Amethyst Rose
April 28th, 2005, 04:32 PM
Tarot Decks
Your standard tarot deck consists of 78 cards - 22 major arcana, and 56 minor arcana, or pips. There are also oracle decks which can have any number of cards, and some specialty decks that do not use the major arcana. It is even possible to use playing cards to read tarot, the suits corresponding with the tarot suits: hearts/cups, pentacles/diamonds, swords/aces, wands/clubs. It is possible, but it is very difficult, especially for the beginner. What is required is an extensive knowledge of the meanings of the corresponding tarot cards, seeing as how you're working completely without imagery and symbolism.
So, back you your standard 78 card deck. Even within decks there can be large differences. Often you will find the names of the major arcana cards changed, for example in the Gendron Tarot, the Death card is called Transition. And the suits can be different.... coins and pentacles are interchangeable, as well as staves and wands. There are specialty decks that don't use the common suits at all, for example, the Osho Zen Tarot (which incidently has 79 cards) uses elements.... water (cups), fire (wands), clouds (swords) and rainbows (pentacles). This deck is an extreme example, though, because almost every card is given a different name...some don't even consider it to be a tarot deck.
Another big difference is the order of the cards.... some decks you will find have different positions for Justice, the reason for this is actually, a question of morals, and which virtue is considered above the the other.. Justice is one of the three cardinal virtues of the tarot, the other two being temperance and strength. So depending on the deck, you will find that Justice switches places between these virtues. http://www.tarothermit.com/justice.htm, on The History of the Justice Cards states:
Quote:
In the Tarot de Marseille and related decks, Justice follows the Lovers and the Chariot as trump VIII. (The switching of Justice and Strength by Waite in 1910 was without historic precedent.) In the southern tradition of Bologna (Tarocco Bolognese), Florence (Minchiate), and Sicily (Tarocco Siciliano), the virtues were all grouped together immediately above the Pope, Temperance coming first. In Florence and Sicily, Justice is the highest of the three, whereas in Bologna, she is in the middle, between Temperance and Fortitude.
And it continues.... please read this page for more detailed information about the placement and history of the Justice card.
The biggest difference between tarot cards that is often debated, is the element assigned to the swords and wands. Some decks have the swords/fire, wands/air correlation, but you'll find that in most decks it's the opposite. The reason for this, it is rumored, was that when the Waite and Crowley decks were created, they didn't want to break oath to the Golden Dawn by giving away any secrets, so they purposely switched the elements relating to the cards. However, I have found some very interesting reasoning for why the Swords relate to air better than to fire. (Firstly, before I go into this, I'd like to point out that I have never worked with a Swords/fire deck, so I might sound a little biased when I talk about this, simply because that's where my experience lies.)
The Swords in Tarot respresent intellect and knowlege, the mind, communication and conflict -- often between friends and enemies. Air, also is the element of the mind. Air is the most distant element...it can opperate without any of the others.... earth needs water, fire needs air, water needs air, but air does not need earth, fire or water to exist. Just like the body needs the mind to operate, the mind can work on it's own, without he body, (well, beyond internal organs I guess... haha, try not to over think this analogy. ) Also, if you think of the mind as a sword that cuts through ignorance, that might make more sense to you. I'll get into this more later.
Unfortunately I could find virtually no information online as to how the swords could relate to fire, baring the fact that it is the traditional Wiccan correspondance, and that swords are created by fire....but neither of those answers are very intellectual, so I don't think they're very valid. If anyone can point out a good artical on the Swords/Fire mix, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Okay, so where was I.... Ah!
How to Use Tarot
Before I get into how to read, I'd like to go over how to treat your cards. You will notice, the more you work with tarot, that Tarot cards have a personality. How can an inanimate object have personality, you ask? Well, they just do, okay? I don't know how or why, they just do. Listen to your cards' personality. Do what they want you to do, or they pout and often won't read for you....trust me, it's happened. I had to get rid of a new deck, because my old deck refused to read for me after I bought it. My cards let me know in suble ways...often it's just a feeling....how they want to be treated. For example, for the longest time my cards only wanted to be kept in their ratty box, they've since changed their mind, and now are wrapped in black velvet (which they chose), and in a different box.
So that leads me to card storage. Store your cards anyway you want. It's that simple. Be smart about it, of course, don't keep them any place damp, but it doesn't matter if you wrap them in silk, or an old tshirt, or if you keep them in a bag or a box, or anything like that. It's totally personal preference and your card's preference.
So, before you get to know your cards, you'll want to cleanse them. I prefer to do this, because if a lot of people have been handling them, from the supplier to other people in the store, you dont' know what's been put into them. Cards collect energy very easily, and negative energy can put them in a bad mood... either they won't read right, or only give negative readings. There are many different ways you can cleanse your cards.... some let them sit in salt, some let them sit in the light of the full moon.... some put a quartz crystal on them over night.... I do something very simple that can be done on the spot and it's instantaneous, so I can do it between readings. I blow the negative energy off. I'm a firm believer in the power of my own energy.... so I gather my positive energy and faning the cards out, I blow my energy out over them....like I'm blowing off dust, and I visualize the negative energy as dust that flies off the cards and dissipates in the air. Cleansing is also a very personal thing, so do what feels right to you.
To get to know your cards, is like getting to know a friend. Spend a lot of time with a new deck...some people sleep with them under a pillow, or at least on the bedside table. Every time you get a spare moment, look at your cards and study them.... write down meanings and such that you get from the cards....even read the LWB....whatever it takes. I carried my deck around for months, and in between classes in University I would stop and study a couple of cards. The first exercise I posted is really great for this. With enough time and study, you'll know the cards like an old friend.
So, when it comes to finally reading with your cards, the number one, most important thing is your intuition. A person can, in theory, pick up a deck their very first time and do a reading on their intuition alone. For the average person that'd be really difficult, but it is possible.
So what is your intuition and how do you know you're using it? Your intuition is that little voice in the back of your head that tells you something's going to happen. It's that feeling in your gut that tells you not to do something. It's that knowledge you have for a fraction of a second that the phone's about to ring. It is every person's innate psychic ability. No, you do not have to be a psychic to read the cards, that's not what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is that everyone in the world has the ability to catch glimpses of meaning...sometimes the future, but it's so fast and so quick that the majority of people can't catch it, or don't even notice it's there. It takes practice to listen to it, and to catch it's meaning, but once you realize it's there, it can't be ignored.
Start practicing with simple things.... pulling playing cards and guessing their color... what does your intuition say it is? Don't over think it! Use your very first impulse. That's the hard part, the mind often intrudes and thrusts it's own guess in before you can catch what your intuition says. Practice! Practice! Draw one card an listen to that voice....what does it say? When you're reading the tarot, trust your instinct first. Read what your instinct says that the cards say, and then delve into them further with symbolism. I often lay down a spread, look them all over and then give a quick jist of what what my intuition says the cards mean. Then I will go back to each individual card, and explain to the querrant how that card fits in and what that specific card means, and why.
Reading with symbolism is what completes the reading. It goes into more depth and meaning, it makes the card what the author intended it to be and mean. Many cards meanings will change from deck to deck, from the symbolism alone, and so getting a new deck often means learning the meanings of a card over again. General meanings still stay the same.... the two of cups is about relationships for all decks, as far as I know, but the details of the reading will be different. There are so many different symbols that can be put into readings that it'll be hard to cover them all, but I'll try to cover as many as I can.
Color: Often a very important symbol, colors are often universal, but can change according to culture. Pay attention to how the details of your card are colored...what's the predominant color?
Here's a color correspondance list to help you out:
Red: energy, strength, passion, love, career goals, courage
Orange: business goals, career goals, justice, success, ambition
Yellow: learning, breaking mental blocks, confidence, persuasion
Pink: romantic love, peace, nurturing
Green: finances, luck, physical healing, abundance, growth, fertility
Blue: wisdom, protection, calm, creativity, patience, astral projection ,prophetic dreams
Purple: spiritual power, psychic ability, ambition, third eye, success, independence
Silver: telepathy, clairvoyance, intuition, dreams, astral energy
Black: protection, repelling, binding, banishing, meditation
White: peace, purity, spirituality, higher self, consecration, divination, clairvoyance
Numerology: It's very popoular for artists to use numerology with the cards, but the real thing to pay attention to is how numerology shows up in the reading of the cards. Certain numbers with that show up repeatedly in a reading... or groupings of numbers together, are very important....say if you got a 3 of swords, three of wands and three of pentacles all together, that would be something you'd really want to pay attention to. There is really a ton of info that I could go into here, and this lesson is already long enough. Here's a website that explains the numerology behind the card and what the numbers mean: http://realmagick.com/topics/33/33.html The newest articles are on Ones to Fives, and you can find Sixes to Tens under the "Brief Articles" heading at the bottom of the page.
Astrology: You'll find in many decks astrology symbols, often put in the corner of the card. I personaly don't think it's extrememly important to know the astrology behind it.... so don't feel you have to go out and learn an entire new complicated system. If you know it, wonderful, if you don't, dont' worry about it. If you're curious though, here's a break down of how the astrology works for the major arcana.... you can do some more research if you're interested in just how it all works:
Card.................Zodiac...........Planet
The Fool--------------------------Uranus
Magician--------------------------Mercury
High Priestess--------------------Moon
Empress--------------------------Venus
Emperor-------------Aries ----
Hyrophant-----------Taurus ----
Lovers----------------Gemini ----
Chariot---------------Cancer ----
Strenght-------------Leo ----
Hermit---------------Virgo ----
Wheel of Fortune--------------------------Jupiter
Justice---------------Libra ----
The Hanged Man ------------------------Neptune
Death-----------------Scorpio ----
Temperance---------Sagitarius ----
Devil------------------Capricorn----------Chiron
Tower--------------------------------------Mars
Star------------------Aquarius ----
Moon-----------------Pisces ----
Sun-----------------------------------------Sun
Judgement--------------------------------Pluto
World-------------------------------------Saturn
Animals: A lot of decks use animals for symbolism...Gendron Tarot is one. Your best bet with this is to read the LWB and see what it has to tell you about the animal symbolism, or a really good book is Ted Andrew's Animal Speak. Some basic correspondances are attached as files to this lesson.. I didnt want to make the lesson any longer than I had too.
Plants/Flowers: Plants and animals work the same as animals... consult the LWB for author's meanings, or do some research. I have correspondances for trees in my BOS but not for flowers, oddly. I'll attach the tree correspondance.
Kabbalah: I know absolutely nothing about the relation between Tarot and the Kabbalah....so here's a link: http://www.byzant.com/tarot/kabbalah.asp You may also want to check out the CoT Kabbalah class.
There are so many other symbols that can be included in the tarot. If you find one that that I didn't include here then take the time to research it.
So sorry that this lesson is so looooong.... I just got writing and couldn't stop. I'll give you extra time to absorb everything in it.
Your standard tarot deck consists of 78 cards - 22 major arcana, and 56 minor arcana, or pips. There are also oracle decks which can have any number of cards, and some specialty decks that do not use the major arcana. It is even possible to use playing cards to read tarot, the suits corresponding with the tarot suits: hearts/cups, pentacles/diamonds, swords/aces, wands/clubs. It is possible, but it is very difficult, especially for the beginner. What is required is an extensive knowledge of the meanings of the corresponding tarot cards, seeing as how you're working completely without imagery and symbolism.
So, back you your standard 78 card deck. Even within decks there can be large differences. Often you will find the names of the major arcana cards changed, for example in the Gendron Tarot, the Death card is called Transition. And the suits can be different.... coins and pentacles are interchangeable, as well as staves and wands. There are specialty decks that don't use the common suits at all, for example, the Osho Zen Tarot (which incidently has 79 cards) uses elements.... water (cups), fire (wands), clouds (swords) and rainbows (pentacles). This deck is an extreme example, though, because almost every card is given a different name...some don't even consider it to be a tarot deck.
Another big difference is the order of the cards.... some decks you will find have different positions for Justice, the reason for this is actually, a question of morals, and which virtue is considered above the the other.. Justice is one of the three cardinal virtues of the tarot, the other two being temperance and strength. So depending on the deck, you will find that Justice switches places between these virtues. http://www.tarothermit.com/justice.htm, on The History of the Justice Cards states:
Quote:
In the Tarot de Marseille and related decks, Justice follows the Lovers and the Chariot as trump VIII. (The switching of Justice and Strength by Waite in 1910 was without historic precedent.) In the southern tradition of Bologna (Tarocco Bolognese), Florence (Minchiate), and Sicily (Tarocco Siciliano), the virtues were all grouped together immediately above the Pope, Temperance coming first. In Florence and Sicily, Justice is the highest of the three, whereas in Bologna, she is in the middle, between Temperance and Fortitude.
And it continues.... please read this page for more detailed information about the placement and history of the Justice card.
The biggest difference between tarot cards that is often debated, is the element assigned to the swords and wands. Some decks have the swords/fire, wands/air correlation, but you'll find that in most decks it's the opposite. The reason for this, it is rumored, was that when the Waite and Crowley decks were created, they didn't want to break oath to the Golden Dawn by giving away any secrets, so they purposely switched the elements relating to the cards. However, I have found some very interesting reasoning for why the Swords relate to air better than to fire. (Firstly, before I go into this, I'd like to point out that I have never worked with a Swords/fire deck, so I might sound a little biased when I talk about this, simply because that's where my experience lies.)
The Swords in Tarot respresent intellect and knowlege, the mind, communication and conflict -- often between friends and enemies. Air, also is the element of the mind. Air is the most distant element...it can opperate without any of the others.... earth needs water, fire needs air, water needs air, but air does not need earth, fire or water to exist. Just like the body needs the mind to operate, the mind can work on it's own, without he body, (well, beyond internal organs I guess... haha, try not to over think this analogy. ) Also, if you think of the mind as a sword that cuts through ignorance, that might make more sense to you. I'll get into this more later.
Unfortunately I could find virtually no information online as to how the swords could relate to fire, baring the fact that it is the traditional Wiccan correspondance, and that swords are created by fire....but neither of those answers are very intellectual, so I don't think they're very valid. If anyone can point out a good artical on the Swords/Fire mix, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Okay, so where was I.... Ah!
How to Use Tarot
Before I get into how to read, I'd like to go over how to treat your cards. You will notice, the more you work with tarot, that Tarot cards have a personality. How can an inanimate object have personality, you ask? Well, they just do, okay? I don't know how or why, they just do. Listen to your cards' personality. Do what they want you to do, or they pout and often won't read for you....trust me, it's happened. I had to get rid of a new deck, because my old deck refused to read for me after I bought it. My cards let me know in suble ways...often it's just a feeling....how they want to be treated. For example, for the longest time my cards only wanted to be kept in their ratty box, they've since changed their mind, and now are wrapped in black velvet (which they chose), and in a different box.
So that leads me to card storage. Store your cards anyway you want. It's that simple. Be smart about it, of course, don't keep them any place damp, but it doesn't matter if you wrap them in silk, or an old tshirt, or if you keep them in a bag or a box, or anything like that. It's totally personal preference and your card's preference.
So, before you get to know your cards, you'll want to cleanse them. I prefer to do this, because if a lot of people have been handling them, from the supplier to other people in the store, you dont' know what's been put into them. Cards collect energy very easily, and negative energy can put them in a bad mood... either they won't read right, or only give negative readings. There are many different ways you can cleanse your cards.... some let them sit in salt, some let them sit in the light of the full moon.... some put a quartz crystal on them over night.... I do something very simple that can be done on the spot and it's instantaneous, so I can do it between readings. I blow the negative energy off. I'm a firm believer in the power of my own energy.... so I gather my positive energy and faning the cards out, I blow my energy out over them....like I'm blowing off dust, and I visualize the negative energy as dust that flies off the cards and dissipates in the air. Cleansing is also a very personal thing, so do what feels right to you.
To get to know your cards, is like getting to know a friend. Spend a lot of time with a new deck...some people sleep with them under a pillow, or at least on the bedside table. Every time you get a spare moment, look at your cards and study them.... write down meanings and such that you get from the cards....even read the LWB....whatever it takes. I carried my deck around for months, and in between classes in University I would stop and study a couple of cards. The first exercise I posted is really great for this. With enough time and study, you'll know the cards like an old friend.
So, when it comes to finally reading with your cards, the number one, most important thing is your intuition. A person can, in theory, pick up a deck their very first time and do a reading on their intuition alone. For the average person that'd be really difficult, but it is possible.
So what is your intuition and how do you know you're using it? Your intuition is that little voice in the back of your head that tells you something's going to happen. It's that feeling in your gut that tells you not to do something. It's that knowledge you have for a fraction of a second that the phone's about to ring. It is every person's innate psychic ability. No, you do not have to be a psychic to read the cards, that's not what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is that everyone in the world has the ability to catch glimpses of meaning...sometimes the future, but it's so fast and so quick that the majority of people can't catch it, or don't even notice it's there. It takes practice to listen to it, and to catch it's meaning, but once you realize it's there, it can't be ignored.
Start practicing with simple things.... pulling playing cards and guessing their color... what does your intuition say it is? Don't over think it! Use your very first impulse. That's the hard part, the mind often intrudes and thrusts it's own guess in before you can catch what your intuition says. Practice! Practice! Draw one card an listen to that voice....what does it say? When you're reading the tarot, trust your instinct first. Read what your instinct says that the cards say, and then delve into them further with symbolism. I often lay down a spread, look them all over and then give a quick jist of what what my intuition says the cards mean. Then I will go back to each individual card, and explain to the querrant how that card fits in and what that specific card means, and why.
Reading with symbolism is what completes the reading. It goes into more depth and meaning, it makes the card what the author intended it to be and mean. Many cards meanings will change from deck to deck, from the symbolism alone, and so getting a new deck often means learning the meanings of a card over again. General meanings still stay the same.... the two of cups is about relationships for all decks, as far as I know, but the details of the reading will be different. There are so many different symbols that can be put into readings that it'll be hard to cover them all, but I'll try to cover as many as I can.
Color: Often a very important symbol, colors are often universal, but can change according to culture. Pay attention to how the details of your card are colored...what's the predominant color?
Here's a color correspondance list to help you out:
Red: energy, strength, passion, love, career goals, courage
Orange: business goals, career goals, justice, success, ambition
Yellow: learning, breaking mental blocks, confidence, persuasion
Pink: romantic love, peace, nurturing
Green: finances, luck, physical healing, abundance, growth, fertility
Blue: wisdom, protection, calm, creativity, patience, astral projection ,prophetic dreams
Purple: spiritual power, psychic ability, ambition, third eye, success, independence
Silver: telepathy, clairvoyance, intuition, dreams, astral energy
Black: protection, repelling, binding, banishing, meditation
White: peace, purity, spirituality, higher self, consecration, divination, clairvoyance
Numerology: It's very popoular for artists to use numerology with the cards, but the real thing to pay attention to is how numerology shows up in the reading of the cards. Certain numbers with that show up repeatedly in a reading... or groupings of numbers together, are very important....say if you got a 3 of swords, three of wands and three of pentacles all together, that would be something you'd really want to pay attention to. There is really a ton of info that I could go into here, and this lesson is already long enough. Here's a website that explains the numerology behind the card and what the numbers mean: http://realmagick.com/topics/33/33.html The newest articles are on Ones to Fives, and you can find Sixes to Tens under the "Brief Articles" heading at the bottom of the page.
Astrology: You'll find in many decks astrology symbols, often put in the corner of the card. I personaly don't think it's extrememly important to know the astrology behind it.... so don't feel you have to go out and learn an entire new complicated system. If you know it, wonderful, if you don't, dont' worry about it. If you're curious though, here's a break down of how the astrology works for the major arcana.... you can do some more research if you're interested in just how it all works:
Card.................Zodiac...........Planet
The Fool--------------------------Uranus
Magician--------------------------Mercury
High Priestess--------------------Moon
Empress--------------------------Venus
Emperor-------------Aries ----
Hyrophant-----------Taurus ----
Lovers----------------Gemini ----
Chariot---------------Cancer ----
Strenght-------------Leo ----
Hermit---------------Virgo ----
Wheel of Fortune--------------------------Jupiter
Justice---------------Libra ----
The Hanged Man ------------------------Neptune
Death-----------------Scorpio ----
Temperance---------Sagitarius ----
Devil------------------Capricorn----------Chiron
Tower--------------------------------------Mars
Star------------------Aquarius ----
Moon-----------------Pisces ----
Sun-----------------------------------------Sun
Judgement--------------------------------Pluto
World-------------------------------------Saturn
Animals: A lot of decks use animals for symbolism...Gendron Tarot is one. Your best bet with this is to read the LWB and see what it has to tell you about the animal symbolism, or a really good book is Ted Andrew's Animal Speak. Some basic correspondances are attached as files to this lesson.. I didnt want to make the lesson any longer than I had too.
Plants/Flowers: Plants and animals work the same as animals... consult the LWB for author's meanings, or do some research. I have correspondances for trees in my BOS but not for flowers, oddly. I'll attach the tree correspondance.
Kabbalah: I know absolutely nothing about the relation between Tarot and the Kabbalah....so here's a link: http://www.byzant.com/tarot/kabbalah.asp You may also want to check out the CoT Kabbalah class.
There are so many other symbols that can be included in the tarot. If you find one that that I didn't include here then take the time to research it.
So sorry that this lesson is so looooong.... I just got writing and couldn't stop. I'll give you extra time to absorb everything in it.