The Tarot

 Every summer I decide to take up something new, whether it be skateboarding or writing a book, I'm set and focused on learning at the start, however (being a Libra), half way through, my mind starts to wander and I usually get side-tracked or find something else to keep myself busy. This year I am absolutely determined on teaching myself how to read the tarot cards. I have bought the Tarot Bible and the Original Rider-Waite Tarot Deck, both have been recommended to me as brilliant for beginners. 

 There are many different beliefs as to where tarot cards first originated from. However it has been traced back to as early as the year 1440. There is a belief that their use was spread by the Romanies or Knights Templar as they wandered throughout Europe. Another theory is that in France and England in 1781, tarot cards were picked up by followers of the occult and believed that the symbolism in the cards represented more than originally thought. From this, they started to use the tarot as a divination tool. Some people believe that the Tarot cards originated in Eygpt and are thought to be the only surviving 'book' from the fire that burned the libraries of Ancient Eygpt.

The Tarot is often linked with negativity and bad energy and has been given a lot of bad press in the past however these are just rumors and generally isn't true. Tarot cards are similar to other spiritual methods of divining the future and uncovering hidden truths such as palmistry and angel card readings.

The tarot is a deck of 78 illustrated cards and is formed of two 'types' of card. There is the Major Arcana and The Minor Arcana. The Major Arcana is made of 22 cards and represent individuals who show a specific quality or archetype. The Minor Arcana is made of 56 cards; four suites going from ace to King, similar to that of a deck of playing cards however they also include a Page (or knave). Each of these cards has a specific meaning and represent events, people, behaviour, ideas and activities that go on in our lives. Tarot readers combine these meanings with their intuition and the specific spreads that can be used to lay out the cards as well as their (and the person they could be reading for's) own interpretation of the cards

An example of the Rider-Waite original deck.

Both Tarot Bible and Rider-Waite Tarot Deck are avaliable to buy on spiritualquest.co.uk