Starcat Tarot Presents
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Starcat Tarot Presents Introduction to the Tarot What is the Tarot? The Tarot is a deck of (usually) 78 playing cards that was developed between 1392 and 1440. The earliest record of Tarot cards is a set of “picture cards” designed for Charles VI of France in 1392-1393. According to one theory, the Tarot was originally used as playing cards for Italian tarocchini and French tarot (games similar to bridge). The divination aspect of the cards wasn’t popularized until the 1780s, which is also the time that the now discredited idea that the cards came from ancient Egypt was first put forth. The deck is comprised of 56 “minor” cards divided into 4 suits and 22 “major” or trump cards. The minor cards are numbered Ace through 10, with four Court cards -Page, Knight, Queen and King. The suits are generally swords, wands, pentacles and cups, although the names and symbols may change from deck to deck. The cards were given a lot of esoteric meanings by various people and entities including the Golden Dawn, a secret society of magicians in the late 19th century. These included relationships to Numerology, Hebrew letters, Pagan gods and goddesses, and rituals. In many cases these additional meanings were very different depending on who was assigning them. One of the members of the Golden Dawn, Arthur Waite, put together a Tarot deck in the early 20th century. He used his own ideas combined with the Golden Dawn attributions and got a fellow Golden Dawn member, Pamela Colman Smith, to illustrate the cards according to their ideas of what the Tarot should be. Known as the Rider-Waite-Smith or RWS deck (named for the publisher, author, and artist) there is symbolism in just about every line of the deck. This has become the most popular deck in the world, and the style of deck we will work with. There are many different versions of Tarot decks that come from different places and times, including the Tarot de Marseille from 15th century France, the Sola-Busca deck, and the Visconti-Sforza tarot decks from a similar era. Each of these utilizes a slightly different version of the cards and the imagery varies considerably. Some have illustrated minor cards while others have stylized ‘pips’ instead. The names and people change among these decks, sometimes drastically. The Magician in the Rider-Waite- Smith decks is the Juggler in the Tarot de Marseilles, and the High Priestess is known as the Papess or Juno in different decks. Even within the RWS style of decks, the changes follow the theme of the particular variation. Non-Tarot Divination Decks There non-Tarot decks of all kinds that are used for divination including Oracle decks, Angel Cards, Lenormand, Kipper, and meditation cards. These are used for purposes similar to Tarot cards, but have varying numbers of cards - from as low as 20 to as many as 144 - and may be based on any structure or any topic. The easiest way to explain the difference is that these cards speak a different language than Tarot. You can learn how to read these cards, but don’t expect that your knowledge of Tarot will help you pick up a different kind of deck and start reading with it right away. The differences may seem minor, but there are fewer similarities than you realize at first. That is not to say that non-Tarot divination decks are not excellent tools, they are just not the ones we will deal with in this workshop. Prepared by Mark Rider [email protected] 845-399-7366 www. starcattarot.com Choosing a Deck Almost everyone interested in the Tarot recognizes the classic Rider-Waite-Smith deck, and there are hundreds of decks that use the same basic symbolism with different themes. These RWS “clones” are generally easy to read once you work with them a little, if you are familiar with the RWS cards. And since most “how to read tarot” books and courses work with the RWS, you can use whatever clone deck appeals to you to begin reading! When I went to the Big Book Store to look for my first Tarot deck, I had it in my head that I had to start with the classic deck. I liked the idea of having that as my starting point, but there were so many other decks that drew my attention. Single decks, decks with companion books, decks featuring photorealistic images, decks that had cartoon figures – the only thing they had in common was that they were based on the same symbology. I walked out with the classic deck, and with the one that I kept going back to every time I tried to walk away from the shelves of cards. The right deck for you is the one that calls to you. If you have a Big Book Store or a metaphysical shop near you, finding a deck is fairly easy. Some Big Box stores carry Tarot decks as well. And of course there are online sites that you can use to purchase decks that appeal to you. Whether you plan to shop in a brick and mortar store or purchase a deck online, it is a good idea to do some research first. There are sites like Aeclectic Tarot that have reviews of lots of decks and pictures of the cards, which can be helpful in finding a deck you like. Google will pull up images of just about any deck you want to see. The main thing to keep in mind is what draws you to a deck may be the thing that turns someone off about the same deck. Don’t let a single review change your mind about a deck. If several people say that there are physical problems with a deck (poor card stock, misprints, bad finish, etc.) you can decide if that is a deck you want. But if someone has an issue with the imagery, the artist, the theme, or some other subjective aspect of the deck, do not let that keep you away from adding it to your collection. The High Priestess is a card that indicates Mystery, Intuition and Hidden Knowledge. The standard RWS deck High Priestess is the first image below; the others are from Anne Stokes’ Necronomicon, Luis Royo’s Dark Tarot, and the DaVinci Enigma Tarot. All of the cards speak to the same concepts, but the differences between the way the decks show the same thing is what makes one deck call to you and another call to someone else. As you study the images on the cards, you probably find one that resonates with you or looks like one you would like to work with. If none of the cards below do that for you, then keep looking for a deck that has cards that DO attract you. Once you find that deck, you will be able to start working with it quickly since there is already a connection between you and the cards. Note: the author of the deck is not always the artist who created the cards. In many cases the author has the ideas and they work with the artist to bring the deck to completion; sometimes an artist starts creating the deck and gets together with someone else to flesh out their ideas. Sometimes, the author and the artist are the same person. If you really like a deck that has been conceived by a particular person, or brought to life by a particular artist, look for more decks that they have created. You will usually be able to connect with those decks very easily. The Meanings of the Cards The one thing everyone wants to know when they start out is how they will manage to memorize the meanings of 78 cards and perform a reading without having to refer to a book or a cheat sheet. The answer is that you don’t need to memorize anything if you can learn a few keywords about each card and learn to trust your intuition. Although there are lots of symbols and nuanced meanings for each card, the meanings are influenced by the position in a spread and the cards around them. Trying to memorize every possible combination is impossible, so the best thing to do is focus on what you see in the cards and what it says to you at that time. If you know some basic keywords for the cards, this is a lot easier than it sounds. The Major Arcana The 22 cards that set the Tarot apart from today’s playing cards are collectively referred to as the Major Arcana. These cards represent idealized examples of influences in our lives, and tell a story known as the Fool’s Journey. Each card represents a step in the journey of self-discovery, although they rarely show up in a reading in a linear fashion. The cards and their basic meanings are: Card Meanings 0 The Fool Innocence, New Beginnings 1 The Magician Grounding, Power, Skill 2 The High Priestess Intuition, Mystery 3 The Empress Femininity, Nature 4 The Emperor Authority, Father Figure 5 The Hierophant Religion, Beliefs 6 The Lovers Love, Relationship 7 The Chariot Control, Victory 8 Strength Compassion, Courage 9 The Hermit Introspection, Being Alone 10 The Wheel of Fortune Cycle of Life, Good Luck 11 Justice Truth, Fairness 12 The Hanged Man Pause for Reflection, Sacrifice 13 Death Known Ending, Change 14 Temperance Moderation, Purpose 15 The Devil Hedonism, Over Indulgence 16 The Tower Disaster, Unexpected Change 17 The Star Spirituality, Renewal 18 The Moon Deception, Fear 19 The Sun Happiness, Success 20 Judgement Rebirth, Judgement 21 The World Completion, Accomplishment These meanings are very basic, and they are primarily a guide for starting out.