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To Read Tarot Cards
by Linda Smith
December 18, 2000
I will not explain the meanings of each of the 78 Tarot cards here. There are many good books and at least a number of web sites that will give the meanings. This article is about how to read overall patterns in any type of Tarot card reading. There are many commonly used spreads, and the Tarot books I have read explain quite a few of them.
As stated above, there are 78 cards in the standard tarot deck; I own a couple of decks that add a few more cards to these standard 78. The 78 cards include 22 Major Arcana, numbering 0 through 21, and 56 Minor Arcana, which include 4 Suits of 14 Cards each.
The various tarot decks vary in the names given to the Major Arcana. For example, the number 13 Major Arcana card is given as Death in the Rider-Waite Tarot, which is the standard template from which most other Tarot decks are derived. But this same card is named Sunset in the Medicine Woman Tarot, and Ukemochi, the Japanese Goddess of Death and Rebirth in the Goddess Tarot, which is based on various popular Goddesses of many religious pantheons. In the myth about Ukemochi, she is sacrificed, and as she dies, her body turns into rice and vegetables and other foods to feed the people. Another example is the very first card in the Major Arcana, which is numbered 0 and is given in the Rider-Waite as The Fool. The Sacred Circle Tarot, a deck based on Celtic paganism, gives the 0 card as The Green Man, who is a Celtic nature deity.
The 56 Minor Arcana come in 4 suits, which correspond to the 4 elements, 4 seasons, 4 directions, and 4 parts of the human being, or the Body, Mind, Soul, and Spirit. The 4 suits are given in the Rider-Waite tarot as Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles. These suits vary between various Tarot decks. The Medicine Woman tarot deck designates Wands as Pipes, Cups as Bowls, Swords as Arrows, and Pentacles as Stones. There are other variations in other decks. As you may have guessed, I have collected many different Tarot decks, and work frequently with a number of these.
For the sake of simplicity here, I shall stick with the standard Wands, Cups, Pentacles and Swords.
The following is important to keep in mind when giving a Tarot reading:
Major Arcana cards are archetypal forces that live within each of us. They designate major forces in our lives, and also the various stages of The Fool's Journey, as the journey through life is called by The Sacred Circle Tarot. Each Major Arcana card has many meanings attached to it; for example, 3 The Empress can represent the Goddess, a pregnancy, fertility, motherhood, or nurturing. I see The Empress as the maturation of 2 The Priestess. The Empress is also my Major Arcana designating card, according to Numerology.
Minor Arcana cards represent everyday events. The Court Cards of the Minor Arcana, which are the Pages, Knights, Queens, and Kings, represent people in your life bearing the qualities of that suit, or parts of yourself with these same qualities. Pages and Knights represent young people, and Queens and Kings represent older people.
The Suit of Wands corresponds with the South, summertime, Fire, Spirit, Creativity, and Sexuality.
The Suit of Cups corresponds with the West, autumn, Water, Emotions, the Feminine, and Deep Feeling.
The Suit of Pentacles corresponds with the North, winter, Earth, the Body, Money, Career, and Being Grounded.
The Suit of Swords corresponds with the East, Spring, Air, the Mind, Education, and the power of Thought.
There is at least one Tarot deck that reverses Wands and Swords, and gives Wands as corresponding with Air and Swords with Fire, and that is the Shapeshifter Tarot deck. This is confusing to me, as I am used to the above correspondences, but it is one of my favorite decks, because of the wonderful artwork, and also because there are many animals depicted in these cards, as well as primary Celtic deities.
When reading Tarot, it is very important to be able to read the overall pattern of what the cards are telling you. Every picture tells a story. This is never truer than during a Tarot reading. Depending on the question that is asked of the Tarot, the cards correspond with the events, people, and things involved with that question, and give a pictorial overview of what the real situation is, and possible outcomes, as well as solutions to any problem. Never give a negative or scary tarot reading without coming up with a positive solution to the problems at hand. When I get a negative reading, I always ask, What is a good solution to this problem? And then I draw at least one more Tarot card to see what a possible way out of a bad situation may be.
Also, when reading a tarot spread, you should note how many of the cards are Major Arcana, how many there are of each Minor Arcana suit, how many Court cards there are, and whether there is more than one card of a particular number. For example, whether there are two or more cards with the #3, as in a reading containing a 3 of Swords and a 3 of Wands. Patterns like these are always significant. A spread with many Major Arcana cards in it involves major archetypal patterns and illustrates a very important issue in the life of the person being read for. A reading with many Cups cards indicates there is a lot of emotion involved. A reading with many Pentacles indicates the matter is about or involves money, career, the body, or other Earthly matters. A reading with a balanced number of the 4 suits indicates that the person being read for, or Querent, is balanced between the Mind, Body, Emotions, and Spirit.
I am not a numerology expert, but it is good to have at least an elementary knowledge of numerology in order to give effective tarot readings. I am not saying this is an essential, but it is an aid. I remembering reading in The Sacred Circle Tarot book that Aces represent raw energies. To me, Aces also represent beginnings.
Here are my own personal meanings for the numbers; 0 is the Cosmic Egg, or infinity contained. 1 means oneness, union. 2 means duality, or God and Goddess, or the Cosmic Couple. 3 is the Mother, Father, and Child. 4 is the number of elements, a number of balance. 5 is the number of points in a pentagram; 5 is the number of elements if you include Space, also known as Ether, or what I call Center. 6 is 3 times 2. 7 is a particularly sacred number; there are the seven chakras, or major human energy centers, and the seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church. 8 is also a sacred number; it represents the number of Hertzian brain cycles that your mind attains when you are relaxed, or in alpha state. 8 is also a solar number, and represents the 8 points of the solar year, which include the Solstices, Equinoxes, and Cross-Quarters. 9 is the number just preceding manifestation. 10 is the number of completion or manifestation.
I didn't get this information on the meanings of the numbers from any one book. This is what they mean to me personally, based on much reading and observation.
Finally, the precise meaning of each Tarot card changes with the nature of the question being put to the cards. If a woman is asking, Where is my career going? and draws The Empress, that indicates her career is fertile and she will give birth to a new business or project. If she is asking, Will I be pregnant or marry?, that card indicates a certain pregnancy, unless of course she is too old to have children, in which case the card will mean the birth of something else new, or a marriage filled with nurturing.
One last note: it's all right to assign your own personal meaning to each Tarot card. Tarot is a large subject to study in depth; the meanings given in books and pamphlets are not absolute and set in stone; they are meant as guidelines. However, I do feel it is at least somewhat important to stick to the traditional card meanings, as well as mix in your own personal interpretations.
I hope you enjoyed reading this. I started reading Tarot in the early spring of 2000; I had received my very first Tarot deck, a Rider-Waite deck, in the very late 70s, when I was a young teenager. Over many years I had collected more Tarot decks, but what really got me started were two things. These were an on-line tarot club and a friend who used the Tarot with a boyfriend of hers at the time. I also enjoy the beautiful artwork of many Tarot decks. And I like drawing one card every day and learning them that way, as well as doing frequent Tarot readings for myself.
Copyright 2000 by Linda Smith
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