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Tarot Cards

Tarot cards are used to predict the future and offer a guideline for what is to come. Anyone can read tarot cards, but it takes a lot of practice to master the art. While tarot books are helpful, one of the best ways to learn to read tarot cards is to actually get a deck and start handling them.

History of Tarot Cards

While historians aren't exactly sure of when tarot cards originated, many believe that they were created at the beginning of the fifteenth century in Europe.

The first tarot set looked like a deck of playing cards, featuring suits and numbers on each card. During their early years, these types of tarot cards were used to play a card game called tarocchi.

In tarot card games, the 22 major arcana cards were trump cards, and the 56 minor arcana cards were divided into four suits are similar to today’s standard decks of 52 cards. Unlike standard card decks, the tarot deck has 14 cards in each suit.

Tarot Card Meanings

The major arcana cards have meanings that deal with the material world, the intuitive mind and realm of change.

The minor arcana cards are divided up into four suits: Swords, Pentacles (or Coins), Wands and Cups. Each of the four suits focuses on a theme:

Coins focus on the material things in life, like finance and security.
Cups deal with matters of emotion and relationships.
Swords indicate conflict issues.
Wands represent careers and ambitions.

Instead of playing card games, today tarot cards are used for divination or telling the future. Some tarot packs lack any suits of numbered cards, and many tarot decks differ from the traditional major arcana.

Contemporary tarot cards may contain any variety of possible images, including (but not limited to):

angels
fairies
goddesses
historical figures
knights
mythological creatures (especially those from Greek, Roman and Egyptian mythology)
power animals
wizards.

ReadingTarot Cards

To read tarot cards, the cards become the focal point of the reader’s psychic abilities. Some tarot readers use one of the many different tarot card layouts for divination. Others just pull a few cards from the deck to see what they need to see. Tarot card layouts include:

Celtic Cross
Tree of Life
Romany
Zodiac.

People read tarot cards in many different ways, and individual readers may associate different meanings to each card. For example, a card facing up can have a completely different meaning if that same card faces upside down. Here are some meanings of different tarot cards:

The Chariot can mean overcoming obstacles. Upside down it means loss of control and envy.
The Fool signals the start of a new journey or beginning. Upside down it could mean a bad decision was made.
The Magician highlights a willingness to take risks. Upside down it could mean confusion or hesitation.
The Tower can indicate disruption, change and loss. Upside down it can point to less severe forms of negativity.

Where to Get Tarot Card Readings

People don’t have to go to fortunetellers anymore to get their futures told by tarot cards. Many read tarot cards for a hobby, and plenty of Web sites offer free tarot readings. Internet readings include tarot for anonymous users, who not want people to know they consult the Tarot.

Tarot Cards Resources

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