The Major Arcana

The Minor Arcana

Tarot has been around for centuries. It's history is steeped in mythology, mysticism and symbology. It's origins are hidden deep within the stories of legends. Some say it was the gypsies who first worked with the knowledge of the tarot, others say the tarot is far older than that. I think one could spend centuries working to uncover the path of tarot into our lives.

Most tarot decks consist of 78 cards. The Major Arcana consists of 22 cards, and the Minor Arcana has the remaining 56. Many new decks have sprung up on the market so you may well find that the deck has more or less cards. There are decks that some would argue are not Tarot at all such as Medicine cards, Angel cards, and so on.

The Major Arcana has cards such as The Fool, The Magician, The Star and and the Minor Arcana contains the numbered suits such as Wands, Pentacles, Swords and Cups. I often think of the Major Arcana as what Life is, while the Minor Arcana is what we think is Life. The Major Arcana often portrays the bigger issues of life, while the Minor Arcana is the "nitty-gritty" day-to-day stuff.

Some decks will use slightly different terms for the suits. You may see Disks instead of Pentacles or Rods instead of Wands. Some decks have slightly different names for the Major Arcana as well, such as Magus instead of Magician. Some decks will also have different terms for the Court Cards (King, Queen, Knight, or Page). The deck I use does not use the Page or the King cards, but uses Prince and Princess instead.

This may be confusing for a beginner who is using a basic Tarot book, so I suggest using a traditional deck to start with. There are probably hundreds, maybe even thousands of tarot decks on the market. When I first began many years ago there was pretty much one choice: The Rider Waite deck. You will see this deck still in use and I feel it makes an excellent beginner's deck.

How do you learn to read the tarot? Well, when I do readings, I don't really read tarot, but rather use it as a tool. I know the "book meanings of each card, and that is a good start for those who want to learn. Some of you will want to learn and read Tarot. Others want to use Tarot as a tool and read using it as a tool. Either way, I feel it's good to have the basics down.

I have found reading for myself or close friends is difficult to do using solely my intuition. In those cases I always go back to the basics and use traditional tarot. I do not want to imply that those who read "psychically" are better than those who read "straight" tarot.

What about choosing a tarot deck? My advice is to learn the basics first from a good standard deck (like the Rider Waite) and then explore as many decks as you can.

I get different feelings and perceptions from different decks -- or more accurately -- certain decks allow me to open up more fully. This is very, very personal. Different decks for different folks really. This is true for those who read tarot, to those like me who really only use it as a tool. When I read, I don't read the traditional meanings - I allow each card to tell me a story at that given moment. In reading for two different people, I may pull the same card and the feeling I get from that same card will vary widely.

For me, it's the "feeling" that I get from a deck that is important for me. I love to collect decks and I've found many that I love the artwork or creativity involved, but don't read well with. Some decks I personally don't like to use because they give me a negative feeling. Others, I may love the artwork but find my readings are too "fluffy". Others are just too intense.

What deck do I use? Well, for many years I used the Morgan Greer deck and I still love it and use it from time to time. It's a deck I can recommend highly for beginners or expert readers. You may see many readers using it - I know I notice that this deck is popular among readers when I go to a fair. The deck back is a medium blue with stars. It's a fairly large deck. Whenever I did a reading for someone and I had them shuffle, I'd always hear "the cards are so large!".

About six months ago though I discovered a deck called the Rohrig deck. I was at a fair and happened to walk by a fellow reader. She had the most amazing deck and I had to find out what it was. It was the Rohrig deck. The images just blew me away and I knew I had to have that deck! The very first time I did a reading with it, I knew it was the deck I needed to use. I call it my "down and dirty - no bullsh*t" deck.

This deck has very dramatic artwork - I've heard it described as "sexy". I'd have to agree. The scenes depicted on the deck are very modern and there is some nudity. If you are offended by naked breasts then this deck is not for you. The backs of the deck are very dark blue with a swirling cosmos. Gosh, I could stare at the backs of these cards for hours. (can you tell I love this deck?)

Again... allow your intuition to decide what deck or decks are right for you. The good news is that there is such a large variety of decks out there - there has to be one or two that will call to you.

Now onto more about the Tarot:

The Major Arcana

The Minor Arcana

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