The ancient wisdom of the cards
Tags: archetypes, child, children, tarot analysis
Personifying playfulness and innocence, children appear in several tarot cards. They remind us of who we have been, and of a time when we were pure and free of the self-importance of adulthood. To reconnect with our inner child is to return to a simpler form of ourselves, one not weighed down by burdens or tangled up in concerns.
Tags: archetypes, tarot analysis, spirit
Spirit is the fifth element, coming after Earth, Water, Fire, and Air. It resides within each of us, and at its highest level is that which we call God. At its lowest level, it takes the form of a ghost or apparition.
It often takes the form of a winged creature such as an angel.
Spirit uplifts us, makes us more than we are, and provides relief when things are at their worst.
Tags: archetypes, trickster, tarot analysis
The trickster is an important figure in folklore. Taking such forms as the Joker or Coyote, he embodies cleverness and wit, but also deceit and irresponsibility. He appears to provide comic relief as a jester or clown, but also to humble us, never allowing us to become too full of ourselves. Like a zen koan he makes us think in new ways about ourselves and our motivations. His mischief is most harmful when we take ourselves too seriously, but is neutralized when we learn to laugh at ourselves with sincere pleasure.
Tags: numerology, techniques, interpretation, tarot card meanings, tarot analysis
Any numerological system is essentially arbitrary. I'm making one up, and I hope it'll be internally consistent. This is how I plan to assign divinatory meanings to the cards, in the hope of someday making my own deck. The general idea is that you combine the suit significance with the numerological significance in order to obtain a more specific meaning. If you are using a pictorial deck, you should also combine this with the impressions left by the card itself. If you look at the various schools of thought on divinatory meanings of cards, it is evident that many of those people used this same method. Please note that this is a work in progress, so your comments are triply appreciated!
Newly updated with additional numerological suggestions as of 5/22/13!
Tags: cups-10, coins-11, trumps-3, trumps-9, tarot analysis, pointing
In most Tarot decks, there are certain cards that appear to be pointing in one or both directions. Try to look for this trait as you are reading, as it may help to give you some context for the other cards.
Tags: techniques, tarot analysis
In the original games played with a tarot deck, taking tricks of cards was often the entire point of the game. It is appropriate, then, that we should look for the same tendency to form sets that the cards possess through their nature. In some readings, you may find that you received a large number of one suit, or a large number of one designation. There are varying viewpoints on what this might mean.