The Origins Of Tarot
Tarot, as we know it now, was invented sometime in the middle 15th century in Italy. It closely mirrored the playing cards of the day. Some believe that people had started using playing cards for divination purposes and the tarot was just a refined version of these cards. These basic playing cards had four suits of ten cards each. These cards were brought to Europe from the Islamic world. It is thought that tarot originated when mystics and astrologers started using ordinary playing cards to tell fortunes.
During the 15th century, special cards were added to the playing cards. Later, these became known as the Major Arcana cards, then called the trumps or triumphs. The Major Arcana cards consist of 22 cards with titles rather than numbers and suits. Each one has a strong symbolic meaning and they are considered to be the ‘leaders’ of the tarot deck. The remaining 56 cards are referred to as the Minor Arcana. Usually, these cards are split into four suits: cups, wands, swords and coins. Though there are many variations on this.
Tarot has evolved many times over since its original form, becoming more complex and rich in symbolism. The cards themselves have gained meaning over the years from the cultures that adopted their use. Some cards have come and gone, like The Pope, The Juggler, The Arrow etc. However, around the 17th century, tarot evolved into the form we now know it as having. Many famous alchemists and prophets have used tarot, including Nostradamus and Aristotle.
Tarot cards align with the energies projected onto them. As you shuffle the deck, you and your energies place the cards where they will be most beneficial for you. I always shuffle the deck until the cards feel right. Some people shuffle the cards three times then cut. it is really up to the user. Tarot taps into the spirit realm, or the energies of the user to give their readings.
For centuries, people have been using symbols as a type of divination. Tarot is no different. Each of the 78 cards has an individual meaning. Tarot is an interactive Divination art. The cards interact with each other, giving them new and more complex meaning.
You place the cards into various spreads where the placement of each card gives it even further meaning. Where cards fall in the spread has a lot to do with how they interact with each other. A card representing the past will influence a card representing the present and the future. There are many different spreads including the celtic cross, the three card spread, the spread of fates, the single card reading, the circle and cross, and the ancestors, to name a few.
How To Start Learning Tarot
Although many people go to a Tarot reader for advice on problems ranging from relationships to career to wellbeing, most people find it difficult to imagine doing the actual reading themselves. But the fact is that Tarot is available for everyone to experience and learn.
Although having a Tarot practitioner analyzing the symbols of the cards drawn is certainly an enchanting experience and probably “less risky,” many of today’s Tarot lovers purchase their own decks and begin reading with the help of Tarot manuals or mentors.
Starting to learn anything new is always a daunting experience and especially when one considers learning the Tarot cards can seem a bit odd; to say the least. This is probably the case because Tarot is associated with fortune-telling and the future is the thing that excites human imagination the most. But Tarot, can in fact, take people into a better understanding of the past and the present, assisting many to decode daily problems, and issues.
Living in the information age, it is actually only logical to seek more information, on any given situation, before having to make a decision on the subject of interest. But Tarot also offers tremendous potential as it relates to self-realization. That notion is probably less realized by those who wish to learn the future through Tarot, but in the end, this is where they are in fact led.
Most often regarded as a method of predicting the future, Tarot is much less considered as a method used to better understand oneself. But, if you are interested in learning to read the Tarot cards, it is best if you keep in mind that you should do it primarily because it is one of the most effective methods to begin knowing yourself.
Since the Tarot cards have numerous different meanings depending on the order they are drawn and placed in relation to each other, many people quickly give up the effort of learning to read them. But experts claim that learning the meaning can be an effortless process, as well as rewarding and enjoyable. One of the simpler methods existing to learn the Tarot cards is through meditation.
As practitioners reveal, you should begin by picking up a card from the pile and “studying” it for some time. You can always look up a guide for its “official” meaning, but the important thing here is to realize what the card you picked means to you. If the card suggests a positive career development, for example, it does not matter if the Tarot manual symbolizes something entirely different. As long as it means this to you, it will always mean that when it comes up. As readers put it, “the card responds to you, not the other way around.”
By picking at least one card every day, you will slowly but surely familiarize yourself with the Tarot deck in a natural, easy way. Keep notes and later read the Tarot manual to check how close your guessing was to the “original” meaning. The important thing here is to concentrate on the cards and let their images be “absorbed” by your brain.
Ask questions and give answers to yourself in relation to the pictures you see and the story that the card is trying to convey. Remember that it does not matter how close to the “true” meaning you really are. What matters is how easily you will remember your original thoughts when you draw the same card later during this familiarization procedure.
In less than a month you will be able to associate the cards together and “translate” their meaning. Remember that this is nothing more than a game to learn more about yourself and how you react to a given set of variables. Once you understand this, Tarot will be a fun experience to devote some time to alone or with friends.
FAQs About Tarot
What Are Tarot Cards?
Traditionally made up of no less than seventy-eight cards, Modern day decks of Tarot cards can be wildly different. Tarot cards come in all sizes, with all types of artwork on both the front and back. Some Tarot deck creators even make up their own additional Tarot cards. The meanings and the message of each one of those seventy-eight cards, however, usually remain the same.
Many believe that Tarot cards serve only to tell the future, but this is not true. When used traditionally, Tarot cards speak of the past and present, and are supposed to give clues and ideas about the future that you are potentially heading into.
What’s in the cards?
Tarot cards are made up of four suits much like any regular deck of cards. In fact, Tarot cards have all the same values as traditional playing cards: ace through king for each suit. Only one extra card is added to the royal family in Tarot cards, the page, their position is just under that of the knight (also known as the jack).
The suits are as follows: wands, which in general speak of esoteric issues such as spirituality or creativity; swords, which speak of conflicts and tensions; pentacles, which are about finances, money and material possesions; and cups, which deal in relationship matters and love. The other twenty-two cards of the standard Tarot deck are called the Major Arcana cards, and are all very specific. Cards such as the Devil, the Tower, and Death are in the Major Arcana.
How Could a Tarot Card Reading Actually Help Me?
When done traditionally, a Tarot card reading can put everything into perspective in a clear and understandable way. Every Tarot card reading is prefaced by a question. Oftentimes, each card will then come up in the past, present, or future position and will shed some light on the topic of your question.
Whether or not you believe in spiritual or esoteric things, or even in the art of telling the future, a Tarot card reading can help you better understand your own thoughts. You’ll realize potentially dangerous patterns in your life, and get a better understanding of self. Even the question that you ask in your mind can help you understand something about yourself, and in this way a Tarot card reading can truly help you.
Can Anyone Read Tarot Cards, Or Do I Have To See Someone or Go Online?
Anyone can learn how to read Tarot cards. There are many books available, both online and physical bookstores that will tell you the meaning and message of each and every card. Every card in Tarot has a card-specific meaning, and a message or warning. The good news is, there’s no secret about what these cards mean to convey, so you, too, can learn how to read the Tarot.
Once you know the meaning of the cards (and it’s not something you have to memorize; it’s perfectly okay to keep notes by you when you give yourself a Tarot card reading), you can read the Tarot for yourself or for others. Any book you read about the Tarot will explain the spreads to use and the way to lay the cards out to understand their meaning and placement in the scheme of your question.
Tips From A Witch On Choosing A Tarot Reader Online
Things have come a long way since my youth when readings were frequently done by mysterious old women in secluded booths, masked by beaded curtains. Divination of all forms and Tarot Card readings in particular have attracted its quota of dubious readers. But how can you tell?
Many readers engage in their work with a genuine desire to help clients sort out life issues and offer the insight to help them do so. Some are in it purely to make money and I think that to a certain extent this has made the public skeptical.
There is a need to be careful, with so many people advertising readings of various kinds, how do you tell where you are likely to get good information and what is likely to be a rip off? Well, for one thing, you should look out for personal contact. Usually individual readers who set up their own websites are more reliable. If a site has been around for some time, if the reader is experienced and is willing to answer any inquiry you may have, then the signs are good.
Naturally you want your credit card details to be secure. Websites where secure payment systems are used are a good bet. Paypal is an example of a well established payment agency. A good website is likely to use this type of secure system, to protect its clients. It pays to be more cautious about sites which don’t use these types of systems and which take your card details themselves. A bona fide website will also outline clearly what type of reading you get for your money and how much that reading is.
Areas where caution is needed are websites where there is no clearly identifiable person dealing with the readings. If it’s organized by a virtually anonymous company, what are you getting? If there is no interaction with a real person, be cautious. Will the information you receive be genuine or something printed from a long list of options by a computer? If you are asked to send in your mobile phone number to receive your reading in that way, be very cautious. How much are the charges? Is this a one-off reading or will you be sent regular readings and how much will they be? If you are going to speak to a psychic on the phone, how much are the per minute charges? How much will they add up to if you speak for an hour, which is not uncommon? Often these kinds of operations are run by people who teach their readers to keep clients talking so they will spend more and more money. Ethical readings involve a one off payment for a well described service.
To avoid problems it is best to select a reading type from a site which offers a range of options. If you want detailed information about your life over the coming year, then you would be looking at a reading which is quite substantial and for which you would pay more. Simpler questions such as, will I find a lover?, can be covered in smaller layouts.
The issue is that you should choose a reading and know the cost beforehand. Sometimes clients think if they pay more they will hear more. This is another misconception about the nature of divination and it can be encouraged by readers whose focus is on making more money. There is usually a limit to how much can be seen about an issue at any time by a reader. So, if you choose an appropriate reading, it should cover the issue you are looking at adequately and there should be no need to have more readings on that topic. Indeed it can be unproductive to ask the same question again and again.
Provided you bear these points in mind, then the Internet offers a wide range of readers, from different traditions, who are able to help you in your quest to understand your life better. That is what a reading should be. It should not be a lip trembling moment of consulting about your fate but a genuine enquiry into the possibilities around you at the time. Bearing all this in mind, may your readings be fruitful!