For information on my professional tarot reading services, please visit: www.nighttimes.com/tarot.htm
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I get a lot of questions about Tarot. I was thinking about starting my own blog on that subject only, to separate it from this one (which is supposed to only be writing, but you know how that goes...).
I decided it would just be too much to maintain another blog. And I don't have a whole lot more to say on the subject than what I've written below. So, if you're interested in Tarot at all, dig in. If it's not your bag, I won't take offense. Here goes:
Is Tarot Evil?
One of my dearest friends is hyper-Christian and feels uncomfortable about my Tarot stuff. While I respect her opinions to separate from anything spiritual that she feels uneasy over, I’d like to explain a few things:
The most important thing to know is that Tarot does not call spirits, good or evil, into play. This isn’t a Ouija board, a séance, or even a prophesy. The idea behind the Tarot is that, because we are all one, of one spirit (which I call God), we all have access to that knowledge and power. We are considerably wiser and more in tune with ourselves and others than we realize. The Tarot is just a tool to tune in this knowledge.
The second most important thing you must know is that nothing is set in stone and your future can be corrected if you don’t like what a reading says. What’s the point in it, then? you might ask. The purpose of the Tarot is to show you the track that you’re on. Nothing more. We all know so much more about ourselves than we consciously realize. We know when we’re leading ourselves into trouble, falling into old habits, deluding ourselves or others out of insecurities and need. Likewise, we know when we’ve fallen into our groove, when we’re doing the thing that we are called to do. The cards just reflect it back. It’s a mirror. If you don’t like the reflection for tomorrow, change what you’re doing today. And it can give you guidance as to how.
How do you know if you can read Tarot?
* You must be the type of person who can meditate, be hypnotized, and/or slip into a dream state fairly easily. That said, you will NOT be in a trance while you’re reading (usually, anyway), but if you’re that type, you can access the following more readily…
* You must be able to trust your first impressions and feelings. A surprising number of people are unable to do this (and that’s all intuition is, really).
* Tarot is very personal. Much of it is intuitive. There are no hard and fast rules. You will create what you need, in that moment. What’s right for you can’t necessarily be taught or told to you—although some guidance helps at first. Here I am.
OK. Think you qualify? Here’s how to get started.
1.) Buy some cards. Someone once told me that cards are more powerful if they are given to you as a gift. I don’t agree. The cards are whatever you want to believe they are. Cards that have designs that speak to you on an artistic and emotional level are bound to be more powerful. So… experiment. And watch out for those sets that have gorgeous Major Arcana designs (that the package shows in front), but very plain Minor Arcana cards. The plain ones are considerably harder to read until you’re an expert. I have been reading for almost 30 years and I am not that much of an expert yet.
2.) Some people are creatures of habit, and will only have successful readings in the same place, with the same rituals. Some need a candle burning. Some need quiet. Others, like me, can read in busy places like coffee shops, parties, classrooms, etc. In my experience, extroverts can take the commotion, introverts like the peace. Again, there’s no right or wrong. Whatever works for you.
3.) Keep your cards somewhere that is specially designated for them. I have a special drawer, and the only other things besides my cards are other sets of cards, candles, some guidebooks (when I feel like referring to them), and some journals and pens for when I want to record a reading. Some people believe in keeping your cards in silk. Some people insist upon a wooden box. I think that’s all a bunch of hoo-ha. They’ll work anywhere. They are not magic. It’s us who are the magic. They are just the tools.
4.) Get one or more good books that help you to readily define the cards and learn the basic spreads. Go to your local bookstore and thumb through some ‘til you find one that appeals to you. The right one(s) will tell you it’s it. Then, read the introductions, look up cards, practice the spreads. When you feel you’ve got a handle on the fundamentals, put the books away.
5.) Take time living with each card—especially the Major Arcana cards. Carry a single card around with you every day. Study it. Look at all the different codes and patterns within the picture. Realize that colors mean something. That shapes change. That it’s all metaphor and symbolism. Read the definition of the card and find those same meanings represented within the picture. This is how the meanings will stay with you.
6.) Some cards will become very special to you. Let them. I slept with the Strength card under my pillow for a year during my divorce. Superstitious? Maybe. It wasn’t that I believed the card could do anything for me. It’s that I wanted to dwell in the concept of it, and have the vibrations of the idea stay with me in my unconscious.
It’s time to trust your own senses.
So… you’ve mastered the Celtic Cross, maybe the Horseshoe spread, and some others that you’ve learned in your book. How do you start becoming independent from that book to rely solely on your intuition?
I still check the book now and then. Especially when I’m reading for myself. The reason is that I am often too biased and too concerned about my own outcome to give myself accurate readings. I taught my best friend how to read, just so that I could have an objective perspective and get out of my own way. If it’s a subject with an outcome that you’re ambivalent about, that’s a different story. Your intuition should be fine.
I do not recommend a Tarot reader read for her own children, or other loved ones, with regard to anything where you’re interested in the outcome. It’s too easy to put all your own hopes and fears into it.
How Many Layouts (Spreads) Do I Need to Know?
You need to know right now that you can create your own layouts. You don’t have to memorize a hundred different spreads. When I first began doing the Celtic Cross spread (which is a practical, all-encompassing spread that I suggest everyone learn), I sometimes had a card that was especially intriguing, where I wanted to know more. In that case, I’d lay a ‘clarification’ card over top of it—the next card in the deck. Sometimes I’d do a number of clarifications. Trust that the order doesn’t matter, that the right cards will settle where they need to be.
Sometimes, the clarification just makes you want to dig into that aspect deeper. You can do ‘mini-crosses’ inside the Celtic Cross. Just lay an overhead, past, present and future around the card of intrigue and you can often get a clear picture of what’s going on there.
Sometimes all you need is one card, for a Yes or No question. But know that Tarot is almost never that simple. I know some readers who will interpret a straight-up card as a yes and a reversed card as a no. Sometimes this works. For instance, I may ask: Will I ever get my book published? and my answer may be (I’m just making this up) a Queen of Pentacles, straight up. That would be a definite yes, because pentacles are around material wealth and success. However, in reverse, there can be problems with money, greed, etc. There would be a real negative aspect to the success, emotionally and financially, if the success were achieved. But maybe the card I picked was a 5 of wands. Well, fives are a struggle, but wands are creative. So I’d say yes, with a struggle and perhaps a long wait. But what if it’s in reverse? Well, that’s defeat, so the answer would be no. You see… your answer is largely in the symbolism of the card you pick, and what your intuition tells you that it means.
Reading the Symbols
Learn the basic meanings of the symbols, and the rest comes easily. The numbers all have associations: Aces are beginnings; Twos are partnerships; Fives are conflict, etc. Learn the traits of the suits: Cups are love and emotion; Wands are creativity; Swords are reason, logic and action; Pentacles are materials and things of the world. Everything hinges upon these basics.
People will begin to show up for you, based on their personality description. My husband is always the King of Pentacles: a fair, grounded man who is successful, responsible and dependable. I am the Queen of Wands: a creative, energetic woman who has extreme passion for art, animals and children. When I’m really on top of my game, I’m the High Priestess. When I am at my worst, I am the Queen of Wands, reversed. Children and teenagers are all Pages. Young men (or immature grown men) are Knights. Some men never become Kings. Some women never become Queens. If you get a Knight of Swords, you know he’ll be able to charm you. If he’s in reverse, he’ll not only charm you, but he’s cruel and will hurt you too. The reversals almost always take the aspects of the upright card, and cast it in the most negative light.
It is perhaps unfair to men that the cards do not have a mid-life set of cards to represent women. As youth, we all share the Pages. But women go right to becoming Queens, while men have their transitory Knight period. Perhaps women are Pages longer. Perhaps historically, they’ve mated and married faster and younger than men, and this is represented. Or maybe the cards know something we don’t about development?
If you’ve ever done work with dream analysis, you will understand that everything means something. Just as when you dream and your brain codes the events and feelings of the day with strange symbols, so it is with the cards. One day, the World card may represent the world in its most literal meaning--the Earth. Another day, it may mean world-wide success, and another day, it may mean a loved one who ‘is the whole world’ to someone. Or, it can mean ‘whirled’—homophones can come into play, too. Everything is a clue and interpreting is a wonderful, intuitive game. The way the question is worded steers the interpretation.
Once I watched a Tarot reader announce that someone had back problems—but it was a card that had no obvious physical attributes to it at all. She showed me how, in that particular deck design, the swords were stacked in a way that reminded her of vertebrae. Simple as that. She just followed her hunch. This is how we read.
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There is nothing more fun to a Tarot reader than reading for strangers. It's a blank slate--you have no background or knowledge on them whatsoever and it's just pure reflecting. These are often the best readings, and I have had many cry with emotion, hug me, and tell me how amazing I am. To which I just say, "it's not me. You're just seeing what you already know. You could do it too."
There are some other uses for the Tarot, beyond just understanding a situation, knowing what’s going on with someone else, or determining one’s future. They're terrific help to writers and artists. They can be used to influence situations, with yourself, and with others. I may blog about these another time. Write me if you’re interested.
