FAQs About The Tarot
Some commonly asked questions about the Tarot
What Are Tarot Cards?
Traditionally made up of seventy-eight cards, Modern day decks of Tarot cards can be wildly different. Tarot cards come in all sizes, with all types of artwork on both the front and back. Some Tarot deck creators even make up their own additional Tarot cards. The meanings and the message of each one of the original seventy-eight cards, however, usually remain the same.
Many believe that Tarot cards serve to tell the future, but this is not explicitly true. Tarot cards are actually a tool to help you unlock the subconscious so you can receive insight and take the necessary action to move towards your goals and desires.
While the Tarot may help you see a potential outcome to a situation, I don’t believe that the future is set in stone. We all have free will, meaning that any action can change the outcome of a situation at any time.
What’s In the Cards?
Tarot cards are made up of four suits much like any regular deck of cards. In fact, Tarot cards have all the same values as traditional playing cards: ace through king for each suit. Only one extra card is added to the royal family (or Court Cards) in Tarot cards, the page, their position is just under that of the knight (also known as the jack).
The suits are as follows: wands, which in general speak of esoteric issues such as spirituality or creativity; swords, which speak of communication, conflicts and tensions; pentacles, which are about finances, money and material possesions; and cups, which deal in emotions, relationship matters and love. The other twenty-two cards of the standard Tarot deck are called the Major Arcana cards, and are all very specific. Cards such as the Devil, the Tower, and Death are in the Major Arcana.
How Could a Tarot Card Reading Actually Help Me?
A Tarot card reading can put everything into perspective in a clear and understandable way. Every Tarot card reading is prefaced by a question. The reader then chooses a layout, or spread, and places the cards in various positions. Each position is usually assigned a predetermined value, for lack of a better word. For instance, in the following spread (kindly excuse the pet hair on my altar cloth!), position 1 might relate to the situation, postion 2 – the advice and postition 3 – the potential outcome.
Whether or not you believe in spiritual or esoteric things, a Tarot card reading can help you better understand your own thoughts. You’ll realize potentially dangerous patterns in your life, and get a better understanding of yourself. Even the question that you ask in your mind can help you understand something about yourself, and in this way a Tarot card reading can truly help you.
Can Anyone Read Tarot Cards, Or Do I Have To See Someone or Go Online?
Anyone can learn how to read Tarot cards. You don’t have to be clairvoyant or a medium or anything like that, though, it does help if you can learn to trust your intuition. There are many books available, both online and physical bookstores that will tell you the meaning and message of each and every card. Every card in Tarot has a card-specific meaning, and a message or warning. The good news is, there’s no secret about what these cards mean to convey, so you, too, can learn how to read the Tarot.
Once you know the meaning of the cards (and it’s not something you have to memorize; it’s perfectly okay to keep notes by you when you give yourself a Tarot card reading), you can read the Tarot for yourself or for others. Any book you read about the Tarot will explain the spreads to use and the way to lay the cards out to understand their meaning and placement in the scheme of your question.
Hopefully this has helped answer a few of your questions regarding the Tarot. Keep an eye out for future posts where I’ll be discussing how to get started working with the Tarot.
