Tag: Rider-Waite tarot deck

Today’s Tarot Card for July 26 is The Chariot

The Chariot

This Tarot Deck: Gendron

 

General Meaning:  Traditionally, the card usually entitled the Chariot points to a triumphal feeling of freedom, as if the charioteer is being paraded through the streets as a hero (or heroine). The card reflects congratulations for high achievement, and serves as a sign of empowerment.

Huge wheels and frisky steeds speed the rate at which the driver’s willpower can be realized. This kind of charge makes more of the world accessible to anyone ambitious enough to seize the Chariot’s reins. But there is danger in this feeling of freedom, because of the increased rate of change and its power to magnify mistakes in judgment. As a seasoned warrior, the Charioteer is called upon to be extra attentive to the way ahead.

Today’s Tarot Card for July 25 is The Lovers

The Lovers

This Tarot Deck: Etteilla

 

General Meaning:  Although it has taken on a strictly romantic revision of meaning in some modern decks, traditionally the Lovers card of Tarot reflected the challenges of choosing a partner. At a crossroads, one cannot take both paths. The images on this card in different decks have varied more than most, because we have had so many ways of looking at sex and relationships across cultures and centuries.

Classically, the energy of this card reminded us of the real challenges posed by romantic relationships, with the protagonist often shown in the act of making an either-or choice. To partake of a higher ideal often requires sacrificing the lesser option. The path of pleasure eventually leads to distraction from spiritual growth. The gratification of the personality eventually gives way to a call from spirit as the soul matures.

Modern decks tend to portray the feeling of romantic love with this card, showing Adam and Eve at the gates of Eden when everything was still perfect. This interpretation portrays humanity before the Fall, and can be thought to imply a different sort of choice — the choice of evolution over perfection, or the choice of personal growth through relationship — instead of a fantasy where everything falls into place perfectly and is taken care of without effort.

Using the Tarot as a Tool of Healing

Using the Tarot as a Tool of Healing

by Dr. Neala Peake, selected from AllThingsHealing.com

The Tarot,  long a powerful tool of divination, can also be used as a dramatic tool of healing,  and for shifting deep patterns. The deck that I suggest for this, the  Rider-Waite, is perhaps the most well-known deck in the Western world. Created  by Dr. Arthur Edward Waite (1857-1942), a scholar of occultism, and illustrated  by Pamela Coleman Smith, a theatrical designer and American member of The Order  of the Golden Dawn, it is the “standard” teaching deck, and the first to use  detailed illustrations of the Minor Arcana, not just the Major.

The Deck Itself

The 78 cards of the tarot deck are divided into two groups: 22 Major Arcana Cards, and 56 Minor Arcana cards, made up of pip or suit cards (1-10), as well as court cards, which more or less correspond with traditional playing cards. The meanings of the Major Arcana are generally considered more far-reaching, relating to our journey for meaning and enlightenment, while the minors are considered more transient, representative of day-to-day activities.

The Seven Chakras

Using both the structure of the seven Chakras and the images of the Rider-Waite deck, the Chakra Lube Job illustrates how the  cards of a layout may be replaced as the healing progresses; as the images  shift, they actually depict the process of growth and resolution, similar to  time-elapsed photography.

The term Chakra is the Sanskrit word for “wheel,” and refers to our  own energy system: the interface between our energetic and physical selves, our  body and consciousness. Just as the car’s engine requires regular maintenance,  the Chakras, too, require regular “tune-ups.” This not only keeps its system  running smoothly, but addresses any blocks or problems on the core level.

While the chakras can be “tuned-up” through meditation, energy work with  light, sound, color, crystals, singing bowls, musical instruments and others,  the method which I’ve created and coined is known as The Chakra Lube Job.

The Chakras, one through seven, are: #1, the Root, at the base of the spine,  which relates to our ability to prosper and thrive on the earth; #2, the Sacrum  relates to our ability to gratify ourselves; #3, the Solar Plexus addresses our  own personal power and capacity to be comfortable in our skin; #4, the Heart  preserves unconditional love, and the integration of all polarities; #5, the  Throat, the center of the seven, is self-expression; #6, the Third Eye, our  ability to see the big picture and our psychic center; and, #7, the Crown, at  the top of the head, is our connection to the universal, wisdom and bliss.

The Chakra Lube Job Reading

Here is a sample healing Chakra Lube Job, to show you how this works. This  was a session with a woman in her early fifties, who is accomplished in her  field, and highly regarded in her community. She pulled seven cards, one for  each of the seven primary Chakras, in a vertical formation. She then continued  pulling cards, until I, or, she, or both of us felt the process was complete.  This process uses the images of the Rider-Wait deck to heal and shift the  chakric patterns, in a very conscious fashion, and may take anywhere from 20  minutes to several hours. (You may want to use your own deck to follow  along.)

Initial Layout The Chakra Lube Job  Layout

Card #1 (Root) Ace of Pentacles (an immense  pentacle shown emerging from a cloud, held by a huge celestial hand, above a  flowering hedge and archway leading out to mountains)

Interpretation: This is a wonderful, life-affirming card  that points to new beginnings, particularly of a financial nature. This ties in  beautifully with the meaning of this chakra; the primary concern with this  image, however, is that it refers to divine intervention, and points to a  fundamental belief on this person’s part that she did not hold the power for her  capacity to thrive in her own hands.

Card # 2 (Sacrum) Three of Wands (man on land, facing away  from three wands).

Interpretation: This card indicates that this woman has  given up on fulfilling her own sexual and emotional needs. She has turned her  back on any expectation, but does not know where she will go from here.

Card #3 (Solar Plexus) The Magician (#1) Major Arcana (an  androgynous figure in a red coat holding a wand that points upwards and  downwards, behind a table bearing a cup, a pentacle, a sword and a wand)

Interpretation: This is a powerful Major Arcana or destiny  Card, #1 in this sequence, which like the Ace of Pentacles, which she pulled for  the first Chakra, (also a #1), shows she is in a powerful new cycle of putting  herself first or fresh beginnings. This card shows that she has all the  resources and power she needs to transform her life, and create all that she  envisions. She loved this card, and we did not feel guided to choose any other  cards. (This is quite unusual to stay with the first card chosen, and indicates  that this area of personal power is very solid for her, and that she has  everything she needs to make her life as she desires.)

Card #4 (Heart) Four of Wands (two women celebrating in the  background near a castle tower; in foreground, four wands forming a lush  canopy)

Interpretation: This is a beautiful celebratory card. My  primary concern was that the two women were so far in the background, indicating  they did not feel they were at the center of this area of their lives. They  clearly loved life and had a great capacity to give and receive love, but tended  to put themselves in the background.

Card #5 (Throat) King of Swords (Virile dark-haired young  king, in blue robes, seated on a throne, holding a sword erect)

Interpretation: This card indicates that this woman feels  very powerful in her position as a communicator; it is important, however, to  note that this is a strongly masculine or patriarchal card, indicating that she  does not necessarily feel this power as a woman, but more in a socially  determined position of authority.

Card #6 (Third Eye) Two of Cups (man and woman making an  oath or promise. I call this the “going steady” card, not as serious as The  Lovers, Major Arcana)

Interpretation: This is the second card that depicts two  people in it. This indicates that she does not feel completely self-reliant in  her capacity to express her intuitive gifts or see the big picture. It may  indicate that she prefers to be validated or supported by a partner (in this  case a male or romantic partner).

Card #7 (Crown) The Emperor #4 Major Arcana* (an imposing  bearded white haired ruler or father figure, in red robes and warrior armor,  seated on a stone throne, holding an ankh.)

Interpretation: This is the second card of powerful male  authority that she drew. This indicates that she feels strongly connected to her  higher wisdom and the Universe, but in a form of male authority, or following in  the footsteps of the father. It is no surprise that this woman has Saturn  prominently in her chart, which points to a tendency to look for authority, and  hence validation, within the framework of the established order of things. It  also indicates that she looks to work and outer sources of acknowledgement (such  as success, status and approval) for her personal validation. This is a powerful  card, as it is a Major Arcana, and points to an overriding theme in her  life.

The Crown

The remaining session lasted two hours, and while we don’t have time to show  the entire process, we will give the example of the Crown position to  demonstrate the process. I asked the woman to draw a card for a chakra position  in which she felt the need for healing. After interpreting that card, I asked  her to draw another card until she felt complete with the healing on that  chakra. We did this with each chakra until all were complete and healed.

Crown sequence

Card #1 The Emperor (see above)*

Card #2 Ten of Wands (shows a blond androgynous individual  carrying ten wands, as if burdened, on his/her shoulders. With home in the not  too distant background, she/he is closer to home than he/she realizes.)

Interpretation: This card indicates that she feels  overwhelmed by all that she has to do. This is emblematic of someone who always  has a chore to accomplish or a deadline to meet. While they feel overwhelmed by  this pattern, they don’t know any other way. The fact that they are closer to  home then they realize, indicates she is maxed out on this tendency, and very  close to reaching a place where she no longer will continue with this  pattern.

Card #3: The Empress #3 Major Arcana

Interpretation: I was thrilled to see her pull this card,  the female counterpart to the Emperor, and a Major Arcana card, showing a major  shift in core perception. This is Venusian card, a celebration of one’s  femaleness, a card where someone is allowing themselves to live in concert with  the natural cycles, enjoying life and comfortable in their female essence in a  powerful and celebratory way. This card indicates no pressure to succeed, and a  joy in just being, enjoying and being receptive to the sensual and natural  pleasures of life itself.

This short sequence demonstrates how this process maps a major shift in  self-perception. It displays this process, using the simultaneity of cause and  effect, and mirrors back to us, using the archetypal illustrations of the  Rider-Waite, our own healing.

This healing affects our own Chakric well-being, as well as our own  relationship to our self, and to the Universe. This process demonstrates how The  Chakra Lube Job functions to both heal and maintain a healthy and  life-affirmative relationship to mind, body and spirit, allowing us to prosper  and thrive, continuing on our path to true happiness and true self, fulfilling  our destiny, as we go.

The Chakra Lube Job is a term and technique created by Cathy  H. Burroughs and is protected by copyright. Any reference to the technique or  usage of the title of the technique must be attributed to Cathy H.  Burroughs.

Today’s Tarot Card for July 19th is The Fool

The Fool

This Tarot Deck: Aquarian

 

General Meaning:  Pamela Coleman-Smith’s artful rendition of an “innocent Fool” archetype (Rider-Waite deck) is often used to represent Tarot in general. Early classical versions of the Fool card, however, portray quite a different character — a person driven by base needs and urges, who has fallen into a state of poverty and deprivation.

In some instances, he is made out to be a carnival entertainer or a huckster. In others, he is portrayed as decrepit and vulnerable — as the cumulative result of his delusions and failures. Not until the 20th century do you see the popular Rider-Waite image of the Fool arise — that of an innocent Soul before its Fall into Matter, as yet untainted by contact with society and all its ills.

Modern decks usually borrow from the Rider-Waite imagery. Most Fool cards copy the bucolic mountainside scene, the butterfly, the potential misplaced step that will send the Fool tumbling into the unknown. Don’t forget, however, that the earlier versions of this card represented already-fallen humanity, over-identified with the material plane of existence, and beginning a pilgrimage towards self-knowledge, and eventually, wisdom. The Fool reminds us to recognize the path of personal development within ourselves — and the stage upon that path where we find ourselves — in order to energize our movement toward deeper self-realization.

Today’s Tarot Card for July 17 is Judgment

Judgment

 

This Tarot Deck: Medieval Cat

General Meaning: What has traditionally been known as the Judgment card, sometimes entitled Resurrection, represents the great reunion that the ancients believed would happen once in every age. This was the time when souls are harvested and taken Home to their place of origin, outside the solar system. Then the World is seeded with a batch of new souls and the process starts over.

From a modern point of view, this great reunion — which includes every personality that you have ever been and every soul that you have done deep work with — reunites to consciously complete the process. In a way, we symbolically celebrate this returning to center every year on our birthday.

In personal terms, the Judgment cards points to freedom from inner conflicts, and so clear a channel, that the buried talents and gifts of past incarnations can come through an individual in this lifetime. This card counsels you to trust the process of opening yourself, because what emerges is of consistently high quality. You can effortlessly manifest as a multi-dimensional being, and assist in evoking that response from others.

Today’s Tarot Card for July 16 is The Moon

The Moon

This Tarot Deck: Royal Thai

General Meaning: What has traditionally been known as the Moon card refers to a deep state of sensitivity and imaginative impressionability, developed within a womb of deep relaxation. Here we dream and go into trance, have visions and receive insights, wash in and out with the psychic tides, and experience deep mystical and/or terrifying realities beyond our ordinary senses. The full moon and/or eclipse cycle charted by the Magi (as in some of the earliest Moon card images) exemplify this as a mechanism that Nature uses to expand consciousness.

The variants of the courtly lovers (representing skillful use of the sex force) or the man sleeping it off under the tree (use of drugs to alter consciousness) are also traditional avenues for tapping this primal force. Human interest in higher states propels us to the frontiers of consciousness, where we cannot always control what happens. The Moon card represents the ultimate test of a soul’s integrity, where the membrane between self and the Unknown is removed, and the drop of individuality reenters the Ocean of Being. What transpires next is between a soul and its Maker.

Lighten Up – Top Ten Ways To Piss Off A Pagan

Top Ten Ways To Piss Off A Pagan

1. Ask them if they are Satan worshippers.

2. Be considerate, rearrange their altar so it will look neat.

3. Blow out their altar candle if it is still daylight. (No need to waste a good candle!)

4. Pick up their gems for a closer look.

5. Sharpen their dull, black-handled knife.

6. Witness to them about the ‘One True Religion’.

7. Untie the knots in their cord.

8. Take hold of their jewelry for a closer look.

9. Play card games with their Tarot deck.

10. Ask them if they are Satan worshippers.

Today’s Tarot Card for July 11 is The Hanged Man

The Hanged Man

This Tarot Deck: Lord of the Rings

 

General Meaning: Traditionally, the card known as the Hanged Man usually indicates a lack of ability to help oneself through independent action. This energy is arrested and awaiting judgment. With this card, there is no avenue for the will to regain control until the situation has passed.

This represents a good time to be philosophical, to study and meditate upon the position you find yourself in, and form resolutions for the moment you become free again. Only those who possess wisdom, patience and optimism will be able to see through limitations, including possible humiliation, to grasp the inspiring lesson one can gain from such an experience.

Today’s Tarot Card for July 10 is Justice

Justice

This Tarot Deck: Crow’s Magick

General Meaning: Traditionally, what has been known as the Justice card has to do with moral sensitivity and that which gives rise to empathy, compassion and a sense of fairness. Since the time of Solomon, this image has represented a standard for the humane and fair-minded treatment of other beings.

Often including the image of a fulcrum which helps to balance competing needs against the greater good, and a two-edged sword to symbolize the precision needed to make clear judgments, this card reminds us to be careful to attend to important details. It’s a mistake to overlook or minimize anything where this card is concerned. The law of Karma is represented here — what goes around comes around.

Today’s Tarot Card for June 20 is Justice

Justice

 

This Tarot Deck: Morgan-Greer

General Meaning:

Traditionally, what has been known as the Justice card has to do with moral sensitivity and that which gives rise to empathy, compassion and a sense of fairness. Since the time of Solomon, this image has represented a standard for the humane and fair-minded treatment of other beings.

Often including the image of a fulcrum which helps to balance competing needs against the greater good, and a two-edged sword to symbolize the precision needed to make clear judgments, this card reminds us to be careful to attend to important details. It’s a mistake to overlook or minimize anything where this card is concerned. The law of Karma is represented here — what goes around comes around.

Today’s Tarot Card for June 9th is The Fool

The Fool

This Tarot Deck: Aquarian

General Meaning:    Pamela Coleman-Smith’s artful rendition of an “innocent Fool” archetype (Rider-Waite deck) is often used to represent Tarot in general. Early classical versions of the Fool card, however, portray quite a different character — a person driven by base needs and urges, who has fallen into a state of poverty and deprivation.
In some instances, he is made out to be a carnival entertainer or a huckster. In others, he is portrayed as decrepit and vulnerable — as the cumulative result of his delusions and failures. Not until the 20th century do you see the popular Rider-Waite image of the Fool arise — that of an innocent Soul before its Fall into Matter, as yet untainted by contact with society and all its ills.
Modern decks usually borrow from the Rider-Waite imagery. Most Fool cards copy the bucolic mountainside scene, the butterfly, the potential misplaced step that will send the Fool tumbling into the unknown. Don’t forget, however, that the earlier versions of this card represented already-fallen humanity, over-identified with the material plane of existence, and beginning a pilgrimage towards self-knowledge, and eventually, wisdom. The Fool reminds us to recognize the path of personal development within ourselves — and the stage upon that path where we find ourselves — in order to energize our movement toward deeper self-realization.

Today’s Tarot Card for June 6th is The Moon

The Moon

 

This Tarot Deck: Royal Thai

General Meaning:    What has traditionally been known as the Moon card refers to a deep state of sensitivity and imaginative impressionability, developed within a womb of deep relaxation. Here we dream and go into trance, have visions and receive insights, wash in and out with the psychic tides, and experience deep mystical and/or terrifying realities beyond our ordinary senses. The full moon and/or eclipse cycle charted by the Magi (as in some of the earliest Moon card images) exemplify this as a mechanism that Nature uses to expand consciousness.
The variants of the courtly lovers (representing skillful use of the sex force) or the man sleeping it off under the tree (use of drugs to alter consciousness) are also traditional avenues for tapping this primal force. Human interest in higher states propels us to the frontiers of consciousness, where we cannot always control what happens. The Moon card represents the ultimate test of a soul’s integrity, where the membrane between self and the Unknown is removed, and the drop of individuality reenters the Ocean of Being. What transpires next is between a soul and its Maker.

Today’s Tarot Card for June 4th is The Star

The Star

This Tarot Deck: Celestial

General Meaning: What has traditionally been known as the Star card is about reconnecting one’s Soul with the Divine — the transcending of personality, family, community and reputation. It has to do ultimately with the freedom to be one’s Self. The Soul is responding to celestial influences — forces that can provide the personality with a stronger sense of purpose. The Star card helps us to remember our exalted origins and our attraction to a Higher Union.

This card could also be called the “Celestial Mandate” — that which refers us back to our reason for being, our mission in this lifetime. The Star reminds us that, in a sense, we are agents of Divine Will in our day-to-day lives. If we let go of the idea that we are supposed to be in control, we can more easily notice and appreciate the synchronicities that are nudging us along. In this way, we become more conscious of the invisible Helping Hand, and we better understand our place within — and value to — the larger Cosmos.

Today’s Tarot Card for May 31st is Justice

Justice

This Tarot Deck: Crow’s Magick

General Meaning: Traditionally, what has been known as the Justice card has to do with moral sensitivity and that which gives rise to empathy, compassion and a sense of fairness. Since the time of Solomon, this image has represented a standard for the humane and fair-minded treatment of other beings.

Often including the image of a fulcrum which helps to balance competing needs against the greater good, and a two-edged sword to symbolize the precision needed to make clear judgments, this card reminds us to be careful to attend to important details. It’s a mistake to overlook or minimize anything where this card is concerned. The law of Karma is represented here — what goes around comes around.

Your Daily Number for May 29th: 1

Your independence is highlighted today. It’s time to stand on your own two feet and forge forward, despite a perceived lack of support. You may find yourself starting a new project today, and the possibility of meeting someone new is strong. Guard against forgetfulness.

Fast Facts

About the Number 1

Theme: Masculine, Creative, Independent, Aggressive
Astro Association: Mercury
Tarot Association: Magician

Today’s Tarot Card for May 29th is The Anchoret

The Anchoret

 

This Tarot Deck: Cagliostro

General Meaning:The challenge of what has traditionally been known as the Hermit card is to be able to recognize a teacher in a humble disguise. This font of mysterious knowledge will not make it easy for the student to acquire his wisdom, as it takes time and long contemplation to fathom what he knows. He often speaks wordlessly, or in ancient and barbaric tongues, communicating with the elements, animals and Nature herself.While the hourglass was an identifying feature on the earliest Hermit cards, more modern ones have shifted the metaphor, showing more or less light released from his lantern. In either case, the Hermit card reminds us of the value of time away from the hubbub of civic life, to relax the ego in communion with Nature.

Lessons In Tarot – Lesson 2 (The Major Arcana)

LESSON 2

The Major Arcana

The standard tarot deck consists of 78 cards divided into two sections, the major and minor arcanas. The word arcana is the plural of arcanumwhich means “profound secret.” To the alchemists of the Middle Ages, the arcanum was the secret of nature. The tarot cards are therefore a collection of the “secrets” that underlie and explain our universe.

The 22 cards of the major arcana are the heart of the deck. Each of these cards symbolizes some universal aspect of human experience. They represent the archetypes – consistent, directing patterns of influence that are an inherent part of human nature.

Each card in the major arcana has a name and number. Some names convey a card’s meaning directly, such as Strength, Justice and Temperance. Other cards are individuals who personify a particular approach to life, such as the Magician or the Hermit. There are also cards with astronomical names, such as the Star, Sun and Moon. They represent the elusive forces associated with these heavenly bodies.

The major arcana cards are special because they draw out deep and complex reactions. The images on the Rider-Waite deck are evocative because they combine esoteric symbolism with recognizable figures and situations. The symbolism is subtle, but effective.

A major arcana card is always given extra weight in a reading. When one of these cards appears, you know the issues at stake are not mundane or temporary. They represent your most basic concerns – your majorfeelings and motivations. In later lessons, I show in more detail how you can recognize and interpret the themes of the major arcana in a reading.

The major arcana is often considered as a unit. Different schemes have been developed to show how the cards form patterns that cast light on the human condition. Numerology, astrology and other esoteric sciences often play a role in these schemes.

Many interpreters view the major arcana as showing the different stages on an individual’s journey of inner growth – what some call the Fool’s Journey. In these systems, each card stands for some quality or experience that we must incorporate before we can realize our wholeness.

We all travel this road to self-actualization, though our trips more often involve detours, backups and restarts than smooth progression! Our specific paths are unique, but our milestones are universal. The 22 major arcana cards are markers on the path of inner development leading from earliest awareness (card 0) to integration and fulfillment.

The Fool’s journey seems to move smoothly from one order of experience to the next, but our learning adventures are usually not so tidy. We make mistakes, skip lessons and fail to realize our potential. Sometimes we lack the courage and insight to discover our deepest levels. Some never feel the call of the Hermit to look inward or never experience the crisis of the Tower that might free them from their ego defenses.

Many times we try to overcome our difficulties, but fail repeatedly. The lesson of the Hanged Man- to let go and surrender to experience – is one that is particularly hard and may need to be faced over and over before it is fully incorporated.

Often we experience lessons out of order. A person may absorb the qualities of Strength early in life due to a difficult childhood, but only later develop the Chariot’s mastery and control. Someone may overcome the attraction of the Devil’s materialism through a life of seclusion, but then need to learn about relationships and sexuality – a lesson of the Lovers- at a later time.

The major arcana contains many levels and models of experience. These cards hold all the patterns of growth, whether they occur within one segment of a life or a whole life span. We could even say that an entire lifetime is really just one growth episode within the larger saga of our soul’s development.

No matter what our pattern of self-discovery, the major arcana shows us that wholeness and fulfillment are our destiny. If we keep this promise as our polestar, we will eventually realize our true nature and gain the World.

Lessons In Tarot – Choosing Your First Tarot Deck

Choosing Your First Tarot Deck

Here are some points to consider if you are choosing your first deck:

  1. Choose a deck that makes you feel comfortable and secure, but also inspired. Since you will be spending a lot of time with your cards, you don’t want to pick a deck that strikes you as odd, unpleasant or boring. Later, you may seek out unusual decks for the challenges and insights they offer, but it’s better to start with one that attracts you. If a certain deck calls out to you, go with that one! 
  2. There is no official tarot deck. Decks come in many different forms, but the “standard” deck has 78 cards with 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana cards divided into 4 suits. Most decks are built on this model. You should probably stick with a standard deck to start so that you are familiar with the most common format. 
  3. Many decks are oriented around a theme. This is especially true of modern decks. Typically, the images, the names of the suits and the court card figures reflect this theme. If you choose a deck with a theme, be sure it is one that suits you and that has lasting appeal. 
  4. The Rider-Waite is probably the most common deck in the United States, and many tarot decks are based on it as well. Cards in these decks often have the same subject matter as the Rider-Waite, but are drawn with a different style and artwork. The Universal Waite is essentially a copy of the Rider-Waite, but with softer colors and less contrast. The Albano-Waite has bright, unusual coloration. Here’s a side-by-side comparison of some cards from the two decks. 
  5. In some tarot decks, the pip cards, or numbered suit cards, all have unique picture scenes. In other decks, these cards simply show the suit symbol repeated the appropriate number of times (similar to regular playing cards). Some people like these symbolic decks, but for learning and memorization, it is often easier to have the pictures. 
  6. Some newer tarot decks have been created in the spirit of light-hearted fun. Two examples are the Halloween Tarot and the Silicon Valley Tarot. These decks are amusing, but not the best choices for deeper, more thoughtful tarot work.

 Rider-Waite Tarot Deck

The Rider-Waite Tarot deck is probably the most popular tarot deck in use today in the United States. It was first published in 1910 by Rider & Company, a London publisher. Arthur Edward Waite designed the deck in collaboration with Pamela Colman Smith, an American artist. Waite was a member of the Order of the Golden Dawn, an occult society of the time. Waite considered symbolism of prime importance, so the cards of the Rider-Waite deck were created to communicate esoteric principles through symbols. Waite describes his interpretations in his book The Key to the Tarot, sometimes published with pictures as The Pictorial Key to the Tarot.

Waite made several changes from the tarot deck traditions of the time when he designed his deck. He switched the Strength and Justice cards so that Strength became card 8 and Justice card 11. He and Smith also created full pictorial scenes for the minor arcana numbered suit cards. Before this time, these cards usually showed only the suit symbols as in the Tarot of Marseilles.

The Rider-Waite tarot deck is the model for many modern tarot decks and also has several variants. It is available in 4 sizes (miniature, pocket, regular and giant) and four language styles (spanish, french, german, and five-language). The Rider-Waite Tarot Deck will be the one used in these lessons.

Just A Little Note From The Witch’s Desk……

Book & Candle Comments I have everything and its brother on my desk except the skull, lol! Didn’t want you to get the wrong impression. But, of course, if you have put up with me this long, no telling what kind of impression you have of me, lmao! Enough with that foolishness, now on to what I want to actually say. If you remember I made a post a few days ago concerning whether or not you would like to have a daily Tarot lesson or Rune lesson. These lessons would take the place of the Special Critters that I now post everyday. Well I got a good response on the subject. No one was interested in the Rune lessons. There was an equal response on the Special Critters and Tarot lessons, however. Since this occurred, I am going to continue to post the Special Critters as always. After them, there will be a Tarot lesson posted. I figure this is only fair to everyone. If you enjoy something, I don’t want to take it away from you. For the Tarot Lessons, I will be using the Rider-Waite deck, in case you would like to follow along. I believe the first day I am going to start with a brief history on the deck. Then afterwards, I will take each card one by one, put it’s image up and the meaning of the card. When we work our way through the deck. We will then go to the spreads. There we will discuss what each spread means and also what the placements of the cards means in the respective spots. I truly hope you enjoy this. I ask that you please have patience with me. I have never done anything like this before and hopefully all will go smooth. 

 

Oh, I almost forgot, over in the category section of the site, there will be a Tarot Lesson section. Just in case you miss a card, you won’t have to dig through the daily posts to find it. 

~Magickal Graphics~

Today’s Tarot Card for Everyone:

The Fool

This Tarot Deck: Aquarian

General Meaning: Pamela Coleman-Smith’s artful rendition of an “innocent Fool” archetype (Rider-Waite deck) is often used to represent Tarot in general. Early classical versions of the Fool card, however, portray quite a different character — a person driven by base needs and urges, who has fallen into a state of poverty and deprivation.

In some instances, he is made out to be a carnival entertainer or a huckster. In others, he is portrayed as decrepit and vulnerable — as the cumulative result of his delusions and failures. Not until the 20th century do you see the popular Rider-Waite image of the Fool arise — that of an innocent Soul before its Fall into Matter, as yet untainted by contact with society and all its ills.

Modern decks usually borrow from the Rider-Waite imagery. Most Fool cards copy the bucolic mountainside scene, the butterfly, the potential misplaced step that will send the Fool tumbling into the unknown. Don’t forget, however, that the earlier versions of this card represented already-fallen humanity, over-identified with the material plane of existence, and beginning a pilgrimage towards self-knowledge, and eventually, wisdom. The Fool reminds us to recognize the path of personal development within ourselves — and the stage upon that path where we find ourselves — in order to energize our movement toward deeper self-realization.