Friday, July 16, 2010

Brief History of the Tarot

Although there has been some speculation over the first origins of the Tarot. It’s been mostly believed to have originated as far back as the 1500’s. In fact it’s likely that it was around before that and is thought to have come from Italy. First used for playing an Italian card game by the name of Tarocca. The Tarot has evolved since then to become a tool for divination. The Tarot is a deck of cards rich with symbolism and imagery that can bring divine guidance and messages from deep within our subconscious to the conscious level. It’s comprised of 78 cards in total and is divided up between 22 major arcane and 56 minor arcane. The major arcane are known as the trump cards and are the richest in imagery and symbolism. The major arcane will come up to reflect deep inner or spiritual matters while the minor arcane are more concerned with the everyday things in life such as job and material matters. The minor arcane is made up of 4 suits. Swords, which represent the element of Air and thus speaks to the thought processes at work in a situation. Pentacles are the Earth suit representing the material aspects involved. Cups represent Water and therefore will talk about the emotional level. And Wands are the Fire aspect and generally speak about the creative process and inspiration. What can be seen in the symbolism of these cards is from the intuitive standpoint of the person reading the cards. There are many meanings to each and every card both upright and reversed, however the best rule of thumb is to trust ones own intuition. There are many Tarot decks available on the market today however it’s the Rider Waite deck that most of these have been fashioned from. It was developed by A.E Waite in the late eighteen hundreds and has maintained it’s popularity still today. As time has evolved more and more people are opening up to the idea of the Tarot, Psychics etc. Although there are some people who still view the cards as evil this is simply not true and the Tarot can and should be used from a positive perspective. If used negatively or to promote fear then that negativity will come back on those who conspire to miss use it. There is nothing to fear from the Tarot, it can help us understand past, our guide, and ourselves our present and future paths. A good Tarot reader seeks to help shed light for the sitter who comes to them for a reading. Many people have been helped by the Tarot and there are many good ethical readers around today. If you find yourself in need of answers and guidance about a matter in your life, don’t be afraid to seek the help of the Tarot.

Septemberwitch