It all started with a Tarot of the Witches deck acquired from Spencer’s Gifts, the most esoteric store in my suburban world in 1996. At 13, it was something that I did for myself almost every night in secret as I knew my mother’s husband at the time would not approve. I would only take my cards out in “public” to read for my girlfriends at slumber parties, primarily to spy on potential boyfriends (honestly, not much has changed since then).
Three months before my 15th birthday, tarot was taken from me when I attended a fundamentalist Christian bootcamp for six months. I wouldn’t return to using tarot regularly again until age 17 when I acquired the lovely Tarot of the Old Path deck. This would be my go to deck for nearly 10 years until it was stolen during a particularly turbulent Saturn Return.
I waited another 2.5 years before getting back into the Tarot. Only this time when I picked it up again, I did so with the fervor of an autonomous adult with a paycheck. I digested books, befriended tarot card readers, memorized cards and symbols, all the while connecting with an energy within myself that is very skilled and confident with interpreting the meaning of cards. I can read just about any deck now, including regular playing cards.
I have had many years with tarot being a major contributor to my life and many years without it’s influence. I can say with certainty that my life and my decision making has been positively impacted by my use of tarot and interpreting symbols and archetypes. If anything, the tarot allows me additional support in decision making, something that I had struggled with in the past.
How I See the Tarot:
Imagine a book without binding whose 78 individual pages tell a story about a day in the life of the Fool (spoiler alert: we are all fools) and shuffling the deck while connecting to the energy of the questioner can offer you a snapshot of the person’s life and the current trajectory of their journey.
There are essentially two decks of cards within the whole of a tarot deck: 22 major arcana and 56 minor arcana that are divided into four suits, much like regular playing cards. The only real difference between minor arcana and regular playing cards, other than the names of suits, being the court cards which include “pages” instead of the “aces” that are typically included in face cards.
Face cards from a deck of standard playing cards.
Court cards from the Rider-Waite deck.
The major arcana represent large impactful milestones on the Fool’s journey while the minor arcana tend to represent more mundane things on a day to day existence.
Each card is infused with colors, symbols and archetypes that are relatable across all forms of human emotional, physical, psychological, energetic and spiritual experiences. There can be many depths and meanings to each card and a knowledge of numerology and astrology are very beneficial to interpret the deeper meaning of the cards.
There are many different decks of cards out there now with authors taking a lot of leeway of interpretation to specific decks. The Rider-Waite is more or less the industry standard of tarot and I tend to visualize the symbols of the Rider-Waite deck while working with more beautiful artisan style decks like the Antiquarian or Pagan Otherworlds deck.
A celtic cross spread from the Antiquarian deck.
The Minor Arcana:
The four suits in the major arcana and their representations are as follows:
Cups (chalices, hearts): emotion, matters of the heart (love, temptation, heartbreak, etc).
Wands (rods, clubs): passion, energy, motivating force (career, desire, ambition, etc).
Swords (Spades): thoughts, logic, intellectual pursuits (mental health, thought processes, mental illness).
Pentacles (Coins, Diamonds): money, security, home, health, well being (employment, financial windfalls or struggles, maturation of assets, etc).
Odd numbers tend to represent instability, movement and action while even numbers tend to indicate stability, balance and status quo.
Aces: The spark or the seed of a new venture. Pure, undirected energy.
Twos: Duality, knowledge of direction
Threes: Creation. The first results of a desire.
Fours: A stability, like a sturdy table. Could be positive stability or stubborn stagnation.
Fives: Instability, loss and changes that make room for personal growth.
Sixes: Balance and harmony.
Sevens: Situations where you are not in complete control.
Eights: Taking action
Nines: The final stages of a cycle, physical completion.
Tens: Transcendental completion. The pinnacle of the suit.
There is so much more information to give about the tarot and I hope to share with you my knowledge, experience and interpretations over the coming months.
xoxo,
Amanda