Tarot 101: Basic Concept of Tarot

TOP DECK: Aleister Crowley Thoth MIDDLE DECK: The Wild Unknown Tarot, $40 BOTTOM DECK: Hermetic Tarot, $20

This is the first how-to in a series of posts The Good Spell Book will be penning on the art of tarot reading.

First, pick out a tarot deck that you connect with. Some decks are labeled with roman numerals, numbers, or names to reflect the attributes of the cards. Looking over the booklet that comes with your deck is important as well. Read through the descriptions of your guide book and make sure you like the feel of how it is written. I personally pick my decks based on the art and the labeling of the cards.

After you pick your deck make sure to read through the entire booklet for suggested methods of divination; this is often a good starting point for a spread. I would suggest reading your own tarot several times before attempting to read others. You need to become familiar with the cards to memorize a spread. I also like to set the mood before I do a reading by dimming the lights and lighting candles or incense to help me get into a calm, meditative state. I begin my own reading by picking an area in my life I would like the reading to focus on such as love, work, or near future. Too broad or too specific questions tend not to work as well or can get off topic, not answering your immediate questions. I then shuffle the deck while focusing on the questions I have. Sometimes I lay all my cards face down on a table and swirl them around to thoroughly mix them. This also preserves your deck instead of using a traditional shuffling method. Cut the deck and lay the cards into your selected reading formation.

It is good to pay attention to the major and minor arcana. The major arcana are the main 22 cards which symbolize aspects of the human experience. When these cards come up pay special attention because they directly relate to the issue at hand. The minor arcana are the 56 other cards divided into four suits, often called swords, cups, wands and pentacles. These four suits are comprised of cards resembling a playing card deck: ace, queen, king and one through ten. These are the descriptive cards that help to define the issue and possible solutions. Queen, King, Page or Knight often directly refer to a specific person that is involved in the questioner's life, so pay close attention to those cards as well. Most all minor arcana has a negative reading that is signified when the cards are inverted, I personally read both the positive and negative readings for each card or just focus on the non-inverse meanings. Both the major and minor arcana are labeled differently in many decks, or just with roman numerals so focus on the booklet when reading through it.

When reading another's tarot, let them ask a question or pick an area of focus. Once the area of focus or question is selected concentrate intently on that person and try to visualize the scenarios within the question. Let them shuffle the deck for a bit before cutting and laying the spread. This puts the questioners energy into the cards. I find that the more I know a person, the more accurate the reading, so I try to only read for friends or family. It can be draining to do too many readings in a row so limited yourself to a couple at a time. Good luck and have fun on beginning your journey of tarot divination!

Digital Artwork: Rain

#tarot #divination #howto #spirituality