The Tarot is a deck of cards that originated over 500 years ago in northern Italy. Although the Tarot was first used in a game called Triumphs (a game similar to bridge) it was quickly adopted as a tool for divination, and popularized by occult societies such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The early Tarot symbolism was deeply rooted in Medieval and Renaissance Europe, but over the centuries it has grown to incorporate everything from Astrology and Kabbalah to Runes (which predate the Tarot by 1000 years) and the I Ching (which predates the Tarot by 2500 years). Today, the Tarot is far and away the most popular tool for spiritual introspection in the West.
Centuries after the development of the Tarot, followers of the occult particularly in France and England perceived mystical and magical meaning in the symbolism of the cards. Their fascination led to the decks becoming a tool for divination.
Although the general Tarot meanings of the cards runs the same from deck to deck, in fact the cards and their meanings actually falls into the interpretation and intuition of the reader. Much depends on the client they are reading for and the cards which turn up in the total spread. Tarot is really an ancient system of wisdom which enriches your daily life and can be a valuable guide to your spiritual development. It's probably the most popular form of divination in the western world and used as a tool for exploring the subconscious,showing us choices or pathways we may wish to follow.
To me that is the most useful part of Tarot today...to learn to recognize and use your own tuition to become more and more adept at making the right choices for you..
Amanda Goldston teaches an excellent tarot card reading course in which you can learn to read your cards and follow your own inner advice. It's very, very successful and saves you all kinds of money on readings. You can also learn to read for others..bonus. Amanda says...
"It is well known that the mind thinks in pictures and that a picture literally "says 1000 words". Pictures and symbols can quickly convey a message to our subconscious mind, which we might struggle to put into meaningful words.
Pictures also evoke feelings and emotions in us. It is at the feeling level that the greatest change takes place within us. As Tarot cards are very ancient, many of the symbols stem from time immemorial and as such, teach us Universal truths.
As a coaching and self development tool, tarot is one of the finest things there is because it enables you to quickly get straight to the root of a challenge or a limiting belief, so it can be shifted.
The tarot is a very effective way to access your subconscious mind and your intuition."
The tarot deck includes number cards (1 through 10) in four suits, and court cards page, knight, and king. But the tarot deck had more: a queen was added to each of the courts, and 22 special cards, not belonging to any suit, were added. These special cards bore symbolic pictures, with such subjects as the Emperor, the Pope, The Wheel of Fortune, Death, the Devil, and the Moon.
The origins and meanings of tarot cards are mysterious..the images being very powerful and evoke many theories. Some believe it was developed from the Romany and/or the Knights Templar. There is even some idea that the tarot came from Egyptian origin and are perhaps remnants of the ancient Book of Thoth, the magic book authored by Thoth. The book was supposedly redesigned as cards...making it both portable and easy to hide. French theologian, Antoine Court de Gebelin, author or one of the earliest works on tarot, published in Paris around 1775 to 1784, suggests that the Major Arcana comes from the Egyptian Book of Thoth saved from the ruins of a burning temple. The book was reported to be rescued and brought to Europe by traveling Gypsies. This has since been re-vamped to not actually be the case. Gypsies used palmistry and playing cards, only using Tarot decks in the 20th century.
There are literally scores of decks in existence now. Over the centuries, Tarot went in and out of 'fashion'. Decks were developed for particular mystical groups, to please various Kings or the wealthy,or even left at the hand of some printer to make plates based on what was around with their own minor changes. Some of the more popular are the Waite-Smith decks published in 1909 by Rider. There are lots of variations on this one, depending on coloring of the filling of the line drawings. The Rider-Waite deck was copywrited in 1971 by US Games. The creators were Arthur Waite and Pamela Colman Smith.
Major Arcana:
22 Cards...
0 - The Green Man (Fool)
1 - The High Priest (Magician)
2 - The High Priestess
3 - The Lady (Empress)
4 - The Lord (Emperor)
5 - The Druid (Heirophant)
6 - The Lovers
7 - The Chariot
8 - The Warrior (Strength)
9 - The Shaman (Hermit)
10 - The Wheel
11 - The Web (Justice)
12 - Sacrifice (The Hanged Man)
13 - Death
14 - The Underworld (The Devil)
15 - The Tower
16 - Initiation (Temperance)
17 - The Star
18 - The Moon
19 - The Sun
20 - Rebirth (Judgement)
21 - The World Tree (World)
Minor Arcana:
The Minor Arcana consist of four suits.. cups, wands, discs (sometimes called coins or pentacles) and swords. The actual cards are the numbers 1 through 10 and a Page, Knight, King and Queen. Each of these cards are numbered on the bottom with a word at the top, explaining the basic energy of the card.
Learn To Read Tarot
Malona Crumpstick is a serious Tarot Reader and Researcher...
