TAROT CARDS

The oldest known tarot cards originated in 15th century Italy. The tarot appears to have started life as a card game, and was at first restricted to the wealthy upper classes, although after the invention of the printing press, the cards became more widely available.

Some writers have claimed (despite the apparent lack of evidence) that the imagery of the tarot cards suggests a more ancient origin, and have connected the tarot with such cultures and traditions as the ancient Egyptians and the mystical Hebrew Kabbalah.

It was not until the 18th century that the cards became associated with the occult and mystical activities for which they are often known today. This began in 1781, when the freemason Antoine Court de Gebelin made the claim in his work ‘Le Monde Primatif’ that tarot cards contained hidden meanings (which he associated with the ancient Egyptians) that could be used for divinatory purposes.

Since then other mystic and magical traditions, such as the Order of the Golden Dawn, have claimed that the tarot has ancient roots, together with hidden wisdom to impart to those seeking enlightenment. The tarot was especially popular among such groups in the 19th century.

The tarot became more widely known with the publication of the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot in 1910. Arthur Edwards Waite was a Golden Dawn member, and in this new deck, drawn by the artist Pamela Colman Smith, images with occult symbolism were included on the numeric cards, as well as the trump cards.

Reading the Tarot.
There is no set method for performing a divinatory tarot reading. However there are several popular layouts or ‘spreads’, with perhaps, the most well-known being the Celtic cross. This is usually the first method taught to beginners, although it is by no means the most simple. Experienced tarot readers will often invent their own spreads, with their own means of interpretation.

Once the cards are selected by the person receiving the reading, the reader lays them out in a spread and analyses them, taking into account the positions relative to each other, the symbolism of the individual cards, and their position (upright or reversed).

In addition, the minor arcana cards have their own symbolism. The numbers are most obviously associated with numerology, and the suits are linked to the four elements (Swords=Air; Cups=Water; Wands=Fire; Pentacles=Earth). The tarot has also been linked with other mystical and occult systems such as the I Ching, astrology, and the Kabbalah.

Tarot cards are clearly one of the most effective methods of probing ones psyche and a tool to guiding the subject to enlightenment. However the psychic must be clairvoyant and gifted, otherwise you are just playing a parlor game.