Directions and meanings of Tarot Cards. You can do it yourself.
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Pronounced tar-oh. The Tarot is a deck of cards used for past, present, or future readings, and meditation. The Tarot speaks a language that develops from the collective mind of Man. When you understanding the inner meaning of the symbols, the cars yield, on the highest plain, mystic powers and esoteric wisdom. Although there are various theories about the Tarot and many different versions of the cards, no one of them can claim final truth and any one of them may contribute some clarification. There are many different types of Tarot decks made today and serve different purposes. Usually consisting of 78 cards.
The Complete Beginners Guide To Tarot. How To Use Tarot Cards To Connect To Your Higher Self And Receive Information And Guidance From The Cards.
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Esoteric decks, often used in conjunction with the study of the Hermetic Qabala. These decks the Major Arcana are illustrated in accordance with Qabalistic principles while the numbered suit cards (2 through 10) typically bear only stylized renderings of the suit symbol. In contrast, decks used for divination usually have illustrated scenes on all cards. The more simply illustrated Marseilles style decks are used esoterically, for divination, and for game play. The Marseilles style Tarot decks generally feature suit cards which look very much like modern playing cards. The numbered cards feature an arrangement of pips indicating the number and suit, while the court cards are often illustrated with two-dimensional drawings.
The Rider-Waite-Smith deck is by far the most popular deck today. Arthur Waite, academic and mystic, instructed artist Pamela Colman Smith as to what each card should be and the Rider Company published the deck. Aleister Crowley is also believed to have creative input in creating this deck. The images are deceptively, almost childishly simple, the details and backgrounds hold a wealth of | Key 10 The Wheel Of Fortune |
symbolism. The subjects remain close to the earliest decks, but usually have added detail. The chief aesthetic objection to this deck is the crude printing of colors in the original: several decks, such as the Universal Waite, simply copy the Smith line drawings, but with more sophisticated coloring.
Other decks change the cards partly or completely. It is a personal preference as to what deck you find you like to use. Personally, I use the Rider deck, it's just what I'm used to.
The Tarot deck has 2 sections
The Major Arcana consist of 22 cards ranging from, Key 0, the Fool, to Key 21, the World. The illustrations are full of symbolic meaning. The very name of the Majors are suggestive of magic and mystery. Symbolic keys, like material ones, are expected to fit locks and open doors. Systems like the Kabalah or the Tarot, however, do not accomplish this in a simple or direct manner. Here we find keys that fit more than one lock and locks that can receive more than one key. The correspondence between the 22 Major Arcana Keys and the 22 paths of the Tree of Life and the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, as well as astrological signs, evokes complex and subtle associations that can never be rigidly confined. Here there i no final authority. Everything that is part of the living stream moves and changes, and the Tarot is indeed in this category.
The Minor Arcana consist of 56 cards. Divided into 4 suits, Wands, Cups, Swards, and Pentacles. Each suit is made up of cards numbered from ace to ten, plus four Court cards: King, Queen, Knight, and Page. The Tarot is the forerunner of the modern deck. If the Knights were left out and the suits names changed (Wands to clubs, Cups to hearts, Swards to spades, and Pentacles to diamonds), what remained would be virtually identical with our modern playing cards. The complete deck of 78 cards contains an unnumbered card called the Fool, from which has evolved today's Joker, also unnumbered.
Care and handling of your deck
Chose a deck that suits your personal taste. Always use your own deck and do not allow others to play with it or handle it, except in the context of doing a reading for them. The reasoning behind this is, it is said that the deck becomes "contaminated" with the other persons psychic vibrations and fails to work properly. Therefor it is important to "charge up" the deck with your own psychic vibrations. I recommend shuffling them repeatedly, while at the same time concentrating only on the cards. Clear your mind and just shuffle the pack. Put the deck under you pillow and sleep with it for 3 nights. Each day, take the pack out and shuffle them and place them back under your pillow. This will make them "yours". Note, never ruffle shuffle your pack of cards. Take particular care not to bend them. Treat your cards with respect and only use them for a reading or for learning how to use them.
When not in use, wrap them in a silk scarf and keep them in a wooden box if you have one. Do the layout on the silk scarf also. If you do not have silk (but you should) any plain dark (black is best) material will due. The purpose of the cloth is to provide a good surface on which the cards can be kept clean and seen clearly without external distractions. Silk has been traditionally used because it is thought to be a good psychic insulator, protecting them from the influence of other people's psychic vibrations. I believe that it also helps keep evil entities from contaminating them. In any case, the ritual of wrapping and unwrapping promotes the right attitude and provides a feeling of familiarity and confidence when using the cards. After your third night you are then ready to use the deck. It is probably best to have one or two books at hand on tarot reading. Normally there will be a small, and I mean small, instructional guide that comes with the deck. It isn't worth much as for the meanings of the cards. If thats all you have you can try to read through and understand the meanings. As mentioned previously there are 78 cards and unless you have a superb memory, it is impossible to remember all the cards and their meaning until you have used them for a very long time.
Using the cards
There are many different layouts for fortune telling with this deck. The books you chose should have a good number of them for you to chose from. Look through the book and pick the one that best correlates with your quest, or question. The most typical layout is the The Celtic Cross. Many people believe that the "cards" can open doors to the spirits and to evil entities. Therefor, a protection prayer is in line before you go any further. You can make it as simple or drawn out as you chose. The main thing is to be sincere. Ask something like, "Dear (put in the name of whomever you pray to) please surround me with your heavenly light. Put a hallow of protection and peace around me and my loved ones. Give me insight into the cards so that I may understand them and get guidance from them. Thank you heavenly spirit, (or whomever) amen." While I say my prayer, I like to use some mimosa oil. As I am saying my prayer, I'll put a drop on the center of my forehead between my eyes and a drop on each of my temples.
Protection prayer said, its time to get started. Some spreads ask for a significator. This is simply a card that represents to querent. That would be you if the reading is for yourself, or for the person you are doing the reading for. Click here for instructions on choosing your significator.
If the spread you have chosen uses a significator card, take the card you have chosen out of the pack and lay it to the side.
The shuffle
Concentrating on your question, (you do have a question to ask, right?)pick up the deck and begin an overhand shuffle. You may turn the cards in any direction (only looking at the back side of the cards) as some will be read straight up and some reversed. If you are reading for someone, pass the cards to that person and let them continue the shuffle. Or if for yourself, continue on. Now the cards should be cut. The Querent cuts the deck with the left hand once, making a second pile to the left of the first, and the second pile itself should then be cut, making a third pile which is laid to the left of the other two. The deck is then reassembled, putting the first pile on top of the second and both on top of the third, so that what was previously on the top of the deck is now on the bottom. The reader now deals the appropriate number of cards.
Note: If doing a reading for someone, it is very important to take note of the way the cards are handed back to you. You need to lay them out in the manner that they were intended to be. Ask if you need to, "what is the top of the deck?"
There are various ways to shuffle. Here is another method. After shuffling, Split the pack into 3 piles as in the previous method. Pick up each pile one at a time and shuffle it placing each on top of the next after shuffling. Pick up the pack and repeat the proses 3 times. Your deck is now ready to use.
Lay out the cards according to the layout you have chosen from your book. Lay the cards face down. After all the cards are down you can begin to read them. Turn up the number 1 card paying attention to if its reversed or straight up. What I mean by this is, is the card right side up (straight up) or is it upside down (reversed). Look into your book and find that card. Read the meaning and see how it correlates to the position that it is in. Repeat this for the remaining cards. The meaning of the card interact with the positions in the spread. This takes some practice. In the beginning it may not make much sense to you, but as you do more readings it will start to fall into place for you. Just keep your mind clear and concentrate on your query. It is said that you should never do more that 3 spreads for yourself in a day. While you are practicing and getting to know the cards, it would be alright to do more. Just don't hold much stock in them until you are sure of what you're doing.
You probably will not want to do any readings for someone else until you are very familiar with the deck and the meanings of the cards. I'm sure you wouldn't want to use your book in front of someone to read their fortune. It just doesn't seem to professional.
For a brief explanation of the meaning of the tarot cards
click here.
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