Tarot Cards

As someone who was once greatly mystified behind the powers of tarot cards, I purchased a beautiful deck a couple years ago and decided to give it a whirl. I “read” my friends’ cards, and to much of their dismay, most didn’t have happy futures ahead. Oh well. I’ve long since retired the deck, but I’m still curious about the tarot card.

Upon searching the internet for more information, I stumbled across tarot.com. “Experience the wisdom,” it says across the top. I beg the question, what wisdom?

Tarot cards were first used in Europe in the late 14^th century. Originally, these cards were used for playing games and tricks. They did not become established with the mysticism community until the 18^th and 19^th centuries. The meaning behind the cards has changed over the years.

There are usually 78 cards in a tarot deck. There is the Major Arcana, which consists of the face cards without suits. These are: The Fool, Magician, High Priestess, Empress, Emperor, Hierophant, Lovers, Chariot, Strength, Hermit, Wheel of Fortune, Justice, Hanged Man, Death, Temperance, Devil, Tower, Star, Moon, Sun, Judgment, and World. The Minor Arcana consists of four suits and fifty six cards (ten of each suit are numbered; four are the court cards.) These suits include the swords, wands, pentacles, and cups.

People believe these cards to hold descriptions of themselves: The person having their fortune read will pick the cards themselves and leave it to the diviner to interpret, based on the card and the placement (there are different spreads of cards to choose, and if a card is upside down, it’s meaning is opposite.) The person having their fortune read may wish to know about their future, love life, investments, family, friends, and other mysteries of life.

I personally don’t see the harm in tarot cards but I don’t believe they predict your future. They are fun to look at and analyze, but I can see the potential problems the cards can cause. Having the cards interpreted by another person means that the interpretation is up to them, and you may disagree with that. I don’t think people should make life choices based on a tarot card reading either, as it is total chance and luck.

I related tarot cards to the chapter in the Lawson book about Dream Interpretation and False Beliefs. We seek to know what the future holds, what the cards/dreams mean, and why we do what we do; why we are the way we are. Whether or not you believe that tarot cards and dream interpretations lead into investigations of your unconscious, past, and desires, it is entirely in your hands.

Sources:

http://www.tarot.com/

http://www.allabouttheoccult.org/tarot-cards.htm