Are you curious about the Tarot but don't know where to start? I've pulled together very succinctly some fun facts about tarot cards that can prove helpful in learning how to do your own tarot card readings.
The deck is made up of what's known as the major and minor arcana cards.
The word arcana means "secrets" in Latin.
The querent is the person who is asking the question in the reading.
The reader is the person reading/interpreting the cards.
Spread: various methods of laying out the cards in order to do a reading
The major arcana cards are believed to represent. significant events in the querents life that will last long term (years)
The minor arcana cards are believed to represent day-to-day occurrences that will come to pass quickly.
Court cards: the ranked or "royalty" cards; pages, knights, queens, and kings.
The major arcana are twenty-two cards numbered 0-21 that have individual, unique names.
The major arcana are fifty-six cards divided into four suits.
The four suits are Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles (or coins). Each suit includes ace through ten plus a page, knight, queen, and king.
Wands=Fire
Cups=Water
Swords=Air
Pentacles=Earth
Fire is connected with passion, drive, and will.
Water is connected with emotions, dreams, and the soul.
Air is connected to ideas, communication, understanding, and truth.
Earth is associated with the practical aspects of the physical world.
It is essential to notice the presence of extreme aspects of any of these to understand the type of energy that is present. For example, many cups in a reading would mean the situation is highly emotional.
Numbers play a major part in understanding the cards as well.
Aces: beginnings, gifts, opportunities.
Twos: decisions, choices, partnerships, duality
Threes: active energy, creativity, growth, teamwork
Fours: stability, structure, stagnation
Fives: conflict, loss, chaos, problems, significant change
Sixes: problem-solving, communication, unbalanced relationships.
Sevens: assessment of situations, reflection
Eights: power, movement, speed
Nines: completion, solitude, looking within
Tens: endings and resolution, situation concluded
Aces, twos, and threes: the beginning
Fours, fives, and sixes: the middle
Sevens, eights, and nines: near the end
Tens: the situation is all but resolved.
Readings are used to get an accurate picture of the situation and help the querent achieve their goals. All situations are organic and have a natural life-span (beginnings-middles-endings)
The closer something is to resolution, the harder it is to change.
This is helpful for the querent to know so they can be realistic about what they can actually accomplish.
Happy Tarot reading!
Psychic Alice