A Crash Course in Tarot for Newbies #1
by Samantha Stevens
The Tarot is not just a divinatory tool, but it can also
be utilized in the appropriately trained hands as a tool for
providing counsel and advice with which we can navigate life.
It is an antique form of divination that predates popular
psychology, but has been shown to have archetypal energies that
work well from a Jungian perspective. Tarot becomes a book of
wisdom offering you a living parable or myth that reflects your
life journey in the hands of the right Diviner. It describes a
journey that mirrors your path in life.
Usually the story is a direct description of what is going
to happen in a particular window of time although talented
readers can tell you much more than that from looking at the
symbols in the cards! One of the main purposes of the use of the
cards is to construct a future narrative so that you can make
decisions to change your fate. The reader shuffles cards and
lays them out in a specific pattern usually called a "spread."
This can be compared to a snapshot or map of your life.
Each card position in the layout of the spread represents
a characteristic of the situation in question --what forces are
beyond your control, what your particular strengths are in the
current or future situation, and what the likely outcome is if
you continue as you have been doing.
As the cards fall into their positions, meaning is created
by the unique placement of the symbolic meanings of each card.
Together they weave a synchronistic tapestry that may seem
random at first, but in reality is a very careful map which you
may follow or not as you wish to bring about or avert the
outcome of your reading. Synchronicity is a principle that is
not only referred to constantly in psychology, but also in
quantum physics.
The entire system of Tarot cards can be described as a
pictorial or numerological expression of the human condition.
The Tarot cards can be compared to a wise friend who we can turn
to when we wish to make a wise decision regarding a relationship
or a career. The wisdom found inside the Tarot, is actually the
same wisdom that is found inside each and every one of us. The
whole purpose of a reading is to tell you what you don't know so
that you can use your free will to take appropriate actions that
are good for your soul. Now, this does not necessarily mean
telling you what you want to hear - but instead what you NEED to
hear.
It's hard to believe, but Tarot cards were not originally
designed to tell the future! They were first used in the 16th
century Paris to play a card game similar to Bridge. As there
were no soap operas in those days, the cards were also put to
another entertaining use. The face cards, such as the Queen of
Cups, King of Swords and so forth were modeled on the personas
of popular celebrities of the day.
These cards were shuffled and then arranged into
scandalous story lines. This parlor game was a source of great
amusement for both royalty and peasants alike. In addition, 16th
century poets used the cards to compose poems called tarocchi
apporporati. The poems would be constructed about the characters
in the trump cards in the deck, such as the Queens, Kings,
Knights and Pages to tell a tragic or romantic story.
Tarot cards were not associated with divination until the
1800s, when a secret order of magicians in Venice, Italy found
significance in their numbers and symbols. Before that these
decorative cards were not used for fortune telling. As these
magicians were the Illuminati of their day, their reading
methods were kept very secret.
The first known records of the divinatory meanings
assigned to Tarot cards did not appear until the 1700s in
Bologna. Ordinary playing cards have been connected with
divination as early as 1487.
The gypsies were adept at reading plain playing cards for
centuries before the Venetian magicians got their hands on a
French Tarot Deck. It is safe to assume that the Tarot card
meanings and spreads that are used today are based on a hybrid
of techniques derived from the Tzigani system of reading playing
cards, French parlor games and Venetian interpretations of
occult symbols!
To understand the Tarot you need to familiarize yourself
with the meanings of the four suits and the meanings of their
symbols. The cups, coins, disks and wands of the Tarot deck
derive their meaning from cartomancy.
Cartomancy is the art of reading playing cards. There are
78 cards in a traditional Tarot Deck. These 78 cards are divided
into the Major and Minor Arcanas. The Minor Arcana relates to
the ordinary playing deck. Most of the cards in the Minor Arcana
represent events or qualities. The additional 22 Major Arcana
cards included in the traditional Tarot deck represent the
stages of a person's individual passage through life, from
non-existence, birth, love, marriage, death spiritual ascension
and back to non-existence again. The Fool Card, numbered 0, is
indicative of this eternal cycle.
The 22 Major Arcana cards are an addition to what
otherwise could be described as an ordinary playing deck that
consists of four suits. The meanings of the 22 Major Arcana
cards are based on an old French parlor game that was used to
predict the lives of the celebrities of the day. Since then,
they have mutated to symbolize major life events and personal
attributes. When you are first learning to read the Tarot cards,
sometimes it is valuable to have a list of the card's
abbreviated meanings to refer to while you are throwing the
cards.
Though not all diviner's use the same correspondent
meanings. Here is a list of the classic meanings of each of the
22 cards of the Major Arcana.
0 The Fool - choices offered, folly, going in circles
1 The Magician - creative energy, psychic power
2 The High Priestess - mystery, hidden influences, female
supremacy
3 The Empress - abundance, fertility, motherhood
4 The Emperor - leadership, control, fatherhood
5 The Hierophant - convention, society, restrictions
6 The Lovers - love, relationships, intimacy
7 The Chariot - mind over matter, conflicts, war
8 Strength - courage, power, stamina
9 The Hermit - wisdom, spirituality, connection with
Higher Self
10 Wheel of Fortune - unpredictability, changes of luck
for good or bad,
11 Justice - legal
issues, balance, karmic return
12 Hanged Man - withdrawal, study, rest, waiting 1
3 Death - change, physical death, an ending
14 Temperance - moderation, adaptation, patience
15 The Devil -
temptation, the material world, evil
16 The Tower - conflict, problems, devastation
17 The Star - hope, inspiration, happiness
18 The Moon - unseen troubles, black magic, female
sexuality
19 The Sun - marriage, success, male sexuality
20 Judgment - awakening, renewal, the result of good or
bad actions
21 The World - success, opportunity, a clean slate
f you subtract the extra 22 cards that comprise the Major
Arcana from a Tarot deck, the Minor Arcana is what is left over.
The Minor Arcana of every Tarot deck contains 56 cards divided
into four suits with each suit maintaining its own sphere of
influence.
The four suits are the Cups, Pentacles (also referred to
Disks or Coins in some decks), Wands (sometimes referred to as
Batons) and the Swords.
In a deck of conventional playing cards the Cups related
to the suit of Hearts, the Diamonds to Pentacles, the Wands to
Clubs and the Swords to Spades. Each of these four suits reigns
over their own special spheres of influence.
•The Cups suit deals with emotional matters, love, sex
marriage, fertility and creativity.
•The Pentacles suit pertains to matters such as wealth
finance commerce prosperity, career and economic security.
•The Swords suit refers to legal matters, the wheels of
progress, heartbreak, betrayal, opposition, breakthroughs and
the need to impose order on chaos. •Wands represent the mind,
inspiration, guidance, the world of ideas, deep thought,
intellect, purpose and potential.
Here is a handy list of the condensed and abbreviated
meanings of the 56 cards in the Minor Arcana. Wands Ace
beginning of fortune, passion, inspiration
2 business success, partnership
3 help offered, charity
4 rest after labor, a compromise
5 struggle, competition
6 startling news, invention, applied science
7 courage in the face of difficulty, futility
8 swift action, a message, good news
9 overcoming obstacles, povert
10 unwise use of power, too much force
Page a messenger Knight starting or finishing of an issue,
a proposal Queen mother, artist, creative woman King man
of authority,
an entrepreneur Cups Ace new love, union of souls, birth 2
new friends, new love, soul mate 3 abundance, health, prosperity
4 discontent, dissatisfaction 5 regret, disappointment 6
happiness from the past 7 unrealistic dreams, delusions 8 things
thrown aside, waste, addiction 9 material abundance, financial
progress 10 family life, excess, indulgence Page the arrival of
good news Knight proposals, invitations Queen romantic woman,
vain woman King romantic man, sensitive man Swords Ace victory,
swift justice 2 indecision, uneasy compromise 3 separation, love
triangle 4 changes, improvement 5 success without happiness 6
difficulties resolve themselves, medical attention 7 a failed
plan, unmet goals, disappointment 8 restriction, rigid thinking,
evil 9 sorrow, agony of mind 10 ruin, despair, betrayal Page
upsetting message, a meddler Knight end of a problem, a swift
resolution Queen strong willed woman King man of military
authority Coins Ace beginning of wealth, a great idea 2 two
situations at once, commerce 3 skills in the arts, steady work 4
material possessions, gifts 5 loneliness, abandonment 6 charity,
desperation 7 a pause amid growth 8 employment 9 enjoyment of
wealth 10 family money, promotion Page good financial news
Knight patience with business and financial matters Queen a rich
woman, an independent woman, a matriarch King man of business, a
wealthy man
The face cards of the Minor Arcana used to represent the
Who's Who of Tarot. Originally these personalities were based on
the antics of celebrities in 16th century France.
The face cards are the 'people" cards in the deck that
often symbolize the arrival or influence of a male or female in
your life. They are represented by the four face cards in each
suit - Cups, Wands, Coins and Swords. These are the persons
represented by the Kings, Queens, Knights (sometimes Princes)
and Page (or Princesses) in the Minor Arcana of the deck. The
four offices of King, Queen, Knight and Page vary in name
somewhat from deck to deck - but all are correct for the deck
and correspondences you are working with in that deck.
For those of you who have always wondered just exactly
"whom" these people are coming up in your reading, here is a
short guide as to what they are supposed to look like and be
like: Queen of Cups A fair-haired young woman. Often good
looking, vain, thoughtless. Princess of Cups Beautiful, naive
sexy usually fair-haired woman. Immature. Queen of Disks A
slightly older woman. Well to do. Practical. Nobody's fool.
Princess of Disks A nurturing, often codependent woman. Wounded
Healer. Queen of Wands Darker haired, artistic, entrepreneur,
independent, feminist, intelligent. Princess of Wands Brown or
blonde do-gooder. Practical. Takes matters into own hands. Queen
of Swords Dark haired, widow, sad woman. Abandoned woman. Wily
Princess of Swords Dark haired, scheming woman. Depressed.
Promiscuous. Needy King of Cups Fair-haired alpha male. Warm,
generous, loving, Controlling. Knight of Cups Knight in shining
armor card. A suitor. Warm generous loving. King of Disks
Paternal Fatherly type. Medium to Dark Haired. Businessman
Knight of Disks An active, athletic stubborn type. Controlling.
Can be Violent. King of Wands Dangerous, womanizing man.
Egotistical. Dramatic. Sexy Knight of Wands Medium to dark
haired younger man. A Player. Vain. Selfish King of Swords
Cruel, powerful, bitter man. Sometimes emotionless. Swift.
Knight of Swords Sullen, dark haired, sexy but depressed younger
man. Poetic A Crash Course In Tarot For Newbies #2 will be about
basic spreads and layouts for divination.
