Tarot

Tarot

What Is Tarot Astrology?

By Gemchantress - Lady Christine

Tarot astrology is the system through which a reading of the cards in a tarot deck help you through troubled times by offering a reflection on your past, present and future. Tarot is closely associated with astrology as each card relates to a planet, element, or astrological sign. Tarot cards are used for divination, often known as fortune telling. But, many psychologists have used them as well, feeling that the cards often make patients delve in to how they feel about themselves. This is done through the subconscious. For example, let’s say you know work is not going well, but you do not allow yourself to think about it. Getting a tarot card reading that shows you need to change occupations is not really telling your future so much as it is making you face what is really going on in your life. A tarot card deck consists of 78 cards that fall into two distinctive parts. The first part is called the Major Arcana. This part of the deck has 22 cards, 21 suitless cards referred to as trumps and one card called The Fool. It is believed that these cards represent different stages of life that we go through. Many are recognizable such as the Magician (associated with the planet Mercury), the Lovers (associated with the astrological sign Gemini), and the Death card (associated with Scorpio). The other 56 cards are in the Minor Arcana. Arcana is taken from the Latin word “akanum,” meaning secret. The Minor Arcana is divided into four suits, just like regular playing cards. The four suits are the Cups, the Wands, the Swords, and the Pentacles. Each of these cards represents a certain element of the Earth and is associated with certain astrological signs. The Cups represent water and are associated most closely with Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces. The Cups stand for emotions, spirituality, and the unconsciousness. The Wands represent fire and are associated with Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius. The Wands stand for action, creativeness, and personal growth. The Swords represent air and are associated with Libra, Gemini, and Aquarius. The Swords stand…

Tarot

How to Easily Read the Minor Cards

By Gemchantress - Lady Christine

There are lots of arguments about the Minor Tarot Deck and some readers ignore them, preferring only to use the Major cards. Certainly the Major cards appear to be more dramatic, focused, specific and emphatic but when a reading includes the Minor cards this heightens the meanings of the Major cards, putting them into the right perspective. Without the Minor cards a reading can easily be too overwhelming, plunging the questioner into a major soap opera. Correctly used, the Minor cards add vital light and shade, touches of everyday reality and also many small but vital features not touched on or brushed over by the big-hitting Major deck. For beginners though, the 56 Minor cards can be a daunting prospect to learn and to read, without referring to a crib sheet, so here is a flying start. The 21 Major cards are unusual and their main aspects quickly remembered. Once you have grown used to these cards, look again at the cards from 1 (The Magician) to 10 (The Wheel of Fortune). The Fool stands apart and cards 11 through 21 represent more evolved states. The 10 human conditions which are represented in the first half of the Major deck are repeated in each of the four suits pip cards (which are of course 1 to 10). Thus the Magician is represented by each Ace, the High Priestess by each 2, the Empress by each 3 etc. When you know the Major cards 1 to 10, you also know 40 more cards. The trick is to apply the Major card's meaning to the Minor card's suit: The main themes of cards 1 through 10 are: Singularity, Individuality, Fixedness (The Magician) Duality, Partnership, Ambivalence (The High Priestess) Growth,Nurture (The Empress) Stability, Logic, Method (The Emperor) Authority, Conflict, Conformity (The Hierophant) Choice, Sacrifice, Altruism ((The Lovers) Control, Conquest, Challenge (The Chariot) Justice, Morality, Ethics (Justice) Awareness, Meditation,Truth (The Hermit) Chance, New Potential, Closure (The Wheel of Fortune) Take time to reread the interpretative meanings of the Major cards with these themes in mind. You may have a deck in which Strength &…