What is the Tarot?

The Tarot is a deck of cards that is primarily used to foretell the future. Forecasting the future, however, is only a superficial use of the massive powers of the Tarot. The Tarot is a very powerful tool that allows you to look deep inside your subconscious and "see" the direction your life is taking. It is a tool that is inexpensive, easy to use, and entirely reliable—if used correctly. It is a tool whose power has been authenticated through centuries of use.

The traditional Tarot is a deck of 78 cards that is divided into two main sections: a Major Arcana and a Minor Arcana . The Major Arcana is a set of 22 picture cards that is also called the Greater Arcana, Trumps, Atouts, or Triumphs. These cards are symbolic representations of various cosmic forces such as Death, Justice, Strength, etc. Fifty-six cards of the Minor Arcana are divided into "court" and "suit’’ cards. The 16 court cards are comprised of a King, a Queen, a Knight, and a Knave (or Page) for each of the "four" suits of the deck. The remaining 40 cards are divided into the four suits called Pantacles (also known as deniers or coins), Cups (coupes), Swords (epees), and Wands (batons or scepters). The suit cards are numbered from one (ace) to 10 for each of the four suits. The Minor Arcana cards are used to represent people, relationships, finances, action, energies and forces.

The Tarot is the medieval equivalent of today’s highly respected Rorschach test. Robert Wang described the Tarot as:

"A system of enlightenment, a system whose ultimate aim is assisting the individual in understanding his relationship to the Cosmos. It is a system accepted by many respectable sources, such as the school of Carl Jung, which views the Tarot images as agreeing perfectly with the archetypes of the collective unconsciousness."

In simpler terms, the Tarot is an easy-to-use system of self-discovery that allows you to see your relationship to God and the universe.

To use the Tarot cards, one must acccept the doctrine of free will—for if nothing can be changed, what is the purpose of knowing the future? One must accept the concept that each life is a many-branched road rather than a single straight path. Each new path has signposts to guide the traveler. Some paths offer immediate rewards, but end abruptly. Other paths are terribly complex and hard to navigate but promise ultimate fulfillment at the end. Some paths are easily traveled but offer no great prize at the conclusion. Each path has its own set of characteristics and remuneration. It is up to you, the traveler, to choose the desired path as it appears.

The Tarot is your map of life. With it, you can choose the road you want to wander. Instead of being an uninformed victim of your subconscious will, you can gather your inner strength and consciously change the path your life is to take.
Angus Hall states in his book, Signs of Things to Come: "The Tarot is to be respected, but not feared, listened to, but not panicked by."

The Tarot is humankind’s key to self-determination, and with that key, a person can open any door.

Brief History of the Tarot

The Tarot is often called the oldest book known to humankind. According to occult legend, the original cards comprised "chapters" in a book known as The Book of Thoth. Thoth was the ibis-headed god of wisdom and represented knowledge of the ancient Egyptians. At the founding of Egypt, unknown centuries ago, he is said to have given humanity the knowledge of medicine, astrology, language, art, and various sciences such as mathematics and engineering. The original chapters of The Book of The Dead are said to have been written by Thoth.

After many thousands of years, the Egyptian Empire began to crumble. As things began to fall apart, the god Thoth again intervened. He desired to keep alive the knowledge and wisdom that he had provided his people. To save his contribution to humankind, he summarized all the accumulated wisdom of the Egyptian empire onto a series of 22 tablets. He did this by using symbols and pictures instead of words. These tablets became known as The Book of Thoth. As the empire decayed into ignorance, the tablets found their way into a band of roving people, later known as gypsies. The gypsies copied the symbols of the tablets onto cards that became the Major Arcana of the Tarot deck.

Whatever the actual origin of the Tarot deck may be, it is known that a deck of fortunetelling cards was used in A.D. 1390. The Tarot later found its way into the Hebrew Qabalah, probably because the 22 cards of the Major Arcana could be shown to correspond with the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. During the 19th century, many occultists tried to demonstrate a higher use for the cards than divination. Eliphas Levi tried to show that the cards of the Major Arcana were connected to the Qabalistic Tree of Life. He designed two cards, the Devil and the Chariot, for this purpose. This idea was further carried out by a secret occult group in England known as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.

Tarot Interpretations of Numbers One Through Nine

The following list gives very basic meanings for the Tarot associated with each of the numbers one through nine.

1 —The Magician: Concentration, intention, will

2 —The High Priestess: Reflection, receptivity, hidden knowledge

3 —The Empress: Imagination, inspiration, spiritual world

4 —The Emperor: Reason, order, material world

5 —The Hierophant: Intuition, union, bridging of spiritual and material (Heaven and Earth)

6 —The Lovers: Decision, discrimination, love

7 —The Chariot: Direction, empowerment, secret languages (symbolic)

8 —Strength: Energy, exuberance, bliss

9 —The Hermit: Summit, attainment, secret teachers