What is the Tarot? Complete Beginner's Guide

If you want to know everything about the Tarot, this guide is for you. Know the bases to understand this oracle and how this divinatory artworks.

The Tarot has been used throughout the ages to divine the future and reveals hidden truths. Despised by the Church and considered diabolical and cursed, it came to be associated with the black arts of the occult. However, in recent years, the Tarot again gained popularity, becoming a tool for self-discovery and personal knowledge. If you want to know everything about the Tarot, this is the guide. Know the bases to understand this oracle and how this divinatory artworks. The Tarot uses symbolic language that is easy for everyone to understand, and perhaps that is why it is so accessible to so many people. The Tarot "speaks" through universal archetypes that inhabit our collective unconscious and that give expression to the most basic patterns of human feelings, ideas, and thoughts. Through his Letters, he manages to give access to the most intimate part of each one of us, regardless of whether we call it soul, intuition, inner guide, divine messenger, or guardian angel.

What is the Tarot?

The Tarot is a deck of 78 Mystical Cards, 22 of which constitute the Major Arcana and represent figures that personify a specific characteristic or archetype. The 56 Letters of the Minor Arcana represent people, events, behaviors, ideas, and activities that are part of everyday life.

Tarot Guide: The Symbiology of the Cards

The Tarot is based on a set of ancient knowledge. Its origin dates back millennia, although it is not fully known. It is related to myths and contains illustrations loaded with symbolism. Intuition is essential to understanding the esoteric meaning of the letters and the message they convey. However, the Tarot is an art that can be learned as long as the schemes on which it is based are understood. The Major Arcana follows a philosophical system, the Hebrew Kabbalah, although it is also related to Numerology, myths, and the collective unconscious. Ancient tales and myths are part of our cultural heritage and are present in all manifestations of the occult, regardless of beliefs and cultures. All of this is reflected in the Tarot. The Magician, as well as Death and The Emperor, are common in all cultures. The Tarot is also related to magic, intuitive thinking, and clairvoyance.

The Different Versions of the Tarot

If you are looking on the internet or go to a bookstore to buy a deck of Tarot, find different versions: the Egyptian Tarot (or Etteilla), the Tarot of Marseilles, the Tarot Rider, the Tarot Lenormand, the Tarot of Eliphas Levi, the Belline Tarot or the Esoteric Tarot, among others. Tarot decks generally contain 78 cards, grouped into 22 trumps (the Major Arcana ) and four suits (Wands, Cups, Swords, Pentacles), for a total of 56 Cards, which make up the Minor Arcana. Although the images may be different, the symbolism of the Cards is always the same.

Tarot Guide: The Three Types of Reading

Each Tarot Card, especially the Major Arcana, offers three different spiritual, psychological, and practical readings. We will talk a little about each of these readings.

Spiritual Reading

This reading is linked to animistic theories. Its meaning represents an intimate, interior reading with deep meaning for personal development.

Psychological Reading

This reading uses the teachings of the Tarot so that each person can delve into their own mental issues, as well as their psychic functions and the affective world. Through this reading, the person can reflect on himself, his thoughts, and the way in which he faces and positions himself in front of his feelings and emotions and, in the end, on the image he has of himself and what he reflects before the world.

Practical Reading

This reading is related to the Tarot as an oracle and divination system. It reveals concrete facts and experiences of the past, present, and future of the person who consults or launches the Letters. This type of reading is the most common and concrete of the Tarot. In practice, a Tarot specialist uses all three dimensions in his readings and interpretations. If you are thinking of doing your own Tarot readings, it is important that the Cards are new, bought, or given away, but they should never be borrowed. See in this article how to purify and protect your Tarot Cards before starting with this divinatory art.

Why Consult the Tarot?

The reasons for consulting fortune tellers are as many and diverse as the number of people who consult the Tarot. Some do it out of curiosity, others validate a decision they intend to make, but that is still full of doubts, fears, and insecurity. Others because they are going through a critical moment in their personal or professional life and need guidance. Others wait for the fortune teller to decide for them and show them the way to go when they can't do it alone. Others because they believe that, by playing Tarot, they will receive a special message that can help improve their day, reflect or clarify an important issue that haunts them and occupies their thoughts. Therefore, each person has their own motives and goals when using a Tarot reading. This is a very personal matter. However, for experts in the art of reading the Tarot Cards, the most important thing is to promote a positive change in the person's life and convey the feeling that each one is responsible for their own destiny. Despite serving as a guide, it is in thoughts and actions that individual day-to-day reality is built. The options and choices belong to each one of us, to the person who lives a reality.

The Tarot can be used as a guide because it offers a broader and more complete view of the person's life circumstances. It suggests becoming aware of the mistakes and the capacities of each one and shows the means that the person has within themselves to be fully realized and happy. Through the interpretation of the Cards, fortune tellers can help the consultant to find their way more easily, giving them a broader view of their life and a deeper understanding of what is happening in their life. What lessons need to be learned, how to grow spiritually with these lessons, and how to integrate them into your day-to-day life for a happier and more meaningful life? The life of each of us is made up of a set of things. We are children, parents, friends, siblings, and co-workers, ... We have work, or we look for it; we are married, separated, divorced, we follow social conventions, or we do not. We have enough money to live the life we want or want to attract greater economic prosperity. A Tarot is a tool for self-knowledge and for making decisions for the future, focusing on the person and their reality as a whole. The Tarot is a guide and helps each person to see themselves as a whole. Nothing boils down to just one thing. We are a set of things and circumstances. We are not the branch of a tree, we are the tree, and this vision is one of the main objectives of the Tarot. Connect, relate and interpret reality in the light of the global. Only then is it possible to become aware of who you are, where you are and where you want to go? This is the only way to define paths and make decisions and be aware of the potential that exists within each person to design and work to build the life they want. In this sense, the Tarot is very important in support, therapy, and self-knowledge. The Tarot serves as a guide, and, with its help, it is possible to look at the current reality of the person, considering his past and his future. The concrete questions are chosen as the basis for achieving the essential - what is the meaning of what is happening inside the person, and what role does it play in the context of his life? For it to make sense, the three types of readings are interrelated because we are a set of everything. The Tarot follows the law of synchronicity and surpasses the schemes of the present time. It puts on the table what the unconscious knows but that the conscience does not yet know and forces us to face our life, also giving us the possibility of moving forward in time.

Does Tarot Reading Also Reveal Bad Things?

This is a controversial issue among Tarot practitioners. A fortune teller announcing bad news must be aware that by doing so, he or she is impacting the person's life. Therefore, you must be sure of what you are going to say and know whether or not this disclosure will benefit the life of the person who consults you. We all know that we do not live in a state of joy, happiness, and harmony every day and at all times. Problems, difficulties, and setbacks are part of normal life. Not everything always goes well. A meeting that seemed well prepared can end up leaving us in a weak position. A relationship that seems to have everything to succeed can end with a betrayal or simply because the couple no longer has relevant things to say to each other or have conflicting life projects. Life is constantly changing, and it is natural that it should. When reading the Tarot, fewer positive questions can be addressed, but with the goal of finding a positive solution, in the sense of alert, guidance, caution, and never fatality. For example, a more moderate lifestyle, less impulsiveness in making important decisions, or consulting a doctor may be suggested.

The Major Arcana

The Minor Arcana

Now that you know the Major Arcana of the Marseille Tarot discover the Minor Arcana that are part of this deck of divination.