 Tarot Cards 
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The origin of the tarot is still unknown, but the most common thread is that it came from Ancient Egypt. The believe that the cards symbolize an egyptian book, "The Book of Thoth". Cards were generally drawn or hand painted for royal families and presented as gifts to them and some upper class families.
Readings are not only read by the divinatory meanings of each single card, but also how they are laid in the spread to one another. Whether the card is upside down (reversed) may weaken, delay, or even reverse the definition of the card. The titles of the 22 Major Arcana cards serve as an area with more broader and deeper meanings that the reader must decifer. Tarot decks are comprised of 78 cards; 56 common cards known as the Minor Arcana, and 22 esoteric cards knowns as the Major Arcana (some decks may have more or less depending on their origin).
- Major Arcana- The emblematic cards (or trumps) are numbered from XXI to I (21 to 1) with an unnumbered card as The Fool. Each card represents an aspect of society that influences life.
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- Minor Arcana- Contains 4 suits: cups(hearts), swords(spades), pentacles(diamonds), and wands(clubs), and the usual court cards: King, Queen, Page(Jack), and a fourth card called the Knight. The suits are thought to represent the life stages of medievil times: people in the upper class or held military positions were symbolized by swords, peasants and working class by clubs, clergymen and "politicians" by cups, and tradesmen and the industrial class by coins. (When creating the modern playing card deck, makers left out the Major Arcana and turned The Fool into the Joker, and the Knight and Page became one Jack.)
| The Major and Minor Arcanas |
22 Major Arcana Cards:
The Fool, the Magician, the High Priestess, the Empress,
the Emperor, the Hierophant, the Lovers, the Chariot,
Strength, the Hermit, the Wheel of Fortune, Justice,
the Hanged Man, Death, Temperance, the Devil,
the Tower, the Star, the Moon, the Sun, Judgment, and the World. |
56 Minor Arcana Cards:
14 cards each (1-10, Page, Knight, Queen and King) of 4 suits:
Swords, representing Air, associated with difficulty, ideas and understanding;
Wands, representing Fire, associated with activity, spiritual strength and work;
Cups, representing Water, associated with feelings; and
Pentacles, representing Earth, associated with financial and material matters. |
Tarot Spreads
There are many ways to work with the cards, you just need to figure out which way works for you, and helps with your readings. You should shuffle the cards a couple of times to begin; if you like, have the questioner shuffle the deck as well. People may have different ways of shuffling, so don't worry, it's just whatever feels right to them. In choosing the cards, some people ask the questioner to cut the deck and the pull one card after another from the top and place them in the spread order. Others have the deck shuffled and then set it out in front of them, and then holds their hands out to feel the energies of each card. My approach is a little bit different. I have the questioner shuffle the deck after i shuffle it, and then i fan the deck out on the ground in front of me. I then 'hand scry' for the appropriate cards, guided by the deities. (i use apollo~hover your dominant hand over the fanned out deck until you get tinglings and your hand starts to feel weighty at certain places and you'll land on a card.)
Daily Spread
This is the easiest spread there is to Tarot Cards. It involves reading only one card from your deck, whether upright or reversed, and usually focuses on your entire day rather than a specific area. Start by shuffling your deck how you see fit, and choosing the card either based on energies, hand scrying, or picking from the top of the deck. This card will give you an overview of how you're day will go. It is best to do this spread early in the morning, before school or work, so that you can watch out for signs and think about it.
3 Card Spread
As with every spread, you will be answering a solution to someone's question. The 3 Card Spread is one of the simplest spreads there is to reading the Tarot. Your first card represents the past, the second represents the present, and the third represents a possible future. Again, shuffle the deck and choose your cards however feels right to you. (Be careful not to look at the cards when you are more experienced and know what the meanings are so you dont flip the card to the way you like better. And make sure you flip all the cards in the same direction.) The first card will tell you how you've done in that specific area in the past, the second will tell you your current situation, and the third will give you an outlook on how your future stands as of now.
Celtic Cross Spread
*Lil booboo: i forgot card number 1 which should be laid vertically under card 2, in the middle of the cross.*
People like to use a significator card when they do more complex spreads in Tarot. A significator card is basically just a card that symbolizes the questioner in appearance and background. Cups usually represent people with light brown hair and fair complexion; Wands represent those with yellow or red hair and blue eyes; Swords represent those with dark hair and possibly grey, hazel, or even blue eyes; and Pentacles represent very dark people. Using your best judgement, choose the best card that would represent the person you and reading for. (I personally don't like to use a signifactor because it gives me one less card in the deck to divine with, when it could be important.) With this done or not, shuffle the cards and do your business. Lay out all 10 cards like the picture above.*
- Card 1 is the middle card in the cross, under the horizontal card 2.* (Cover the significator card with this one if you used it.) This is the person or thing's general environment right now.
- Card 2 is the horizontal card on top of card 1. This card shows his obstacles, if its a positive card then the obstacle will be good in itself, but doesn't produce so much good in this specific area.
- Card 3 is the card above cards 1 and 2. This card can show 1) the best that the questioner can arrive at or 2) his ideal in the matter; 3) what he wants to make his own; 4) but is not his own at the moment.
- Card 4 is the card below cards 1 and 2. This card represents what the questioner has at the moment that he can use and work with.
- Card 5 is on the side that faces the direction card 1 is looking away from. This card represents his recent situations and what's behind him.
- Card 6 is on the side that card 1 is facing towards. This card represents his current actions and what will be happening.
- Card 7 is the bottom card on the line of 4 cards. This card symbolizes the questioner, his personality, attitude, and relations to the area in question.
- Card 8 is placed above 7. This card symbolizes the home, the environment, and influences such as people and events around him.
- Card 9 is placed above 8. This card symbolizes his hopes as well as his fears.
- Card 10 is placed above 9. This card symbolizes that which is to come.
From all of these cards, you should use your intuition and experience to come to a solid and firm message to give to your questioner. Pull meanings from each of the cards from where they are on the table, pay attention to hidden aspects, and put together a result. If everything is too jumbled for you to come to a conclusion, use card 10 as the new significator (or foundation if you didn't use one) and repeat the spread over.
Tree of Life Spread
Blab about spread.
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