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Myths and Lore

Do Tarot Cards Still Have a Place in our World?

Mar 19th, 2011
by GuestBlogger.
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Animal tarot card deck, printed by Waisenhausd...

ANIMAL TAROT CARD DECK, PRINTED BY WAISENHAUSDRUCKEREI MANNHEIM, C. 1778. REISS-ENGELHORN-MUZSEEN, M... Image via Wikipedia

In a world increasingly jaded by technology and progress, it’s easy to scoff at people who blindly entrust their lives to a deck of cards. We tell ourselves, we are rational, clear-headed people, so how can randomly shuffled cards spread on the table possibly answer all our life’s questions.

Tarot cards have had a crucial and inseparable influence in mysticism and the occult. They first arrived sometime in fifteenth century Italy, but it was not until late 17th or 18th century that tarot cards began to be used in divination.

The tarot cards that we know today have gone through a long and evolution, from the pictures, symbolisms, procedures, purposes, and meanings. It is interesting to note that tarot cards were originally used in a game, with 21 trump cards, four queens, and a fool added to a normal deck, which totals to 78 cards in all.

But it is unclear exactly how tarot branched out from a simple mind-diverting game into the fragile business of looking back into past lives, foretelling the future, and answering questions.

Tarot Archetypes

The highly-respected psychologist Carl Jung has always considered tarot as an alternative psychotherapy. For him, the rich imagery inherent in every tarot card represents archetypes of human personality and situations. Archetypes are basic models or prototypes of people that embody a defined set of characteristics. The Emperor card, for instance, can be thought of as representing the patriarch or the father figure. (more…)


Your Questions About the Tarot Suit of Cups

Mar 5th, 2011
by TarotTrumps.
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Sharon asks…

The Tarot is confusing the hell out of me.?

I purchased a deck of Tarot cards. This particular deck is of a Celtic theme. But the instructions are very unclear, so I’m wondering, do you have to abide by a deck’s theme for it to work properly?

In each deck that I know of, you get four suits (wands, swords, cups, coins) and a Fool, Magician, High Priestess, Empress, Emperor, Hierophant, Lovers, Chariot, Strength, Hermit, Wheel of Fortune, Justice, Hanged Man, Death, Temperance, Devil, Tower, Star, Moon, Sun, Judgement, and World cards.

So if they’re all the same cards, why should the meanings differ? DO they differ?

TarotTrumps answers:

Just so you know, some books on the Tarot give a lot of mumbo-jumbo that isn’t true.

Back in the 18th century, someone in France wrote a book about the Tarot, and tied it in with the then-popular Egyptian craze. He explained everything in the Tarot deck in terms of Egyptian religion, and told about religious rites that were performed in the pyramids–but *he made it all up.*

A year or two later, the Rosetta Stone was translated, and everything that guy wrote about the Tarot was shown to be false. The pyramids turned out to be tombs, not temples; the “Gypsies” are not from Egypt; and the Tarot cards do not retain the Egyptian religion for the Gypsies in symbolic form. It’s all a crock.

The truth is that when Marco Polo returned from China, he brought back with him playing cards; the Chinese loved all sorts of card games. Playing cards then became fashionable in Italy, and one of the card games was known as Tarocchi. The tarot deck is the deck of cards that was used to play the game.

And regular playing cards are almost identical: Instead of 4 suits of 13 cards each, the Tarot has 4 suits of 14 cards each (instead of Jack, Queen, and King, it has Page, Knight, Queen and King). Hearts are Cups, Diamonds are Pentacles (or Coins), Spades are Swords, and Clubs are Rods (or Wands). The other cards have all disappeared, with the exception of the Fool, which has turned into the Joker.

Somewhere along the line, somebody got the idea of using the cards to tell fortunes. It’s all very Jungian, all about synchronicity, but there is no spiritual value in the cards at all, except for what you yourself allow them to have. Just think of the card deck used in “Old Maid:” Almost every pair of cards (in some decks) is an archetype or stereotype.

For that matter, you could use Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Snow White, Sneezy, Dopey, Bashful, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, and Doc. They’re all eight of them archetypes, too.

Having said all that, I used to have two people do Tarot readings for me. The one person was a very precise and orderly person, and would tell me what every card meant in every deck he knew of; his readings were not of “the future,” but instead told me what was going on in my spiritual life–very accurately. The other person’s readings, though, were quite different–they tended to be less about what was going on in my head, and more about what he wanted to see.

Thomas asks…

Can you help me interpret my tarot reading cards?

Hello there,

I got eight of cups, the Star, ten of pentacles, death, three of swords.

I have been unemployed for the past five months, and I am thinking of either setting my foot with some commission-based financial group or leave the country all together to the country whom I worked there last year, and I still have my contacts in that country.

Though I am reading for some exam for that commision-based job, but my heart is go back, and just establish myself there.

So what are the cards telling me? Any advise there?

Also, when I do my swords suit reading, I always get – four of swords- pertaining to recuperation……and I have been at home for a long time, so what is the point of relaxing or recuperating when I was recharging all along, maybe mentally?

Info to add.

Eight of cups is regeneration. When something has run its course and it is time to move on. (I guess advice to leave the country or town)

Ten of pentacles. I have in the book it says about investment whether intellectually, business or relationship wise.

But I have the death card right after it? what does that suppose to mean?

And after the death card I have three of swords, which is tension released. Refers to a dissapointment , saddness, however joy and saddness do come from the same origin. so after saddness maybe joy can come after?!

I can linke the eight of cups and the star.

However ten of pent. then death then three of swods…….hhhhmmmmm?

TarotTrumps answers:

Consider this with the cards…

8 of Cups – a conscious decision on your part to reject a situation in front of you and walk away.

10 of Pentacles – an investment in yourself and possibly a company. Means a lot of hard work. Look for a family name associated with the businesses you are considering.

Death – means change and transformation as a result of personal sacrifice, which brings into your life a renewal, rebirth or new start. Which position calls to you spiritually?

3 of Swords – sorrow which could come from separation from what you know and is familiar to you. An ending in the present for a new life in the near future. There is also a caution not to out-think yourself or over analyze.

Star – new beginnings, a new start.

There is a lot of emotion surrounding your cards (and your decision). Try to be gentle on yourself in choosing.

Blessings and Good Fortune to you

James asks…

I just found my old deck of tarot cards, help with suits?

I have the Fairy Tarot Deck by Lo Scarabeo … The suits are Acorns, Hearts, Leaves and Bells… What would they be in a normal deck? Like which symbol would be the sword, which would be the cups etc…

Where could I get a copy of the instruction booklet? Or can I just go by the meanings of the numbers and suits of a regular deck when reading this one?

Also, I need a good site for learning all about tarot. Thanks :)

I am a beginner. I am going to use a standard guide, but I just needed to double-check the suits, as I don’t want to learn them wrong.
Arizona wins :)

Thanks dear!

TarotTrumps answers:

I am not familiar with the Fairy Tarot. My guess on the suits would be Acorn = wants, Hearts = cups, Leaves = swords, and Bells = pentacles (coins).

You might try Lo Scarabeo’s website for more info. However, if y9u know/understand the tarot, it is quite possible to do good readings intuitively with an off-beat or unusual deck. Even if you do not know the tarot but simply will allow yourself to be guided by intuition, you can do pretty good readings without the book that comes with the deck.

I must warn you, though, that if you start out reading intuitively, and you later read the booklet that comes with the deck, you may just get confused and find it harder to read with that deck…at least for awhile. If you are reading intuitively without the book, and getting good results, you may want to stick with that.

Alternatively if you read a book or two on general readings, based on the Rider-Waite, that may help you get started.

I hope that helps. Best of luck!

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A Starter’s Guidebook to the Story of Tarot Cards

Feb 24th, 2011
by GuestBlogger.
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One of the more common means of telling fortunes and offering insights into the olden days and fortune is the tarot. Tarot cards first off originated in Italy in the introductory half of the fifteenth century as a card game, used purely for recreation. This early game was something like the latter-day game of Bridge.

The use of tarot cards for divination is key recorded in the early 1700s and by the end of the 18th century; changes were made to tarot cards to make them more instrumental for divination and esoteric meanings.

Originally, tarot cards had no connection to the occult, and this link is a more up-to-date one than the cards themselves. The specifics of the state-of-the-art cards, made up for esoteric purposes, show their basis in the 19th century.

A deck of tarot cards, as they are used today, contains 78 cards, every one of of which contain divergent, meaningful symbols which may be interpreted in a number of ways. The deck contains a total of four suits, and the names of the suits may alter depending upon the tarot deck one is using. Repeatedly times, the suits are referred to as wands, cups, swords, and coins, which make up what is known as the Minor Arcana.

(more…)


Tarot Cards as Alternative Therapy

Feb 19th, 2010
by TarotTrumps.
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Tarot card from the Rider-Waite tarot deck, al...

Image via Wikipedia

By Neoli Marcos

Whether we admit or not, most of us have quaint notions of what tarot cards are. On the surface, they are merely a deck of illustrated cards used in predictions, while the tarot card reader is an eccentric person dressed in robes seated behind the fortune-telling booth in the town fair.

This image of tarot cards is, of course, clichéd, and yet we’d rather feel comfortable with its familiarity than dig deeper.

We resort to the more convenient explanation rather than actually investigate the sometimes unpleasant yet gratifying truth of tarot cards.

Perhaps, the most famous among the tarot cards is the Death Card, a card quite unfairly invested with too much negative meanings and energies behind it, so much so that we usually think of tarot cards as tools of the occult, vehicles of evil even. While we can’t deny the fact that indeed tarot can be used for such purposes, tarot cards can also be perfectly well-intentioned and can be actually used for good causes. (more…)


Top Ten Myths About Tarot Cards and Tarot Reading

Jan 28th, 2010
by TarotTrumps.
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Card XIII - Death

Tarot Card XIII, DeathImage by Yellow.Cat via Flickr

By: Fred Street

Myth 1 – “Tarot cards can predict the future”

Predicting the future is not difficult; we can all do it. If for example you know someone who is consistently spending more than they earn and paying for it by building up a credit card debt then it’s not hard to predict where that one is heading.

Or if you know someone who is expecting a baby you may, based on experience, accurately predict that they will have many months of sleep deprivation and tiredness ahead of them.

The Tarot does little more than this. It has centuries of human experience distilled into a simple philosophy and meaning for each card. Another way to look at it is to say the Tarot doesn’t make precise predictions of the future it merely allows us glimpses at some of the likely possibilities. (more…)


Tarot, Yoga, and Aleister Crowley

Jan 11th, 2010
by TarotTrumps.
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Aleister Crowley
Cover of Aleister Crowley

By: Donald Carroll

My own psychic abilities were best demonstrated in my practice of the Tarot. Also as regards Tarot, and Yoga, I was mostly influenced by a Tarot and Yoga expert named Aleister Crowley.

I sought to purchase every book that I could find by Aleister Crowley on both Tarot and Yoga, and I also joined an Order that taught both Tarot and Yoga in accordance with the Western Tradition of Magick called the Hermetic Society of the Golden Dawn. (Aleister Crowley was once a member of the original version of this Order.)

I also became a member of another Order that taught both Tarot and Yoga – Aleister Crowley’s own Magickal Order, the Astrum Argentum, A.A., or Order of the Silver Star. Aleister Crowley’s Order is still in existence today, and still maintains a great amount of secrecy in order to better preserve the heart of the Order’s teachings, especially as regards both Tarot and Yoga.

J8W6G7Z7SHHV (more…)


Tarot Cards—a Clever Marketing Strategy or an Ancient Mystical Guide?

Dec 12th, 2009
by TarotTrumps.
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The condottiere Francesco Sforza, by Bonifazio...

Condottiere Francesco Sforza, painted by Bonifacio Bemo, c. 1460. Image via Wikipedia

Author: Janet Francis

Tarot cards—a clever marketing strategy or an ancient mystical guide?

There is much mystery surrounding the history of the tarot and countless myths about its origins. Cynics say that this mystery has been manipulated as a marketing tool for tarot card salesmen!

However, by just looking at the evidence and opinions supplied by other tarot enthusiasts we see that the earliest surviving full deck was painted in 1422 by Italian artist Bonifacio Bembo. This is known as the Visconti deck, named after the Duke of Milan, who commissioned them.

Although accounts of Ancient Egyptian, Celtic, Indian and earlier Italian links have been suggested, there is no evidence of any earlier decks.

The cards were originally used for a game called Tarocchi or ‘Game of Triumphs’ which was similar to Bridge. The game was played mainly by the Upper Classes and has continued in some circles.

The tarot’s use by the Upper Classes probably saved the game from being banned by the Church even though it was considered to be heresy and was outlawed by the Church. Indeed in the latter half of the fifteenth century some church sermons labelled tarot as the work of the Devil, but the Church had better foes to fight where cards were concerned- mainly games promoting gambling. (more…)


Tarot – Myths and Misconceptions

Oct 22nd, 2009
by TarotTrumps.
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tarot reading by eran

Image by fling93 via Flickr

Author: Lori Hampson

Tarot – myths and misconceptions

A Tarot deck is a pack of 78 picture cards – yes, that simple. However, the pictures on these cards are worth more than a thousand words – they paint a picture of life. A Tarot deck can also be thought of as a Book of Life but every time you read this book, the pages are rearranged and it tells a different story.

Over the years, some strange myths have grown up around Tarot and Tarot reading. However weird and outdated these ideas may seem today, there is often some truth in their origins.

• One of the first Tarot myths encountered is that it is bad luck to buy your own deck. – it should be bought for you by someone else. You could wait for ever for this to happen and then it may be one you don’t like. Choose and buy your own first deck, examine the images carefully and make sure you can relate to them i.e. don’t buy a dragon deck if you are frightened of dragons.

• You have to be psychic to be able to read the Tarot. Many who read the Tarot are psychic and this will lead to a different type of reading but not necessarily a better one. Anyone can learn to read the tarot although, as with anything, some will have more of an aptitude for it than others. (more…)


Different Tarot Decks Designs

Oct 14th, 2009
by TarotTrumps.
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Le Bateleur (The Magician) from Tarot of the Bohemians by Oswald Wirth, 1896.

Le Bateleur (The Magician) from the Marseilles deck.

Author: Malc Moore

The first description of tarot decks appeared as early as the beginning of the 15th century when Martiano da Tortona mentioned some card games that resembled a lot to tarot. The symbols on these early illustrations were Greek deities while the suits matched four types of birds, a pattern totally different from the basic Italian decks.

These forefathers of the tarot deck counted only sixteen cards, but they surely enjoyed great popularity. Later, other decks are described by Italian documents throughout the 15th century. Given the heraldic, social, poetical and philosophical interpretations of the cards, modern researchers are surely impressed by the vividness of the symbolism and the ideology behind it.

The oldest tarot deck preserved to our times were designed according to the specifications of the Visconti family. The sixty-six cards are presently on public display at the Yale University Library in New Haven. (more…)