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| Image used with kind permission of Ciro Marchetti. |
A brief explanation of Tarot
Tarot has been used for may years as a form of cartomancy
or divination. It is believed the first tarot decks originated in northern Italy in the mid 15th century, These were
called carte da trionfi or "cards of the triumphs". Soon after
the cards were used for parlour games called tarocchi.
Most decks consist of 72 cards that are divided into two sections :
The major arcana, made up of 22 cards, all representing the fundamental
motivations and precepts of life. The symbolism of the major arcana cards flows like our journey through life, featuring the
various stages of human exsistence and the lessons to be learned.
The minor arcana, made up of 56 cards and four suits ( similar to playing
cards which are used for divination by some) and represents the day to day aspects of life.
The suits are : Pentacles = material & financial Wands
= Career and actions Cups = emotions and relationships Swords = Intellect
& learning. Each suit has four 'court' cards, King, Queen, Knight & page, along with ten
numbered cards.
Tarot readers lay the cards in different 'spreads' or layouts depending on what the sitter
requires from a reading, they then use the symbolism in the various cards in a spread to interpret
or 'read' for a sitter.
When I was 18 years old, I spent a long time reading books on how
to read Tarot cards, the meanings etc and the more I read, the more confused I became, so much so, that I gave my cards away
and gave up altogether. I was told by those I read for that I was accurate, but memorising all the different combinations
in the books was beyond me and to be honest I think you would need a photographic memory to manage it lol !
A lot of years later when I was 40 my interest in Tarot returned,
with it came ideas and ' knowledge' I hadn't had before, it was like old memories returning. Everything suddenly fell into
place and I began to think to myself, why didn't I think of that before !
In January I was asked if I would like to teach Tarot reading as a
short course for Inspired of Spirit, I jumped at the chance, I thought if I could save others the years of confusion I had
when I first began then it was a worthwhile cause. This was my first attempt at teaching anything and I'm happy to say it
was a great success.
The people I taught were so enthusiastic it was a pleasure to be with
them and pass on what I had learned myself. Most have gone on to be Tarot readers themselves, and, more have asked for me
to run the course again.
That was when it occured to me that I could help more people
if I offered my course here.
~*~
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