Reading tarot cards has been an interest of mine for a while now, and since I’m feeling pretty low on inspiration for blog posts, I decided to share some basics of tarot with you guys, just because I can. Think of this as an introduction to tarot, Tarot 101 if you will. Reading this will not convert any skeptics, nor will it allow malevolent spirits through to haunt you.
Rider-Waite Tarot Deck
This is the most common tarot deck, and also the first, being first produced circa 1910. They come in a purple box, and the cards all have the same, traditional Tudor rose background. A typical tarot deck is comprised of 78 cards, each one with it’s own unique meaning. These meanings vary from person to person, so forgive me if I don’t supply you with a list of exact meanings fro each card. May advice is read the opinions of a few different people, and then form your own from that. If you get an ultimately negative vibe from a card, never let someone convince you it’s positive.
Each tarot deck is broken down into two: the Major Arcana (22 cards) and the Minor Arcana (56 cards).
The Major Arcana
The first 22 cards of the tarot, ranging from 0, The Fool, to 21, The World.
These cards are cyclical in the sense that each one is reliant on the ones before and after it. These cards do not deal with emotions, but with situations and occurrences and their Universal Energies. Watch out for false friends in this deck, such as 8, Strength. Rather than meaning being physically strong, it means patience and surety of self is needed to overcome the situation at hand.
Here is a cheat-sheet for the Major Arcana, but please, by no means take this as being set in stone.
The Minor Arcana
Not quite so straight forward as the Majors, the Minor Arcana is broken down into four suits of 14 cards; Wands, Swords, Cups, and Pentacles.
These cards tell us how we can affect the Universal Force described by the Major Arcana, or how it can effect us. They are emotional cards, that deal directly with the human psyche. Within each Minor suit, there are Aces, Minor Cards and Court Cards. The Aces convey the beginning of the situation, the Minor Cards show what is happening and the Court Cards, each with their own characteristics, give us an idea of who might be involved.
Wands
The suit of Wands are a masculine suit, dealing with creativity, imagination and intuition. Their guiding element is Fire, and because fire burns fast, when wands are showing the expected time frame is within days. Their corresponding Zodiac signs are Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius and they are the spiritual cards of the tarot.
Swords
Just as he who wields a sword must be sure of his own thoughts, the suit of Swords is the second masculine suit, dealing with thoughts, ideas and attitudes. They are the Air cards of the Tarot deck, and as air flows quickly, when swords are showing you can expect to be waiting a matter of weeks. Gemini, Libra and Aquarius are the corresponding Zodiac signs of the suit of Swords, and they are the intellectual cards of the tarot.
Cups
The suit of Cups are perhaps the most positive suit of the tarot, and our first feminine suit. They deal with love, relationships, and our root emotions. Water, the guiding element of the suit of Cups, ebbs and flows with the moon, leaving the timing of the suit of Cups as monthly. They are the emotional cards of the tarot, and the corresponding Zodiac signs are Cancer, Scorpio and Pieces.
Pentacles
The final suit, the suit of Pentacles is our second feminine suit. Pentacles are associated with financial matters, material things and work. Pentacles are ruled by the Earth element, which grows slowly. Because of this, when the suit of Pentacles show in a reading, the timing is between a season and a year. They are the physical and material cards of the tarot, and the corresponding Zodiac signs are Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn.
The Four Modes of Tarot
Court Cards
Answer the ‘who’ question or signify a social role. They can also signify a social role being played, or have messages implied.
Aces
Ace cards function as the answer for the ‘where’ question in a reading. We see the realm where the situation has it’s most potential to thrive.
Minor Arcana (2-10)
The number cards of the Minor Arcana answer the ‘what’ question of the situation. They show the situation and events of the ‘who’ and tell you ‘what’ the ‘who’ is going dealing with.
Major Arcana
The Universal Force. They answer the ‘why’ question, and show the lesson needed to be learned. They tell you ‘why’ the ‘who’ is in the ‘what’.
Stay witchy babes,
xo, Cybi
Toffeemouth 