Talented Tarot - Tarot

My life has been enriched through the tarot. The cards and the messages they hold have spoken to me on many occasions and helped me through difficult times. I'm sure they can do the same for you.

The History of Tarot

There are some people who claim that the tarot cards go back to ancient Egyptian times which is a romantic idea but does not seem to be true. They first appeared in late-medieval Europe and were used to play a game before they were used for fortune telling.

The cards I use are the Rider-Waite tarot cards and I do this because of the amazing imagery used. The cards were designed by AE Waite who was a member of the Golden Dawn. This organisation's aims were to revive ancient occult teachings. Because of this influence the Rider-Waite cards are filled with ancient imagery and symbolism. I find this really helps when I am reading a spread.

How does Tarot work?

I have spent many, many hours trying to work out how tarot works. In the end my conclusion is that what matters is the reader. People have used many ways to tell the future from throwing bones, candle flames, the weather, the movement of birds. All these methods depend on a reader to interpret them. The bones, weather or birds are just the tools you use to ignight your psychic senses. Tarot cards, thanks to their rich imagery are a wonderful tool to use.

When I am reading the cards I start by looking at the traditional meaning of the card. Then I allow my eyes to focus upon a particular part of the card and interpret that. For example if I pulled the Star. I would be thinking of hope, as the cards traditional meaning is hope. I might be drawn then to the water, which usually represents the emotions. At the time I look at it  the water may look churned up. I'd interpret that as strong mixed up emotions. Put together the interpretation would be a feeling of hope coming after a really stressful and emotional time. This is a simplistic example but hopefully it shows how the picture builds up when you use both the traditional meaning and psychic information from a card. Tarot readings are fascinating to me because they are different every time. This is why after seventeen years I've never seen a reading that looked familiar!