Reading Tarot Cards

While the popularly known use of Tarot cards is for Divination, there are actually other ways in which they are actually used. There is also the psychological use and its use as mnemonic devices. Divination revolves around the belief that it can read one’s past and present, and predict the future for that individual. Some of its more radical users believe that it is guided by a supernatural entity, controlling the wheel of life. In psychology, it was Carl Jung who claimed of the importance of the symbolisms found in Tarot reading in the human psyche. His best-known work is on the archetypes and it is in this that he relates tarot reading. Psychologists use the cards by showing them to their subjects and ask which one they can relate with the most. There are certain schools that study the occult and symbolisms that use tarot cards as mnemonics. They use tarot decks like textbooks used in their teachings.

A typical deck is composed of 78 cards and all combine to form the arcana. It is then split into five sections that are the major arcana, fire-wands, water- cups, swords- air, and earth discs.

It is quite easy to read Tarot cards. First you will need to shuffle the deck after which you let your subject cut the deck. Then you deal the cards depending on which spread you decide to use and commonly the Celtic cross is the favorite. The cards that are facing the subject are considered to be positive and reversed cards indicate turmoil and conflict. Now in order to take the next step you must first know the card’s individual meanings and are usually available with the deck when purchased. In the end, it is your own personal reading and assessment of the cards that matters.

Through the years, the card meanings have evolved due to numerous clarifications in respect to the artwork. It has also corresponded to different systems such as Pythagorean numerology, Kabalah, Astrology , Christianity and so many others. Since it has been used in different systems, the symbolic meanings may tend to differ from time to time but the most widely used today is the system discussed earlier.

The different spreads used are the Celtic Cross which is the most widely used, the horseshoe which is also relatively common, three card spread in which each card represents a point in time namely the past, present and future, the Astrological spread which is directly related to the signs of the Zodiac, one card spread, and Tetactrys which form a four-rowed pyramid each representing earth, fire and water. There are actually a lot more spreads and it really depends on the reader and his experience on which one he would use. In some cases, the reader may even come up with a spread of his own that compliments his reading style and one that in his experience, worked very well in his readings. Like everything in life, reading tarot cards takes practice and patience to get used to.