No one knows who invented Tarot cards or why. That’s part of what makes them so much fun. The mystery. They made their first official appearance in 14th century Italy around Bologna way. Interestingly, there is a Taro River not too far from there. It seems likely however that the cards were in use all over Europe for quite a while before that.
The popular belief is that Tarot came out of Continue reading
It’s the little details that are most telling in Tarot. That add nuances to the meanings of each card. Let’s check some examples starting with the card we looked at yesterday, the Four Of Pentacles.
Four is a Continue reading
This is the Four of Pentacles. The man in the card is surrounded by coins. That and the crown on his head puts me in mind of the rhyme: ‘The king was in the counting house counting all his money’. This king is holding onto his coins for grim life. Talk about possessive. And see his black cloak? I think that’s meant to represent the ugliness of his soul.
I get this card a lot. Yes it’s true, I’m a cheapskate. That’s the non-functional expression of this card. Of course you can cling onto other things besides money: possessions, friendships, boyfriends (yes, done that too) or a job you hate. If you get this card somewhere you’re holding onto something out of fear. That’s the black.
Or else, someone is clinging onto you. Yikes!
What about the functional expression of this card? Well in my case the benefit of being a cheapskate is that in times of need you have good reserves to draw on. My cheapskatedness has been a life-safer for my family over the years. I guess the functional expression of this card is being a good budgeter. That’s true of me as well. It’s a quality I’m proud of.
So I guess I can relate to both sides of the Four Of Pents. What about you? Can you relate to this card, or not?
You know, you can overdose on Tarot. Do so many readings that they all become meaningless. It’s a bit addictive. Like having a hotline to The Source Of All Things that you can’t stop pumping for information.
I am particularly susceptible to this danger after a relationship break-up and always know I have crossed the line when The Devil card keeps popping up. The Devil is for losers. For those who want someone (i.e. Tarot) to fix their problems rather than doing it themselves. For those who don’t want to face reality. (Despite this, I’m quite fond of The Devil card, grateful even, but I’ll leave the explanation as to why for another post.)
In my experience the best way to use Tarot is to do readings only when you feel a real need. You’ll know when. And if you are doing readings everyday, which is good practice when you start out, just don’t expect them to be deeply significant ones.
Have you ever looked a Tarot Gift Horse in the mouth like me?
I’ve been thinking about what I said in another post about all Tarot cards having a positive and negative expression and wondering if that is really true. The cards can certainly be expressed in different ways but do they all have a good and a bad side? I thought we might explore this question a little using the Two of Swords which we looked at yesterday.
I subtitled this card: ‘I don’t want to think about it.’ As I explained, it comes up when you’re not ready to mentally explore some area of your life which is a bit of a can of worms. When you can’t handle thinking about it. I would say that this is a negative expression of this card because in this situation you are being dysfunctional.
And the positive? Maybe it’s when the card is trying to tell you that you don’t need to deal with something right now. When it’s giving you permission to withdraw from a situation because there is too much information for you to process. The problem in this case isn’t with you, it’s with some outside source. In this case you are the functional one.
Maybe rather than talking about positive and negative it would be better to talk about functional and non-functional expressions of each card.
What do you think?
Here is the Two of Swords card. A woman sits with her arms crossed over her chest. Both hands hold upright swords. Behind her, the sea, full of rocks. A blindfold covers her eyes.
She doesn’t want to see. The arms crossing her chest protect her heart. Swords represent thoughts i.e. your attitude to a situation. The number two is black & white, yin & yang, opposites: You’re in or you’re out. The sea is emotions.
When you get this card there is something you don’t want to think about. You have deep, rocky feelings about whatever the issue is and you’re not ready to face them yet. Not ready to open yourself up emotionally.
I get this card a lot. I’m good at living in denial (it has its advantages!) What about you?
This is the book I have turned to again and again over the last 20 years to help me understand the messages written in the cards. It is easy to read and easy to understand. For those who can’t read the small print on the photo the book is called Continue reading
The more Tarot cards you pull out of the pack the more refined the advice will become. But warning warning danger danger don’t pull so many that the message gets lost altogether. Start slowly. Try two to begin with.
I’ve always had a problem with the definitions ascribed to The Star: calm, peace of mind, feeling hopeful. They sound kind of lame. But let’s face it, a card that comes after The Tower and before The Moon in the Tarot deck is going be anything but lame.
This card doesn’t signify a peaceful calm time in your life. Bollocks to that. Look at the picture. Continue reading
There are a lot of ‘official’ Tarot card spreads you can use. My personal favorite is the 10-card Celtic Cross (I’ll explain that in a later post). But you don’t need anything fancy the first time you do a reading. Just ask yourself a question, shuffle the cards and when you feel ready pull one from the pack.
In order to understand the card’s message you can:
(a) Look up its meaning in books or on the internet. There will be several to choose from.
(b) Meditate on the images in the card. There is lots to ponder in each one. See what pops out for you and focus on what that might symbolize.
Then (c) go with the meaning that ‘feels right’. (I never said Tarot card reading was an exact science, lol.)
Have a go and share your experiences below.
The Tarot Teaclub 