Many people are fascinated by tarot cards because of the mysticism that surrounds them. They want to believe that someone can see into the future and as such offer guidance on making the right decisions. If you have been to a tarot card reading or are planning to go then you should consider informing yourself on how the card reader will interpret the cards.
If you do not understand the symbolism then you get less out of the reading. This article will teach you some of the basics about tarot card reading, so hopefully you will get a richer experience the next time you go for a reading.
When you sit down with a tarot card reader for the first time, you will be asked to focus on a specific issue or question that is prevalent in your mind. Following this, the reader will shuffle the cards before drawing a set number. Before each card is drawn the reader will randomly shuffle the cards and stop on intuition.
Afterwards the reader will position the chosen cards into a particular set pattern on the table. This is called the spread. There are many different forms of the spread but this is outside the scope of this article. For now we will focus on one the most common, the Horseshoe Spread. In this method, seven cards are chosen and placed in a semi-circle.
Once the cards are set up, the tarot card reader will begin the interpretation of the cards. They are read from left to right and the first card represents the person's past. The past can refer to a specific person or event. This is a hugely significant card as although it represents the past, it is likely to be the cause of the current question at the center of the person's life.
The second card will represent the present day. So the card will help to provide an insight into how the person feels about the question or issue in the present day. The third card is very important as it will reveal the obstacles that are preventing a solution of the issues involved. This is done by looking at what fear and aspirations the person has about the issue. What do they expect to happen? What do they want to avoid happening?
The issues that arise from the third card will help the reader to interpret the obstacles that are revealed in the fourth card. The obstacles can range from another person or event that surrounds the question or it might relate to the person's own state of mind.
The fifth card addresses the bigger picture. This card will reveal what the various motivations are for other people that are directly involved in the issue or question. The outcome will depend on whether the reader discovers positive or negative energy. If it is the former then the other people involved can be a barrier to solving the problem. Conversely the card may reveal them to be a part of the solution.
The penultimate card is crucial. It reveals the future qualities or traits that are needed to solve the problem. The reader will indicate that the person needs to be constantly aware of the possible solutions to the issue as they will reveal themselves only at the appropriate time.
The final card is centered on the outcome. The end of the reading concludes with a look at what the most important outcome to the problem is. This seems obvious but focusing on the overall goal the solution can often reveal the way to get there. Unfortunately, the solution revealed in the last card does not always make much sense until after the issue has been resolved.
The history of the Tarot is something that is obscured by time. There are some references and researchers that connect the origin of the Tarot with that of Ancient Egypt, while other historians and scholars suggest that the Tarot shares roots with ancient gypsy cultures. Still, there are other researchers that attach an Italian origin to the Tarot cards, and it is believed that the Tarot Cards became a tool of divination right around the 1400s. Since that time, hundreds of different decks have evolved and are currently in use; one of the most popular decks being the Rider-Waite deck.
A typical tarot deck contains 78 cards consisting of the four suits seen in regular card games, which are hearts, diamonds, spades, and clubs. The Latin version of the tarot deck has a different set of suits. They are swords, batons, cups, and coins. Like a regular deck, tarot cards are numbered from one to ten plus the four court cards; jack, queen, king, and ace.
The difference between a tarot deck and the regular deck is the twenty-one divinity cards known as Major Arcana. A joker equivalent in the tarot deck is called the Fool, or the excuse. The Fool can take all four suits and acts as the strongest trump card.
Tarot card interpretations are always changing - and they have also differed significantly through time. Today, however, there are common and general card meanings. For example, minor arcana cards usually have an astrological meaning that changes along with the seasons of the year. On another side of things, court cards talk of people and their nature. This nature concerns the physio-emotional traits of a person.
More specifically, the determinants of a card's meaning are the following: Card Number, Key Number, Rulership (Astrology), Hebrew Letter, Translation, and Numerical Value. The meaning is also determined by the position of the card, whether it is upright or Ill-Dignified/Reversed. The difference between peoples' readings is the weights they impose on the different 'statistics' and 'attributes' of the card.
When card readings are conducted face-to-face, the card reader will sometimes ask the querent to shuffle the cards as they concentrate on the question. The querent will sometimes be asked to split the deck into three piles, and then to put the deck back together again. The card reader then lays out the cards in a specific pattern, and each card has a different meaning, depending upon the layout used. For example, the card reader may layout three cards, one to signify the past, one for the present and one for the future: all three cards together give a full interpretation of a given situation.
Card readings over the telephone are conducted much the same way that card readings face to face are conducted. A querent (caller) will call into a reader, and the reader will ask the caller to concentrate on a question that he or she wants answered or clarified. The card reader then shuffles the cards and lays them out in a particular pattern. Popular patterns include a single card reading, a three card reading, and a Celtic Cross reading, which is a reading of 10 different cards. The card reader will examine the symbolism in each card, in addition to the card position to conclude what the cards convey.
Tarot card divination may not be a real science; it may not be as accurate as some people would like to believe, but the market for tarot is ever growing through the availability of readings online and in other similar mediums. While this is so, there is still a large demand for face-to-face tarot reading because of the mystique and interactivity. A fair judgment of the industry is that it is growing in its different aspects - whether it is face to face, on the phone, or by some other medium. While society drives itself into a more scientific future, the appeal of astrology, especially in tarot cards, is still growing fast.
Both Daniel Millions & Samantha Srillian are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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