Tarot Card Meanings and How they Can Help You Every Day!

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Well, okay, why did I start with The Magician (below)? After all, The Fool precedes him. He’s either unnumbered, or numbered 0. But why be conventional? The Fool wouldn’t care one way or the other, in fact he’d probably be keen to be placed just about anywhere except the expected place.

The Fool is the unusual, the insane, the outsider. He brings with him chaos, even madness. If he arrives in your reading, you might be the sort of person who would grin and nod, welcoming him in and living with the layers of disorder he brings with him, but quite often his appearance brings with it a sharp intake of breath as the client immediately starts trying to identify exactly what it is they’ve done that’s particularly stupid.

But of course the card isn’t about stupidity - or only very rarely, and even then I would expect it to be reversed. It’s usually about taking risks, a leap into the unknown, or being prepared to see outside the box. The Fool is traditionally pictured jumping off a cliff while a small dog (symbol of faithfulness) tries to keep him from succeeding. So it can be about a new path, not safe but exciting, where we can test our mettle to the fullest, reaching out to the highest we can attain … or falling into the chasm below (but even then, if we survive, we’ll have learnt a huge amount). We might expect to see paradoxical, contradictory events or personality traits. And sometimes the appearance of The Fool can be a goad to take uncomfortable decisions.

Reversed, it can be a warning that pitfalls lie ahead. Or that some faulty decision needs to be rethought. It often points out a reckless, thoughtless approach that could easily result in major problems - the sort of ‘act first think later’ attitude that our western culture is so good at.

Still, I love The Fool. He started my long journey of discovery through the Tarot. You may well have heard the story before but I’ll tell it again (the Fool loves to do this - he doesn’t care if you’ve heard it 10 or 20 times before, he likes telling it!!!

I was doodling one night, idly, in front of the television (as one does) and, looking down, I discovered I’d actually drawn The Fool - but a very different being from the familiar figure I knew from decks I had seen previously. His eyes were extraordinary - a bit mad, and yet deep, deep like the ocean. I painted the drawing to see if the magic stayed; and it did (see above). I found him so compelling I decided to go on to see if I could produce an equally interesting Magician … and then I did Justice … and Strength, and eight years later, I had a full tarot deck. So, as far as I’m concerned, the Fool is the door to a wider, richer universe.

That’s the deeper aspect of this wonderful archetype: the Wise Fool. In the book of The Intuitive Tarot, he’s placed both at the beginning and at the end of the Major Arcana: Alpha and Omega. In this guise, he’s the stage past The World - one stage past the culmination of the journey. We might see him as the numinous soul, the transparent, all-knowing innocent. The Beatles sang about him in The Fool on the Hill, Stanley Kubrick depicted him at the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey. We don’t encounter his like very often, unfortunately. When we do, we either kill them, or fete them. Usually the former.

(Oh, by the way, if you think you’ve seen the Fool before, in the correct position, you’re right. I decided to give him more coverage, so I deleted the first airing. After all, why not?)

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With the first crocuses out in the garden, it’s a little odd to find my thoughts centering on death - and the tarot Death card. The latter is often depicted as a skeleton wielding a scythe and cutting down King and commoner alike. Given that the first tarot decks appeared shortly after the Black Death raged through Europe, this view of Death is not surprising. Today, however, most tarot readers would read the card not as death, but as change and transformation.

From the point of view of an artist ‘painting the bones’ [which I paraphrased from The Llewellyn Journal 'Writing Down the Bones' of February 16th 2009 by Corrine Kenner], I take a slightly different view. For me the Death card in the Intuitive Tarot is an initiatory figure, challenging me to strip my thoughts to the bone, to discover what I am really about, and to rid myself of all the dross in my life. After the Hanged Man’s lessons, where we’ve had to reverse all our set views - everything we’ve been taught - we are ready for a more profound rethink. Thus we arrive at the Death card, Major Arcana number XIII.

When I painted this image I wanted it to be quite confrontational. So Death is fearful indeed, an imposing black figure with red eyes burning in its white skull. Behind this figure is a wall of fire - which I saw as cold, not hot. To complete the image, I softened its impact with the opened cocoon, the diamond, and butterfly to indicate rebirth. Later I discovered that in shamanic lore, the initiators are often experienced as putting the dismembered body of the initiate into fire (after which the successful trainee is re-membered, emerging as a fully-fledged shaman). This gives yet another dimension to the card, which, at least for the layman, is probably the most feared of all tarot cards.

For me, then, the image of Death, and thus Death itself, is the next step towards a greater life. For those who have moved into his realm, I salute you, and honour your advance along the path. As the crocuses open their delicate petals after what seems like a very long winter, I acknowledge Death as a necessary part of that rebirth.

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People often find reversals - when the card is drawn upside down - offputting in the extreme. Indeed, many tarot readers don’t use them at all, preferring to interpret both negative and positive sides of the card at the same time. However, reversals can be very useful - particularly when the majority of cards have appeared reversed. One way of working with them is to see a reversal as an indicator that there is a blockage or lack of confidence involved: so for example, if someone has drawn the Nine of Rods (Wands) reversed, the interpretation could be that although they appear to be strong and in control, inside they are feeling defensive and not at all sure how long they wish to continue holding people at bay.

Reversals of the darker cards often display a more optimistic aspect of the card. The Nine and Ten of Swords reversed all indicate that the darkest time has already passed (useful, as they are such dark cards!), and the Five shows the fearful, cowering person at the bottom of the card beginning to take power into her hands and face her fears.

One of the most interesting of reversals is the Tower. The meaning of the card is the lightning strike of God, the cosmic illumination that shatters all existing structures - and although the card isn’t always *that* negative, it certainly can indicate disastrous events (like 9/11, for example). So how to read the Tower reversed?

Nowadays I usually see this as dismantling important aspects of your life, which can be deciding to downsize, for example. Separation, divorce, or giving in your notice after a shock could also be The Tower reversed. But one of the best examples I’ve encountered happened recently in a reading for a woman who was 7 months pregnant. She blenched a bit to get the Tower reversed and I explained what I’ve just said above: that it wasn’t necessarily negative at all, but she’d have to rethink her life and get rid of all sorts of unwanted stuff. Three days later she texted me to say her baby had been born - 2 months early, but he was fine. She wanted to know what the Tower reversed meant! I replied that although she had expected the birth, she’d thought she had plenty of time. Now, however, both she and her partner would have to make some radical changes to their lifestyle - dismantling the old structures and setting up new.

This was sent to me by Gary Oppenhuis on Facebook, and it is so apposite I thought I would share it with you…

‘I periodically perform Tarot readings for my self, as a meditative interaction, a time of spiritual play and reverance, delighting in the random coincidences.  Often I choose a word or phrase as the focal point for these tarot interactions.  

‘For a recent reading, I chose the word “Progress“.   Progress as a verb, as in “going forward”.  I want/need to Progress in many areas of my life.  For this reading, I used the Intuitive Tarot, by Cilla Conway.

‘The card I pulled was: the 2 of Rods.  Traditionally, the 2 of Rods (or Wands) is often associated with initiative, boldness, originality, commanding attention. Certainly appropriate themes to foster Progress!

‘And then I looked more closely at the specific imagery on this card.  And then I smiled, and glowed, and realized what day it was (Jan. 19, 2009, MLK Jr. day), and the momentous event that was about to take place the next day (Jan. 20, 2009):  the inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States!

‘The card depicts a tall, lean, dark, regal figure standing atop a hill (Capitol Hill?), holding an orb in his outstretched hand, reflecting on the state of the world. In the background there appears to be a vast multitude of faces, of many colors.  A larger orb glows at the top of the card, like a spotlight or Sun.

‘The scene is like a leader or actor on a great stage, pondering and expressing a vision of progress. The 2 parallel rods or bars crossing the orb could represent the 2 great leaders (Martin Luther King and Obama), and the ladder they have helped to build in the climb towards unity.  The 2 bars crossing the “O” is somewhat reminiscent of the Obama campaign logo.

‘I normally do not relate personal readings to public events, but the symbolic impact of this card, and of this moment, gave me a tremendous lift and feeling of positive transformation as we all work towards Progress, for our selves, for each other, and for the world.’

So we have drawn or chosen our card and allowed it, as best we can, to speak to us.

But what if we get a card that we are not happy with – one that produces a decidedly negative reaction?

A negative reaction to a card is an indication that the image is activating some repressed part of yourself, or is a call to look at a particular problem.  The more reluctance you feel to working with the card, the more important it is to continue! 

In this case, get a friend to sit with you, to witness the messages you get from the card – you’ll have to work out loud in that case if possible. They are more likely to notice if you miss important clues – and it’s surprising how easy it is to ignore something that is really important! Encourage your friend to be objective and to say anything they think might be useful, even if you may not like what they say!

If you haven’t got a friend who will help close at hand, record all the intuitive links, however disturbing they may seem, and come back to them a few days later.  You will probably find a strange recognition dawning – congratulations! Just stay with it, and the message will become clearer with time. 

If you find at any point that your imaginary stories or identification with the figures in the cards are bringing up particularly painful memories, or feelings of fear or anger, use your own intuitive guidance to decide whether you should stay with them or turn away.  Although you are perfectly at liberty to turn away, most of the time it is best to stay with the emotions if you can, feeling them as fully as possible. 

Accept that they are part of you, and that by acknowledging them you are recovering a precious part of yourself (it is not feeling itself that is dangerous, it is repressed feeling).  However, if you find it impossible to stay with these emotions, or decide intuitively that it is not a good idea, trust this intuition. You are your own wisest guide, and this may be your psyche’s way of protecting you.

If nothing at all appears in your awareness, you may be tired, or trying too hard, or missing the messages through inexperience.  Indicate your willingness to your subconscious and higher consciousness that you wish to remain open to any flashes that may come through other people, books, films, or dreams, in the days ahead, and ensure you have a notebook to hand!

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1) The Tarot is evil.

Wrong. The Tarot is powerful, yes. It speaks directly to your unconscious, and the imagery is archetypal and certainly sometimes disturbing – but essentially the Tarot is a mirror: it reflects what is inside you. Thus anyone who considers it evil is merely projecting evil from themselves onto the cards.

Like any powerful tool, you can abuse the Tarot – by becoming addicted to it or obsessively repeating the same question (in which case you may well find that it can get really tetchy). If, however, you treat it with respect, study and use the cards for self-awareness, you will soon discover that the Tarot represents a profound and transformational spiritual journey.

2) You have to be psychic to read the Tarot.

Wrong. All you have to be is intelligent and able to understand pictures (an integral gift for all humanity: we dream in pictures, so – while our schools work hard to make us forget how to do it – you probably will find it easier than you think).

3) You should always be given a Tarot deck: you should never buy one for yourself.

Unless you’ve told the person exactly what tarot to buy, a tarot gift pack is usually one that sits unused in a drawer. The best way to find a deck you can actually use is to go to a good esoteric shop which has samples, and look at every card. The pack that speaks to you, that you love, is the one you need to buy.

4) The Tarot tells you the future

The cards are capable and do foretell the future. However, changes occur every second, and we can also change our lives by how we think. So it is best to consider the cards as suggesting possibilities, of indications of what you need to be aware of, and sometimes, old patterns of thought we need to alter.

5) The Tarot came from Ancient Egypt

No-one knows where the Tarot originated. It is unlikely to have been Ancient Egypt (though it’s a nice story); it’s more likely to have been Italy as the titles on the early decks were in Italian. The Major Arcana might have been designed as part of the Mystery Plays, and no-one knows where the Minors - which are like ordinary playing cards - came from. The latter are first mentioned in 1377, the Majors in 1415. The two sets were first amalgamated in the 1500s. The first decks we know of were beautifully illuminated – the Visconti Tarot is a good example.

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Last time we talked about identifying with a card, chosen either at random or by visual selection and being open to any sub conscious messages that card might suggest to you.

I talked about how it might be if I drew the Three of Rods and concentrated on what the design is saying to me. I began with the ideas – suggested by the design - of: concentration, energy, beautiful colours, velvet smoothness, peace. Excitement at holding this beautiful egg-shape.

But what if I drew the Three of Rods and it was upside down i.e. reversed?

If the card is reversed (appears upside down) the intuitive message you need to take from it is modified. In the case of the Three of Rods, I would still have access to the creativity or beautiful secret, but I need to be aware that there may be some blockage.

At this stage, I need to stay in the reverie, letting my mind flow freely around any further images that came.

I might get the sense I am trying too hard to control an outcome, or that there is some outstanding task to be completed. If no guidance comes, I will pass the issue over to my higher and unconscious selves, and forget it for the time being, waiting for synchronicities or dream messages to help clarify the situation later.

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Intuition is a gift we all have. We are all capable of slipping into a reverie or dreamlike, meditative state; and it is in this state that we make connections with the tarot card meanings as represented by their images.

Some of us access our intuition easily and for some it takes practice.

In self-development work, using the Tarot, you consciously identify with a particular card or cards, chosen at random or by visual selection. If you go with visual selection, choose a card that you feel particularly drawn to – or even one you particularly dislike!

Study the card for a while, letting your mind go into neutral. This can take practice, so take your time, relax and breathe slowly – close your eyes if you wish. Be open to anything, however illogical or tentative, that comes into your head: images, sounds, sensations, colours, words, feelings, anything.

You may find it helpful to record your reactions in a notebook, to refer to later, as these intuitive messages will almost certainly have some relevance to you even if the meaning is not obvious to begin with.

Example: Let’s say I’ve drawn the Three of Rods from The Intuitive Tarot. I might begin: ‘Concentration, energy, beautiful colours, velvet smoothness. Peace. Excitement at holding this beautiful egg.’ I might then ask the figure in the card what its story is, or describe myself as if I am the figure in this particular card (this is called ‘dialoguing’ with the card.

I am staring intently at a beautiful egg-shaped object. A double helix of energy is rising from it. Have I made it? I get the sense that it is humming. It is alive! This is some miraculous, alchemic secret.

My subconscious has informed me directly that I have access to a wonderful, living secret. It is my message; another person would probably ‘see’ something quite different. I don’t have to work out intellectually what this amazing secret could be, although I know it has something to do with the feeling of connection to my soul; all I need to do is to fully experience the wonder of it, and thank the universe for having granted it.

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With the Three by Three Spread, people often will place three cards down and read them as Past, Present, Future.

Alternatively you can - as I have done in the following illustration - use these three cards to identify what is going on in specific areas of the client’s life – sometimes it will be along the lines of relationship, work, family, travel, health.

The second row will be ‘Anything you need to do right now about your relationship, or your work’ etc.

The third row can be ‘Helpful influences’, or ‘what you should not do now’, or anything relevant to the client – use your discretion but make the intention clear before you draw the cards.

Extra rows can of course be added in if you think of other aspects of the question… In the diagram (above) I’ve given two alternative rows 7,8,9, but nothing is fixed in this spread, just go for it.

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In our consideration of Tarot Card Meanings, the journey of the Major Arcana is the path of spiritual self-awareness, each card symbolising not only the choices we meet along the way, but also - deeper and wilder - the archetypes that underpin each stage, which can be seen as degrees of initiation. The earliest mystery religions would have had similar initiatory stages; for example, the twenty-two steps in the rites from the Egyptian Book of the Dead contain fascinating parallels.

The path to self-realisation is not easy and can be fraught with danger. At each step we have to confront, and transcend, our fears. At times we may think we are functioning on a high level of awareness, and discover later that our ego has been deceiving us. Or we may become so involved with our inner life that we lose touch with reality altogether.

The Major Arcana provides us with staging posts, which illustrate some of the possibilities and perils along the way:

0 The Fool. The path begins with the new-born babe, eyes wide in wonderment from the memory of the time before this. We understand little of what we see, but still have access to an innate wisdom.

I The Magician is the child, learning to manipulate the world and its elements. Along the way, we will lose the natural, unconscious sense of connection with the Infinite, but for a while we take that connection and its phenomenal power for granted.

II The High Priestess can be seen as the young adult, conscious of the veil between the worlds, and still able to move between the two at will. At this time we become conscious of a complementary part of ourselves, the animus or anima2; and the need to find our soul partner.

III The Empress represents the fully-functioning sexual adult, her fruitfulness and orgiastic pleasure in nature reflecting our wish for love and connection. It refers to parenthood, the wonder of our own children; and our relationship with our mothers.

IV The Emperor. We live in a patriarchal society, and part of the journey is to be in relationship to that society, with all its faults and problems. We may work within it, or rebel against it, but either way we all have first-hand knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the masculine and all its works. The Emperor reflects our place within society and our attitude to authority, as well as the relationship with our fathers.

V The Hierophant. The spiritually attuned masculine is an archetype to which we easily relate, no doubt because of the concept of a masculine god. We often wish for a wise adviser, an impartial guide who can help us in our confusion, without realising the wisdom accessible within us.

VI The Lovers. This is the time of choice, where we are asked to choose between our prospective partner and our parents - or, more generally, a choice between growth and stasis, the gateway into conscious adulthood. Every time we encounter life’s challenges we face a choice: do we engage with it - or turn away? Sometimes, turning away is the wisest course. The Lovers is therefore also about developing discernment.

VII The Chariot represents the forging of our will upon the world. It is about the ego and the persona - the masks we don in order to function successfully. We have learnt to repress what we consider to be our less socially acceptable aspects. These will appear in dark moments as depression, shame, irrational anger and fear.

VIII The first stirrings of inner wisdom are encountered in Justice, with her objective gaze and discerning mind. Through her clear vision, we see ourselves acting out unconscious drives, and our innate sense of justice now realises the implications of our decisions and actions on others. We see the profound personal implications of truth and untruth, integrity and expediency and understand how this impacts on ourselves and others. It is time to decide what to retain in our lives - and what to cut out.

IX With The Hermit we have made a fateful decision: we must turn away from the world, to the unknown depths within us. The material things of the world no longer answer our needs, and the soul’s call can no longer be denied. However, there is no route map for this journey; we can only follow the faint flicker of intuition, into the dark.

X The Wheel. At this stage we may feel a profound change in alignment caused by our decision to look inwards. Instead of resisting, or riding roughshod over our needs and dimly-sensed dreams, we now sense the flow of existence. We see ourselves drawn into the current, moving slowly in to the centre.

XI Strength. A real test of our new resolve is how we deal with our first encounter with the Shadow. This is what Freud called the id, the instinctive urges, child-like passions and desires of the unconscious . In Strength we learn to communicate, to negotiate, persuading our Id to work with us rather than against us. We choose integrity and maturity rather than instant gratification.

XII The Hanged Man. The self-awareness gained through Strength and its disciplined expression of self-love stands us in good stead when we realise that, in following the inner path, we need to reverse all previous certainties. Now all we can do is to hang in mid-air, waiting for illumination and wisdom. If we can stay with this encounter with the Infinite, we will emerge with a hard-won wisdom.

XIII Death. This is death of the old self, and a shamanic initiation into a new world. We stand on the threshold of a profound rebirth, though the way is guarded by the fearsome figure of Death of the old self. The alchemic fires flay off our masks and armour, stripping the soul to its core.

XIV After surviving that dread dismemberment, angelic Temperance appears to show us how to survive - by gently, lovingly, tempering (mixing) the different aspects within us. If previously we jumped into action without thinking, we now learn to act after considered thought; if we over-intellectualise, we now modify that with feeling or intuition. The sensory urges can also be balanced with feeling and awareness.

XV The Devil. After our first encounter with the Shadow in Strength, we might consider ourselves capable of anything. But in The Devil we come face to face with the collective shadow, as well as our own unrecognised darkness, mirrored in the people around us. If we take the easy way out through justification and denial, we find ourselves imprisoned in the unconscious patterns of the past. To face these patterns, take back the projections and own our worst aspects, requires extreme courage and honesty.

XVI Often it takes the intervention of The Tower to help us see our lives clearly, and to break free. The divine lightning bolt blasts through our defences and preconceptions, destroying outdated ideas, searing us to the core. Nothing can remain the same after that profound light.

XVII The Star. When we are able to see again, we realise that one faint light remains: the inner light of the soul. We have walked through the darkest night and survived. The star, rising over the sea, shows us how we can be: washed clean, delicate, an integral part of creation.

XVIII The Moon. Still the tests are not over. In The Moon we encounter the beautiful, deceptive light of the collective psyche. We either withstand its seductive power - or lose ourselves in its perilous attraction.

XIX With The Sun, we at last feel the warmth, and see the brilliance of the divine light. The twin aspects of the Self - masculine and feminine, conscious and unconscious, body and spirit - innocent as children, can grow to adulthood free and joyful, protected from the full force of the sun within the enchanted garden of the soul.

XX In Judgement, the Sun twins have grown to adulthood, and their union has birthed a new soul, the divine Child. Now all three figures rise out of the dark, containing earth and move upwards into the ineffable light of the Divine Source.

XXI In The World, all opposites are finally united and transformed in an alchemic marriage: unconscious, conscious, higher consciousness; future, present, past. This is the treasure of great price, the place of integration, of love, acceptance and pure, transcendent self-knowledge.

O The cycle of existence is completed by the second appearance of The Fool, as cosmic consciousness and the return to innocence.

Readings are laid out in Tarot Spreads, which you can use to help focus your own intuiton. Positions such as ‘yourself at present’, past influences’, ‘hopes and fears’ all help to focus your own judgement. As you grow more confident, you can invent your own intuitive spreads, examples of which will be posted over the coming weeks.

As you work with the cards you will find you favour certain spreads. Don’t worry if you don’t wish to try formulating your own intuitive spreads, but prefer to work with tried and tested layouts. I often begin with the Celtic spread to give a general overview of the issues at hand, and follow up with an intuitive spread to focus in on a specific situation where required.

The Celtic Cross

An old and trusted spread which gives a good background to a second spread.

Card 1 – the central issue (what’s uppermost in the client’s mind at present.)

Card 2 – Crossing card (what’s blocking or unhelpful in relation to the central issue)

Card 3 – What lies below is the foundation, or background of the central issue. Can lie quite far in the past, or be quite recent.

Card 4 – What lies behind – the influences now receding into the past

Card 5 – What lies above – possibilities. This may not happen, depending on the client’s actions.

Card 6 – What lies before: influences coming into the client’s life now.

Card 7 – The client him or herself – the main qualities at the moment

Card 8 – The environment, world around the client

Card 9 – Hopes and fears, desires

Card 10 – Outcome

This spread can be followed by the Three by Three spread – which I use to offer the client a choice between specific questions, or different aspects of his or her life. I’ll post the Three by Three in my next post on Tarot Spreads.

Ania and Cilla

A pagan gathering is a good place to run a workshop; the participants usually understand what the tarot is and what it can do. We – Ania and Cilla -had a really good attendance – around 30 people crammed into a medieval tent – so Ania began by asking how many people had tarot decks. The majority of people did and most had some idea of Tarot Card meanings. The numbers dipped slightly when Ania asked how many had used them to read for themselves, and dropped (substantially) again to the question of how many had used them with others. Lack of confidence is always an issue with the Tarot; and there’s also the issue of learning at least 78 meanings – more, if you use reversals.

One person said her main problem was how each card was affected by the others around it. This was something that worried me when I was learning. But somehow, after a while, you do begin to see how they work. Using spreads – as we usually do – each card has its specific meaning modified by the position. For example, if you found the Eight of Swords in the position of ‘central issue’, and the Four of Pentacles (Discs) in the Environment position, you would probably say that the client is stuck with old ways of thinking or ideas of duty, and they need to cut the cords that bind them to those outdated views. The Four of Pentacles shows us that this is mainly about money, but also where they fit into their environment – perhaps they are holding on like grim death to ideas of money and security. The client has probably gone around and around this problem mentally (swords) but the combination of material security (discs) and their old issues have kept them stuck. As a foundation card, you then might find the Six of Cups (nostalgia, looking back) and know that they’ve previously had emotional issues about moving forward, and this has of course contributed to the issue. But if they approached the problem from a different point of view, they might realise they have actually moved on. And so you go on.

Tarot reading, as Ania pointed out, is really a combination of life skills, being able to read imagery, and intuitive knowledge. You really don’t have to be psychic, just aware. I’ve met a number of psychic people who can’t read tarot particularly well because the messages in their heads get in the way. On the other hand, you find words, images, or intuitive ‘knowing’ do start ‘coming in’ as soon as you begin to trust your own abilities. That seems to be the way with intuition – the more you trust it, the better it works.

Once Ania had given us a bit of background information on the tarot, she handed out some cards for people to practise with. These were from the Rider Waite deck, probably the best known tarot cards of all; nearly every deck produced now refers back in some way to the Rider Waite. However, as I told participants as I began my part of the workshop, buying a deck because it’s popular may not be the best way. I encourage people to choose their cards themselves, using a combination of feeling and intuition. There will be one deck that calls to you, and that will be the one you need to work with. (By the way many people have heard that you shouldn’t buy tarot for yourself. This is superstition and quite counter-productive, in my view. At least if you buy them, you have an emotional, intuitive and material investment in them!)

I had brought along some A4 images from The Intuitive Tarot, the pack I painted a long time ago, now published; I use this deck to the exclusion of all others because I know it so intimately. I was pleased to find a participant there who had been on one of my previous workshops; she said I’d helped her understand tarot, where all of her previous attempts had failed. She had also found that The Intuitive Tarot was the one pack that spoke to her. It was lovely to hear that, and good to see the feedback from the A4 images … sometimes it helps to see the tarot writ large, as it were.

I ended the workshop by giving on-the-spot one-card readings from the deck for anyone who asked – it is amazing to see this in practice. As always, it is a mystery how the cards work, but when you see how accurate even one card can be, you remember that the tarot itself is a mystery – and all the better for it.

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As an introduction to Tarot Card Meanings, let me start with what we know about the origins of the Tarot as a means of divination.

The origins of the cards themselves are shrouded in mystery, though they were first described in 1377. It is possible that at first they were merely used as a game (Tarocchi); however, we know they were first used for divination purposes in the 16^th Century.

A Tarot deck consists of 78 cards, which are divided into the Major Arcana (or Trumps), and the Minor Arcana. The twenty-two Major Arcana are seen as archetypal or allegorical images representing the journey through life. The Minors (the remaining fifty-six cards) are similar to today’s playing cards, with four suits of 14 cards (the numbered or pip cards 1-10, and the face cards: page, knight, queen and king). Each suit represents a different aspect of humanity and are usually seen as Cups (the emotions), Pentacles or Discs (material issues), Swords (the mind), and the Wands (intuition and creativity). Each suit is usually linked to the four elements – water, earth, air and fire.

The full tarot pack is used to provide readings intended to help a person achieve a better understanding of issues that may be affecting them, such as relationships, problems to be overcome, opportunities etc. Each card has a range of meanings, which, taken together, can allow the skilled interpreter to help their client (usually referred to as the Querent or inquirer) to focus on the issues affecting them and thus find a way through problems or take advantage of opportunities.

The cards in the Major Arcana carry more weight than the Minor Arcana. Therefore, in a reading, the meaning and position of Major Arcana are interpreted very carefully as they are considered to be important unseen influences, indicating major changes in the inquirer’s life. In contrast, the Minor Arcana usually refers to day-to-day events, or people surrounding the inquirer.

A skilled Tarot reader also interprets the meaning of the cards according to the position they occupy in a spread (different ways in which the cards are laid out). However, where the inquirer is open to the tarot card meanings, as represented by the pictures and symbolism, their own intuition can provide a major boost to the power of the cards. Indeed, many practitioners of the art of Tarot believe that its greatest benefit is in the conduit it provides to the subconscious mind, thus allowing the process of “physician heal thyself”.

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