About Tarot Cards

In recent years, tarot cards have obtained a reputation for being mystical fortune-telling devices, only to be used by those with advanced occult powers. However, in many ways they're similar to the modern American 52-card playing deck. While movies and books about witchcraft and divination focus on their use as tools to tell the future, many practitioners use them more as a personal insight tool. Once you familiarize yourself with the components of a deck or two, you'll find that they aren't difficult to understand or use.

Evolution

Written references to tarot cards date back to the late 1300s. Originally, they were playing cards used for fun or for gambling. There's also evidence that some of the symbols on the cards represented various virtues and were used to educate children about moral values. We know for sure that the tarot deck was used to play games such as the Italian card game tarrocchino (from which the name "tarot" was probably derived), and the decks are still used for playing games in some European countries today. Over several centuries, tarot cards came to be used more and more for divination, and in the United States today, that is almost exclusively how they are used.
Artists and deck makers such as A.E. Waite, Pamela Colman Smith and Aleister Crowley popularized their own versions of the tarot in the early twentieth century. In the last two decades of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first, the number of personal interpretations of the tarot deck exploded. You can now find hundreds of varieties of tarot cards and related divination card decks (angel decks, spirit animal decks, etc.) at occult bookshops or for sale online.

Type

The closest thing to a "traditional" tarot deck is the Marseille tarot, dating to the mid-eighteenth century. Later, artists and occultists made their own interpretations of the decks and added symbols and cards, and the decks are usually named after the artist or designer. Other decks that are somewhat newer--dating back to the first half of the twentieth century--but which are very well known are the "Waite" or "Rider-Wait" tarot decks and the Aleister Crowley deck.

Features

Tarot decks have become standardized to a 78-card deck consisting of four suits or minor arcana and 22 major arcana.
The minor arcana are quite similar to the standard 52-card playing card deck. They are divided into four suits: pentacles, wands, cups and swords. Each of these suits has cards numbered 1 through 10, as well as a page, knight, queen and king. Though some writers make different associations (such as associating pentacles with fire and wands with earth), most commentators explain that the symbolism of each suit is as follows:
Pentacles: Associated with earth, the body, wealth, material things
Wands: Associated with fire, energy, sexuality, passion
Cups: Associated with water, emotions, change
Swords: Associated with air, thought, trouble and tribulation
The major arcana consists of 22 card numbered 0 through 21. Each card contains a character or a concept that can be interpreted differently depending on where they fall in the reading being done. The major arcana are:
0: The Fool
1: The Magician
2: The High Priestess
3: The Empress
4: The Emperor
5: The Hierophant (or Pope)
6: The Lovers
7: The Chariot
8: Strength
9: The Hermit
10: The Wheel of Fortune
11: Justice
12: The Hanged Man
13: Death
14: Temperance
15: The Devil
16: The Tower
17: The Star
18: The Moon
19: The Sun
20: Judgment
21: The World

Misconceptions

Some of the major arcana symbols are fairly straightforward, such as the Lovers or Temperance. Others are not always what they seem. Some people not very familiar with the tarot see the symbols such as the Devil, Death or the Hanged Man as being evil or violent, but these symbols are often misunderstood. For instance, the Devil is not necessarily pure evil in tarot. He's more about chaos and rebelling against rigid authority. Death is rarely about a physical demise; it's often about change or endings, such as the end of a relationship or the death of a dream. And the Hanged Man is not being throttled to death. If you look closely at the card, you'll see he's hanging by a foot, not by his neck, and he's gazing out at the world upside down. This card is often about a change in perspective.

Function

Tarot card can be used in a variety of ways. They can be used for divining the future, but many people use them more as a tool for introspection and personal growth.
You can lay out the cards in various configurations to answer a question or gain insight into a problem for yourself. Or you can lay out the cards and interpret them for someone else with a question--traditionally, this person is known as the querent. Finally, some people use the tarot as a meditation tool rather than a fortune-telling one. They will randomly pick a card from the deck each morning and consider what the symbolism of the card means to them throughout the day.
When doing a reading for yourself or for another, there are a wide variety of arrangements of the cards, known as "spreads." The 10-card Celtic cross is one that is very commonly used, with the positions indicating:
1: The present situation
2: Major influence
3: Goal or fate
4: Far past, historical basis
5: Recent past
6: Near future
7: Self
8: Feelings
9: Hopes/fears
10: Final outcome
Other spreads might be smaller or larger--five- and 15-card spreads are also traditional. The position the card falls into means something as well as the actual content of the card. For instance, getting the Lovers in the fourth position of the Celtic cross would be different than getting that card in the seventh position. Some also interpret the card differently based on whether it is right side up or upside down, while others ignore the orientation of the card when interpreting it.

Expert Insight

When considering a tarot card for fortune-telling or for gaining personal insights, it's important to pick a deck containing images that resonate with the individual using them. Also, while many decks come with small books to help with interpretation, it's important for a reader to use his own intuition when interpreting cards rather than being bound by what it says in the book. Many books and websites are available to help expand a user's knowledge of the cards and facility with using them. Often, though, it can be most helpful to get a few readings with someone who is experienced or to find an experienced tarot card user who will let a novice practice readings on her.

Resources

• iFate: Free on-line tarot readings