Reading Tarot Cards

There are so many different kinds of tarot card spreads around that it can be difficult to decide which to learn and which to use. There are two tarot card spreads that we have found to be both effective and easy to use: Celtic Cross and 12 Card.

The Celtic Cross, also called the Gnostic Cross, is a type of Tarot reading that gives you a character sketch or personality profile of the person you are reading. The Celtic Cross is like a photograph or stop action picture of a person, a cross section or slice of their life. This type of reading is useful for people, animals or any kind of animate beings but not for situations. The Celtic Cross does not answer specific questions on situations but is a quick and easy way to get a personality profile on someone.

Unlike the Celtic Cross, which can only offer a personality profile, the 12 Card layout is suitable for reading people, situations, businesses, financial issues, relationships and other situations involving multiple people. While the Celtic Cross is a still picture snapshot of a person, the 12 Card is a moving picture that shows past, present and future. This allows you to track cause and effect chains much more effectively. The 12 Card layout is so flexible that you can use multiple-card signifiers to capture complex situations, expand certain portions of the reading to get more detail or move the reading back and forth in time. In fact, the 12 Card reading is so flexible that you can actually track your history back through all your past lives. You can also use the reading to predict the probable outcome of situations, from personal life situations to global ones.

Meanings for Tarot Cards

While there are lots of books out there that give you the meaning of tarot cards, one of the best and most personal ways to develop meanings for the cards is to actually study the cards themselves. The cards were developed with symbols and pictures that represent the concept being expressed.

For instance, in the Waite-Rider deck, the Four of Swords depicts a man lying on a bier, on which is pictured a horizontal sword. The meaning of the card is "to bury the hatchet" or let past conflicts come to resolution or rest. The man is literally resting on top of the sword (swords are the fire element, which includes conflicts or fighting) - he is resting on old issues and allowing them to come to rest. He has "buried the hatchet!"

Similarly, in the eight of wands (see below) you can see flying wands coming down to land. Because wands are the air element, and stand for ideas, inspiration, thoughts and communication, the eight of wands represents new ideas or inspirations. Once you know the element associated with each suit and look at the card for the concept being expressed, you will begin to intuit the meaning for tarot cards easily. This approach is both more reliable and more intuitive than relying on someone elseís interpretation (although you may want to use someone elseís definition as a starting point).

Many of our students learn the meaning for tarot cards by taking one card a day, intuiting the meaning, then looking for examples of that meaning or concept in everyday life. For instance, the in the seven of swords card (see below), a thief is stealing away with 7 swords. Swords are fire, which is also power, therefore the seven of swords is the loss of power. Once you intuit this meaning, looking for places in your life or in everyday life where you or someone else is losing power. When the concept is translated into everyday life, the meaning becomes real and you will never forget it.

Major and Minor Arcana

The tarot is comprised of Minor Arcana cards in four suits and Major Arcana cards, which are not in suits. The four suits of the Minor Arcana are Wands, Swords, Cups and Plates, which match the four elemental tools. Minor Arcana cards are the numbered cards in each suit (ace through 10) plus the court cards (page, knight, queen and king).

Major Arcana cards are all the other cards in the deck and are related to but not tied to a particular suit. They represent principles, concepts or ideals while minor arcana cards represent the many ways that those principles manifest in the everyday or mundane world. The ideas expressed in the major arcana cards are not taught in our culture so we have lost touch with them and we have no foundation for them. Therefore, we have to be careful not to apply present day meanings to these past time symbols.

Next: Tarot For Beginners

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