Totke Remedies: Cards

Showing posts with label Cards. Show all posts

Monday, May 20, 2013

Tarot Cards: Judgment/Aeon

Learn Tarot Online, International Tarot Association, ITA-Tarot.com, AstroLuckIndia.com School, Online Tarot Courses, Tarot Basic Course, Tarot Advanced Course, Tarot Professional Course, Tarot Reversals Course, Tarot Spells Course, Tarot And Your Dreams Course, Past Life & Karmic Tarot Course, Tarot And Numerology Course, Tarot And Astrology Course, Tarot And Your Psychic Powers Course, Online Tarot Certification, Tarot Website Seals

Visit Us At: www.astroluckindia.com! - Astrology Consultancy, Numerology, Tarot, Vastu, Feng Shui, Horoscope, Puja For Love And Relationships, Pooja For Wealth, Pooja For Stop Delays In Marriage, Pooja For Getting Success In Business

Tarot Reading: The Basics of Tarot Cards

The most popular version of the Tarot was established in 1910 by the artist Pamela Colman-Smith. She worked under the guidance of occultist A.E. Waite. The Waite deck was the first tarot deck to include symbolic imagery on all 78 cards.

The tarot has its roots in many different philosophical and religious backgrounds. It originated in a time imbued with symbolic imagery that was influenced by many cultures, languages and historical references. The tarot’s symbolism is based on archetypal elements and metaphors, giving its imagery an universal appeal. Regardless of one’s cultural, religious or educational background, the Tarot experience is collective. Their interpretations are recognizable by everyone.

The modern Tarot deck is comprised of 78 cards, 40 in the minor arcana, 16 court cards and 22 cards that make up the major arcana. The 16 court cards consist of pages, knights, queens and kings. The four suits in the minor arcana include the Suits of Cups, Swords, Wands and Pentacles. Each Suit is connected to one of the four elements: Earth, Air, Fire and Water. They are also connected to the four directions: North, South, East and West. The imagery of Tarot reflects an association to these elements. This enables the tarot reader to identify the key aspects that are influencing a particular situation or individual.

The Suit Cards

In tarot, the cups suit represents the dream world, the unconscious, feelings and relationships. The wands suit represents fertility, creativity and one's sense of purpose or career endeavors. The sword suit represents reason, life challenges, the mind and truth. And lastly, the pentacles suit represents the material, financial and ethical aspects of a person’s life.

There is a king, queen, knight, and page in every suit as well. They are referred to as the court cards and each one (excluding the page cards) has an astrological sign associated to it. This adds yet another level for interpretation in tarot card readings. To be helpful, here are the astrological associations. I often encourage people to identify their sign and the associated tarot card meaning. This can offer tremendous insights into ones strengths and vulnerabilities.

* Aries: King of Wands
* Taurus: Queen of Pentacles
* Gemini: Knight of Swords
* Cancer: King of Cups
* Leo: Queen of Wands
* Virgo: Knight of Pentacles
* Libra: King of Swords
* Scorpio: Queen of Cups
* Sagittarius: Knight of Wands
* Capricorn: King of Pentacles
* Aquarius: Queen of Swords
* Pisces: Knight of Cups

The Major Arcana Cards

The Major Arcana cards reflect where one is in his or her life’s journey. There are 22 tarot cards in the Major Arcana. The first half of the Major Arcana (the Fool through the Hermit) identifies the transition from child to adult and all of the challenges we must face as we progress into a deeper level of maturity and spirituality.

The second half of the Major Arcana (The Wheel of Fortune through the World) reflects our personal and spiritual world view. In a tarot reading, the second half of the major arcana typically points to a more inward-looking stage or process in our development. Keep in mind, this does not always happen in procession. In fact, in some areas we are still the “fools” while in other areas we can be the “The Hermit".

The Minor Arcana Cards

The Minor Arcana, or Pip cards, are the numbered cards (1-10) that comprise each suit. The Minor Arcana reflect day to day issues. They can represent how you interact with people, your work, your emotions, your finances, and your personal relationships. In a tarot card reading, the minor arcana reveal the who’s, how’s, and what’s. There is no sense of permanence. If there are a number of minor arcana suit cards in your spread, know that you can make changes, work through blocks, and understands where you are emotionally.

Interpreting Tarot Card Meanings

They key to understanding tarot card meanings is to not always be literal. It often requires one to attach their own life experiences to each of the tarot cards. Tarot card meanings can also vary depending on the type of reading that is being done or even where a particular card might appear in a tarot spread. Upside down cards, known as "reversed tarot cards", also have their own unique meanings as well.

The Basics Of Tarot Reading

Now that you know a little about the basics of the tarot cards, we can now look at what you can expect from your first tarot card reading. Most readings typically consists of shuffling the deck, drawing a set number of cards, and placing them in a specific configuration known as a "tarot spread". There are hundreds of tarot spreads in use today, but most psychic tarot readers tend to favor some spreads more than others. They will often use different tarot spreads for different types of readings as well.

Once the cards are pulled and placed in a spread, the tarot reader will begin to interpret the symbols of the cards. Often they will point out the implications of the past, what is happening in the here and now, and what will influence your future. You may ask particular questions and additional tarot cards may be drawn for specific areas of your life. The configurations the cards are placed in add to the complexities of their meanings.

The tarot’s power lies in its ability to distinguish a person’s path through the psychic ability or intuition of the tarot reader. In some cases, a psychic tarot reader will rely primarily on their own psychic abilities to interpret the cards, while a non-psychic tarot reader will rely more on the tarot card meanings themselves. Either way, trust the cards can do their job and ask a lot of questions.

Learn Tarot Reading: Working With Reversed Tarot Cards

There tends to be an overall apprehension when interpreting reversed tarot card meanings in Tarot readings. Typically, many tarot readers and reference books tend to believe reversed card positions are more negative in nature. What people fail to recognize, however, is that reversed cards often provide us with the solutions that we have been seeking. They reveal what behaviors we must become aware of and, in some cases, reference important influences we may not necessarily been conscious of. They always encourage a shift in one’s perspective.

All of the cards have unique reversed meanings which are subject to interpretations. Some people find this particularly uncomfortable due their off-putting associations. However, more often than not, reversed cards tend to reveal important clues to our current challenges and situations. In Tarot readings, they reveal delays, frustrations, misdirected energy and uncertainty. Discovering why you may be experiencing such obstacles certainly helps you explore the areas you need to change. More importantly, they can help you as a Tarot reader; giving you guidance as to how you might help those you are reading for. They serve as wake up calls and disclose the areas in which someone may need to pay closer attention.

In most Tarot readings, reversed cards tend to also highlight blocked energy. Often they represent the areas in which growth is being prohibited. The true question lies in what one must do to work through these blocks. Energetic blocks tend to come from one’s emotions, psychology, past trauma, or spiritual stagnation. We all have them and they are there to encourage us to find our own inner harmony and balance. Energetic blocks serve a purpose. In some cases they protect us from information we are not ready to process and, in other cases, they are there to protect us from getting hurt. Working through them can be a daunting process, but it always a necessary one. In the end they teach us about our own selves and help us discover who we really are.

Another important aspect to reversed cards is their associations to our pasts. In Tarot readings, reversed cards can reveal past issues that we have not worked through or let go of. This is particular true for Tarot readings that deal with the influences of one’s past. In these cases card reversals tend to reveal where one’s past is hindering their desired outcome. The most common occurrence of such issues is in love Tarot readings. Relationships, in general, struggle with the projections of one’s past. When there are card reversals in love Tarot readings, it usually pertains to the influence of one’s experiences from past relationships. Fear is the underlying root for the majority of our relationship issues. Reversed cards can reveal the source of theses fears and can help one overcome their apprehension and defensiveness within their relationships.

Finally, reversed cards can disclose one’s own level of inner conflict. In Tarot readings, reversed cards can emphasize where we feel incongruent. They can also highlight were we have internalized our problems. These issues typically involve the unresolved emotions that we continue to struggle with throughout our life times. By becoming aware of our own inner conflicts, we can discover the areas in our lives that we wish to change or master. We can learn to identify the path of the heart; our sense of purpose and belonging in this world.

Even though reversed cards may appear to have negative connotations, they truly are our beacons of light. They always remind us to look outside of the ordinary. In most cases, reversed cards are the doorways to inner knowledge. They always provide us the answer we need to move beyond our limitations.

Learning To Read Tarot Cards: Finding Meaning In The Cards

There are countless books on Tarot Cards and Tarot Card Meanings. They can be a valuable tool for the beginning Tarot reader. However, the more you become familiar with Tarot reading, the more you will begin to associate your own personal meanings to the cards. The best Tarot readers are one’s that utilize their own personal associations to the cards.

Every individual has their own, unique point of view. Tarot reading offers you the insight to truly understand your own, personal story. It does this by illuminating the nature of your purpose and identifies how your story has framed your own view of the world. The more you become conscious of your story, the more you can understand yourself. Furthermore, it helps you understand the story of others. When we identify with another person’s experience, we can gain a deeper understanding of our shared experience. This is our humanity.

As a Tarot reader, it’s important to be able to identify where your story ends and another person’s begins. Neutrality and objectivity will be your greatest allies in Tarot reading, particularly if you are reading for someone other than yourself. It’s also important that you become conscious of your own projections. In other words, you do not want to project your story onto someone else’s. One way to ensure you don’t do this is by committing yourself to your own process of self-discovery. Tarot reading can help you do this by reflecting your own story back to you. The following exercise can be very useful for this process.

Separate the 22 Major Arcana cards out from the rest of the deck. Begin with the Fool Tarot Card and spread them out in numerical order. Thus, the Fool would be followed by the Magician. The Magician would be followed by the High Priestess, etc. Take out a piece of paper and examine the first card: The Fool Tarot Card. Ask yourself the following question:

What is the story of the Fool?
Where have I been the Fool?
Where does my story differ from the Fool? Where is it the same?
If the Fool where to speak to me, what might he say to me? What might I say to Him?
What might the Fool say to the card that follows him? In this case, it would be the Magician.

You can continue this narrative throughout the Major Arcana until you finish with the World Tarot card. Allow each card to tell you a story. In turn, you can use the cards to tell your own story.

The ultimate purpose of this exercise is to help you identify your own story and life journey. More importantly, this exercise can deepen the Tarot cards meanings. This is also a great way to interpret the cards for those you may be reading. Knowing traditional interpretations can be useful, but there is nothing more powerful than letting the Tarot cards speak for themselves.