Tarot Card Meaning
Meaning - Symbolism & Visual Elements
Many cultures across the world have used oracles to receive divine guidance and holy truths throughout history. Oracles are considered sacred places that can only be visited by priests or shamans.
Therefore, they became the speakers of the messages. Archaeologists believe that structures at many ancient sites, such as Monte Alban in Oaxaca, Mexico, were used by priest astronomers to interpret the divine meaning of everyday events
There are a lot of Tarot books that describe and analyze the cards one by one without picturing the entire deck. In truth, each Arcanum, no matter how small, begins with the links connecting all seventy-eight cards; the study of the Tarot begins with this consistent order. To fully appreciate the meaning of these symbols, one needs to understand the final symbol they all form together: the mandala that is created putting it together.
Symbolically, the mandala represents the psyche, the essence of which is unknown. Natural integrity is symbolized by round shapes, whereas mental integrity is symbolized by rectangular forms. Mandalas are in Hindu belief both images of the world and representations of divine power. They offer a gateway to illumination to the person contemplating them. Following this concept, for example, looking at Tarot we build a temple. In all traditions, it represents how the universe was created, seen as a divine unit that exploded into fragments.
An Arcana is like a chest where spiritual riches are deposited. It's like a revelation when this chest opens. To initiate the restoration work, fragments must be gathered together until the entire original unit can be restored. Starting with a deck of cards, you mix up the Arcana and display them flat. That is, you cut up the God into pieces. They are interpreted and reassembled into sentences. In a sacred quest, the initiated reader (Isis, the soul) puts the pieces back together. God is resuscitated not in an immaterial dimension but the material world. A figure, a mandala, is gets comprised from the Tarot cards chosen, so that the whole thing can be seen with a single glance. The Tarot is not really about that. Their real purpose is not even to tell the future.
As the cards did not appear one by one-as individual symbols-but rather as part of a whole, this idea did not appear all at once. Over the course of many years of research, I made discoveries that proved this "complete entity", the Tarot, was seeking union.
This topic looks at where Tarot cards originated, what they mean, and what a deck of cards can tell you about yourself. Discover why it matters where the cards fall and why you need no psychic ability to do a Tarot reading.In our minds, reading the Tarot refers to a robed woman hunched over a small table, lit by candlelight, dealing with dire predictions.
What is Tarot?
Tarot is a map of consciousness that encompasses spiritual and practical aspects of life. Tarot readings involve divining wisdom and guidance through a specific spread (or layout) of Tarot cards. The cards do not merely tell your fortune, and one need not be a psychic to give Tarot readings, as is widely believed. To gain insight into your higher self, the cards are meant to give you a glimpse of its innermost truths. Essentially, the cards reveal to you what you already know deep down. Despite the unknown origins of the Tarot, we do have documented references of Tarot card use from the fourteenth century. In its basic form, the Tarot has been used as an oracle since the early seventeenth century.
There are earliest known examples of Tarot reading dating back to the fourteenth century, where a symbolic deck of picture cards is employed for fortune-telling and character analysis. There are 78 cards in a standard Tarot deck.
A Tarot reading is like learning a language. You can speak a language once you have learned the meanings. The traditional interpretations of Tarot cards can be compared to pots or canvases. It forms the basis of the reading. There is no fixed meaning within Tarot cards - meanings vary depending on spreads, issues, and surrounding cards. It's more valuable to gain an understanding of the card's "essence" rather than a detailed definition.
The Major Arcana
Major Arcana cards are unsuited trumps. When appearing in divination, each card represents a major force that should be taken seriously.
The 22 Major Arcana Cards
The 22 Major Arcana or Greater Trumps, which represent the strongest energies; 16 Court Cards, which symbolize four types of people or (according to some scholars) four aspects of upper-class medieval society; and 40 cards numbered 1-10 in four suits, like the four suits of a modern playing card deck.
The Minor Arcana
56 cards are the Minor Arcana
As a rule, the 56 Tarot cards of the Minor Arcana are divided among four suits: Wands, Pentacles also called Coins, Cups, and Swords. Each set has its general meaning, and each card of it brings its very own message in a divination.
When a Tarot reader uses Tarot cards to read, a questioner will ask the reader to shuffle the cards in random order. On the table are laid out a predetermined number of cards, each with a special meaning that influences how it is interpreted. In the end, the reader determines how the cards are interpreted by combining their meanings with their locations in the layout, thereby arriving at their interpretation of the question asked. Now, this can be done by you picking a card virtually as well. The card you pick can denote your prediction.
The Tarot opens your intuitive sense. Its pictures stimulate your gut feelings.
The Tarot cards seeps in the thoughts, ideas, and curiosity of whoever selects them. The Tarot deck is depicting your energy through shuffled cards and by focusing on the question at hand. The subconscious wisdom of each individual is shuffled into the cards. As you infuse your wisdom into the deck, the relationships between the cards reveal your particular wisdom in different patterns. In the Tarot deck, there are 78 cards, divided into 22 Major Arcana cards, which illustrate the archetypal passages in life, and 56 Minor Arcana cards, which illustrate what we encounter every day.
There are many metaphysical tools that we can use to view our lives and gain some insight we had never really known or understood before. The tarot is one such tool. The Tarot can either confirm what you already know your inner wisdom or add a new perspective to a difficult problem or question. Tarot also explains his feelings about choices so one can make better choices.
Embrace the card
You can imagine yourself in the character's position or you can pretend you are that character. What do you feel, notice, about your surroundings? Write it down. In this exercise, you're coming to understand the essence of the card by making an emotional and physical connection.
Consider the person this card represents
The memory is triggered by this! Tarot cards represent an aspect of ourselves or something we have experienced in our lives). Connect a card to something you have experienced. The Tarot feels relevant to our lives when each card is connected to the Deck in this way. Take a traditional card, read its meaning in your book, and then write your own story about the character that matches the meaning. This is how you add your flair to the "traditional" meaning! Making the people of the Tarot real, creating context & engaging your creative side!
Triggering symbols
Choose a symbol on the card that represents the card's meaning or "essence" -this will give you insight into the card's meaning.
