fall upright or reversed properly. Then the Reader, interpreting the cards meanings and the position in which they fell, can tell the Seeker what the cards have to say about the desired subject. Sometimes the cards can be very vague and confusing, but this is usually because of the Seeker or Reader not concentrating or having a closed attitude toward the reading. If both are very focused, usually the cards can give very good insight about what has happened, what is happening, and most importantly, what will happen.

When first starting out with learning how to read the tarot, it is a good idea to keep a tarot journal where you record the date and person you did the reading for, as well as their question, the cards and placements, and the general summary of their reading. Later you can look back on these and see how the outcome of the reading turned out, as well as learn to become a better reader.

Getting tarot readings has become a pretty popular request of me recently, as more people learn about and realize the importance of the tarot. If you would like a tarot reading, then please contact me by sending word or contacting me by pidgeon number 78154277 to set an appointment. Please keep in mind, though, that it usually takes me some time to interpret a reading and then record it in my journal, so make sure you have the time and patience for a reading beforehand. Also, if you would like a copy of your reading from my journal, please let me know and I can send it to you telepathically or by mail pigeon.

For more on tarot, please turn the page to get information on the different cards in tarot and their meanings, as well as some different spread layouts.

Sources:

Marcia, Masino. Easy Tarot Guide. San Diego, CA: ACS Publications, Inc., 1983.

Other Sites:

Tarot.com

Learning the Tarot - An On-Line Course

Lydia Venieri's Tarot