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Tarot Cards
The Cards
The deck you use depends entirely on you. It should appeal to you - you should like looking at it. There are innumerable decks on the market, so surely one of them will "ring your chimes."
Such decks as the Waite deck and its offspring, and the Golden Dawn decks have the most complete symbolism in the Major Arcana. The Crowley/Harris deck appeals to many. The Witches' Tarot deck, of course, was designed card by card to match the ideas that are discussed in the book that comes with the cards and may be the easiest to use.
If you are new to the Tarot, I would suggest that you start with the Waite deck or the Witches Tarot deck, simply because the scenes on the Minor Arcana make it easier to interpret them.
Naturally, I prefer the Witches Tarot deck and find it easiest to use. However, any form of divination must be intensely personal and must work for you; therefore, make your decision carefull, and make sure it suits you - not me, not your teacher, not the salesman at the store.
Once you have chosen a deck, you should spend as much time as necessary to "make it yours." Spend time with each card, enough time to know it well, to have the feel of it. One of the best things to do is to sit with a card, look it over carefully and make notes about your thoughts.
Keep your deck with you - let it become part of you. I usually sleep with a new deck under my pillow for a week or two and carry them in my purse or the bag I keep all my "magic stuff" in. Although most cards come in a box, a special container, such as a drawstring pouch (if you carry your cards with you as I do) or a larger box to contain both the deck and its original box, is a good idea. It is often advised that the cards be wrapped in silk to protect them from outside vibrations. I do that.
Reading the Cards
Like many skills, Tarot is best learned by doing. Your first step is to memorize all 156 meanings of the cards. Read for everybody. Practice! Practice! PRACTICE! And the minute you look at a card and it begins to tell you something that differs from the book, throw out the book.
The cards are only a tool. It is the mind that divines, and when the mind and intuition take over, there is no need for present definitions of the cards.
Before you start to read for anyone, take a moment to still your mind. If you like (and I recommend it), you may ask for guidance. I usually think, "Only higher forces around me. My Lady guide me." Naturally, you should say and do what makes you feel ready, however simple or complex.
You may read each card as it falls, or wait until all cards are dealt. Making a story out of a reading comes with practice. Some simply require a tense change of "You were...you are...you will be..." In time you'll have no trouble tying these together.
A few hints: A preponderance of Major Arcana cards in a reading (half or more) signifies that "the powers that be" have a big hand in what's happening.
A preponderance of one suit can indicate the strongest influence in one's life. A preponderance of one number can point to the sphere in which the Querent is having the most activity or needs the most work.
If a Querent is disturbed by, or objects to, a particular card, tell them to remove it and you'll replace it. We do control our own futures, and can change them, but the Querent must do so, even in the symbolic act.
We are never given anything that we are unable to bear. If difficulties appear in the cards, it is not lying to tell the Querent that he or she can handle any difficulties that arise. It is the truth.
NOW HEAR THIS!!!!
There are no "doomsday" cards in the Tarot. The Hanged Man does NOT predict death by hanging. The Death card does NOT mean physical death. It is absolutely unethical to give a "death and destruction" reading just because it gives you a sense of power to frighten people. If such is your mental and emotional make-up, I suggest, for the good of your immortal soul, you put the cards away until you have done some serious growing up. An understanding of Karma does not exempt you from it.
