Basics of Tarot (cont.)

Now that we've discussed what I find to be the hold up for getting readings, let's move on to the various uses of Tarot.

There are dozens upon dozens of spreads each meant for a particular question or situation. There's the standard five card Yes or No, the Horseshoe, Celtic Cross, Five Card Draw, Six Month Preview, the Calendar Spread, the list goes on and on and some get more and more complicated as far as their uses and how many cards they use. There are even spreads that use only the Major Arcane, and some just the Minor, or the face cards.

So either when having a reading done or doing one for another person, make sure to get as much information as you can. You don't need the life story, just the basis of their issue and what it is they're actually asking. They may tell you they want a relationship reading, but it's about an ex or a prospective beau. They may ask for a general layout, but they wanted one on specific part of their life or subject.

There's also the case of finding the significator of the reading. This is the card that relates specifically to the person who you're reading for or about.

And before you even get into any of these studies, you first must learn how to choose a card deck.

So, let's start there for today.

I choose my deck offline after looking for hours. I had to find one that spoke to me in a way that I had to keep going back to it, and with this one I did. I mauled over it for a week before finally placing my order and when I received it, the love I had for them only increased. There's an tradition that your cards should be bought for you, but it's more of an old superstition of passing the power of sight, and no, you don't have to store your cards in a wooden box or purple silk, either. You can do all of these if you like, though. I had my husband buy my latest and my dad bought my first, but I've bought my own before.

You should research your deck before buying. I once fell in love with a deck of fairy tarot only to find that they weren't traditional tarot cards at all. I had to learn a whole new kind of card divination to even use them, which made me less inclined to pull them out. I still loved them dearly, though, and would use them more often for Tarot Magic.

After buying the deck, and before doing any readings with them, you should study your cards. Each deck has a life of it's own and should be heard. While the meanings are the same, they can sometimes give you a different feeling when using them. Maybe you have separate decks for specific questions because you feel they can understand them more, ie, a deck that has more romantic feel to the art for love readings, or my steampunk for darker times. Whatever floats your boat. Just make sure they speak to you and that you understand them before really learning what they mean in a reading. You might notice something the book doesn't tell you.

For instance, in my deck, the Devil is using a man and woman as puppets to work on his furnace, while in the traditional deck, the man and woman are actually chained together and the Devil just sits watching. In my deck, I get more of the feeling that they are slaves to the Devils inside of themselves, than slaves to each other or man in general. This difference can be a powerful awakening or understanding the cards' life than just it's meaning, which helps when you do readings or have them done.