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

I have been going through my old tarot emails and came across this one from a while back:

‘Yesterday I had a client who works out in the Middle East, arranging tours. At the end of his reading he despairingly asked me why, as humans, we behave the way we do.

I decided it was too big for me to answer and drew a card … The Devil.

So then I asked what could be done about it - and got Justice.

Sometimes they totally amaze me.’

I’d be interested in your own examples of this sort of thing!

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.’

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.

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.