Understanding The Tarot Reader

Tarot card readers can offer a lot of spiritual guidance to those in need through there gift of tarot divination. Spiritual guidance can come in many forms which can be extremely useful to the intrigued client. When visiting a tarot card reader, you should keep in mind that tarot readings are a great way to gain insight on what is happening, or will be happening in a clients life. Tarot card readers who offer psychic readings have a Divine ability to relate what they see in the cards to the things they see in the energy field of the client who is receiving that tarot reading, therefor offering them spiritual guidance.

The tarot card reader has the ability to take what they see in the pictures and relate it to what they see in the clients life. Tarot readings can focus on events based on the past, present, and future, and often provide great advice from a Divine source which will greatly help the client seek the spiritual guidance they many need when they are not sure which direction to go in there lives. The tarot card reader is actually tapping into the energy field which surrounds the client, and using the cards as a tool, or a guide to help the tarot card reader better understand, or get more detail on the information that is being received in order to offer the client spiritual guidance. Often times tarot readings give in depth understanding and specific details about topics including love, astrology, careers, family, any many other various topics pertaining to the future, as well as past and present which is an extremely useful method of receiving spiritual guidance.

Through experience, the tarot card reader usually develops there own unique way of reading and interpreting information the receive. There are many types of cards that a psychic can use to give a tarot reading, each one unlocking divine spiritual guidance that can change a persons life.

An important thing to remember about tarot card readers is just because one has a physic ability does not mean that the tarot card reader can give a tarot reading with any deck of cards placed in front of them. There has to be a connection between the psychic and the tarot cards in order to give an accurate reading with enough spiritual guidance and satisfy the client. In conclusion having a tarot card reading from a trusted tarot card reader can be a very eye opening experience filled with spiritual guidance.

When visiting with a tarot card reader keep in mind that the spiritual guidance you are getting is only being received by the tarot card reader. If you are not happy with your reading, or you didn't like the spiritual guidance you received, remember not to take your frustrations out of the tarot card reader. The tarot card reader is only a messenger between the divine and yourself. Through receiving psychic information through a tarot reading, one can truly learn a lot about his or herself.

Books You Might Enjoy:

Tuesday Lobsang Rampa - The Third Eye
Tuesday Lobsang Rampa - The Saffron Robe
Robert Wang - The Qabalistic Tarot

The Tarot As A Guide For Insight And Life Changes

Utilizing the wisdom of the Tarot for any kind of change offers many opportunities for growth and understanding, for the many levels of life, that we are now being called to live.

I have been reading the Tarot professionally and teaching for 25 years now. When I utilize the Tarot, for its wisdom and guidance, it is not with the idea, as the Tarot as the final judgement or outcome, but one as a guide, to see and sense how the inner energies of life are moving.

Prior to my metaphysical journey beginning, I was already very empathic and highly intuitive. And I have to say, I had a hell of a time verbalizing anything. There were times, I was so beside myself, with everything that I was feeling, that I could not, for the life of me, figure out how to put it to words, any of it. I spent a lot of time being and feeling very frustrated. It wasn't until I started traditional counseling, to heal and bring understanding and clarity to my own childhood traumas, that I was finally able to learn about psychic and intuitive awareness and begin my studies with the Tarot.

Whether the Tarot is read professionally or for ourselves, on a personal level, the Tarot teaches us how to get connected to clearer feeling and focus on what needs to be put to words. At 25, if anyone could have promised, that I would eventually experience relief with my abilities, I would have thought they were messing with me, however, relief has become my permanent sense of awareness. Not to be forgotten, the Tarot is not to be taken lightly. Whether we are studying the Tarot or metaphysics or spirituality, these modalites do change us. We begin a journey of growth and development, on an inner level.

When I began my journey with metaphysical studies and the Tarot, I began with the Rider Waite Tarot set; book and deck. It was a wonderful set of cards to start with. And it was a wonderful introduction to developing my already very intuitive side. I never had any preconceived ideas, that the Tarot was the outcome, for any decision that I needed to make, however, I would soon discover, that the Tarot, had the ability, to offer greater insight and teach and guide me, into focusing my logical mind, to be open, receptive and aware, to the inner promptings of my own inner knowing.

As this has been a 25 year journey for learning and discovery for me, 18 years with my husband and daughter, this evolution, came to us naturally. For everytime we worked with the Tarot for clarity and understanding, to the deeper patterning for a move, change in relationship or career change, the Tarot became a guide for the patterns of energy around the change and what was necessary for our learning experience.

How to plan career changes or life changes utilizing a Tarot reading. Whether you pull 3 cards or do a specific layout. Allow yourself to go deeper under the surface, for the understanding of the cards. Do you have reversed positions or negative cards in the layout? Reversed positions and negative cards are cards that represent a shift in our inner patterns of energy and emotions. How are you feeling about the change that is coming? When utilizing the wisdom of the Tarot for any kind of change, this is the time to ask the real questions. The tough questions, the questions that need asking. For any kind of change, this is the time to learn the most important of what you need to know. Any kind of change is about aligning to a deeper part of yourself.

Yes, by all means, utilize the Tarot for its insight, wisdom and guidance, however, you are the most important part of your decision making process and in the end, it is what is in your heart.

The Tarot, no matter the kind of change, will always offer another way, to connect with what is in your heart and your own inner knowing.

The Tarot is there as a guide, walking side by side on your journey, but it is not the answer to your question. In the end, it is your heart that speaks to you.

Books You Might Enjoy:

Thomas Potts - Discovery Of Witches
Richard Weiss - Recipes For Immortality
William Lilly - Anima Astrologiae Or A Guide For Astrologers
Paracelsus - The Treasure Of Treasures For Alchemists
Walter Scott - Letters On Demonology And Witchcraft

The Suit Of Swords Tarot Card Meanings

ACE OF SWORDS

Meaning: Clarity of mind, great determination. Conquest. Victory without doubt.

Reversed: Tyranny, embarrassment, hindrance, obstacle, self-destruction.
2 OF SWORDS - Peace

Meaning: Balanced force. Concord. Solving differences of opinion. Sacrifice and trouble give birth to strength. Pleasure after pain.

Reversed: Indecision. Disloyalty, falsehood, false friends, lies.
3 OF SWORDS - Sorrow

Meaning: Unhappiness, disruption, separation, absence, tears, melancholy.

Reversed: Loss, alienation, distraction.
4 OF SWORDS - Truce

Meaning: Settlement but no real peace yet, compromise. Repose, retreat. Recovery from sickness. Change for the better.

Reversed: Guarded advancement, desire to recover what is lost.
5 OF SWORDS - Defeat

Meaning: Weakness, slander, failure, loss, dishonor, malice, degradation.

Reversed: Change of loss or defeat.
6 OF SWORDS - Science

Meaning: Objective, logical and rational thinking. Clear communication. Trip or journey. Success after anxiety.

Reversed: Intellectual pride. Unwanted proposal. No immediate solution to present difficulties.
7 OF SWORDS - Futility

Meaning: Striving against opposition too powerful, overwhelming forces. Unstable effort. Attempt.

Reversed: Arguments, slander, intrigue. Uncertain counsel or advice.
8 OF SWORDS - Interference

Meaning: Lack of persistence. Unforeseen bad luck. Wasting energy in details while neglecting major issues. Restlessness and doubt block clear thinking.

Reversed: Accident, opposition, fatality.
9 OF SWORDS - Cruelty

Meaning: Powerlessness, despair, hopelessness, pain, suffering, misery, anxiety over a loved one.

Reversed: Breakthrough from powerlessness. Reasonable fear, suspicion, doubt.
10 OF SWORDS - Ruin

Meaning: (Undesirable) ending, disruption, pain, misfortune, ruin, catastrophe, mental anguish, desolation.

Reversed: Temporary gain, momentary advantage, passing success.
PRINCESS OF SWORDS

Meaning: Aggressive and impatient pursuing one's ideas. Sharp and cunning arguing. Solving a conflict with clear logic.

Reversed: Endless, sharp discussions. Illogical fights with words. Having things one's way.
PRINCE OF SWORDS

Meaning: Original mind, innovative thinking. Rush into the unknown without fear. Bravery.

Reversed: A fanatic with great ability to convince. Conceited fool. Impulsive mistakes.
QUEEN OF SWORDS

Meaning: Quick-witted and keen person. Intensely perceptive. A subtle person, confident and just. Independent and individualist person, who is no longer playing roles.

Reversed: Narrow-mindedness. Deceitful, vengeful, malicious, artificial. A treacherous enemy.
KNIGHT OF SWORDS

Meaning: An active and determined person. Commanding personality. A professional. Highly analytical person. Cleverness. Purposeful action.

Reversed: A person who may pursue a matter to ruin. Indecision, aimlessness. Cruelty, sadism, perversity.

Books You Might Enjoy:

Trieu Phuoc - The Quintessence Of Secret Esoteric Buddhism
Israel Regardie - The Art Of True Healing
Hermes Trismegistus - Book Xiv Of Operation And Sense
John Dee - Testament Of John Dee To John Gwynn
Don Karr - The Study Of Solomonic Magic In English

Seventy Eight Degrees Of Wisdom A Book Of Tarot

Book: Seventy Eight Degrees Of Wisdom A Book Of Tarot by Rachel Pollack

This revised and slightly expanded version of two long sadly out-of-print books ("78 Degrees of Wisdom: Major Arcana" and "78 Degrees of Wisdom: Minor Arcana") is a welcome addition to any serious Tarot reader's library.
Although I wouldn't normally recommend this book for the Tarot beginner, I'd recommend it highly to serious students of Tarot wanting to know more about the many different meanings of Tarot cards. Some beginners might find Pollack's usages of the definitions of cards to be more than the superficial ones.

The two volumes of Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom have inspired a whole generation of tarot students. It has often been described by readers, booksellers, and teachers as the "Bible of tarot readers." It is also often cited as one of the landmark books in modern tarot, and it helped to launch the "Tarot Renaissance" of the 1980s. The two texts-one for The Major Arcana and one for The Minor Arcana--appear together in this volume, which is a reissue of the 1998 edition first published by Thorsons.

Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom draws on mythology and esoteric traditions and delves deeply into the symbolism and ideas of each card. It also gives the cards a modern psychological slant based on the pictures rather than a system of occult symbolism. This endlessly useful reference tool provides a concise history of tarot, introduces common spreads, and is a clear and readable book for both the beginning and advanced tarot student.

* Author is one of the most highly regarded tarotists in the world.
* The Major Arcana and The Minor Arcana brought together in one volume.

Going far beyond the "This one covers you" school, Pollack gives many different ways to interpret the meanings of Tarot cards, both from a spiritual viewpoint ("What does this card mean to you?") and a metaphysical viewpoint ("What does this card mean to the person you're reading for?"). It also allows for meditation and self-study of Tarot cards.

Although set up like a standard Tarot book, with chapters covering the Major Arcana, the Minor Arcana, and some readings, (including a sample reading or two) Pollack's definitions of the cards goes far beyond the ordinary superficial "Death means something in your life is going through a major change - you are about to stop one thing and start doing another." Each card has a picture - many from the Rider-Waite deck that most Tarot card readers start with, but some from other decks that you may not have seen. Each card has numerous definitions - and even some examples of what that card might mean when in certain placements in a Tarot card reading, both regular and reversed.

Unlike many contemporary authors on Tarot, Pollack subscribes to the notion that one can use the Tarot not only for Interpretation of current circumstances but for seeking advice. She describes how to cast the Celtic cross a descriptive tool which can be used to gain insight into a present situation. She also shares a layout she created that the reader can use to gain insight into possible courses of action regarding work situations.

I've no other books in my Tarot library that are more heavily thumbed than my old copies of the two "78 Degrees" books, and I was very glad that Pollack has found a publisher willing to not only reprint them, but allow her to revise them and include both books in one volume. Highly Recommended for serious students of Tarot. Of the many books I've read on Tarot so far this one is the best.

Buy Rachel Pollack's book: Seventy Eight Degrees Of Wisdom A Book Of Tarot

Free eBooks (Can Be Downloaded):

Andrea Haugen - The Ancient Fires Of Midgard
Emmanuel Swedenborg - The Delights Of Wisdom Pertaining To Conjugal Love
Michael Ford - Midnight Circle A Commentary Of Azothoz A Book Of The Adversary
John Sebastian Marlowe Ward - The Higher Degrees Handbook

Tarot As An Intuitive Guide

My experience with tarot cards started in 2002. After 9/11 in 2001, I was enguled in a state of panic and mental anguish just like the rest of the country and the world. As we entered 2002, I felt a sense of urgency to move forward living my purpose, instead of a stale and stagnant existence. As I put forth my prayers and affirmations for positive change and living my purpose, the huge doors of the Universe opened and and I found myself entering the world of New Age/New Thought and metaphysical movements that I’d never experienced before. The first place I visited was learning of my intuition through divination tools and techniques such as pyromancy (using candles), clairaudience (clear hearing), clairvoyance (clear seeing), oracle cards, and tarot cards.

I loved working with the tarot cards because they provided me with something tangible to refer to that suggested my innermost thoughts and feelings. Tarot, like the New Thought movement, taught me that my mind was a powerful tool that could drive my life’s experiences in any direction.

One of the interesting things I’ve found with tarot card readings, whether for myself or others, is that an outcome is a possible outcome, not the final outcome. Now, I will say in some cases, the outcome is exactly what it shows on the cards or what it suggests on the cards. However, I’ve noticed that any time the reading is dealing with a deeply personal issue for the individual or something to that effect, the outcome is not set in stone. This is true for life in general. Every situation we encounter on a daily basis can go one of two ways. It’s really up to us on which way it will go.

The intriguing thing about tarot readings and those who love them is that while we all search for answers, some times we can be so dissatisfied with the answers we receive, we’ll keep pulling cards repeatedly until they say what we want them to say.

So, this begs an important question. When we’re dealing with tarot or any other form of divination for that matter – are we really looking for truth or what we want to hear? It’s like having a conversation with a very agreeable person. You may need to hear the truth at a particular time in your life that will truly benefit you, but the person keeps saying exactly what you want to hear, so you never get to the heart of a matter, you’re just being fed the food you want to eat and not what’s particularly good for you at that moment because you’re hunger is in control.

In my readings for myself, I’ve had to stop myself from doing this in all honesty. I am learning to accept the cards as they first come out and just interpret them according to the question I asked, not every single possible scenario that the cards could stand for.

Like with all things life, we shouldn’t automatically assume the worst as soon as the cards are pulled and you may see a Three of Swords in the past position, a Death card in the present position, and an Ace of Cups in the future position. No matter how good the future card looks, our human nature will draw us automatically to focus on the possible negative aspects of the past and present cards. The whole reading simply means that the individual had experienced a heartbreaking moment in life, but things are transforming now, and soon something better is coming along. Yet, for some reason, we will stay focused on the so-called negative cards.

I have come to realize that the Ancient Egyptians, who were credited for creating Tarot, hit the nail on the head by making the cards and their meanings follow a journey in life that mimicks our own paths in lives. Think about it – the Tarot cards are seventy-eight metaphors for life itself. And when we draw them, we are trying to see what they say about our lives on any given day. My advice to you is to truly pay attention to the meanings. While the traditional meanings may ring true for you, this isn’t always the case. Think about your question and where you are in your life in reference to the question, and then begin to interpret the cards. You’ll find quite often that they merely reflect back to us what’s already going on, what we’re already experiencing with a few bits of wisdom added in to help us move along in the situation as we should.

Remember, tarot cards are an intuitive guide. They don’t hold all the answers for our lives; they are mirrors on our lives. The keeper of your answers is you and only you.

Books You Might Enjoy:

Anonymous - Enochian Initiatory Workings
Ot Oss - Psilocybin Magic Mushroom Growers Guide
Paul Foster Case - An Introduction To The Study Of The Tarot
Aristotle - On The Soul
Raym - Spirit Guide A New Life Guide

Tarot Wisdom For Healing And Understanding

Understanding and Awareness are the greatest stepping stones to the discovery of our soul's inner truth...this has become an ongoing theme, for understanding and transforming the patterns of imprinting within our psychological and emotional behavior. Back in the 80's, when I first began using the Tarot, I found that I was fascinated and intrigued by the symbols, colors and the feelings of the cards. As this has been a soul guided journey for me since the beginning...I found myself learning the meanings of the cards and the various layouts. I found that the more I tried to connect the meanings to the layouts, the more baffled and frustrated I became. And then, one day, something clicked. That something was my intuition. What I discovered was that it was ok to learn the meanings for each card, however...for traveling the Tarot journey, it would be more to my benefit, to sense and feel what each card wanted me to know.

I started getting the hang of it. Loved it! Loved that you could feel better after a reading. Loved that you could feel clearer. Began reading for others. The more I read for others, the clearer I became, the more I learned. Soon, I found myself teaching. Altho' it would be a few years before it felt right to do so, I followed my inner sense and as always; the more I learned, the more I shared what I learned, the better a teacher I was for my student and the students I begin working with.

As this has been a soul guided journey from the beginning, I found that once I opened the "Magic of Pandora's Box", my life, my perceptions and my relationships began to change. There were many friends walking the path with me, however, being an empath, was accelerating my emotions at a much faster pace. I found that communication had changed within these friendships. I was becoming extremely upset by this...and yet, this was just the beginning for learning and understanding from a soul perspective. As communication was not happening within the connections, I was guided to get a drawing pad, markers and to work specifically with the Alleister Crowley's "Mirror of the Soul". This was the next level for discovery and healing. I found that all that couldn't be said out loud, was written in this journal. When I was finished writing, I was guided to pull a card and ask for the truth and understanding the purpose to the changes in my friendships. Well, humanly speaking, I was not happy...but, I did it anyway. And I discovered something quite important. Altho' I could not clear what was happening within my connections, I discovered that by stepping out of my ego and my expectations, for being right or having it my way, I gained a better and deeper understanding for what was happening in life, just in general.

It took many years to become comfortable with this kind of clearing and always searching for the truth...not my way...but through my soul's knowing. This practice for clearing, healing and understanding, would be the guide on this journey, for each level of understanding, that was soul requested, for my true work, life and path to begin.

After many years and life experiences for practicing this approach, I have found that most of what I sense, see and discover is always about approaching all experiences of life from a deeper understanding and what imprinting can do. When we begin the process, of stepping out of imprinting and discover a better way to heal, practicing this approach, regularly, allows it to become integrated into everyday life, in a very natural way. I found that with the 20 some odd Tarot Decks that I have worked with, working with Alleister Crowleys' Thoth has been most helpful. It brings us to a better understanding about the shadow aspect of our emotions and as I have been guided and have discovered, our emotions are the key to evolving our humanity and bridging the gap to our soul's knowing.

Healing our emotional pain, requires love and understanding. It requires tracing the emotional timeline, to how the imprinting began in the first place. Each and everytime we access the "peace" to our own puzzle, we heal. We integrate our soul's wisdom into our everyday life. Integrating our soul's wisdom into our everyday life then becomes about bringing "Heaven back to earth", and we do this together, for we need each other, for re-weaving love, back into the Tapestry of Life. We are ready and the time is NOW.

As always...keep it simple, take a breath, slow down. It is ok to feel and search for a deeper meaning to life.

Have a Peace-Filled Holiday!

Books You Might Enjoy:

Ro Winstedt - Shaman Saiva And Sufi
Rodolfo Amadeo Lanciani - Pagan And Christian Rome
Alan Wallace - Lucid Dreaming And Meditation
Hermes Trismegistus - Book Xiii Of Sense And Understanding

Tarot Numerology Twos

The tarot can be understood better if the underlying numerology is understood. Cards of the same number in different suits and in the Major Arcana have similar meanings derived from the following qualities...

Corresponding - Major Arcana - The High Priestess

Major characteristics: Duality, Balance, the need to make a choice.

Also: The relationship between two objects, ideas or persons, formation, a fork in the road, competing of combined forces, the need to reconcile opposites, conflict, see-saw, partnership, nuturing, reflection, creativity not fulfilled.

Books You Might Enjoy:

Thomas Potts - Discovery Of Witches
Marcus Bottomley - Nine Proven Magical Rites
Christopher Siren - Sumerian Mythology Faq
Thomas Muldoon - Numerology For The 21st Century

Creation Of An Elemental

CREATION OF AN ELEMENTAL




To create an elemental, cast a circle, purify yourself, get into a comfortable
position for 10 to 15 minutes and relax entirely. Rid you mind entirely, lying
there like an inanimate object, a nothing. Then from your feet, start to
generate your power, gradually bring each part of your body into accord with
your brain, work up the power in your brain in the form of a positive thought
wave. Think of the whole of the power of your body as a silver ball about three
feet in diameter. Now begin to dictate in your mind to the silver ball to do
your will…to float, to go a long way from you and to come back again. Visualize
the ball getting so small you can't see it. Then bring it back to its original
size. Each night from then on, work with the silver ball until your mind can
instantly conjure up the silver ball.

During the second week, concentrate on altering the size of the silver ball till
its size is of a pea or even smaller. Then in the third week, think of a name
for it, a name which is personal to this silver ball and to you. Then during the
forth week, clothe the silver ball with a shape that is familiar to you and name
it, this may be a cat, dog, etc.

Now that you have created an Elemental life, it must know its life span. You
must be very precise in what you tell it. For instance, if you say "Go to New
York. You're in Herman's shop. Tell me what you see." And perhaps its life span
is fine years, it may not come back for five years. You must say "Go—and come
back tomorrow night at 8:00 PM and tell me what you see". Be very precise in
giving instructions.

If you want it to fetch a person, tell it to be back at a certain time, or if
you want to tell someone something, tell it to be back within two hours. You
must have a place to keep your Elemental when it is not being used. Choose any
place as long as you keep it in the same place. When it returns from wherever
its been, remember to speak to it by name, dismiss it to wherever it is kept,
saying "_____, go and store Yourself in that figure and await my further
instructions." When you want it the next time, say "_____, here I come to call
you forth, then give it instructions.

Free eBooks (Can Be Downloaded):

Peter De Abano - Heptameron Or Magical Elements
John Opsopaus - Interpretationes Of Ancient Herbs
Anonymous - The Prayers Of The Elementals
Eliphas Levi - The Conjuration Of The Four Elements

Tarot Numerology Aces Ones

The tarot can be understood better if the underlying numerology is understood. Cards of the same number in different suits and in the Major Arcana have similar meanings derived from the following qualities...

Corresponding - Major Arcana - The Magician

Major characteristics: beginnings, potential, upsurge of energy.

Also: The start of something, seeds, creative principle, new projects, fresh ideas, new challenges, initiation, excitement, inspiration, vitality, leadership, independence, early stages of action, raw energy, creative power.

Books You Might Enjoy:

Aleister Crowley - The Necronomicon
Christopher Siren - Sumerian Mythology Faq
Thomas Muldoon - Numerology For The 21st Century
Arlo Bates - The Pagans

Tarot Devil Death And The Tower For Transformation

I am writing on these cards, to once again, share with others, what these Tarot cards mean, during these very new and changing times. Recently, someone that had read my article on "The Devil" shared with me what had happened in a phone reading. In this reading, they were told that they had a dark cloud over them and was surrounded by evil.

Well, to say I felt outraged by this, was putting it mildly. First, this is truly a false representation for what these cards mean, now...during 2010 and how humanity is awakening to the inner calling of their life; soul blueprinted awareness. Back in the day, when readings were done for another, Tarot cards in reversed positions, or the Devil, Death and the Tower were seen as true evil and negativity. However, based on what my journey has been and based on how I was guided to understand; truly understand, from a deeper level of perception and awareness, this is ABSOLUTELY NO LONGER TRUE.

Back in September of 1984, a friend of mine grew up in metaphysical and psychic awareness. She would be the very first person to do my first reading and soon become a guide on my own awakening journey. In this reading, she had done the Celtic Cross for me. My ending card in this layout was the Death card. Well, even tho I had no idea of the meaning of these cards...I knew deep down, that this card did not mean death in the physical sense, but Death of change to relationships or a known way of life.

In this moment, prior to my awakening journey, I knew that there was something on the horizon for me. Once my journey began, Death, Devil, Tower and reversed positions became the theme in the readings that I would do for myself. The more change I was experiencing, the more these cards would appear in my readings.

As an empath, with high intuition, shifting through a lot of changing emotional highs and lows, I knew that I needed to learn how to clear myself. I knew that I needed to go deep within for the answers to my questions and the true meaning for these cards. This became quite the journey.

It is now 27 years later, and the insight and wisdom that were gained, through deep inner awareness, became my godsend and the light through the many changes, challenges and obstacles that required and requested understanding and awareness.

When choosing a reader; be very, very clear about the purpose of your reading. Predictions take away your right to choose or be in true inner alignment with soul knowing. Ask questions or read up on the type of readings available. Readers; whether they are psychically reading or tuning in to another level, do not have the right to tamper with anyone else's personal space in this way. Whether we are tuning in psychically, energetically or consciously, being in tune, as our way of life, means that we are here to uplift the energy, not scare the crap out of another with this way of reading.

Each one of us, whether we choose to learn how to tap into our heart knowing, wisdom or soul awareness, have our own blueprint to our life journey and a good reader will guide their perspective client to tuning into their inner journey.

Be picky; be choosy about how and where to put your energy for a reading. Because these days, when a reading like this is done to another, not only are you feeling your own fear about the lack of information that was projected, but the reader just projected their own unclear energy into your personal space and if your skills are undeveloped at this level, this very energy can send you off into a tailspin.

We are living in very different times now. We are being called to clear our imprinting, by bringing understanding and awareness to our experiences, not to get rid of them or forget that they are there, but to bring them into balance, alignment and healing.

We all have a voice of wisdom. Some of us are naturally tuned to this way of life and some are just waking up to this way of life. And trust me, what I have shared here is not sugarcoated or watered down, but has been a 27 year experience to truly learn how to keep searching and digging for absolute clarity to the purpose of the experiences we are having now.

This is your journey...choose wisely...ask questions and listen to your gut.

Books You Might Enjoy:

Marcus Cordey - Magical Theory And Tradition
Tereza Burns - The Little Book Of Black Venus And The Three Fold Transformation Of Hermetic Astrology
Max Heindel - Ancient And Modern Initiation

Tarot Cards Judgment Or Aeon

In the Alleister Crowley Thoth Deck, this card is called The Aeon. This card represents the essence of good judgment or discernment. As I have been utilizing the wisdom and gifts of the Tarot since 1984, and have had many different styles and types of Tarot decks, as I was so awed by their beauty and wisdom, I would soon discover how the Tarot could evolve into deeper awareness and understanding for the many life changes, that I faced and that we face in our lives.

Aeon, through the definition in a dictionary, represents a long period of time. In the Alleister Crowley Deck, the card Judgment/Aeon represents and offers us the opportunity to look at the whole picture. If considering the picture of this card, the inner woman, has the ability to touch the earth and reach for the stars. In essence, she offers us the right use of our inner creativity, that brings positive aspects to other areas of our life. This card and its energy also offers a balance of our inner and outer life, our male and female, our action and feeling, our personal and professional. This card also teaches and offers opportunity for growth when judging ourselves or each other.

When this card is present in your reading, if this card comes in a reversed position, this reversed position is showing where we are placing judgment on ourselves, or with another. If this card comes into your reading in a upright position, either you are working toward balance and integration or you have succeeded in learning about balance and integration for all aspects of your life.

As always, whether with this card, or other cards in the Tarot, when looking deeper into each individual card, the Tarot has this amazing ability to share and guide us toward greater insight in the changes, that we do experience in our lives.

As I have been utilizing the wisdom of the Tarot since 1984, I have undergone many life changes and experiences. Prior to my understanding that I was walking the path of ascension, I was walking an awakening journey.

In the beginning of my journey, although I could understand concepts and situations in my mind, I was very unskilled in successfully verbalizing what was in my head.

Once I began my journey for learning the Tarot, doing consultations and teaching the Tarot, I was on my way to accessing deep intuitive awareness. 27 years later, I am very thankful, that although some of my learning was at times challenging, I cannot imagine not having the wisdom, guidance and insight of the Tarot.

Judgment/Aeon ~ this card is an excellent card to work with when we are looking to bring balance and integration into our lives.

Books You Might Enjoy:

Robert Bruce - Treatise On Astral Projection
Thomas Moore - Candle Magick For Love
Anthony Griffin - An Astrological Judgement Touching Theft
Ea Wallis Budge - The Book Of Gates Vol Ii
Zoroaster - The Chaldean Oracles

Tarot Card Fool Meanings

The Fool is one of the Major Arcana cards, and the tarot deck is based on the journey of the Fool, also the Major Arcana begins with this card and ends with the World. The Major Arcana represents the circle of life in all its complicated stages such as spirituality, mortality, love, and change. When a Major Arcana card shows up in a spread it often indicates that there are major changes and lessons to be learned. The circle or cycle of life is also a circle that happens many times in one lifetime, and is not just a chronological cycle, and it seems that most everything that happens to us in our lives as a beginning, a middle, and an end.

The journey of the Fool who is the first of the 22 Arcana cards starts with our birth. We emerge from the womb into the world of the unknown, the beginning of our journey from childhood to adulthood. It is worth stating at this stage that this card is a rite of passage card just like all the other Arcana cards. With the Fool as we reach the end of a journey we begin a new cycle, however, this new cycle will be either higher or deeper than the last one.

So when this card appears in a tarot spread it puts us on notice that a new chapter of life is about to begin. There is a call for us to step out into the unknown, take a risk, and trust that we will be supported. Even though we will not know whether the outcome will make us look foolish or give us the awareness we are looking for two allow us to go on to the next cycle.

The image on most tarot decks is usually depicted by a young and carefree person who is embarking on life's journey, and can represent an irrational need for change and freedom for the individual. This card is often associated with Uranus, the unpredictably powerful planet of change.

In the upright position the card indicates a need for change and a willingness to leap into the unknown in order to achieve this goal.

In the reversed position the Fool can indicate an individual's energy is low, and because of this they are unable to move forward in their challenging cycle, thus slowing them down on the circle of life.

In this article, I have tried to give some basic practical knowledge about the Fool, however, it is my belief that we should always allow our intuition and psychic ability to guide us in a tarot reading.

Books You Might Enjoy:

Marcus Cordey - Magical Theory And Tradition
John White - Toward Homo Noeticus
Aj Drew - Wicca For Couples Making Magick Together
Tuesday Lobsang Rampa - The Cave Of The Ancients
Aristotle - Metaphysics

Tarot As Entertainment

When I used to work in the Renaissance Fair, Tarot readers were classified as entertainers, along with the musicians, actors, jugglers, dancers and clowns. That did not offend me. I love to meet people and read for them in any circumstance, and if it is a festive one, that is fine with me.

Over the years, I have also been hired to entertain guests at parties in people's homes, at company events, as well as festivals and fairs. I am not offended at all if people want to think of Tarot as a form of entertainment. After all, their is pretty convincing evidence that Tarot originated as a set of playing cards with the part of the deck containing the more obviously spiritual references added some time later.

Today, Tarot and playing cards are considered two different things, although there are readers who can read with playing cards, and some people who play games with Tarot. It is fine if people want to be skeptical about what they get from a reading and it serves as a conversation starter among a group of guests. That still serves a useful purpose. And more than one skeptical person has come back to me later to confide that something that came up in a reading that they thought was irrelevant or incorrect later turned out to have a lot of validity.

Just like the court jesters, sometimes truth is easier digested when the reader mixes it in with an adventurous story, a dash of humor or some beautiful art.

After all, are we not the main characters in our own stories, the stories of our lives? Wherever certain events and characters fall on the scale of things between happy, sad, tantalizing or heroic, looking at the possibilities is always entertaining. Bear in mind that some people may prefer scary entertainment, erotic entertainment, foolish entertainment and mysterious entertainment as well as mythic and adventurous entertainment.

It's all in the cards.

Books You Might Enjoy:

Josh Norton - Charging An Enochian Tablet
Richard Weiss - Recipes For Immortality
Zoroaster - The Chaldean Oracles
Charles Webster Leadbeater - Clairvoyance

Something About Tarot Card Meanings

Profound symbolism and unique tarot card meanings represent the elements for which tarot is one of the most well know arts of the occult. If in the old times people believed them to be very accurate in predicting death, political changes, love affairs, incredible wealth and personal ruin, things prove quite different nowadays, although the symbols are taken a lot more lightly. Tarot card meanings have become epitomes, but when investigated in context they simply give birth to a combination of elements that could or could not refer to your life or influence it. Although prediction was the initial purpose, entertainment has definitely become the main role of this future-telling art.

The most impressive tarot card meanings and symbols can be uncovered and investigated in the cards of the Major Arcana, they also carry the name of trumps. The magician, the fool, the hermit, the emperor, the queen, the hanged man, the devil or the hierophant represent the main figures in the spiritual and real realms. In the Minor Arcana the tarot card meanings substitute in fact the instances or the elements that refer to common daily life events, and these actually represent the ancestors of modern playing cards.

The four elements of the alchemy support the Minor Arcana suits, and they prove just as relevant as the complex figures designed in the Major Arcana. The cups are designated under the influence of the water element, the wands reflect the passion and courage of fire, the swords get represented by air and the pentacles stay firmly on the ground, tributary to the earth element. Thus, if some tarot card meanings relate to emotional affairs as it is the case with the fire element, the air keeps the interpretation in the realm of logic thinking while the earth brings material reality closer.

Tarot card meanings will often appear stirring and surprising in the very evocative essence of the symbols and pictures. Images have always been able to convey feelings, emotions and ideas, and we all have a huge visual repository in the deep mind layers. This represents one possible explanation for the effect tarot card readings trigger in people; a person who has never seen a tarot deck will show admiration for the symbols, designs, prints and figures combined in a very complex structure. In alternations, the graphic representations gain a striking dimension which is why the tarot card meanings charge with more significance layers.

Books You Might Enjoy:

Tuesday Lobsang Rampa - The Cave Of The Ancients
Ophiel - The Art Practice Of Caballa Magic
Peter De Abano - Heptameron Or Magical Elements
Swetha Lodha - Your Love Life And The Tarot Cards

Read Tarot Without Being Psychic

You don't have to be psychic to read Tarot and get accurate answers to questions! You can do this just as you are. Well, there are some things to learn...

In 1981 or so I listened to a professor's lectures on 'Consistent Violators of the Laws of Random Distribution.' 'The Laws of Random Distribution' is a lifetime interest of mine. In these lectures, he mentioned Tarot as one of five known consistent violators. It was the only violator one could experiment with at home. So I went out and bought me a deck, luckily the Rider Waite one. I did his experiment, and of course got the same result. It was a question about the life history of the cards themselves, and seven cards would be more likely to appear than their random chances called for.

Obviously, there is something unique about these cards. I had never heard of them before these lectures, but decided to take them up as a hobby because, as a court reporter, all the time I had for anything fun was a few minutes here and there.

I ended up buying a dozen books on the meanings of Tarot before I decided the books are f.o.s. Then I begged my way into attending other people's readings with some psychics (whom I had never met before). I discovered that these professionals did not read the cards per se: They used the colors, or got an idea from just one of the cards. They mostly ignored them. (One psychic used the Gypsy witch deck, which has the meanings printed on them.) These were people who had clients whom they pleased. When I asked them how they read the cards, they each answered 'I listen to the spirits. You do cards. Don't you hear the spirits?' Uh, no...

This is how I ended up teaching myself to read Tarot. Fortuitously, the deck I purchased when I finally found where to buy Tarot was the Rider Waite one. Also fortunately, one of the books I randomly purchased was Eden Gray's The Tarot. It had accurate detailed information on the 22 Major Arcanae, one of the suits of Tarot. It had fairly accurate beginning meanings for the remainder of the suits, meanings which reflected the illustrations on the cards. (I learned to ignore the reversed meanings as needlessly redundant.) Her book was somewhere to start.

Using no psychic talent that I knew of, I asked questions I knew the answers to, employing the entire deck for each answer, 13 cards at a time—because 13 is equally divisible by 78 cards. The reason I wanted to use the entire deck each time was, of course, to get meanings equally for each of the cards. The reason I asked questions I knew the answers to was to be able to gauge how accurate my reading of the cards was; and also because 'you can't solve an unknown with an unknown,' a concept we learn in algebra even if we learn no algebra. I kept notebooks on each of these spreads for more than ten years. Gradually, I learned not only the cards' meanings, but, more importantly, meanings for combinations of cards. My court reporting background led me to adopt verbatim phrases for these combinations. I learned some other practical things,too, like what inquiries were more compatible with the Tarot process, and what questions not to ask...like 'when?'

Expanding the 11-card layout of the traditional Celtic Cross was fortuitous too: It created three divisions of the spread, the third one being the last card turning into three cards. I discovered the three divisions read as three sentences that repeat and support one another to the degree the information in them is correct! (The first division is the first cross, the 'Celtic Cross,' of seven cards; the second is three cards, one above the other, referred to traditionally as 'the tower,' not to be confused with the Tarot card of that name.) I NOW HAVE A DIVINATION TOOL THAT REFLECTS ITS OWN ACCURACY!

A tool that answers questions (a divination tool) that indicates how accurate the information in the answer is, that is based on logical thinking: This is monumental.

You can do the same thing. You can buy a Rider Waite Tarot deck, study each illustration that you relate to (temporarily disregarding the ones that you don't connect with) and apply two or three of those cards to a subject or question you have in mind. You will eventually get your personal individual meanings for combinations of cards well enough to have Tarot adventures with your own mind. Another article, 'Read Tarot and Develop Insight, Intuition and Creative Abilities—Yes, YOU Can, Here's How' is a sister article to this one: It gives specifics on the process of applying two cards to a given question, the process that I speak of here.

Reading cards for other people is another set of skills you can acquire: That is another article, too, later.

You don't have to be a psychic to read Tarot. Tarot is, or can be, a logic based system any person can learn who can think in terms of themes and patterns.

But of course you don't have to reinvent the wheel, you can consult a genius like me to learn the meanings I discovered.

Books You Might Enjoy:

Aleister Crowley - Clouds Without Water
Ida Craddock - The Wedding Night
Tarostar - The Witchs Spellcraft Revised
Anonymous - Wicca Beliefs And Practices
Israel Regardie - The Art Of True Healing

Numerology And The Tarot

Traditionally there are 56 minor arcana cards -- the Ace through Ten, plus the four Helper Cards. Esoterically, 56 was known as the god number, the masculine energy, the active energy, the force of the creation principal.

The 56 is the vibration of the natal number of the Celtic sun god, who was known as the son of Tara, the Earth Mother; his aura shot-out 14 feet in all directions from his head (the rays went out into the four directions evenly balanced).

When the fourteen minor cards of each Element suit (Ace through Ten and the Helper Cards) are laid out in each of the cardinal directions -- east, south, west and north -- we see the design of the Celtic Cross, which represents the energy vibration of the number 56. Thus, the number of the solar god becomes grounded into the earth plain.

The design of the minor arcana, the lesser secrets, the 56 vibration, the male number, then becomes representative of the phallic or the fertilization gods, activating the masculine principle of the life force here in physical world of action, and within the conscious mind.

It is important to take into consideration that each card in each suit represents a particular aspect of human consciousness or experience. In each of the Element suits, the Ones contain many of the same properties; the Twos are similar, as are the Threes, and so on, through to the Tens.

When the 56 concept of energy vibration is applied to the Element Suits it is represented through the numerological vibration of each card's number first and foremost, and secondly, through each card's astrological affiliation.

The science of numerology is based on harmonious vibration. The understanding of numerology is to find the inner harmony, which will enable each of us to vibrate at an equal pace with the vibration of our planet Earth.

The world travels at a rapid rate. Scientists have noted that the vibration of the earth increases at the rate of one hour a week, which means our inner vibration, will also continually shift.

The vibrations that govern the universe affect us all for we are all a part of it. As a part of the whole we are affected by every change in the universal rate of vibration -- and the rate changes every time there appears a different number in year, month or day, or in the case of Tarot, with every card.

The universal vibration is like a stage set for a play. We may read the whole play but we memorize only the lines in our own role. Numerology helps us to work with these natural vibrations rather than against them.

When the science of numerology is applied to the tarot cards, the number, which governs the card, gives deeper insight into the hidden meaning of the card, and can thus be used as an additional correspondence -- an important action for our role in the play.

The following is an easy reference for the basic constructive value of the numbers One through Nine.

One: Creation, originality, independence, courage, progress, ambition, positiveness, will power, leadership, pioneering, activity, force, raw energy.

Two: Love, service, gentleness, harmony, adaptability, charm, diplomacy, friendliness, rhythm, music, receptivity, cooperation, consideration for others, will, purpose, initial understanding.

Three: Artistic expression, joy of living, freedom from worry, optimism, inspiration, talent, imagination, good taste, sociability, friendliness, kindness, conception, beginning manifestation.

Four: Practicality, service, patience, exactitude, organization, application, devotion, patriotism, conservatism, pragmatism, dignity, economy, trust, worthiness, endurance, loyalty, production, mastery.

Five: Freedom, progress, versatility, understanding, variety, adaptability, mental curiosity, life experience, cleverness, non-attachment, sociability, change, discord, travel, adventure, companionability, surrender, release.

Six: Love, harmony, home, responsibility, adjustment, musical talent, sympathy, understanding, domesticity, guardianship, stability, poise, protection, healing, firmness, balance, idealism, conscientiousness, justice, burden-fearing, service to All, solution, exaltation, seeing.

Seven: Mental analysis, technicality, introspection, peace, poise, scientific research, spirituality, faith, trust, stoicism, refinement, wisdom, silence, “theories and fundamentals,” feeling, deepening, mystery.

Eight: Power, authority, success, material freedom, judgment, discrimination, executive ability, organization, leadership, management, practicality, thoroughness, dependability, self-reliance, control, the power to succeed, repose, consideration, retreat, ripening.

Nine: Universal love, sisterhood, brotherhood, charity, compassion, the Higher Law, artistic genius, selfless service, philanthropy, humanitarianism, magnetism, sympathy, understanding, romance, generosity, breadth of viewpoint, understanding before or beyond words, strengthening.

Each number's "key words" can be applied to the meaning of a tarot card, when the number of the card seems to stand out prominently to you, which would then have a significant interpretation in the spread.

The application of numerology to the Element suits can be taken a step further by applying the concept of mathematical or geometrical symbols, which tell the story of how numbers evolve, as well as adding the expression of the energy movement behind numerology.

Books You Might Enjoy:

Swetha Lodha - Your Love Life And The Tarot Cards
Thomas Muldoon - Numerology For The 21st Century
Robert Wang - The Qabalistic Tarot
Aleister Crowley - The World Of Tarot
Aleister Crowley - The Zodiac And The Tarot

Learning The Tarot An Intuitive Experience

My journey with the Tarot began back in September of 1984. Prior to my journey beginning, there were little things of a psychic nature that had always made itself known to me, including, at various times, the Tarots presence coming into my physical awareness.

My introduction to the Tarot, began with a story from a friend, that could read auras and read the Rider Waite Tarot. And so, it was in September of 84, that I had had my very first reading done for me. Prior to my reading, I had no logical knowledge of the Tarot, other than its visits from time to time, or when watching a movie and there was a psychic doing a reading. Intuitively, I had already had a head start; being very empathic and highly intuitive.

As my girlfriend layed out the Tarot in the Celtic Cross for me, although I had no knowledge of the meaning of the cards, at least at that point in time, my last card, the very first time the cards were layed out for me was the Death card. Again, I had no knowledge of the cards meanings, but knew in that moment that the Death card didn't mean physical Death, but Death to my life as I knew it in that moment. That was my immediate sense and then that sense kicked into my logical reality and I knew that my marriage to my first husband, was about to undergo a huge amount of change. However, that did not stop me from feeling drawn or pulled to the cards.

Little did I know, I was about to step into a whole other journey in my life. Being empathic and highly intuitive and being raised in a house, with a huge amount of logical focus and discipline and a huge dose of the practical, would eventually send my mind into a tailspin. I wanted to learn the meanings of the cards. Each one, individually. But my dilemma would be; which part of my mind would I use. And so, my first book and cards were of the Rider Waite Deck. I was having quite the time figuring out which part of my awareness to utilize in learning the Tarot. So, I decided to let go of the figuring out part and take my learning and discover the meanings of each individual card.

It would be a year, before I finally understood how to combine the meaning of the cards with the layouts. In the meantime, my proficiency came from doing readings for my friends and myself. Each time I utilized the wisdom and the guidance of the cards, I trusted my sense of feeling a little bit more.

Did I mention that I was 27, when this part of my life started changing? I found that the more I connected to the energy and the essence of the Tarot, the more I found myself opening to other Tarot decks. Understanding the meaning of the Tarot cards is a completely intuitive experience. We can utilize our logical minds to learn the meanings of the cards, learn about the cards origin and symbolism, however, the Tarot is a completely intuitive experience.

Eventually, I would teach the Tarot. Yes, there are many, many excellent sources of information out there to guide us, on this inner journey of discovery, it is however, our intuition that will become our guide on this journey.

There are many exercises to guide us on this inner journey. The ones that I shared in my classes were to get a journal and work with each card individually. Yes, the meanings are helpful, but once you have learned the meanings of the cards, the next level of discovery becomes your intuition. When teaching the Tarot to my classes, I always recommended that it would be good to suspend judgment about whether our inner sense was right or wrong and learn to open ourselves to our inner knowing.

Another exercise in discovering the inner meaning of the Tarot, was to pull a card everynight and put it by your bedside, with a notebook and pen to jot down any dreams that were connected to the Tarot.

Understanding the meaning of the Tarot Cards, is an inner journey of awakening. It would be many years and thousands of readings later, that I would eventually understand, that when we began a journey of spiritual, metaphysical or psychic/intuitive discovery, it not only changes our perceptions of awareness, it also changes our approach to life. Once my journey began, and I found my relationships with friends changing, I would pull the cards. (I had already started working with the Alleister Crowley Tarot-I found that the cards were helpful in taking me deeper under the surface, for a better understanding to the changes taking place in my life.)

Once I began working with the cards, for a deeper understanding and purpose to my life changes, although I could not change what was happening, I was able to bring clarity to my experiences.

Understanding the meaning of the Tarot cards is an inner journey; one of discovery, transformation and change. If we allow the wisdom of our inner knowing to guide us, and we understand that our logical focus is now utilized towards intuitive understanding, then our journey with the Tarot, becomes an awakening experience.

Understanding the meaning of the Tarot cards; have patience and trust in yourself and your journey. The rewards for a deeper understanding to the meaning of lifes' challenges and obstacles are great. And yes, we may not be able to change the experience, however, bringing understanding and awareness to the experience, will bring its own rewards on your journey.

Understanding the meaning of the Tarot cards becomes a step by step, one breath at a time experience; trust in yourself and your inner sense of knowing.

Happy Journey!

Books You Might Enjoy:

Paracelsus - The Book Concerning The Tincture Of The Philosophers
William Godwin - The Lives Of The Necromancers
Max Heindel - The Rosicrucian Mysteries
Max Heindel - Teachings Of An Initiate
Rabbi Michael Laitman - The Kabbalah Experience

Learn Tarot By Listening To Tarot

The more things change, the more they are the same especially when it comes to human behavior. So many things appear to be happening...and they are...and yet there are templates that overlay the events, patterns and sequences that the events fit into. The question is: Where in the pattern, the sequence, are we? What template are we in?

The more life experience an aware person has, the more likely he is to know what is happening and what will happen because he 'has been there and done that.' He is keen to the sequence, he knows what happens when you.... Life experience allows one to intuit the sequence, see the patterns, and know what comes next. Life experience is what tells us not to do the same thing and expect a different result. (Life experience is the reason tribal people usually honor elders.)

Individual tarot cards represent points in the sequence, represent places in the pattern. When you apply the scene the card represents to the question at hand, you 'put two and two together' intuitively, you realize what the pattern is that is developing in the question at hand, and hopefully you come up with four. You usually do. As President Lincoln said, nothing is 100% !00% of the time, and I take that personally!

The more you know tarot, the less simplistic your reading of it is. Nuances and details in abundance are to be had in tarot. And the way you know tarot is to listen to it. (That is the way to learn generally, isn't it?) If you ask questions you know the answers to, to discover what the meaning of the cards is, you are listening to tarot.

The nuances and the details appear when you reach the point in learning tarot that you perceive meaning in combinations of cards, not just in single cards. The more cards you combine in your perception, the more details you get. Eventually in your learning of tarot, you will be able to look at a 13-card spread or layout and immediately understand the gist of the answer, then you look at the cards that surround those theme cards and get the details. Not the other way around, at least part of the time, at least on a good day.

Seeing themes, seeing 'theme cards' is what allows you this quick overview. Life experience with tarot is the way to arrive there. (Someone who already knows and teaches you is of course a shortcut.) What you do when the overview, the gist, comes immediately (or quickly) to mind is notice that in the different areas of the spread appear cards that mean a similar or the same thing—let's say leaving, or delay, or taking action. Okay, now you know the answer is about that particular thing. Now you know the other cards are modifying the main theme.

If you are one of those now rare people who instinctively understands what the subject, verb and object of a sentence are: A similar process lies in the dominant and modifying cards!

That is the way to expertise in tarot.

A demonstration can be had by contacting the writer below for a reading of tarot.

Books You Might Enjoy:

Will Herberg - The Writings Of Martin Buber
Hermes Trismegistus - Book Xi Of The Common Mind To Tat
Benjamin Rowe - The Book Of The Seniors
Melita Denning - The Aurum Solis

How Does The Tarot Work And What Are Its Uses

To the rational mind the Tarot makes absolutely no sense. Who would trust a deck of cards, laid out randomly, to offer guidance in any important matter? No doubt that is the reason why the predominate clients, as well as readers are not male; since males tend to be much more linear in their thinking.

However to those who have come to see the synchronicity of life, that nothing happens without a reason, that there is a guiding Force behind everything, the Tarot makes perfect sense. Especially when the Universe is looked upon as not comprised of independent parts doing whatever they will, but of interdependent parts, then that Connection between all things and all action can help explain the process. For instance, today's scientist are finally catching up to the mystics, as quantum physics has shown that no experiment can be objective, that the experimenter's prejudices influence the testing. That there is no separation between the experimenter and the experiment, between subject and object.
The Tarot might be said to do the same, showing the connection between reader and cards. A reading will show what the reader already knows on a subconscious or intuitive level, being that symbology operates from that realm. For example, suppose a man deeply desires a particular person. He is consciously aware of this desire. However, he inquires about his chances of fulfilling this desire to the Tarot. Yet the reading's outcome is the Five of Cups (depicting a sad figure looking down on three spilt cups, while two are full and await ahead of him). Now, unless his desire has so blinded him, his subconscious has communicated to his conscious mind what it already knows and needs. To forget that person and to move on.

What most rational people (critics, if you will) will ask is if the cards were immediately reshuffled would they be the same? Most likely not. The next reading may show the complete opposite answer. How can that be reconciled? If one lives by the premise that everything happens for a reason, then both outcomes have validity. Yet, perhaps not in the way the rational mind interprets it.
The Tarot has many uses, one of those uses, and perhaps its original design, is for the reader to know him or herself. The Tarot, like any book (whether it be holy scripture) or teacher is not there to blindly follow. It's there to reflect upon, like a mirror; to take its counsel inside and to discriminate between which course to take. The man of the example, if he quieted himself and reflected on both outcomes, would no doubt see his attachment to his desire and know he was fantasizing. But the reading would not only show the outcome, it would also show other aspects of his psyche at work. For instance, a card like The Lovers in a position of hindrance, could show this was perhaps an old pattern of looking to another for fulfillment or that it just was not the time to be focusing on romance. Now a few more issues will be needed to be reflected upon by this man, and he will find out more about himself. The Tarot, in this manner, is a great therapist, and much less expensive.

Relationships, too, can be assisted through the Tarot, as it is a way of opening up communication. As relationships progress issues will come up that are generally old issues reemerging. The Tarot will reveal what the blockages are and, more importantly, open up discussions. It can be a wonderful tool for greater intimacy.

Another use of the Tarot, which is more of its mystical aspect, is meditation. Especially with the Major Arcana, by focusing on a particular card and then taking the image into meditation, the aspects that that card represents will gradually come forward. For instance, let us say a woman wanted to bring out more of her intuitive side she might choose the High Priestess to focus upon. Or if she wanted more confidence and self-discipline perhaps the Chariot. Every quality of humanity, as well as the gods and goddesses are represented by the Tarot, from the highest wisdom, compassion and love to lowest greedy aggression and victim playing. So any quality can be brought forth if it is focused upon and desired.
Of course, there is fortune-telling. Many stories exist with a Gypsy reading the Tarot and making predictions, usually with some dire warning or unhappy ending. However, this focuses on merely events, and the Tarot, unless the reader is very psychic, cannot go into great detail. Yet, it can be very helpful in showing probabilities. Remember, back to those quantum physicists who have now demonstrated that nothing can be predicted with a hundred-percent certainty, there exist only probabilities. The Tarot is no different. And the more one delves deeper into the Tarot, one finds that the cards help one to be in the present. After all, one can never get there. Nor leave here.

But perhaps the most important use of the Tarot is simply that it forces one to take time alone, to turn off the television and to disconnect the phone, and to sit quietly and reflect. To get to know oneself, to discover the greatness therein as well as the shadow.

Books You Might Enjoy:

William Wynn Westcott - Numbers Their Occult Power And Mystic Virtues
Anonymous - The Secret Book Of Artephius
Aleister Crowley - The Star And The Garter
John Dee - The Rosie Crucian Secrets

How To Learn Tarot Facts And Tips

Who can one learn tarot from? Online courses, independent teachers, books and web sites make choice options for anyone who wants to learn tarot. The learning methods are also highly debatable; you could memorize the meaning of the cards, identify it in context or understand it by smart associations. Choose the deck carefully if you want to learn tarot the easy way. Simple illustrations as close to the symbolism of the cards as possible: this is what you need at the beginner's level, anything more complicate could ruin the whole learning process.

The card design therefore stays relevant for the speed with which you are capable to process the information. Vivid colors, clear representations and anything logical in the realm of the visual facilitate the learning process; you'll get the full picture out of the graphics and the card design as well. This is actually the great trick behind the easy ways to learn tarot; there are dozens of methods and each can be matched to correspond to personal interests. Thus, the Rider Waite Tarot deserves in many users' opinion the title of the best illustrated decks for beginner and advanced purposes.

Some people start to learn tarot by taking a simple basic tarot course. Some such materials are free of charge and actually aim at giving you the tools and meanings to understand cards and layouts. There are things that nobody can teach no matter how determined to learn tarot you may be and this is the way the cards interact in the personal spread according to the various aspects of one's life. The events, the characters and symbols thus vary greatly from one reader to another. Hence, competence and counseling in further tarot reading remain accessible only to some very skilled people.

Depending who you choose to learn tarot from, all sorts of interpretation tricks will be revealed to you. Thus, there is a certain limitation in learn tarot services as nobody will tell you absolutely everything. In fact, remembering the meaning of every card still represents the very tarot learning basis, and you may have the chance to refer to books, guides and Internet informative pages to study just as you did in the school days. Shortcuts are waiting for you to discover them, and sometimes you don't know how well the tarot skills are getting built. Good luck!

Books You Might Enjoy:

Ro Winstedt - Shaman Saiva And Sufi
Max Heindel - Teachings Of An Initiate
Stephen William Hawking - Space And Time Warps