Tarot

The Easy Tarot Guide

The origins of the tarot are lost in the mists of time. Yeah, yeah--sounds hokey. True enough, though. People have claimed that the origins of the tarot lie in ancient Egypt or in the lost culture of the Chaldeans; within India or in ancient Europe. I ascribe to the theory that the tarot is a product of all of these cultures and more--a sort of "global achievement", attributed to all of these peoples rather than a specific one. There are too many parallels between the symbolism of the tarot and the cultures of the world for it to be merely coincidental.

Of course, tarot also has many uses; they can be used as a focus for meditative purposes; they can be used to incubate dreams; they can be used to discover past lives, or you can just pull one out, sort of as a thought for the day (a variation of bibliomancy). However, here and now we are going to concentrate on the most common facet of the tarot--the divinatory aspect. This is for beginners with tarot as well as advanced students. Within this page, I will detail how to perform a reading, many different spreads you can use, as well as some techniques to remember the varied tarot meanings.

The first thing you might want to do with a new tarot deck, besides consecrating it or charging it with your energy, is make a list of the cards you are attracted to and their meanings. For example:

Date: 3/18/98

These cards will usually describe your present circumstances physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. They may also represent present involvements/relationships, goals, or facets of your life you're concerned with or working on. If one of these chosen cards belongs to the Court, it may represent a person in your life. Portrayed characteristics may be qualities that exist or are being developed/expressed.

Next list the cards you dislike.

Date: 3/18/98

These cards reveal the aspects of your life that make you feel unhappy, or distressed. Often they indicate the areas of your life you dislike handling or avoid altogether.

Once the question has been chosen you can start. Traditionally, the Querent/Seeker (the person asking the question) should choose an Indicator card, but this is purely optional. However, for those of you who are stickler's for tradition, the Indicator is chosen (traditionally, mind you) from the Court Cards--yet, there are many people who choose the Indicator from any card in the deck. The only thing of importance is how the querent feels about the card, and whether they think it is a good representation of themselves.

Again, for those hard-core traditionalists (not meaning to bag on tradition--some of the greatest works/achievements and cultures are founded on tradition) who decide they must use the Court Cards: both males and females under eighteen years of age are Pages, females over eighteen are considered Queens, males eighteen years to thirty-five years of age are Knights, and males thirty-five and over are Kings. I will say this for picking an Indicator card--it's a fairly good barometer when it comes to how the seeker approaches the current question/situation.

The next step is to phrase the question. Make sure it is phrased so that it is not confusing. Set specifications to make sure it is clear and concise.

Hello, Alexis here. I have learned a little trick in memorizing the minor arcana. Instead of memorizing each card, just memorize the suits and the numbers. Each suit represents something, and each number represents something, and the reverse meanings are usually opposite or negative.

Here, I have compiled a list of each card and it's meaning. Soon, I will add a couple of spreads for you to use the cards with.