What is Tarot? How and Why does it works?
Therapeutic, philosophical, psychological and spiritual, the Tarot is a powerful tool using visual symbols linking our inner and outer worlds.
Tarot: just a pack of cards?
As we know, the Tarot is not just a 4-player card game, which most of us have touched at least once in our lives.
It has gone through many eras and uses, from fun to philosophical learning, from divination to personal development.
Rich of 78 cards or Arcana, the Tarot is composed of 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana. In cartomancy, and more particularly tarology, the major Arcana represent, through Archetypes, the journey of the Soul, when the minor Arcana represent the actions and events of the daily life.
The reading of the Tarot is based on the interpretation of symbols gathered on the cards, and the interaction between each of them. A precise and complex system, at the service of the evolution of Consciousness for a global and sustainable well-being.
It gives access to the unconscious and our inner wisdom, and puts the responsibility and power of our life back into our hands.
The Tarot: Between Tradition and Modernity.
Its golden age goes back to the Middle Ages: the tarot is 600 years old!
The TAROT DE MARSEILLE does not come from Marseille but from Italy and Spain, and was originally created for wealthy families, such as Mantegna (1465) and Visconti (1466). The brand Tarot de Marseille is dated 1793, and its version that we know today was published only in 1930.
I will spare you here the magnificent story of these mysterious Arcana (Arcanum in Latin means secret), and go straight to the point: the Tarot was created to play, and also helped, back then, the students to integrate the main elements of Platonic philosophy. A good visual was well worth a long speech!
It was not until later that it became a divination tool, in the 1700s, incorporating many systems, symbols, and other incredibly broad and more complex meanings: Alchemy, Esotericism, Occultism, Astrology, Kabbalah, Chakras, Numerology, Elements, Freemasonry ... you name it. Then the 60's marked a major turning point in the use of the Tarot.
The most used Tarot in the world today, and the one with which I work mainly, is the RIDER WAITE SMITH, dated 1910. Its biggest difference with the Tarot of Marseille? its minor Arcana are illustrated!
History has determined the evolution of the use of the Tarot, which makes it simply timeless.
(At each Tarot its aesthetic: here, the 2 of Pentacles, Illustrated or not, belonging to 7 different tarots)
Tarot: predictions or personal development?
The $1000 worth question! In today's practice, we find again those who use it to make predictions, and those, like me, who do not. Let's give back to the revolution of the 60's what it brought us: Tarot is nowadays a tool of introspection, at the service of personal development and intuition. People who want to know more about their future are those who doubt the validity of their actions in the present. The doubt is human and can be very beneficial: the Tarot then arrives as a guide, not as an executioner.
The purpose of the Tarot being to empower you, it would be antinomic to crush your free-will by sowing a bad seed in your mind, which would condition you, sometimes, for the rest of your life!
Also, let's be realistic: who wants to be told, whether it is true or false, that she can not have a child or that he will meet love in 10 years ??? And at what price !!!
If Carl Jung was interested in the Tarot, saw Archetypes, Shadow, Anima / Animus, Conscious / Unconscious, or Synchronicity, it's because there is much more to dig than a divination system basic.
To predict the future, tea leaves or the bowels of a chicken do the job, nothing to do with the Tarot.
Note: a drawn card that is part of the entire spread may evoke energies in the making, but by no means give a clear idea of what will happen to you. Just because YOUR FUTURE IS DETERMINED BY THE ACTIONS YOU TAKE RIGHT NOW!
Tarot: How and Why does it work?
If you want to have your "cards read", it is because you are ready to discover the infinite extent of your being in relation to the Universe. The Tarot contains the reading of Life by itself, Cathedral version , tissue format.
Each Arcanum represents an Archetype, as do the signs of the zodiac and planets in Astrology: so it goes without saying that when you pull a card, it evokes something personal - a feeling, a memory, an event, an emotion.
Synchronicity then gets involved: by clearly showing your intention that you put in the cards, they "fall" right, they are the ones for you, at this moment.
This second part, very refutable in scientific minds, will be called coincidence by the most Cartesian ones. Nevertheless, if this word come out of their mouth at that moment, it is because the revealed cards are well intended for them. For the most spiritual ones, it is simply a connection with Universal Energy (others call it Universe, Cosmos, God, etc.), which comes from everywhere, and therefore from ourselves.
Ideally, the Tarot is read with the left brain - the knowledge of the cards added to the Knowledge in the broad sense - and the right brain - the Intuition. It is because of this one that the meaning of the spread may vary from one tarot reader to another, especially if you read the cards for yourself.
Once the precise question asked, the cards revealed and interpreted, one or more advices follow. This is not to tell you what you have to do, but to open the perspectives of your field of actions on your life.
It's up to you, then, to use your common sense, to accept the vision of your situation from another angle, and to take the necessary actions to improve your daily life.
Tarot: For everyone?
True mirror of your Life, the Tarot can change it in depth IF you wish and IF you feel the need to do so.
Do you appreciate the notion of psychology meeting spirituality, and logic meeting intuition? The tarot is for you!
If you don't feel it's necessary to work in the material because you are satisfied with all aspects of your life, and if the spiritual elevation makes sense as putting your socks on your shoes, Tarot is not made for you!
To be human is to have one's joys and victories, but also one's limits, vulnerabilities, internal conflicts and blockages. Life is not a long calm river and many frustrations chain us on the handlebar: it's then difficult to take a step back to see clearly. Tarot comes like a lantern if:
YOU NEED NEW PERSPECTIVES, INSPIRATION AND HOPE
YOU'RE FINDING YOURSELF IN A CROSSROAD BETWEEN SEVERAL CHOICES
YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO STEP BACK TO UNDERSTAND THE CHALLENGES OF YOUR SITUATION
YOU HAVE RELATIONAL CONFLICTS WITH YOUR SPOUSE, COLLÈGUE, FAMILY
YOU HESITATE IN YOUR PROFESSIONAL CHOICES OR LIFE PURPOSE
YOU SIMPLY WISH TO BE GUIDED
You are Cartesian, don't want to believe in anything, but are open-minded and curious
There you go! I hope that with all this you feel more enlightened in terms of Tarot, and that you can now shine in society if the subject is born in the conversations!
I'm here for you if you have any question!
Delphyne V.
Welcome to my blog! My name is Delphyne V. and I am a Tarot reader doing in person sessions in Paris.
To book your private session with me, Tarot reading in English, in Paris : https://www.rising-utopia.com/tarot-readings-in-paris