Tarot Cards

I have always been interested in Tarot Cards and Ouija Boards, palm readings, and anything mystical or divinatory. My Christian background always had me feeling a bit guilty fo these interests when I was younger. I wondered if God was somehow disappointed in me for showing interest in obviously non-Christian methods of divination. As I have gotten older though, I have come to believe that there is a lot more to God than just the Bible and Sunday School.

I don’t want to get into a debate about religion today, though. I just want to talk about Tarot cards, mainly. As I was emptying out boxes I brought home after selling the house last week, I found three different decks of Tarot Cards. They are old sets that I purchased years ago when I decided that I wanted to learn how to read them. I spent some time learning about the history of the cards and what their main purpose is, but I know that after years of not even looking at them, all that knowledge is locked away in some unreachable cavern of my brain.

Last night when G and I were playing on the computer, the power went out. One look out of the window revealed that in fact, the entire area had lost power. G pulled out his hand-cranked flashlight that I cleverly bought for him for Christmas, and we went for a walk to see how much of the area was out of electricity. Our walk didn’t last too long, however, because it was freezing cold and it was, as expected, very dark.

After we got back home, we were at somewhat of a loss as to what we should do. No power? Hmmm… walking around with a candle in hand, I lighted upon a deck of Tarot cards and I exclaimed “I’ll read your Tarot cards!” G agreed and we lit a bunch of candles and started to bring out the cards. Of course, at that moment, the power came on and with computers restored, Tarot was left for another day. Besides, I didn’t really remember how to do it anyway.

So what is the point of this Monday morning rambling? Only that I want to take another look at Tarot and how it works, what the cards mean and how they can be used. It’s basically just a deck of regular playing cards with 4 suits of 14 cards each (the Minor Arcana), only instead of diamonds and clubs and such, it is made of swords, coins, cups, and wands. Then there is also what is known as the Major Arcana, 22 cards with different characters on them such as “The Magician” and “The Hanged Man”. One thing I remember about Tarot is that the cards don’t always mean what you expect them to. For example, the “Death” card showing up does not mean that someone is going to die. It can mean a lot of different things depending on the question that was asked and exactly where it shows up in the reading.

I don’t know if I really believe that Tarot cards can tell you about the future, but I do know this: The cards can all mean a lot of different things, and for the person asking the question, the real value of Tarot seems to be figuring out what is deep in your own heart. Tarot can help you figure out how you feel about the question you are asking. And, if I remember correctly, a Tarot reading is only supposed to say, if you continue on the same path you are on now, this is what will happen. Not, this is going to happen no matter what you do. So there is choice, that much I do remember. For a long time, I have had this idea of taking a different topic every month and studying the hell out of it. Just take any random thing that I am interested in and learn as much about it as I can. Why haven’t I done it? I don’t know, laziness I guess. But now I am thinking that maybe Tarot would be a good place to start.