"There’s a lot more about Tarot cards than what meets the eye and as you can see, they’re much more than a fortune telling scam. Tarot cards are an interesting, useful tool used to better oneself and connect with the most important wisdom of all: your own." Frankie Ettinger -- 11th grade
Tarot cards are nothing new, but a lot of people, including me, are just now learning about them. There are a lot of misconceptions about them floating around, but before we get into that, I want to talk about the history of Tarot cards.
Tarot cards, originally a game called tarocchi, likely originated around 14th to 15th century Italy. The oldest known deck was created around 1440 and belonged to the Duke of Milan’s family. The elaborate images on the cards, like the ones seen above, are thought to be inspired by the costumes at carnival parades in Italy. It’s important to note that while Tarot cards are likely to have come from Italy, they are used in many ethno religions such as Hindu and Judaism. In fact, a French writer named Eliphas Levi theorized that Tarot cards are somehow connected to the Hebrew alphabet. Tarot cards started spreading around Europe and when they reached France, their name was switched from tarocchi to Tarot. Although they’re seen as mystical today, Tarot cards weren’t seen as such until the occult - various supernatural theories and practices - started gaining traction. Tarot cards have become a bit of an American fortune telling fad as of late, leaving many people skeptical of them, so I wrote this article to educate both myself and others on their true use.
Let’s start with the basics: a deck of Tarot cards consists of 78 cards. The 22 Major Arcana cards reflect the karmic (good or bad luck based on one’s actions) and spiritual lessons of life. The 56 Minor Arcana cards reflect our everyday trials and tribulations. Contrary to popular belief, Tarot cards aren’t actually used for fortune telling. They are really meant for us to use our intuition and inner wisdom to create our ideal futures. You can also use Tarot cards for meditation, self improvement, making choices, manifesting goals, coaching others, and more.
Tarot cards, originally a game called tarocchi, likely originated around 14th to 15th century Italy. The oldest known deck was created around 1440 and belonged to the Duke of Milan’s family. The elaborate images on the cards, like the ones seen above, are thought to be inspired by the costumes at carnival parades in Italy. It’s important to note that while Tarot cards are likely to have come from Italy, they are used in many ethno religions such as Hindu and Judaism. In fact, a French writer named Eliphas Levi theorized that Tarot cards are somehow connected to the Hebrew alphabet. Tarot cards started spreading around Europe and when they reached France, their name was switched from tarocchi to Tarot. Although they’re seen as mystical today, Tarot cards weren’t seen as such until the occult - various supernatural theories and practices - started gaining traction. Tarot cards have become a bit of an American fortune telling fad as of late, leaving many people skeptical of them, so I wrote this article to educate both myself and others on their true use.
Let’s start with the basics: a deck of Tarot cards consists of 78 cards. The 22 Major Arcana cards reflect the karmic (good or bad luck based on one’s actions) and spiritual lessons of life. The 56 Minor Arcana cards reflect our everyday trials and tribulations. Contrary to popular belief, Tarot cards aren’t actually used for fortune telling. They are really meant for us to use our intuition and inner wisdom to create our ideal futures. You can also use Tarot cards for meditation, self improvement, making choices, manifesting goals, coaching others, and more.
So how does a Tarot reading work? Biddy Tarot says: “Let's say you want to find a new romantic relationship. Instead of pulling a card to predict whether Prince Charming is just around the corner and either being blissfully excited or bitterly disappointed, you consult the cards to discover how you can attract love (and keep it!). You draw the Ten of Cups, and upon seeing the happy family dancing under the rainbow in the card, you are reminded that to attract love, you need to set a clear vision of what it is you want to attract.” To get started with a Tarot read, tap or knock on your deck a few times to spread your energy into it. Then shuffle the deck, cut the cards three times, stack them onto top each other, and you’re ready to begin. The imagery on the cards you pull gives you access to your subconscious mind and your intuition. And from this place of inner wisdom, you are to discover how to make positive changes in order to create your ideal life in the future. I don’t feel confident enough in my knowledge to walk you through a full Tarot reading, but if you’re interested, I highly recommend checking out Shonetta’s Divine Tarot on YouTube. She does life Tarot reads every month so you can watch a full reading in detail. You can also see how to read Tarot cards for someone else, which is a bit different from reading for yourself. In this case, you’re using your inner wisdom and intuition to tap into the collective, universal wisdom and using that knowledge to read someone else’s cards.
There’s a lot more about Tarot cards than what meets the eye and as you can see, they’re much more than a fortune telling scam. Tarot cards are an interesting, useful tool used to better oneself and connect with the most important wisdom of all: your own.
There’s a lot more about Tarot cards than what meets the eye and as you can see, they’re much more than a fortune telling scam. Tarot cards are an interesting, useful tool used to better oneself and connect with the most important wisdom of all: your own.
