My journey into the mystic arts began a few years ago with a trip to my favorite store, Enchanted Hollow in Wellsboro, PA. I saw all sorts of witchy and magical items, and the one thing that really caught my eye was tarot cards. At this point, I didn’t buy a deck, but chose to research what they were and what they do.
After learning a bit about them, I bought the Rider-Waite Tarot deck, basically, it’s the universal deck. Everyone who reads tarot cards has this deck, it’s the most well-known set. I began reading for myself in order to learn what the cards mean and how a reading would normally work.
Once I really got the hang of it, I began to read for my friends, many of them liked to say, “the devil whispered in my ears” because my readings were often uncanny with the situation. When I read for my friends, I do it blindly, I ask them to think of the question and surrounding circumstances without ever revealing to me what it is they ask, so I cannot sway the reading anyway.
Now you’re probably wondering what tarot cards actually are. Like normal playing cards, there are four suits, the pentacles, cups, wands, and swords, and there is another type of card called the Major Arcana. There are also cards such as The Sun, Death, The Hanged Man, The Tower, and so on. Each card has a sort of story behind it and a specific representation. Each of the suits has a specific trait that is involved in each card, for instance, the cups usually has to do with emotions. Tarot cards are one type of occult cards in which their origin is practically unknown. Unlike what many people believe, tarot cards do NOT predict the future, instead, they are used to advise your decision making and give you advice about a question you asked. AND unlike popular belief, you will never be told that you will die and the card that is called death, does not mean anyone is dying.
No one tarot reader reads the cards the same way. In fact, most decks actually have different meanings for each of the cards, which adds a lot of character. Cards can be put in two variations the normal and a reverse or upside variant. The normal variant is the cards normal meaning, but the reverse is a different meaning, usually not the opposite, but it can change the cards meaning significantly. I, personally, do not read with reversals. A typical reading by myself goes, I ask a question or for a certain situation, I then pick a spread, then shuffle the cards and ‘deal’.
A tarot reading usually begins with the querent, the person receiving the reading, asking a question or questioning something in their life. Based on this, the reader will choose a specific spread to offer advice. For example, there are three card spreads that show past influences, the present status of the situation or question, and future advice or the outlook for the current path you’re on. The number of cards depends on the spread itself, but there’s a spread for anything and everything.
You can check out online tarot readers if you search for it almost anywhere. However, you miss out on the personal connection you get if you meet the reader in real life. I’d definitely suggest getting your cards read, it’s surprisingly insightful and helpful if you’re stuck in life.
