The Magic of Tarot
An Exploration and Guide to Working with the Sacred Tarot.
by Crystal Green
How to begin. The four suites. The elements. To program your dowsing pendulum.
Tarot or is becoming more and more popular!
More
people are using it as a daily tool and are beginning to learn the deeper
mysteries of the tarot. In this first article for you, I will gently introduce
you to some of the aspects of tarot that perhaps you have not considered before,
and through the following articles, I hope that, like me you will discover that
the joy and magic of this wonderful life aid!
The beginnings
No one really knows where Tarot originally came from, some say from the magicians of ancient Egypt's, others say that it was begun in India, but my belief is that like all universal truths, the Tarot has always been there in our hearts and in our minds, and it is not so much a question of when it was started or invented, more a question of various people at various times putting together these wonderful symbols and pictures, and coming up with the same conclusions.
Tarot can be anything that you wish it to be, there are no hard and fast rules, no definite meanings, the meanings of certain cards and certain castings should arrive in your mind almost out of nowhere! The cards are meant to stimulate a deeper knowledge within us and this is exactly what they do if you will allow them to.
The Symbols
Everyone
knows of the Death Card! And most people have experienced the hanged
man! Both of these cards are given a very negative connotation, when in fact
they are simply symbols like any other that have diverse meanings.
Many of the meanings we associate with these cards come from films or book is that have influenced us in a very negative way, it is very easy to say that the death card symbolises death, but the death of what? And what sort of death exactly?
The death card can symbolise a beginning, an end and end a new beginning, it can symbolise change… sometimes radical, it can symbolise a very positive change and also self knowledge and awareness.
And
the Hanged Man Card? People reading the tarot don't always realise that
he is hanging there because he wishes to do so, not because he has to.
There is always a feeling of self-sacrifice contained within this card and
again, there are many layers of meanings. At its most basic of this card can
predict a time of waiting, and something that you are expecting perhaps taking
longer than you had hoped.
Every card has many layers of meanings. In fact I believe that reading the Tarot is like peeling an onion! The more we study its meanings, the more layers we will discover…
Learning and reading the tarot is a wonderful journey and
experience and one that we should undertake with an open heart and an open mind.
It is said that the tarot contains all of the Universal Symbols that we need to be successful in life, and by success I do not mean in any financial or acquisitive way, simply to be just that ‘successful’ at life!
We really have no idea where much of this symbology comes from but it is universal, part of the ‘all that there is’.
In olden days the Tarot has been referred to as ‘ the Devil's picture book’ and indeed still is in some civilisations. I would prefer to call it ‘The book of life’ which it undoubtedly is.
Preparation.
There
are two ways to read the Tarot, one is Clairvoyantly, and the other in his by
simply learning the face value of each card and relating it to the person who is
enquiring (the Querant) A person who reads the cards in this way (and not
clairvoyantly) is traditionally called a ‘Cartamancer’
So it is not necessary to have clairvoyant gifts to do a tarot reading, it is possible to simply learn the face value of the cards and an excellent reading will be possible simply from this, but strangely enough learning to do this will often stimulate clairvoyant abilities and knowledge that perhaps we did not realise we even had! And in time, the reading will become in more depth as we connect on a much deeper level to the mysteries of the Sacred Tarot.
Before you even think about learning the tarot you need to ‘attune’ to your pack, and this is the best way to do so.
When
you first get the pack give it the cards into the Major and Minor Arcana, lay
aside the Minor Arcana as you will deal with these later. Now give the Major
Arcana a good shuffle… then lay out the cards on the table face up, and pick up
whichever card attracts you…. Now place that card in a very prominent position
somewhere in your room, and every time you pass it and have time to… really look
into it, take a note book or a piece of paper and make notes about how
that card appears to you and makes you feel…. and what you can see in it.
After a day, review the information that you have and move on to another card…
Do this over the next 22 days with all the Major Arcana, and keep those notes as they are your first impressions of the Major Arcana of the Sacred Tarot and will be useful to you in the future!
Next thing is to compare your notes with the traditional meaning of each card, ( which you will find in the book with your pack or on the web)on your notepad you can also make notes to add to the two meanings together, the traditional meaning, and the meaning and that you intuitively drew through the cards during your attunements to each card… this will form the basis of your learning process.
The
Major Arcana are the main cards of the tarot, the Minor Arcana are actually
similar representations of these 22 cards but to a lesser degree, so once you
have the Major Arcana in your mind, it is very easy them to move on to the whole
pack.
Purchasing your tarot pack.
Whatever you do, do not purchase a Tarot pack without seeing all of the cards.
Many shops have only sealed packs, and unless the pack has a book with it that shows you the pictures on the cards, do not consider buying it.
Many people buy packs of Tarot and simply do not connect with the cards, or the tarot pack itself is far too difficult for someone simply beginning to connect to Tarot. An example of this is the ‘Alistair Crowley’ pack. Although a beautiful and ornate pack, there is no consistency within it as regards rods, cups, swords and pentacles as each card almost seems to show a different representation of these things…. To an experienced reader this is easy to get to grips with, but to a beginner it can be a disaster and totally confusing!
The
best packs to begin with have a picture representing the meaning of the card for
every card, some packs simply show the Major Arcana and the Court Cards,
and the rest of the pack just show the number represented by the suit itself.
(For example six of cups would show simply 6 cups and nothing else)
Far better to begin with, to buy a pack that represents all the elements on every card, for example. The Rider Waite pack, the Golden Rider pack, the New Palladini pack, the Aquarian pack,' The Morgan Green pack and many others.
People sometimes say that you should never buy your own tarot pack, that it should be bought for you was a gift… but in my experience people never buy the pack that you really like or identify with, so best to take no notice of this, as there is absolutely no reason for it, take it from me it is perfectly okay to buy your own Tarot pack!
Here's a hint…
If
you are unable to see all of the pack in a shop, go on to one of the many
websites that give you information about tarot, and they will often show you
many cards from each pack. Certainly enough to know whether you are drawn to
that pack or not…. remember your first tarot pack will be very important to you,
it will be one that you will probably return to over and over again, even if you
buy other packs throughout your life.
Make
buying the pack part of your whole experience of beginning with tarot, this pack
should become your friend and companion, your adviser and your seer!
In the next part I will talk about the various suits cups, rods, pentacles and swords and what they mean.
With blessings!
Crystal
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