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The Tarot is a set of cards with pictures and numbers on them, used for Divination. In a classic Tarot deck, there are 78 cards, divided into two main groups, the Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana. The Major Arcana is composed of 22 cards, numbered 0-21. These cards that show influences that the person asking the question (I will call the Seeker) has little or no control over. They represent power and mystery, and follow Jungian Archetypes. Sometimes they are seen as The Journey of the Fool, or the soul's evolution from ignorance to enlightenment. These are The Fool, The Magician, etc. The Minor Arcana is divided into 4 suites, each composed of 4 court cards and 10 cards numbered 1-10. The court cards include a King, Queen, Knight and Page. The suites are Pentacles, Wands, Swords and Cups. Non-classic decks can vary widely from the classic ones, with differing numbers of cards, different suites, different court cards… you name it, it's been changed in some deck or another. In fact, some of these are so different from the classic Tarot decks that there is spirited discussion about whether they are really Tarot at all! No one knows for sure where the Tarot came from, although there are many theories. The first decks we still have seem to date from the later half of the fourteenth century. Anything else is just speculation. But there is plenty of speculation! The Tarot is used by concentrating on a question, shuffling the cards and then laying them out in a pattern, called a spread. There are hundreds of different spreads, and hundreds of different reading styles; slightly more than there are readers, in fact! I always advise those new to Tarot to take into consideration that nothing is absolute in life. What you hear in any type of reading (including Tarot); in my opinion, is one of many things that could be for the Seeker. A reading today could be different even by a reading tomorrow and will definitely be different in 6 months as the Seeker will have varied their path... even if only slightly so. Personally, I feel if the Seeker receives a reading and nothing "feels" right to not take it literally, the reader could be having an "off" day or simply not "seeing". Tarot or any other kinds of readings, I feel, should add confirmation to things in the Seekers life that they already are "feeling" or "knowing". These readings should be taken as definitely something to think about and to ponder but, not as "gospel"… we all have the power to change all things within our personal lives. Tarot is much more than predicting the future; it is a tool to be used to find out how the Seeker is doing along their path. If one lets it, it can show you what sort of path the Seeker is on, what shape that path is taking, as well as where this path could be leading the Seeker. This is one of the main reasons so many of the cards in most spreads deal with the past, the present, as well as the future. In my opinion, I feel the Tarot does shed a bit of light on the path, so the seeker can see where he/she is going… instead of just wandering blindly and hoping for the best. It can be used as a significant guide for the Seeker.  Background By:  |
