Tarot Cards 101
The tarot is a tool for divination used since the 14th century. It has many forms, and the number of possibilities for decks are endless. There are traditional, modern, abstract, extravagant, styles of decks. No deck is quite the same and works to tell a story and share insight to life’s problems in a different way. Since there are many elements encompassed in tarot reading, it can be overwhelming and strange to beginner readers or recipients. Once you have an understanding of what’s on the cards, you can begin to interpret them! Never fear- dear reader, I’m here to give you the rundown on tarot you’ve been waiting for!
Time for the basics: Traditional tarot decks have 78 cards. These cards can then be divided into different categories, Major and Minor Arcanas. There are 22 cards in the Major Arcana, 56 in the Minor Arcana category.
Major Arcanas
These cards represent the big and important stuff. The life messages pop up continuously; setting the scene for a tarot reading. The Major Arcana cards follow the fool’s journey in the world. Basically, the fool is the main character in this coming of age movie. He is young and free-spirited, ( imagine he has a quirky bedroom, with a slanted ceiling and probably spends too much time on TikTok- key thing here is he tends to get distracted easily) but overall he has a good heart and meets many friends along the way to help him with his plot.
Minor Arcanas
These are the shifting energies. They correspond with the main plot. Think of this as temporary solutions, they often represent choices we make in life. If we are looking at this from our lens of the coming of age film, this is the soundtrack. The soundtrack aids in moving the story along and heightens the movie experience.
Suits
Just like a regular deck of cards, there are four suits in the tarot deck. They are traditionally the wands, cups, swords, and pentacles. All of these are representative of different things. I think the suit cards are easiest to understand because they correspond a lot with astrological elements. This is helpful for myself because I can correlate the cards with the signs. Here are the suits and their matched elements:
Pentacles- Earth
Swords- Air
Wands- Fire
Cups- Water
Earth signs are grounding, apply this to pentacles and pick up on Virgo, Taurus, or Capricorn energy. Swords tend to be tangible objects and use logic, I relate this back to Aquarius, Gemini, Libra. Wands is all about passion, so fire signs Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius are reflected in these cards. Water signs such as Cancer, Pisces, and Scorpio are emotional and dreamy, so their cups are reflective of nurturing dreams and finding the beauty in situations.
Reading the Cards
Now that we have a basic understanding of the cards, we can begin reading them. This is my favorite part about the tarot. It’s all about finding the story. One of the most basic spreads is a three-card spread. Each card can represent the past, present, future of a situation. Now, the first step is to shuffle the cards in any way which feels right to you. Trust your intuition when choosing and have fun with changing up your method. Once I have picked three cards and it feels right we can read into them. This is where it can get a little tricky. Sometimes the cards just expose you and give it to you straight up. I often joke, the cards read me for filth more times then I would like them to. Sometimes the cards don’t resonate at all. Typically though, the cards are telling you something important and it’s key to try to pay attention to their messages (even if it is something we don’t want to acknowledge).
There is no correct way to read tarot. Starting out, there are all sorts of information on how to treat a deck, how to interpret the cards, and what to focus on. I think the beauty of tarot is finding what works for you. It’s a personal thing! Learning how to string a story together is the most fun part. Tarot should be a tool accessible to everyone. Watch tarot readers on social media platforms such as youtube or TikTok (personal favorites of mine include Rambling Mike and Tarot Priest on Youtube). These readers may interpret things differently than you, but I find it helps to get an understanding of the cards better by listening to outside perspectives. Reading is a way to get to know yourself, others, and the world around us.
Life is messy and complicated, and oftentimes it doesn’t have all the answers. Tarot helps us find meaning in life and search for guidance to help our journey. We are all the fool, but we learn things along the way and this shapes us into the people we strive to become. Practice picking up a deck and just see what comes along. Hopefully, you’ll find comfort and relief in your own coming of age movie.