How to Read Hermetic Tarot Cards
The Hermetic Tarot is a modern black and white teaching deck. It is different from other decks in that many of the cards are decorated with astrological symbols and that there is a descriptive phrase at the bottom of each card. In addition, when reading the court cards of the Hermetic Tarot, the Knights are more powerful than the Kings. In contrast to the standard deck, there are no Pages, but there are Princesses. The "Past, Present, Future" is a typical tarot reading that can be used with the Hermetic Tarot.
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Instructions
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1
Shuffle the cards. Ask the seeker, the person who seeks answers, to cut the deck of cards into three packs to his left as the seeker asks the question he wants answered.
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2
Pick the cards up and deal nine cards from the top of the deck, placing them in front of you, face down in a row, left to right.
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3
Turn the furthest three cards on the left over and say, "These cards represent the past." Determine what each of the three cards mean in relation to the questioner's past situation in regard to the question asked.
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Read the cards, mindful that a court card may represent a person who has influenced the past. Determine who that person might be if a court card is present. A Queen is a woman; a Knight is an unretired man; a King is a retired man and a Princess would be a child. The suit indicates the person's features. The Swords would be a person who has dark hair and eyes; the Wands indicate a person who has light brown hair and hazel eyes; the Cups are a person with blond hair and blue eyes and the Pentacles are for people who have richer coloring. For example, the card that represents a woman who has auburn-colored hair with green eyes would be the Queen of Pentacles.
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Read a Major Arcana card. These are the ones with their names at the top of the cards that are not in any suit. If any are present in the three cards that indicate the past, scrutinize the drawings on the card. If, for example, the card is the Magician, observe the symbol of Mercury the communicator, the combination of objects that the Magician has at his feet and the inscription, "The Magus of Power." It may be that what has happened in the past had something to do with strong words, thoughts or plans.
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Interpret a numbered card of any of the suits, if present. The lower the number, the closer a project is to its beginning; a higher number, up to 10, means the project is closer to completion. Interpret the suit: The Wands indicate thought and growth; the Cups symbolize emotion; the Swords symbolize action and the Pentacles symbolize money and security. Read, for example, if the card is the Five of Cups, has the caption at the bottom of the card that reads "Lord of Loss in Pleasure" and has the symbols of Mars and Scorpio. Deduce from those findings that in the past, the seeker was involved in an emotional relationship that is pertinent to the reading.
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Turn the middle three cards over and say, "These cards represent the present." Obtain information as you did for the past, only relating it to the present.
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Finally turn the three cards at the right over and say, "These cards represent the future." Read them using similar clues.
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