Tarot is perhaps one of the most visible forms of esoteric practice in the wider community. It is present in art, used as a meditation tool, a form of divination and as a guide for personal development.
The origin of Tarot cards is shrouded in much uncertainty. The earliest known mention of playing cards in Europe dates from the 14th Century, in a letter from a parish priest back to Rome to complain that his parishioners are spending too much time playing cards and too little time in church. Cards were known in the East before this time. The oldest surviving Tarot cards are from mid 15th Century Italy, so it is known that they were around by this time. Since this coincided with the arrival of Gypsies in Western Europe, the two are often linked. But this may be coincidence rather than a real connection. By the start of the 16th Century Tarot cards had spread to France and then to the rest of Europe. Esotericists consider the Tarot to be a surviving magickal text from the destroyed Great Library in Alexandria.
Structure
A Tarot deck is divided into two parts: the Major Arcana or Trumps, which are very strong in their meaning; and the Minor Arcana, which roughly correspond with a normal pack of cards. In packs that follow the traditional pattern there are 22 Major Arcana cards and 56 Minor Arcana.
The Minors are usually divided into four suits: wands, rods or batons which correspond to clubs; swords which corresponds to spades; cups, chalices or cauldrons which correspond to hearts; and pentagrams, coins or disks which correspond with diamonds. Esoterically, these four suits correspond to the four elements: wands are fire; cups are water; swords are air; and pentagrams are earth. With the increasing awareness in esoteric circles of five elements, adding spirit, there are some packs with five suits. Each suit has ten numeric cards from the Ace (one) through two to ten. There are also four court cards in each suit rather than the usual three from normal playing cards. The court cards are usually King, Queen, Knight and Page but can also be King, Queen, Prince, Princess or some such to provide two male and two female characters for better balance.
The Majors depict certain people, such as the High Priest and the High Priestess, characteristics like Strength and so on. The Majors are considered to be more significant in a reading than the Minors; in fact, it is possible to do readings with just the Majors. The 22 majors can be read as a progression, a narrative. Some view this as embodying very profound esoteric wisdom for those who take the time to decipher it.
Learning Tarot for Divination
Tarot is a great divination system but is a complicated one and is not for everyone.
Some people work with a set of standard definitions of the cards. This involves learning these standard meanings for each of the 78 cards in a normal tarot pack. In many ways of reading Tarot cards if a card is reversed (upside down) it will have a different meaning than right side up, giving 156 meanings to learn. This is the method that is put forward in many tarot books and is probably responsible for so many people who develop an interest in Tarot buying a pack but failing to take that interest further. It all seems too clinical and memory intensive.
The other way to use the cards is intuitively. Using this approach there is no need to learn a set of standard meanings. Instead one uses the symbolism on the card as a trigger for your intuition to provide the meaning. What one then finds over time is that the cards have a personal, individual meaning. It is quite possible for different tarot readers to read the same card in totally different ways because different aspects of the symbolism on the card have appealed to each. This flexibility also allows the card to act as a trigger to your clairvoyance. This may mean that cards change meaning in different readings or that your base meaning will always be the same but your clairvoyance will provide more detail on the topic. What matters is what the card means for you, at that particular time. Cards will be chosen in the reading that are appropriate for you to interpret in the correct way for the message that the universe is trying to deliver.
Tarot
Below is an excerpt from Clarity on the Path
Tarot is perhaps one of the most visible forms of esoteric practice in the wider community. It is present in art, used as a meditation tool, a form of divination and as a guide for personal development.
The origin of Tarot cards is shrouded in much uncertainty. The earliest known mention of playing cards in Europe dates from the 14th Century, in a letter from a parish priest back to Rome to complain that his parishioners are spending too much time playing cards and too little time in church. Cards were known in the East before this time. The oldest surviving Tarot cards are from mid 15th Century Italy, so it is known that they were around by this time. Since this coincided with the arrival of Gypsies in Western Europe, the two are often linked. But this may be coincidence rather than a real connection. By the start of the 16th Century Tarot cards had spread to France and then to the rest of Europe. Esotericists consider the Tarot to be a surviving magickal text from the destroyed Great Library in Alexandria.
Structure
A Tarot deck is divided into two parts: the Major Arcana or Trumps, which are very strong in their meaning; and the Minor Arcana, which roughly correspond with a normal pack of cards. In packs that follow the traditional pattern there are 22 Major Arcana cards and 56 Minor Arcana.
The Minors are usually divided into four suits: wands, rods or batons which correspond to clubs; swords which corresponds to spades; cups, chalices or cauldrons which correspond to hearts; and pentagrams, coins or disks which correspond with diamonds. Esoterically, these four suits correspond to the four elements: wands are fire; cups are water; swords are air; and pentagrams are earth. With the increasing awareness in esoteric circles of five elements, adding spirit, there are some packs with five suits. Each suit has ten numeric cards from the Ace (one) through two to ten. There are also four court cards in each suit rather than the usual three from normal playing cards. The court cards are usually King, Queen, Knight and Page but can also be King, Queen, Prince, Princess or some such to provide two male and two female characters for better balance.
The Majors depict certain people, such as the High Priest and the High Priestess, characteristics like Strength and so on. The Majors are considered to be more significant in a reading than the Minors; in fact, it is possible to do readings with just the Majors. The 22 majors can be read as a progression, a narrative. Some view this as embodying very profound esoteric wisdom for those who take the time to decipher it.
Learning Tarot for Divination
Tarot is a great divination system but is a complicated one and is not for everyone.
Some people work with a set of standard definitions of the cards. This involves learning these standard meanings for each of the 78 cards in a normal tarot pack. In many ways of reading Tarot cards if a card is reversed (upside down) it will have a different meaning than right side up, giving 156 meanings to learn. This is the method that is put forward in many tarot books and is probably responsible for so many people who develop an interest in Tarot buying a pack but failing to take that interest further. It all seems too clinical and memory intensive.
The other way to use the cards is intuitively. Using this approach there is no need to learn a set of standard meanings. Instead one uses the symbolism on the card as a trigger for your intuition to provide the meaning. What one then finds over time is that the cards have a personal, individual meaning. It is quite possible for different tarot readers to read the same card in totally different ways because different aspects of the symbolism on the card have appealed to each. This flexibility also allows the card to act as a trigger to your clairvoyance. This may mean that cards change meaning in different readings or that your base meaning will always be the same but your clairvoyance will provide more detail on the topic. What matters is what the card means for you, at that particular time. Cards will be chosen in the reading that are appropriate for you to interpret in the correct way for the message that the universe is trying to deliver.