TAROT MEANINGS

The exact when and who was the inventor of what we now know as tarot cards is not known but it is believed that it may have been as long ago as the fourteenth century that the nomadic gypsies who first came from the east into Europe used Tarot Cards and tarot meanings to foretell the future.

It is even believed that the Tarot Cards were created from the pages of the Egyptian book of magic and indeed the images on the cards might certainly suggest this could be true. Alas none of these myths can be proved and there are so many theories and views on this subject that their actual origins will probably always remain a mystery.

The first sets of cards known to exist included cards that appear in a normal set of modern playing cards with the numbers 1 to 10, as well as the four suits.In addition though, the deck had extra cards which included a queen added to each of the courts.

Special cards were added though not belonging to any of the 4 suits and these included the artwork symbolic of the characters and subjects of the Emperor, The Wheel of Fortune, Death, the Devil, and the Moon.

A popular card game was played specially amongst by the upper classes and similar to bridge, the special cards were used as trumps in that they were more powerful than any of the ordinary cards. As time passed the game spread throughout Europe and to other countries with variations on the theme and the artwork.

Eventually with an increased interest in the occult and mysticism then magical associations were given to the tarot and it developed its association as a divination tool evolving to become the symbolic reading of the cards that we know today.

The reader of the cards must acquire the traditional knowledge and learn how to interpret the meaning of each card to enable them to give an accurate reading. The interpretation of the cards has evolved over the centuries and each card has its own symbolic meaning.

You do not need psychic powers in order to read the tarot all you need is the willingness to learn and develop your latent powers of intuition. The essential thing as a beginner is to understand the meanings of the tarot cards and if you are interested to learn more then I would suggest you start with a book excellent for beginners “Learning the Tarot” by Joan Bunning and discover how surprisingly simple and rewarding the tarot meanings are to learn.

Also worth finding out about are Tarot Thoth Meanings…
The Tarot is a pack of seventy-eight cards. There are four suits, as in modern playing cards, which are derived from it. But the Court cards number four instead of three. In addition, there are twenty-two cards called “Trumps”, each of which is a symbolic picture with a title to itself.
These are the opening words of Aleister Crowley’s the Book of Thoth and quoted from “Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot” by Lon Milo DuQuette…
At first sight one would suppose this arrangement to be arbitrary, but it is not. It is necessitated, as will appear later, by the structure of the universe, and in particular the solar system, as symbolized by the Holy Qabalah.

Aleister Crowley, also known by some as the “Beast” and once labeled by the press as the “wickedest man in the world” but by others he is seen as Icon in the theory of magic and so for those who would like to understand and discover a man who was born in 1875 England into a staunch Plymouth Brethren household and died aged 72 addicted to drugs, penniless and alone in Hastings, England.

The author DuQuette enlightens us with“Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot”he continues his project of demystifying the difficult but critical body of literature left behind by the “Beast”.

Image credit to http://www.flickr.com/photos/valerianasolaris/

Image credit hanged man to http://www.flickr.com/photos/wmjas/